Free SCROLLS OF THE DEAD-3 Complete Vampire Novels-A Trilogy by Billie Sue Mosiman

intimately the inner workings of the different clans' emotional lives.
    He did not bother to knock, knowing those inside would know he was there. He stepped across one of the Cravens lying at the foot of the door, head pillowed on outthrust arm, staring up at him with wide eyes. "You should get up and out of the way in order to help yourself," he said casually as he left that one behind.
    Mentor's "patient," the vampire he had been summoned to help, was toward the back of the house in one of the last bedrooms. The vampire was a Craven named Dolan, and it was rumored Dolan was on a suicidal rampage. Any act of undue aggression, even one involving only the self, Mentor tried to stop. Unfortunately, Dolan meant to do harm to others of his kind before destroying himself. And that was not going to happen. It was against all moral law to destroy your own kind unless there was just cause.
    Mentor stepped into the room and said to Dolan, "I've come to stop you."
    Dolan was an old vampire, crouched in the corner, his back to the door. He had both arms over his head and was shivering as if he were cold. Mentor said, "Don't try to make me feel sorry for you. That's not going to work. What you're planning to do is against our law. I can't stop you from ending your life. But I will stop you from taking anyone with you. Do you understand?"
    Dolan turned slowly to face Mentor. There was no telling how many lifetimes he had lived, but they were many. His face reflected a soul gouged with ruts and roads that made him look a thousand years old. Like Mentor, he had chosen an older male body to inhabit, but it was in his eyes that his true age showed.
    He bared his teeth now to show Mentor he was willing to fight. Mentor said, "I will take you down if I have to. But listen to me, I would rather you talk this out."
    "Why should I talk to you?" said Dolan. "You're only here to stop me from doing what I want to do. I think I would rather fight you and die in the trying. At least there might be some honor in that."
    "And what would you know about honor?" asked Mentor. "Do you think it's honorable to wish to take others with you?"
    "They all want to die anyway. I'd be doing them a favor. Why must you always interfere? Who gave you the right to intervene? You're not God Almighty."
    "No, I'm not. But I've earned the right to intervene and you know that. Believe me, you're not taking any of the others in this house with you."
    "Oh, good Christ! Have you seen them? What about the one by the door, did you see him? Do you really think he wants to live?"
    "Maybe he doesn't want to live, but that's up to him, not you."
    "Listen to me! Why aren't you listening, Mentor? Have you ever been a Craven? Do you know what it's like to be powerless and to live in the darkness forever? Have you ever begged for death?"
    Mentor recalled the times when he'd gone into seclusion, living as a Craven, feeding on hopelessness. "We've all begged for death. But if we give it to ourselves, we pay with our souls."
    "That's totally incomprehensible to me. I don't believe it. There is no punishment worse than what I've already suffered."
    Mentor shrugged. "You may be right, but you won't find out until you're gone and then it's too late. I can't let you make that decision for others."
    Dolan swooped from the floor, enraged and ready to do battle. It was only then that Mentor smelled smoke and saw a cloud of it coming from the corner where the old vampire had been stooping, his back to the room. He'd set a fire. He meant to burn the place down. He meant the fire to consume them all.
    One second before Dolan reached his throat, Mentor stepped aside and then rushed forward to the corner. He waved his hand, concentrating mightily on the molecules in the room's air, and created a damp cloak of mist that put out the fire. He then turned swiftly and struck Dolan on the side of his head, knocking him to the floor. "If I have to," he said, "if you force me to it—I will have you put into