“But she’s all right?” I took a sip of the coffee. It was black and strong and bitter. I drank it anyway.
He nodded. “I owe Cordova a debt I can never repay.”
“And she’s all right with being a Vampire now?”
“She said she was glad to be alive, but she’s worried about her kids.”
That was understandable. She would have to find someone to look after them during the day now, someone to take them to school and pick them up, drive them to the dentist and Little League. How would she explain her sudden aversion to light, the fact that she didn’t eat, or sleep at night?
“Tell me about you.” I put the empty cup aside. “What’s it like to be a shape-shifter? Do you like it?”
“What’s it like to be human?” he asked. “Do you like it?”
“Touché.”
“It’s what I am, what I’ve always been. A leopard can’t change his spots,” he said, grinning, “or, in my case, his stripes.”
“It’s different than being a Werewolf, though, isn’t it? I mean, you don’t run around killing people, do you?”
He shrugged. “It’s been known to happen, on occasion.”
I had a sudden mental image of Rick McGee lying on the floor in a deserted house.
“So, how serious is it with you and the Vampire?”
“I don’t know what you think of me,” I said sharply, “but I don’t sleep around.”
“You’re in love with him?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“He drank from you last night. It wasn’t the first time, was it?”
When I didn’t answer, he shook his head in disgust. “How can you let him do that? It’s disgusting.”
I lifted a hand to my neck. “That’s what I thought, too, until it happened to me.” And then I frowned. “Susie’s a Vampire now, remember? What if she wants to taste you? Are you going to refuse?”
“Damn right,” he said, but I heard the hesitation in his voice and knew he was thinking about it, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
“It’s quite wonderful.”
He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “He’s brainwashed you, hasn’t he?”
“No, although I guess he could if he wanted to.”
Cagin grunted softly. “Life sure as hell gets complicated sometimes, doesn’t it?” he muttered, and I knew he wasn’t just talking about himself and Susie.
Complicated, I thought. That had to be the understatement of the century.
“I’m still hungry,” he said. “What do you say we order a pizza? With lots of garlic?”
I grinned, happy to see that his good mood had been restored.
We spent the next hour watching TV and eating pizza, and then we played cards with a deck I found while snooping in the kitchen drawers.
“So,” I asked during a lull in the conversation, “what are you and Susie going to do now?”
“I asked her to marry me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. She said she’d think about it.” He rubbed his palm against his thigh. “I probably spoke too soon. Hell, I killed her husband. She’s never going to forget that, no matter how long she thinks about it.”
“You saved her life,” I reminded him. “Twice.” Once when he’d saved her from Rick, and again last night, when he had insisted that Rafe bring her across.
“I guess it’s all in how you look at it,” he muttered.
“She cares for you. Anyone can see that.”
“She’s the first woman I’ve ever loved.” His voice was so low, I could scarcely hear it. “And she’ll be the last.”
The look in his eyes and the fervent tone of his voice touched a chord deep inside me.
We played another hand of cards, and then Cagin pushed away from the table and stood. “I’m going to go look in on her.”
“All right.” I went to the room’s single window and drew back the heavy drapes. Through the thick iron bars, I could see that the sun had gone down. Rafe had said he would rise at sundown. Was he awake? Maybe waiting for me to join him in bed?
While I was deciding what to do, Cagin returned to the living room. “She’s gone.”
“Gone?” I shook my head. “How can that be? We’d have seen her leave.”
“Would we?”
I hurried down the hallway to Rafe’s bedroom. Opening the door, I peered inside. The sheets were rumpled, but the bed was empty.
I glanced over my shoulder at Cagin, who was standing in the doorway behind me. “Where can they be?”
Susie stared at the young man who stood, unmoving, in front of her, then glanced at Rafe. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“Sure you can.”
She looked back at the man that Rafe had mesmerized, her expression doubtful.
“Susie, stop thinking like a mortal. You’re a Vampire now, and you need to feed. I know you can feel the hunger inside you. Surrender to it, to what you are.”
“You want me to drink his blood?”
“It’s what you’re craving,” Rafe said patiently. “It’s the only thing that will relieve the pain. And it’s natural for you now. Sweet, like nothing else.”
She made a face. “Yuck!”
“Trust me on this. Here, this will make it easier.” Grasping the man’s shoulders, Rafe scraped his fangs along the side of the man’s neck. A thin ribbon of bright red oozed from the shallow incision. The coppery scent of blood rose in the air.
Drawn by the scent, Susie took a step forward, her nostrils flaring. Slowly, her eyes took on a faint red glow. Her lips parted, and Rafe saw her fangs, sharp and white and ready.
“That’s it,” he said. “Take him in your arms, gently now. You don’t want to hurt him.”
A harsh laugh rose in her throat. “Why are you worrying about my hurting him? I’m going to kill him.”
“No, you don’t have to kill.”
“I don’t? But I thought…isn’t that what Vampires do?”
“Not all of us. Whether you kill him or not is up to you.”
“What if I can’t stop myself?”
“That’s why I’m here.”
