Free By Sun and Candlelight by Susan Sizemore Page A

the negative attention. It made the guards
at the entrance more sympathetic when he presented himself at the
checkpoint.
    He had no trouble getting past the
DNA, fingerprint, voice and eye scans. Everyone knew such physical
tests were reassuring for security records but could be bypassed.
His only concern was the forged pass. He handed it over when
requested, and waited, almost not breathing. Since vampires did
need oxygen, even if not quite as much as mortals, he managed to
keep his lungs working.
    "Thank you, general," the senior
member of the guards finally said. She handed the pass back to him,
smiling.
    "Would you like an escort, sir?" he
was asked.
    The vampire shook his head. "I know
my way."
    "Have a good evening, then." The
guards saluted.
    He returned it and walked
confidently on his way.
    He did know the way, the regular
route and several short cuts. He'd carefully studied the security
measures for all of them. Aware of these pitfalls, he chose another
route altogether.
    It had been a while since he'd tried
his hand at wall climbing. He could move far faster than a mortal,
his claws came in handy, and shadows were his friends. His fangs
ached for the taste of royal blood. He made his way to a third
floor balcony. He had a forged shield key, but it proved
unnecessary. He would have sensed any shields before touching them,
but none were present. Did the princess think shielding would
interrupt the pleasant evening breeze flowing into her
suite?
    From the balcony, the vampire
drifted with the breeze into the princess's bedroom. He could not
psychically or visually detect any guards around the perimeter of
the room. It seemed the princess preferred privacy to extra
security.
    The room itself was the size of a
shuttle hangar, only nicely decorated in shades of blue. The bed
could have slept at least six, not that the princess was known for
getting up to that sort of thing.
    The princess herself, Porphyrgia,
heir to the Byzant Empire, was seated at a desk, reading a headsup
screen. He moved to her, swift as lighting, silent as the grave.
His hands settled on her shoulders.
    The princess sighed dramatically.
"Hon," she said to the intruder. "You have to stop sneaking in all
the time. You're going to have to meet my parents some
time."
    General Matthias Raven - most people
called him Doc - lifted Princess Theodora - known to friends and
family as Zoe - to her feet and she turned into his embrace. After
a long, lingering kiss, he said, "I've heard that joke before,
sweetheart."
    "So you have, love of my
life."
    They kissed again, urgent hunger
flaming so quickly it almost overwhelming them. It had been nearly
a month since they'd seen each other. No matter how serious they
were about their duties to the Empire, they felt every moment of
their absences from each other. Being recently psychically bonded,
separation took a toll on them.
    "Speaking of parents--" Zoe
began.
    Doc was spared an awkward
conversation by the entrance of Commander Marcos, the head of Zoe's
security detail.
    Doc put one arm around his
bondmate's waist and tossed the forged security pass to
Marcos.
    The guard commander looked at the
pass closely. "My technicians are going to have fun taking this
apart, not to mention the man who made it."
    Doc looked at Zoe. "What do you
think, ma'am?" He'd found that a bit of formality between them in
public went a long way to keep feathers being ruffled among the
courtiers, and Imperial officials.
    "I think arresting the forger would
be a bad idea at the moment," she said. "Let's put a very close
watch on him and find out who uses his services."
    "And watch his customers as well,
ma'am?" Marcos asked. She nodded. He smiled.
    Zoe glanced toward the suite's main
entrance. Marcos bowed and took his leave.
    Doc immediately picked up Zoe and
carried her to the bed. She was nibbling quite sexily on his
earlobe by the time they got there. She had sharp teeth for a
mortal. It was one of the things he adored about her.
    He even