Spirit Bound
ONE
THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN death
threats and love
letters--even if the person writing the death threats
still claims to actually
love you. Of course, considering I once tried to kill
someone I loved, maybe
I had no right to judge.
Today's letter had been perfectly timed, not that I
should have
expected any less. I'd read it four times so far, and
even though I was
running late, I couldn't help but read it a fifth time.
My dearest Rose,
One of the few downsides to being awakened is that
we no longer
require sleep; therefore we also no longer dream. It's
a shame, because if I
could dream, I know I'd dream about you. I'd dream
about the way you
smell and how your dark hair feels like silk between
my fingers. I'd dream
about the smoothness of your skin and the
fierceness of your lips when we
kiss.
Without dreams, I have to be content with my own
imagination-which
is almost as good. I can picture all of those things
perfectly, as well
as how it'll be when I take your life from this world.
It's something I regret
having to do, but you've made my choice inevitable.
Your refusal to join me
in eternal life and love leaves no other course of
action, and I can't allow
someone as dangerous as you to live. Besides, even
if I forced your
awakening, you now have so many enemies among
the Strigoi that one of
them would kill you. If you must die, it'll be by my
hand. No one else's.
Nonetheless, I wish you well today as you take your
trials--not that
you need any luck. If they're actually making you
take them, it's a waste of
everyone's time. You're the best in that group, and by
this evening you'll
wear your promise mark. Of course, that means
you'll be all that much more
of a challenge when we meet again--which I'll
definitely enjoy.
And we will be meeting again. With graduation, you'll
be turned out
