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scolding him over the phone caused him to cringe.
It s been
She cut him off. It s been over thirty years, young man. Do you know
how worried I ve been about you? You would think that my youngest son
would call at least once a decade. But no. Mr. I m-almost-eight-hundred
doesn t think his poor mother still worries about him. Your brother
Angelo checks in with me now and then. She sniffed, Even Thomas
comes by for dinner every few years. But not you. No, my baby, the
youngest of all my children is far too old for anything like that. Do you
know how worried I was? I was getting ready to send your brother
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Sandy Lynn
Raphael to track you down. Who knows what could have happened to
you. If you don t check in with me more often, young man, I will track
you down myself and then may the gods help you. You aren t too old for
me to put over my knee, you know.
Throughout his mother s lecture Seth couldn t help but feel horrible
that he hadn t called his mother earlier. He honestly hadn t believed she
would be this worried about him.
& could have been caught in the sunlight, or by one of those strange
humans who are determined to stake us. Why did your cousin Vlad have
to brag so much? If it weren t for him there would never have been a
book, and no vampire movies& His mother still cringes whenever
someone brings that up, the poor dear. Well, it doesn t set everything
right, but I heard he s still locked in his bedroom, and she only sends up
old men every few days to feed him. None of the pretty young things that
he used to drink from, I can guarantee you that. Teach him to blab our
secrets to everyone& Oh, and your sister Grace sent me the most
delightful pictures of her children
Mom, I wanted to ask you something. It s kind of important, Seth
interrupted her gossip. Now that her lecture was over, his mom was once
again her usual bubbly self. And he needed to ask his question before
the conversation turned into her asking when he was going to have
children of his own.
Of course, baby, what did you need to know?
I was wondering if you would tell me that old bedtime story I used to
love.
His mother chuckled. Almost eight hundred and you still want to
hear that old legend?
I tried to remember it, but I couldn t. He paused. It s really
important, Mom. Please?
You always did say that. She laughed. Alright. She sighed as only
a mother can. Clearing her throat, she began her story. Many years ago,
so long ago that not even their names are remembered, long before my
great-grandmother s time, there was a powerful wizard. He fell in love
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Kiss and Tell
with a beautiful maiden, with hair the color of the sun and eyes the color
of the sky on a clear summer day. For a while the wizard watched her
from afar, marveling that he was only able to see her dancing under the
moon. Not once did he ever see her during the daylight, no matter how
hard he tried. He d started to wonder if she were some kind of dream.
But after a while, he finally gathered his courage and approached the
maid. Instead of being afraid when he approached her, she laughed with
him. They spoke until the first rays of dawn appeared in the sky. When
he asked if he could see her again, she promised she would return the
following night.
Weeks passed and always, the wizard was waiting in the meadow
when she arrived. They were often seen dancing under the light of the
moon. It didn t take long for both to begin looking forward to their time
together beneath the night sky, of being kissed by the moonlight.
You must remember, this was long before things such as witchcraft
and dancing were seen as sinful, as evil. Every night they fell more
deeply in love. Finally, one night after the wizard swore his undying love
for her, the maiden decided to tell him her most protected secret. She
told him about her hunger for blood, how she would never be able to see
the sunlight because it would kill her.
At first the wizard scoffed at her. Thinking the maiden was simply
trying to scare him, he took several steps away from her, trying to decide
what he should do. He d heard of such creatures before, but they were
always monsters. Vicious beings who wouldn t hesitate to kill because
their lust for blood was all-consuming. How could this beautiful, gentle
maid be such a creature, he wondered. Turning to her, he asked for proof
of what she said. Before he had time to blink his eyes, the maiden was
once more beside him, pulling his head down to her own for a kiss. In
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