Rare Vintage Read Online Free PDF

should have vetted
Gibson thoroughly before granting him a foothold in my territory, but hindsight
does me no good now.”
    “So the question becomes, what are you going to do about
him?” Dmitri had a way of cutting to the heart of a matter.
    “I believe he’ll challenge me sooner or later. I don’t trust
him to fight fair, but after last night… Well, I doubt myself and my control,
Dmitri. Frankly, I’m sick of being Master, but Atticus has flatly refused the
job, as did Ian, and they’re the only two I’d trust with such power of those
under my jurisdiction.”
    “Then you must kill this Gibson before he gets the chance to
kill you.”
    Marc’s resolve hardened. “I will.” His hands tightened on
the arms of the leather-covered wing chair. “As I said, I expect the challenge
soon. When it comes, I’ll be ready.”
    “I hope so, my friend. If you need me, all you have to do is
call. I will gladly stand second for you.”
    Marc was touched by the offer. It wasn’t something to be
taken lightly. A commitment to act as his second in a formal challenge was a
very large responsibility. Essentially, Dmitri had just offered to put his life
on the line for Marc—something they’d done a few times over the many years
they’d been friends, but not recently. It was good to know the bonds of Brotherhood
were still strong between them.
    “So now we come back to the matter of Kelly.”
    “I’d rather we didn’t. She’s driving me crazy, but I can’t
have her. End of story.”
    “Perhaps not.” Dmitri shot him a glance that spoke of
mischief. Marc remembered that look. It had prefaced some wild times in the
past and always spelled trouble and pleasure in roughly equal measures.
    “What did you have in mind?”
    “Well, if you can’t have her in the flesh, maybe you could
have her in another way.”
    “Such as?”
    Dmitri’s grin turned downright devilish. “Are you up for a
little dreamwalking?”
    Marc wanted to deny the temptation, but he knew he wasn’t
strong enough. A Master, he had many gifts both physical and psychic but
dreamwalking was something Dmitri had perfected to an art over the years. He’d
always been fascinated by dreams and slept lighter than any other of their
Brotherhood. During the hours of daylight he often amused himself by
insinuating himself into mortal dreams, if he could find anyone asleep during
the day. Marc knew he found it amusing but Marc also suspected it was a way he
could still see the sun—in other people’s dreams.
    Dmitri had taken Marc along on his dream adventures before.
Invariably, he coaxed his mortal dreamers into reliving some vacation on a
sunny beach or even a simple Saturday afternoon ballgame in the park. Marc
couldn’t say he hadn’t enjoyed those phantasmical forays into the mortal,
sunlit world. Those memories were precious to him to this day.
    “You propose invading Kelly’s dreams?”
    “Come now, it wouldn’t be an invasion so much as a coaxing.
I saw the way she looked at you. She’s attracted, even if she doesn’t want to
be. I think she could really let go if she believed it was only a dream.”
    “You’d be there too?”
    “But of course, my friend. I’m better at this than you are
and we have shared women before.”
    “Kelly’s different.” Marc forced the words through his
teeth. He didn’t want to show any vulnerability where the mortal woman was
concerned, but Dmitri knew him too well. No doubt he’d already seen how deeply
involved Marc’s emotions were with the little human.
    “She is. Very different. She is a friend of our kind and a
good woman. Not at all like the girls we used to bed.” Dmitri moved closer, his
voice coaxing. “I like her too, Marc. It will be no hardship to bring her
pleasure, even if it’s just a dream. She’ll enjoy it and she’ll have no idea
that we’ll truly be sharing space on the dreamplane. We’ll treat her well,
Marc. Just like old times. No— better than old times.”
    Marc