1
Death stalked toward us on padded feet.       And it was not alone.Melika Dannese Lux
2
I had lied to myself from the very beginning, deceived myself into believing that I was being fanciful and overly imaginative. Surely such monstrosities only existed in nightmares? Yet I had lived through a nightmare these past months, and that was no dream at all.       I was still fighting against the awful truth, not wanting to give in, searching my mind for a logical explanation–but there was none. And the most horrible realization of all was that I had known, somewhere deep inside, ever since the day I first set eyes on Vladec Salei.       Plague carrier.       Living death.       Drainer of life.       The phrasing did not matter. No euphemism could strike fear into the hearts of men the way that single word.Melika Dannese Lux
3
Tell me, Eric, ” he said, licking a droplet from the corner of his mouth. “Have you ever tasted blood?”       My mouth was so dry I could barely find the voice to answer him. “What an odd question..”       “ But a valid one. Well, have you?”       “ I’ve cut my lip before, so yes, I suppose I have tasted blood, but..”       “ Not your own, you foolish boy.” He let out a short, derisive laugh and leaned in so that he was only a few inches from my face. “I mean the blood of another.”       “ Good God, Stefan, of course not! ”       “ Pity..Melika Dannese Lux
4
He was mocking me. I could see his mouth beginning to lift in a maddening smirk, a smile that was half sardonic and half secretive, as if the fate of the world depended on the answer to a riddle only he knew and would never share.Melika Dannese Lux
5
She rounded on me with such ferocity that for a moment I didn’t recognize her. A flash of fangs, a dark gleam in her blacker-than-night eyes. It was the most vampiric I’d ever seen her.Melika Dannese Lux
6
A decision made during a moment of weakness can ruin your life.       To date, I had made three.Melika Dannese Lux
7
Don’t listen to the ramblings of fools, ” he said, smiling grimly. “When it comes down to it, if they knew the truth, no one would want to live on this earth forever.Melika Dannese Lux
8
She is so tiresome. ‘Am I a vampire, am I a wolf, am I a vampire, am I a wolf, I cannot decide, so I’ll be both!Melika Dannese Lux