After Sundown - By Amanda Ashley Page 0,1

now.

For a moment, the two men looked at each other.

They had never been friends. At best, they had been uneasy enemies allied against a common evil. But Alexi Kristov was dead now, his body burned to ashes. But for Grigori's timely but uninvited interference, Ramsey would have been dead, too. Hard to believe he had actually thanked the man for turning him into a monster. He remembered Marisa asking him, shortly after his transformation, if he would rather be dead. He had replied instantly: Of course I would . But afterward, he had found himself drowning in a wave of indecision. Confused, dazed by all that had happened that night, he had stumbled out of the house, needing to be alone. The horror of that night was still fresh in his mind. He and Chiavari had spent months hunting Alexi Kristov, months that had culminated in this very house. He recalled it all so clearly, being caught in the vicious web of Kristov's power, helpless to resist the ancient vampire. Captive to Kristov's will, Ramsey had drugged Chiavari, drained him of enough blood to weaken him, and bound him with heavy silver chains. And then he had waited. Waited for Marisa. She had been surprised to see him...

"Edward!" she had exclaimed as he stepped in front of her. "You scared me out of a year's growth. What are you doing here? Edward?"

He had stepped behind her and closed the door. "Go sit down, Marisa."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, and everything."

"You're not making sense."

"You'll understand everything soon enough." He had given her a little push and she had stumbled forward.

She had seen Grigori then. Chiavari lay still as death on the bed, bound by a heavy silver chain. The same chain that had once bound Alexi.

"What have you done to him?" she asked.

Edward had putted a syringe out of his coat pocket. "I put him to sleep, and then I bled him." He had nodded at the basin on the table beside her chair. It was a large bowl, filled with blood. Grigori's blood. Enough to weaken him.

"He's not... not dead?" Marisa had asked.

"Not yet."

' Edward, please..."

He had pushed her toward the chair in the corner. "Sit down, Marisa. Alexi will be here soon."

"Alexi!" She had looked at him in alarm. "He's coming here?"

Edward nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, Marisa."

She sat down heavily. "Why are you doing this?"

"I have no choice."

" What do you mean ? Of course you do..." The words had died in her throat. "He's done something to you, hasn't he? Oh, Lord, you're like Antoinette ."

"No. She had no mind of her own. Alexi has left me my mind, Marisa, but he has robbed me of my will. This is worse. I know what I'm doing, and even though I don't want to, I can't refuse."

"Fight him, Edward! You've got to fight him."

"I can't." He remembered pacing the floor. "He's too strong. He took my blood, made me take his. I can hear his thoughts in my mind. I can't shut them out! I can't shut him out!"

"He's going to kill us, isn't he?"

"He's going to kill Grigori. I'm afraid he has worse things in mind for you. "He had dropped to his knees in front of her and putted a short piece of rope from his pocket. "I'm sorry. So sorry."

Marisa had jerked her knee up in a hard, swift motion. It had caught him under the jaw. His head had snapped backward and she had kicked him in the chest with all her might.

Jumping to her feet, she ran for the door, but he had caught her by the ankle.

"Let me go!" she shrieked. "Let me go!"

She had struggled against him, but he was too strong for her. Twisting her arm behind her back, he quickly tied her wrists together, then guided her back to the chair and pushed her into it.

"Marisa, I'm sorry."

She was shaking now, frightened beyond words.

There had been a ripple in the air, a stirring, as Grigori began to emerge from his drugged sleep. Edward had pulled a stake from inside his coat.

"Edward, don't!"

"I won't," he said. "Alexi wants that pleasure for himself."

"Edward, please, please don't do this. Please. I'd rather be dead than become Alexi's creature."

"Marisa." He had struggled against Alexi's hold on his mind, but to no avail.

"Please, Edward. He'll make me like Antoinette. "A soulless zombie, a creature without a mind of her own.

"I can't fight him," he had said, panting heavily. "He's too strong. I can't help you." He had doubled