Vara could see he was worried, and she wanted to believe that his concern was for the both of them, even with recent nihilistic discussion.  She closed the distance between them and kissed his lips, cupping the sides of his face in her hands.  It was a long moment before she pulled back again, she was savoring this sensation because he was right, they did not know how things would go when they went up against Blackvayne.<br/><br/>“I don’t think it’s your ego.  I have faith.”  It probably meant little to him, because faith in and of itself was something that was so connected with the idea that there was some grand design in all of this, but it was the truth.  Vara believed their connection mattered and she believed it might be able to keep Blackvayne at bay.  She held him for a moment longer and then she padded back into the bedroom and unmade the bed enough for both of them to slip in once he was ready.<br/><br/>The blankets were warm and the bed was soft, more so than even the bed she had slept on in Blackvayne’s castle.  Vara laid there, considering that thought, and images of the vampire immediately came to her mind, as if he was pressing at the door to her thoughts.  Or maybe that was just memory, he had pressed images of the possibilities of them sharing her bed into her mind many times.  He thought they would be enticing, but Vara had just found them intrusive.