Prince of Twilight Read Online Free PDF

place, there was none of that. It was dark. It was bereft. Even the few pathetic trees that clung for their lives to the steep cliff-sides were scrawny and dead looking.
    Stormy swallowed the dryness in her throat—she could barely do it. She was dehydrated, thirsty, starving and a little bit scared. This didn’t look like any island off North Carolina.
    â€œWhere the hell are we, Vlad?”

2
    V lad kept his distance from the others who were visiting the museum. Mortals. Tourists. Groups of children being led about by young tour guides. He slipped into the Anatolian exhibit, which was housed in a room all its own, and stared at the ring in its glass case. Memories came flooding into his mind, into his soul, but he drove them back. It wasn’t easy. He recalled taking the precious gem from his little finger and slipping it onto Elisabeta’s forefinger, the only one it came close to fitting. He remembered how, within an hour, she’d wound it around with twine, to make it fit more snugly, and how seeing it on her made him feel proud and protective. It was large and strong and powerful on her small, delicate hand. It seemed to denote his claim to her. It seemed to mark her as his own.
    â€œSir? Excuse me, sir?” a woman asked.
    Vlad blinked the memories away and turned to face the uniformed woman who had approached him. He hadn’t even been aware of her presence, much less of how much time had passed while he’d stood there staring at the ring.
    â€œThe museum is closing sir. You’ll have to leave now.”
    â€œAhh. Yes, of course.”
    She left him alone, and he turned again to the ring. It was the one. He’d found it at last. And yes, he would leave the museum—for now. But no power on earth would keep that ring from him.
    He closed his eyes, turned and left the museum, but as soon as he stepped out into the fresh air of the night, he sensed something else, something he had not expected.
    â€œTempest,” he whispered. And he turned slowly, scenting the air, feeling for her energy, certain she was close.
    And she was. He began to move, barely looking, drawn by the feel of her. Like following the trail left by a comet’s tail, he homed in on her warmth, her light, the sparkling energy that was hers alone.
    He wouldn’t get too close. He couldn’t, not without running the risk of her knowing. In all these years, all this time, he hadn’t come close to her, despite the temptation he could barely resist. And as long as he’d kept his distance, Elisabeta had slept. She’d been dormant, deep inside Tempest. Somewhere. He knew she hadn’t left this plane. She hadn’t died or moved on. She was still there. He felt her there. But she hadn’t stirred.
    As long as he stayed away from Tempest, he thought, she wouldn’t. It was easier on Beta that way, or he hoped it was. Let her rest and bide her time. But time—God, time was running out for both of them. And now that he’d found the ring, he almost didn’t dare to hope there could be a chance. Yet he couldn’t help but hope.
    So he followed her trail as her presence hummed in his blood, stroked his senses like a bow over the strings of a violin, until his longing for her vibrated into a pure, demanding tone. It was more powerful now, he realized as he drew closer, than it had been before. Even harder to resist, perhaps because he was allowing himself to move closer to her than he had in sixteen years. It drew him, drove him, until he stood on the sidewalk beside a hotel, staring up at the room where every sense told him she was.
    God, it was all he could do not to climb the wall and go to her.
    Always before, he’d been prepared to resist his own urges. Always before, he’d had time to steel himself before getting within range of her energy. But this had been entirely unexpected. He hadn’t come here for this, for her. He’d come for the ring. His plans