Free Prince of Twilight by MAGGIE SHAYNE

covers and lifted them so she could peer underneath. But there was nothing there except an expanse of the same carpet that covered the rest of the floor. And then she shook her head at her own foolishness. The very notion of Vlad hiding under a bed… It was ludicrous.
    She was alone.
    But he’d been there. She was sure of it. It hadn’t been just a dream. She ought to know, she thought. She’d been dreaming of him for sixteen years. She’d never felt like this upon waking. She felt relaxed; fulfilled. Sated.
    Swallowing hard, she moved to the French doors again, unlocked and opened them, then stepped out onto the balcony and faced the darkness.
    â€œVlad? Where are you?”
    The only answer was the gentle whisper of the wind moving through nearby trees, and sliding around the eaves and the railing.
    â€œI know you’re out there, Vlad. And I know you want that damned ring. Don’t you try to put it on me, Vlad. Don’t do it. I’m warning you.”
    There was still no answer. She stood there for a long time as bits of the dream that wasn’t a dream came back to her. She remembered the way he’d touched her, the way he’d made her body come alive, made it sing.
    Don’t be stupid! It was me he was touching, me he wants, not you! Never you!
    The voice, familiar and hated, shouted the words inside her mind, and Stormy gasped, gripped her head and closed her eyes. That was who she’d feltwatching her. Elisabeta! She was getting stronger again. Rising up again.
    She closed her eyes, chasing away the shivers of fear racing through her body. She had to focus on what he’d said, not on what he’d done.
    He’d said he didn’t have the ring.
    Had he been telling the truth? Maybe so. Because if he had it, why hadn’t he put it on her last night? Why wait?
    Perhaps because he still hadn’t located the rite that went along with it. Maybe he was just waiting for the one missing piece, biding his time.
    From now on, Tempest, your nights, and your will, belong to me.
    She heard his passionate whisper, a command, not a request. She lifted her head, staring out at the night. “No part of me belongs to you, Vlad. Understand that. I’m not the young, cow-eyed girl I was before. And I’ve been working with your kind for long enough to know how to shield myself. My will is too strong to be broken by a vampire. I’m my own woman, and no man owns me. Not even you.”
    She thought she had told him she loved him last night. But surely he couldn’t take that declaration seriously. Not when she’d been asleep, believing it all to be a dream.
    â€œThat was wrong, Vlad. What you did last night, making me stay asleep, and trying to convince me it was just a dream? It was wrong. You violated me.”
    To get to me! And he will again and again and again, and you’ll have no say in the matter.
    â€œShut up, Beta!”
    She felt no response from Vlad, swallowed hard and lowered her head. She’d loved every second of it. But that didn’t make it all right. He hadn’t asked. He’d only taken.
    Given, actually. But still… She wondered briefly if she was truly angry that he’d touched her without asking, or was it more that he had denied her seeing him again when she’d longed for nothing else for all this time? He’d kept her asleep, used his power over her to keep her from waking up. She wanted to see him. She wanted to throw her arms around him and weep for joy. She wanted to tell him how much she’d missed him.
    â€œRight. The man has come to murder me. Get over it, Stormy.”
    Because it was true. He hadn’t come for her. He’d come for the ring, and for Elisabeta.
    â€œDon’t let it happen again,” she whispered. And on some level, she was sure he was out there, somewhere, listening. “Just don’t.”
    She went back inside, locked the French doors and crawled back into