With a soft cry of resignation, Susie wrapped her arms around the man and buried her fangs in his neck. His head lolled back against her arm, his body quivering, but he made no sound, offered no protest, no cry of pain.
Rafe stood nearby, his own hunger rising as he watched Susie feed. When he judged she had taken enough, he put his hand on her arm and drew her away.
She turned on him with a feral hiss, her eyes blazing.
“No more,” Rafe said. “If you’re still hungry, we’ll find someone else.”
She stared at him, her gaze fixed on his throat.
“Vampires don’t feed on Vampires,” Rafe said, his voice sharp. “They take a drink now and then, but never more than that.”
Rafe spoke a few words to the man, erasing the memory of what had happened from his mind, and then sent him on his way.
Susie stared after him. Gradually, the heat faded from her eyes as her fangs retracted. “I have a lot to learn, don’t I?”
“It’ll come to you, bit by bit. Or,” he said, grinning, “bite by bite. How do you feel?”
“Wonderful! Like I could fly.”
Rafe grinned. “You will, in time.”
“What about my kids? Will they be safe around me? And what about my parents, my friends? How will I explain my sudden aversion to food and the fact that I can’t go out during the day and…” Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Maybe you should have just let me die.”
“Stop it. You’ve got a lot to live for. And, unless I miss my guess, Cagin will be right there to help you.”
Her expression softened at the mention of Cagin’s name. “He asked me to marry him.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“How can I? How can I trust myself to marry anyone, or trust anyone I marry?”
“Do you love him?”
“I don’t know. I think so, but…” She shook her head. “He killed Rick, and even though he did it to save my life…how can I live with the man who killed the father of my children?”
“How can you live without him?”
“I don’t know.”
Rafe put his arm around Susie’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “It’ll all work out, one way or the other. Now, do you want to go back to my place, or are you still hungry?”
She licked her lips, her eyes glowing. “I want some more.”
I was watching the news, or pretending to, when Rafe and Susie entered the room. I hadn’t heard them come in and couldn’t hide my surprise at seeing them, nor could I stop staring at Susie. She had been a pretty young woman before, but now she was radiant. Her skin seemed to glow, her eyes looked brighter, her hair appeared thicker and more lustrous. Apparently, becoming a Vampire was better than a face-lift or a day at the spa. Of course, there were a few trade-offs, like giving up food and sunshine for blood and moonlight.
Cagin sprang to his feet when he saw her. “Where the hell have you been?”
She looked at Rafe, as though for reassurance.
“We’ve been hunting,” Rafe said calmly. He glanced around the room, making me wish I had cleared the empty pizza box and plastic coffee cups from the coffee table.
Eyes narrowed, Cagin looked at Susie as if he had never seen her before, and then he sighed. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, but, dammit, didn’t you think I’d be worried when I went in to check on you and you were gone? For all I knew, those crazy hunters had you again.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, moving closer to Rafe. “I didn’t think about that.”
“All right, everybody just calm down,” Rafe said. “If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I thought it would be best for all concerned if Susie went hunting with me the first time.”
“So,” Cagin said, obviously ill at ease with the idea of his lady love hunting for prey, “how was it?”
Susie smiled up at Rafe. “Not as bad as I thought it would be. Rafe was very kind and patient with me.”
Cagin glared at Rafe. “Is that right?”
“Back off, Cagin,” Rafe said, bristling. “She needed someone to teach her what to do. If I didn’t do it, who would? You?”
Cagin clenched his hands at his sides.
For a minute, I thought the two of them were going to fight again.
“Joe, please don’t be angry,” Susie said, moving to his side. “Please don’t make this any more difficult than it already is.”
Cagin muttered an oath, but the anger washed out of his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He glanced at Rafe and then at me. “If you two will excuse us, I think Susie and I need to talk.”
Rafe inclined his head, and Cagin and Susie left the room.
“Where did you go?” I asked. “What happened?”
“Just what I said. I took her hunting, just as my father once took me.”
“You’re not her father.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. She’s my fledgling, and I’m her sire. She belongs to me now, in a way she’ll never belong to Cagin.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that. In fact, I’m sure of it.”
Rafe smiled indulgently as he sat beside me on the sofa. “We’re not bound the way you and I are bound,” he assured me. “No one else will ever share what we have.” His knuckles slid over my cheek. “Don’t you know that?”
When he looked at me like that, how could I doubt him?
“So, she’s going to be all right, then?”
“I think so.”
“She looks different. Does becoming a Vampire affect everyone that way?”
He nodded.
“Too bad you can’t bottle it,” I muttered. “You could make a fortune.”
“You’re angry.”
I tossed a lock of hair over my shoulder. “Why should I be angry?”
“Jealous, then.”
I would have denied it, but what was the point? He could read the truth in my mind. I blew out a sigh, annoyed with myself for being jealous of a Vampire, no matter how pretty she was. So what if she would never grow old, never get sick? She would never enjoy a good meal again, never take her children to the park on a sunny day, never share her whole life with her sons, or with the man she loved. Shape-shifters lived longer than humans, but not as long as Werewolves or Vampires. Susie, it seemed, was destined to live a long life as one creature or the other. Barring accidents, she might outlive Cagin.
