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  Curled inside the translucent crystal shell, like a baby bird waiting to hatch, was a small, fragile looking human female.

  Merrick’s breath caught in his throat with surprise and knelt to get a closer look at her. She was completely naked and so petite that at first he thought she must be a child. But the full curves of her breasts and her softly rounded hips convinced him otherwise. There was also a tiny, neatly shaved mound of dark curls at the apex of her sex—oh yes, she was fully mature, a perfect, exquisitely formed female.

  She no longer reminded him of a baby bird, now he thought of the fanciful stories his mother had told him when he was little—stories of a beautiful young girl charmed into a magic sleep within the heart of a jewel that couldn’t be broken until the right male came to free her.

  He ran one hand over the thin crystal shell—it hummed, vibrating faintly under his fingers. Merrick shook his head. A stasis chamber—no wonder his instruments hadn’t detected any life signs. The chamber had slowed down all her vitals until they were almost nonexistent. She probably only drew breath once or twice a day—if that. And her heartbeat had been slowed too, probably to a single beat per hour.

  He wanted to see her face but a cloud of long black hair obscured it. There were a series of buttons on one side of the crystal chamber and he pressed them carefully, in the order that was indicated. A faint, musical chime sounded and the top shell of the chamber melted away, like snow in strong sunshine. Finally, the female’s form was completely revealed.

  What Merrick saw when the stasis chamber opened made him frown grimly. Someone had been beating this female—maybe even torturing her. The semi-transparent crystal had hidden what he could now clearly see as bruises on her upper arms and inner thighs. Also, her pale, porcelain skin was marked all over with tiny, cruel wounds.

  Merrick felt a surprising surge of pity in his gut. Gods, what the fuck had been done to her? And who had done it?

  Though he wasn’t known for his people skills, Merrick didn’t approve of harming females. Though they were frightened of his scarred visage and rough ways, he had never touched a woman in anger in his life, and he had only contempt for anyone who would. It was beneath a male to hit or hurt one who was powerless to defend against the attack. Only scum would do such a thing.

  Of course, opening the chamber broke the stasis. The female began breathing again and the pink flush to her skin proved her heart was pumping blood at a regular rate. But though her vital signs were returning to normal, she still hadn’t woken up. Wondering if her face had been marked, Merrick brushed the silky, black strands of her hair away.

  There were no wounds on her cheeks but someone had blacked one of her eyes for her—a ring of dark purple that marred the delicate perfection of her features. His big hands curled into fists at the sight and he felt a strange stirring in his chest. Could it be…pity he felt? It wasn’t an emotion he was familiar with but he thought it must feel something like this. Against his will, he was moved by the map of abuse he saw written on the small female’s pale skin.

  She stirred and this time he thought of a doll, one with perfectly painted features. But no doll he knew of made faces of fear and pain in its sleep. And no doll shivered and cried out, begging to be left alone.

  “No,” the girl moaned, in a soft contralto. “No, please…not again. I’ll do anything but don’t…” Her last words were lost in a mumble of sleep talk but she had begun to thrash inside her crystal shell, her face a mask of agony. It was almost as though she wasn’t just remembering the pain that had been done to her—she was still somehow feeling it. He didn’t know how he knew that, but Merrick was sure of it.

  Concerned that she would hurt herself, he reached down to gather her into his arms. She was so light and small it was almost like holding nothing. To his surprise and discomfort, she quieted at once and cuddled close to his chest. Her long black hair draped like a shawl over his arm as she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder.

  Now what the fuck am I supposed to do? Merrick looked down at the girl in his arms uncertainly. She had to wake up sometime but he didn’t want her to be upset when she did. And let’s be honest, if she gets a look at me, she’s gonna be upset. True. Any female waking up from a traumatic experience and seeing his scarred face and mismatched eyes would be terrified, not comforted. Better put her back down. He started to put her back in the chamber…and stopped. She felt so small and fragile in his arms—a delicate ornament that might break if he wasn’t very, very careful.

  Don’t be stupid, he told himself roughly. She’s just a female like any other. Put her down before she wakes up and screams bloody murder. Then she stirred against him, nestling closer to his warmth, and his heart seemed to skip a beat. Goddess, what was wrong with him?

  She stirred again and this time her bruised eye and cheekbone pressed against his arm. A faint cry came from her lips and an expression of pain passed over her delicate face. Though he usually didn’t give a damn for the suffering of others, the soft sound of distress moved something inside Merrick.

  A memory, long buried, surfaced in the back of his mind. He remembered himself running to his mother with some small wound—so long ago it was, back when his true father still lived. And his mother…She kissed it better. She kissed it better and it didn’t hurt after that.

  Merrick frowned. How long had it been since he’d thought of that—since he’d let himself remember that perfect, early time in his life before everything went to the seven hells? Years, probably. Dwelling on the past was yet another weakness he didn’t permit himself. And sometimes it hurt more to remember the good times than it did to remember the bad.

  Merrick looked at the Earth girl’s black eye again. Without thinking about it, he leaned down and pressed his lips to the dark ring of bruised skin. Then he asked himself why the hell he’d done such a thing—especially with a female he didn’t even know.

  At the brush of his lips, the girl in his arms stiffened and then stretched, like a cat waking up from a nap. Merrick pulled back quickly and got ready to put her down in a hurry. She was about to open her eyes and see him for the first time, and that was never a good thing as far as females were concerned.

  But when her eyelids, ringed with thick, black lashes, finally fluttered open to reveal large, dark brown eyes, there was no fear in them. Instead, Merrick saw only relief.

  “Oh, thank God!” she whispered hoarsely. To his surprise, she threw her arms around his neck and held him close. He felt hot tears on his neck and then she was whispering again. “Thank you, thank you for coming. I thought no one would. I thought he’d kill me. Oh God…”

  Merrick was bewildered. She had seen him but hadn’t screamed or tried to get away. Instead, she was hugging him tight enough to cut off his circulation. “Wait a minute,” he protested. “Wait a fucking minute, uh…”

  “Elise,” she finished for him. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

  “Elise,” he began. “I’m not sure who you think I am but I don’t even know who you are.” He frowned. “I don’t know who hurt you either but I’ll be happy to kill the son of a bitch for you if you’ll point him out.”

  “Then…then you’re not here to take me away? To save me?” She pulled back from him, her delicate features twisted into a knot of pain and fear. “Please don’t leave me here—please. He’ll kill me—I know it!” She hugged him again, her grip around his neck panicky-tight, and he could feel fresh tears against his shoulder. “Please,” she whispered. “Please, just take me away from here, away from him. Please.”

  Merrick reflected that it was a good thing he didn’t share the weakness other Kindred had—that urgent need to find and claim a bride. If he had, the feel of the tiny, fragile female in his arms and the sound of her soft, desperate pleas in his ear might have been his undoing.

  As it was, he wasn’t quite sure what to do. The role of comforter wasn’t one he’d ever played. Most females got away as quick as they could when they met him—not a single one had ev