after life

Ch ap te r O ne

“S U NRIS E I S C O MIN G,” B ALT H AZAR S A ID .
Those w ere t h e fir s t w ord s a nyo ne h ad s p oke n a lo ud in h ours . A lt h ough I d id n’t w ant t o h ear a nyth in g B alt h aza r h ad
t o s a y — a bout t h is o r a nyth in g e ls e — I k n ew h e w as rig ht. V am pir e s c o uld a lw ays fe el t h e a ppro ach in g d aw n d eep in
t h eir b ones.
Could L u ca s fe el it , t o o
?
We s a t in t h e p ro je ctio n ro om o f a n a bandoned t h eate r, w here t h e p oste r- c o ve re d w alls s till b ore m ark s fro m la st
n ig ht’s b attle . V ic , t h e o nly h um an in t h e ro om , d oze d o n R anulf ’s s h ould er, h is s a ndy h air m usse d fro m s le ep; R anulf s a t
q uie tly , b lo odsta in ed a x a cro ss h is la p a s t h ough h e e xp ecte d m ore d anger a t a ny s e co nd. H is lo ng, t h in fa ce a nd b ow l
h air c u t h ad n eve r m ade h im lo ok m ore lik e a m edie va l s a in t. B alt h aza r s to od in t h e fa r c o rn er o f t h e ro om , k e epin g h is
d is ta nce o ut o f re sp ect fo r m y g rie f. Y et h is h eig ht a nd h is b ro ad s h ould ers m eant h e t o ok u p m ore t h an h is s h are o f
ro om .
I c ra dle d L u ca s’s h ead in m y la p. H ad I b een a liv e , o r a v a m pir e , s o m any h ours w it h out m ovin g w ould h ave m ade m e
s tif f. A s a g host, t h ough, fre ed o f t h e d em ands o f a p hysic a l b ody, I ’d b een a ble t o h old h im t h ro ugh t h e w hole lo ng
n ig ht o f h is d eath . I b ru sh ed b ack m y lo ng re d h air , t ry in g n ot t o n otic e t h at t h e e nds h ad t ra ile d in L u ca s’s b lo od.
Charit y h ad m urd ere d h im in fro nt o f m y e ye s, t a kin g a dva nta ge o f L u ca s’s d esir e t o p ro te ct m e ra th er t h an h im se lf . I t
w as h er la te st a nd m ost h orrib le a tte m pt t o h urt m e, d riv e n b y h er h atre d fo r a nyb ody w ho m atte re d t o B alt h aza r, h er
b ro th er a nd s ir e . S he’d v