Free Circle of Death by Thais Lopes Page B

with a number of old books I had never seen before, followed me as soon as I said I was going to bed. The threat was still there, he didn’t need to say anything to remind me.
    That night, I dreamt about Seth and that night, so long ago, when I died trying to destroy him, after he tried to turn me against my will. I woke up with a strong hand on my face, his touch just like Seth’s.
    “Don’t touch me!” I screamed, sitting up and turning to face the hand’s owner.
    It was Lucio.

13. Lucio
    Seth wasn’t near, as he had been just before Sunrise. But he was stronger during the night, even if he could move in daylight. I couldn’t let myself relax.
    It wasn’t long after midnight when Kelene started moving in her sleep, muttering incoherent phrases. I put my hand on face, trying to calm her as I used to do with the children from my village, when I was alive. But her reaction was totally unexpected.
    “Don’t touch me!” She screamed, sitting up. I could hear her fury, and could almost touch her fear.
    I moved away, surprised, her words cutting me like a dagger. I thought there was no chance of that happening, that she wouldn’t remember I was a vampire and a threat, but obviously I was mistaken. Now was the time to leave quietly and blame myself for keeping that illusion.
    Wordlessly, I got up. Kelene turned to face me, with fire in her eyes and that strange strength easily visible. I almost doubted my senses telling me she was scared. As soon as her gaze stopped on me she hesitated, her expression changing completely, and she fell back on the bed.
    “Lucio, stay, please.” She asked, her voice weak.
    “You don’t need to ask me to stay if you’re not comfortable with it. I won’t be offended.” How could I? She was finally doing what was sensible.
    “It’s all right.” Kelene went on, refusing to look at me, her voice full of fear and vulnerability. “It was a nightmare. Please?”
    Slowly, I went back to the bed and laid down. She inched closer to me, as if asking for forgiveness… and protection. Her voice was less than a whisper when she started talking, and I knew she was trying to explain what had happened.
    “I once fell in love with a vampire. He was everything I had ever dreamt of finding in a man, and I though he loved me. I knew what he was, and that was never a problem. But he was only playing with me. Death had ordered him to turn me. Me, someone who can never allow Death any kind of control over my actions. When he saw he wouldn’t convince me he tried to force the transformation. It should have been the end of my existence, I would die before being turned into a vampire, but I survived. I thought I had been able to destroy him… But now I know I was wrong. He was here yesterday.” She sighed. “Your touch is just like his, I hadn’t noticed it before. Please, don’t leave me alone.”
    “I won’t.” I answered, hugging her.
    She stood still in my arms, still refusing to look at me, her head on my arm. What had really happened to scare her that much? What was at stake? And how could she have met Seth? There was no other vampire whose touch could be mistaken for mine, because of our shared past. She had given herself to him and he had used her, nothing more. The thought infuriated me, even though I thought nothing Seth could do would surprise me anymore.
    And that shouldn’t have surprised me at all. It wouldn’t be the first time he had done something like that. I remembered the copper haired woman I tried to save from him, once, just to find out she had died the day she refused my offer.
    Not knowing what else to do, I pulled Kelene closer to me. She turned and hid her face in the crook of my neck, and I could feel her tears.
    She was already sleeping when I remembered there was almost a century since Seth stopped doing anything for Death. And he hadn’t even come close to this country in the last thirty years.

14. Kelene
    I turned off the alarm clock when it rang for the