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bumpy patch of scar tissue there.  It healed, he said.  How did it
heal already?
Jacob at the Break of Dawn 89
 Because you re mine, angel, Alex whispered, pressing a final
kiss against the bite. He kissed the fingers Jacob pressed against it,
too, and Jacob could feel him smile against the digits.  Or maybe I
should call you mate.
Mate, Jacob repeated to himself, happily. Alex was his now,
forever. And nothing on this plane or the next was ever going to tear
them apart, he thought sleepily as his eyes closed and he gave himself
over to the darkness.
* * * *
Murdock felt at home in the darkness.
He turned restlessly in his bed, the silken sheets sliding off his
cold body. He had long since woken, but he didn t move a muscle to
rouse himself, instead waiting for his servants to part the canopy that
encompassed the wide bed as they did every evening before they
attended to his waking. These silly nightly rituals weren t the reason
for his influence over the legions he commanded, but nevertheless,
they were important. And besides, he wanted to linger here just a little
longer before the throngs arrived to attend to him.
He had just had the most marvelous dream.
Murdock closed his eyes, just for a moment longer, letting the
memory wash over him. The rough hands measuring out discipline to
the weaker body bucking and shouting underneath them. The rush of
strength and power as the dominant mind gave itself over and joined
with Jacob s. The familiar lines of his face when Murdock finally
glimpsed the identity of Jacob s mate.
This living man would now reside within Jacob s mind and body
and soul with the legions of others who already existed there, with
Murdock, who now ruled over those legions. Murdock was no longer
alive, was not even undead anymore, but his spirit had found a vessel
in the mind of Jacob Walker. Murdock had been embarrassed,
mortified even, of Jacob s lifelong affliction when he was alive, but
90 Ellen Ginsberg
now his tendency to draw the souls of others inside him like moths to
a flame had proven quite useful to his dear old dad. Anyone who
Jacob s vulnerable mind had drawn into it had made himself
vulnerable to Murdock as well. There were many spirits gathered here
that had been tortured, beaten, or harmed for pleasure during the war,
but Murdock would take an especial joy in abusing this new soul.
Alexander Craven looked exactly like his father. Murdock had
been waiting to exact his revenge on Mitchell and Adrianna Craven
for a very long time. And now he would have it. Their oldest son had
been handed to Murdock on a silver platter.
He had mated with Murdock s son.
Murdock was roused from his thoughts when the canopy was
flung open to reveal the throng of waiting, nameless servants ready to
attend the vampire king the moment he sat upright. He rose, arching
his back, opening his eyes, and smiling to the attendants who had
anxiously awaited the ritual.
As was the nightly custom, they applauded him wildly.
The nervous, waiting throng kept clapping, waiting for some
signal from their king to cease. A slight nod of Murdock s head
toward the nearest of them, accompanied by a restrained and dignified
smile brought the applause to a halt.
 That ll serve nicely. Thank you, he told the man. Then, before
the man could turn to fetch his clothes, he caught his arm.  Bring
Jacob.
The servant nodded and bowed, wandering to the door and
disappearing out of it in that strange, somnambulant way all the
inhabitants had here. It wasn t the way Murdock remembered
Morgana before his death, where even the undead territories of the
vampires pulsed with vibrant energy. No, the inhabitants of this realm
may be alive, but just barely. Out on Morgana, they were probably
hardly even cognizant of their actions. Instead, they were drawn here,
to Murdock, through one of the multitude of red doors that resided in
Jacob s mind. Those doors opened up from time to time, ferrying in
Jacob at the Break of Dawn 91
and out the legions of those who simply could not bring themselves to
get over the scars they d suffered during the war into this ethereal
afterspace Murdock had fashioned into his kingdom.
The crimson-colored double doors to his inner chambers opened,
and Jacob entered, trailed by the servant who returned to blend in with
the throng of attendants who stripped off Murdock s bedclothes and
helped to dress him in his bloodred tails and top hat. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]