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The Chosen (Night World #5) Page 41
Author: L.J. Smith

words or even images; she could feel the feelings that had scarred Quinn.

Your father did something-he killed Dove? Oh, John. Oh, John, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.

Rainbow lights shimmered when she called him John. It was the part of him that he had repressed the

most ruthlessly. The part that she could almost feel growing in her presence.

No wonder you hated humans. After everything you'd ken through, to have your own father want you

dead...

And no wonder you hated vampires. They killed someone dose to you-your mother? And you were so

young. I'm... sorry. He wasn't as easy with words as she was, but here they didn't need words. She

could sense his sorrow, his shame, and his fierce protectiveness. And she could sense the emotion behind

his next question. Who did it?

I don't know. I'll probably never know. Rashel didn't want to pursue it. She didn't want to feed the dark

side of Quinn; she wanted to see more of the shimmering light. She wanted to make the light grow until

the dark disappeared.

Rashel, that may not be possible. Quinn's thought wasn't bitter; it was serious and gentle. Tinged with

infinite regret. I may not be able to become anything better-

Of course you can. We all can. Rashel cut him off with absolute determination. She could feel the

bone-deep cold that had set into him years ago, that he'd allowed to set in. I won't let you be cold, she

told him, and she went for a romp in his mind, kissing things and blowing warmth into them, thinking

sunlight and comfort everywhere.

Please stop; I think you're killing me. Quinn's thought was shaky-half serious and half hysterical, like the

helpless gasp of somebody being tickled to death.

Rashel's whole being was singing with elation. She was young-how strange that she had never really felt

young until now-and she was in love and stronger than she had ever been before. She had John Quinn

the vampire squirming and semi-hysterical. She was unstoppable. Anything was possible.

I'll make everything be right, she told Quinn, and she was happy to see that she'd driven his doubt and

his sadness away, at least for the moment. Do you really want me to stop?

No. Quinn sounded dazed now-and bemused. I've decided I'll enjoy dying this way. But...

Rashel couldn't follow the rest of his thought, but she felt a new coldness, something like a wind from outside.

Outside.

She'd forgotten there was an outside. In here, in the private cocoon of their minds, there was nothing but

her and Quinn. It was almost as if nothing else existed.

But...

There was a whole world out there. Other people. Things happening. Things Rashel had to stop....

"Oh, God, Quinn-the vampires."

Chapter 15

The sound of her own voice sent Rashel spinning out of the light.

It was as if she were emerging from deep water- from one world into another. Or as if she were

re-entering her own body. For a moment everything was confusion, and Rashel wasn't sure of where she

was or how she was positioned... and then she felt her arms and legs and saw yellow light. Lamplight.

She was in an upstairs room in a mansion on a private island, and Quinn was holding her.

They had somehow ended up on the floor, half kneeling, half supported by the wall, their arms around

each other, Rashel's head on his shoulder. She had no idea when he'd stopped biting her. She also had

no idea how much time had passed.

She coughed a little, shaken by what had just happened. That other place, with the light-it still seemed

more real than the hard shiny boards of the floor underneath her and the white walls of the room. But it

also seemed encased in its own reality. Like a dream. She didn't know if they would ever be able to get

back there again.

"Quinn?" He was Quinn again. Not John.

"Yes."

"Do you know what happened? I mean, do you understand it?"

"I think," he said, and his voice was gentle and precise, "that sharing blood can strengthen a telepathic

bond. I've always been able to block it out when I fed before, but..." He didn't finish.

"But it happened that other time. Or something like it happened. When I first met you."

"Yes. Well. Well, I think it's... there's something called..." He gave up and resorted to nonverbal

communication. There's something called the soulmate principle. I've never believed in it. I've laughed at

people who talked about it. I would have bet my life that-

"What is it, Quinn?" Rashel had heard of it, too, especially recently. But it wasn't something from her

world, and she wanted a Night Person to explain.

It's the idea that everyone has one and just one soul-mate in the world, and that if you find them, you

recognize them immediately. And... well, that's that.

"But it's not supposed to happen between humans and Night People. Right?"

There are some people who think that it is happening-now-for some reason-especially between humans

and Night People. The Redferns seem to be getting it in particular. There was a pause, then Quinn said

aloud, "I should probably apologize to some of them, actually." He sounded bemused.

Rashel sat up, which was difficult. She didn't want to let go of Quinn. He kept hold of her fingers, which

helped a little.

He looked more mussed than he had down near the wharf, his neat hair disordered, his eyes large and

dark and dazed. She met his gaze directly. "You think we're soulmates?"

"Well." He blinked. "Do you have a better explanation?"

"No." She took a breath. "Do you still want to make me a vampire?"

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L.J. Smith's Novels
» Destiny Rising (The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters #3)
» Moonsong (The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters #2)
» Phantom (The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters #1)
» Midnight (The Vampire Diaries: The Return #3)
» Shadow Souls (The Vampire Diaries: The Return #2)
» Nightfall (The Vampire Diaries: The Return #1)
» The Compelled (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #6)
» The Asylum (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #5)
» The Ripper (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #4)
» Bloodlust (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #2)
» The Craving (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #3)
» Origins (The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries #1)
» Dark Reunion (The Vampire Diaries #4)
» The Fury (The Vampire Diaries #3)
» The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries #2)
» The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries #1)
» Witchlight (Night World #9)
» Black Dawn (Night World #8)
» Huntress (Night World #7)
» Soulmate (Night World #6)