His steed was fast, but Ziri had a lead on him. Hopefully she'd have to spend some time planning, and she took a slow pace, imagining that D would be out of commission for longer that he had been. Luckily, D was correct. Ziri was far ahead of him, but she slowed to a stop as she neared Centelion's border and the sun sank. She'd gotten lucky the last time she'd faced danger and hadn't had a plan, but this time she'd be up against more than a dozen full vampires… At night. Not a good plan at all.
The thought of Ophelia that whorish slut seducing that young boy and then destroying his life made her blood boil. She wouldn't let her do it. But she was running out of time. Tonight could be the night she claimed his life, if she hadn't already. What then? Half the bounty would be gone, and she'd have let Ophelia get away with the inevitable, and the stoppable. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she needed a plan! She knew that there probably weren't more than fifteen vampires, still a large number to be seen together in these days. And a very large number to try to take on at night on their home turf. She somehow needed an advantage over them. The only solution she could think of would be daylight, but time was against her, and against James.
As night fell the Vampires began to wake and rise from their coffins. James was roused from a fitful sleep by Ophelia, whose he'd slept beside that night. He smiled to see her. She made him feel so excited and nervous whenever he saw her.
Could it be love? He thought, Could I love a vampire? He wondered what his father would say…And yet, every time he saw her lovely smile, and with each glass of sweet wine and each note of soft music he wondered why the Vampires were hated so, and why it would be so wrong to love Ophelia. Her people were merry and jovial, always very polite to "Master James". Somehow in the back of his mind, he knew they were murderers. He knew that if he turned for but a moment their fangs would be in his neck before he could breathe, but it was pushed further and further back into his consciousness as he watched Ophelia dance in the starlight.