“I stretched out my hands as if to ward him off. “Not yet. I want to know what your end game is first.” Another flash of teeth, this time showing his fangs. “To have you screaming my name within the hour.”

“No one feels like you do, so every brush of your skin is a cruel reminder of what I’ve lost. I can barely stand the sight of you because you’re more beautiful than I’ve allowed myself to remember, and when I cut that wire off Maximus and smelled you all over him, I wanted to kill him more than I’ve wanted to kill anyone in my life, yet I couldn’t because of my promise to you.”Slow tears continued to trickle down my cheeks, but for a different reason this time.“You care.”The words were whispered with a despairing sort of wonder. He wasn’t willing to rescind his loveless vow, clearly, but I was wrong about the apathy I’d thought he felt. That he admitted all the above was surprising enough; the fact he’d done it within earshot of his pilots was no less than shocking.Vlad grunted. “Don’t worry. I intend to kill them as soon as we land.”

“Mencheres dropped his hands from my shoulders. “You know that’s what he wants. He’ll want to trade, you for her.”“Then I’ll do it,” I said.Bones’s grip on me turned to steel. “No, you won’t.”

“I despise flowery speech since those who use it are usually guilty of the worst betrayals later. That and the type of life I’ve lived have made me incapable of saying the pretty words you deserve to hear, yet if I made you a vampire, you’d feel my emotions as clearly as I hear your thoughts now.”Then he drew my hand to his chest, placing it over his heart.“I never turned any of my previous lovers because I didn’t want them to feel how little I cared. You I loved, yet you left me because I wouldn’t verbalize my emotions. That will probably happen again, but if you could feel what you mean to me, Leila” —his voice deepened— “words wouldn’t matter.”

“How could I possibly keep my cool while getting sweaty with him? What if I screamed out something horrifying, like "I love you?" What if I had an epileptic attack and started drooling or spitting right in the middle of things?”

“Do you want to be put under first?” she asked Lewis as they sat down. “Huh?” he replied in confusion. Something like a cough came out of Vlad that jerked her head up. Vampires didn’t need to cough. Was that a muffled laugh? “You know.” Kira’s eyes flashed green at Lewis, and her fangs seemed to jump out of her gums. “Get bespelled so you don’t remember this.” Lewis appeared even more confused. “If that’s what you want.” I will not as for pointers from Dracula, she swore to herself. I will not. “Yeah, I’d feel better about that. So, ah…look into my eyes.” Another strangled sound came from Vlad’s direction. Now Kira was sure it was a laugh. She was determined to ignore him. Lewis obediently stared at her, and Kira tried to make her voice sound confident. “You don’t feel anything. You’re not afraid.” “I am,” came Vlad’s immediate reply. “If you tell him wolves are the children of the night next, I might hurt myself laughing.”

“I want to know all of you, Kitten. What you show me, and what you try not to.”