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from a chain around her swanlike throat. The precious ornament bounced atop the ivory slopes of her bosom as she scampered across the torchlit courtyard toward Lady Ilona.
    In all his immortal existence, Lucian had never seen anything to compare with the unearthly radiance of this enchanting vampire princess. Not even the moon at its fullest could ever outshine such perfection.
    “Mother!” she cried out, her musical voice ringing out over the courtyard as she embraced Lady Ilona. “You’ve returned!”
    The lady laughed as she held her daughter in her arms. “Did you doubt it?” she teased. “Really, Sonja, you don’t truly believe that your mother could be undone by a pack of unruly lycans? Don’t be absurd!”
    “Then the hunt went well?” Sonja inquired.
    “But of course,” Lady Ilona declared. Keeping her arm around her daughter’s shoulder, she turned Sonja so that the flaxen-haired maiden could behold the captives in their chains. “These wretched beasts will not be dining on our mortal neighbors any longer.”
    Behind the prisoners, the heavy portcullis descended, cutting off the feral lycans from the lives they had known. Heavy cables drew up the drawbridge, sealing the castle in preparation for the dawn. Double doors of thick oak reinforced with iron provided a third and final barrier against intruders. Many of the captives gasped out loud as the mighty doors were bolted shut, blocking their last glimpse of the outside world.
    Lucian scarcely noticed the renegades’ despairing moans. Sonja filled his vision, to the exclusion of all else. She grows more lovely each time I see her, he thought ardently. Like the very embodiment of all that is pure and unblemished.
    Soren strode up to Lady Ilona and Sonja. The tips of his silver lashes were red with lycan blood.
    “Shall I escort these animals to the dungeons, milady?”
    “By all means,” the lady replied. Many weeks of discipline and captivity would be required before the rogue lycans could be integrated into the servant population. Invariably, a few of the more stubborn prisoners would have to be tortured to death first, as examples to the others. “And have those filthy rags they’re wearing burned.” She placed a silk handkerchief over her nose. “They stink abominably.”
    Soren nodded dutifully. “As you command.” He cracked his bloody whips over the heads of the trembling lycans, who flinched in anticipation of yet more painful lashes.
    “Move, you mongrels!” he snarled at the captives. “Move before I flay your flea-ridden hides!”
    “Poor things!” Sonja exclaimed as the renegades were dragged away. Compassion shone in her eyes, enhancing the delicate grace of her angelic countenance. “They look so lost and forlorn!”
    Her mother frowned. “Your sympathy is wasted on such creatures,” she informed Sonja sternly, eyeing the departing lycans with contempt. “Your father would not approve.”
    Sonja’s father was none other than Viktor himself. Although he was then hibernating in his crypt in Buda, the legendary Elder was due to be Awakened in a little more than three weeks.
    Lady Ilona noted Lucian standing by, enthralled by Sonja’s captivating allure. “That will be all, Lucian,” she said, dismissing him. “You may go now.”
    Lucian realized with embarrassment that he had been staring openly at the elegant princess, a grossly presumptuous act for one such as he. Tearing his gaze away from Sonja, he ducked his head and backed quickly away from the vampiric noblewomen. “Yes, milady,” he murmured as he turned away and scurried toward the servants’ quarters, all thought of food and sleep forgotten.
    Fool! he chastised himself, as he always did whenever Sonja’s presence stirred up impossible yearnings within him. She’s a vampire — and the only daughter of an Elder, no less! How can I possibly dream of loving her? It’s more than just insane. It’s forbidden!
    In his mind’s eye, however, he could still see