“Kathy?”
I didn’t want to talk about Susie anymore, didn’t want to delve too deeply into the reason for my jealousy, so I changed the subject. “What do you suppose Edna and Pearl are up to?”
“I don’t know,” Rafe said, his voice brittle, “but I intend to find out.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I’m going after them, back to the lab, if necessary.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Don’t worry. They won’t take me unaware this time.”
“But…”
“Someone has to stop them,” he said. “If I don’t do it, who will?”
“What about Mara?”
“Mara’s not here.”
“What about Clive? Or…”
He silenced me by pulling me into his arms and kissing me.
Mumbling, “You don’t fight fair,” I closed my eyes and lost myself in his touch.
I forgot everything else until I heard Cagin clear his throat.
“What do you want?” Rafe asked gruffly.
“We need to decide what to do. Susie and I can’t stay here forever.”
Rafe kissed the tip of my nose, then drew me against his side. “I’m going after Edna and the others.”
“When?”
“Later tonight.”
“I’ll go with you,” Cagin said.
“Me, too,” Susie said.
Rafe nodded. “We’ll wait until after midnight.”
“Where do you think they’ll be?” Cagin asked. He sat in one of the chairs, and Susie sat in the one across from him.
“No telling. We’ll start at Edna’s place. If she’s not there, we’ll assume they’re out at the lab.”
“And if they aren’t there?” Susie asked.
“Then they’re probably out looking for us,” Rafe said.
“Maybe we should bait a trap and let them come to us,” Cagin suggested. “Take them on our turf, on our terms.”
Rafe frowned. “What do you have in mind?”
“We could let the girls go to Kathy’s house. Sooner or later, one of the hunters will come looking for them there, and when they do, we’ll be waiting.”
Rafe shook his head. “Forget it. I’m not using Kathy for bait.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Susie said. “Don’t you think so, Kathy?”
“I guess so.”
Rafe glared at me. “I said forget it.”
“Susie will be with me,” I argued. “She’s a Vampire now. Doesn’t she have the same powers that you do?”
“More or less,” Rafe admitted grudgingly.
“No matter what we decide to do, I need a change of clothing,” Susie declared. “I can’t stand my own smell.” She looked at Cagin and wrinkled her nose. “You could do with a change of clothes, too.”
“Dammit,” Rafe said, “we’ve got more important things to worry about than that.”
“Easy for you to say,” I remarked, “since you’re wearing clean clothes! Besides, you said you’d take me home tonight.”
A muscle worked in his jaw.
“Just let Susie and me go home and get some clean clothes and whatever else we need. Then we can stay at my house for a while and see if anyone shows up. If nothing happens by say, 2:00
A.M
., we’ll come back here and regroup.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cagin said.
Rafe shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
I laid my hand on his arm. “I know you don’t. But I’m in this, too, and whatever plan you come up with, I intend to be a part of it.”
“Stubborn woman,” he muttered, not for the first time. “Come on, let’s go.”
We went to Susie’s house first. She packed a bag, and then Rafe drove us to my place.
“We’ll be nearby,” he said. “I’ve taken your blood, Kathy, and Susie’s, too. If anything happens in there, I’ll know it as soon as you do.”
“I’m not worried,” I said.
“No?”
“All right, maybe a little.” I slid my arms around his waist. “I love you.”
“I know.”
“Reading my mind again?”
He shook his head. “I can see it in your eyes.” Drawing me closer, he kissed me, and then whispered, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”
His words and the husky tone of his voice sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine.
He kissed me again and then headed for the door. Cagin kissed Susie on the cheek, then followed Rafe out of the house.
The sound of the door closing behind them echoed in my mind.
Rats in a trap,
I thought as I locked the door, that’s what we were, and then I told myself I had nothing to worry about. I had a Vampire in the house with me, another one outside, along with a Were-tiger. If the three of them couldn’t protect me, no one could.
I looked at Susie. “So,” I asked, “do you want to wash up first, or should I?”
“Go ahead,” she said, “it’s your house, after all.”
“All right. Make yourself at home.”
I went into the bathroom, turned on the water in the tub, set the controls for hot water, and added lavender bubble bath. While waiting for the tub to fill, I went into the bedroom and packed a bag—nothing fancy, just jeans, T-shirts, and sweaters. I thought fleetingly of the bookstore. I hadn’t been there in days, but that didn’t seem important now.
Returning to the bathroom, I undressed and stepped into the tub, reveling in the blessedly warm water. I soaked for a good fifteen minutes, then, mindful that Susie was waiting, I scrubbed from head to foot and got out of the tub. Wrapped in a towel, I dried my hair and then, feeling 110 percent better, I pulled on a pair of navy blue-and-white-striped pajama bottoms and a navy blue T-shirt and went into the living room.
“Nothing like a hot bath,” I said, taking a seat on the sofa.
Susie looked up from the magazine she had been thumbing through. “Finished so soon?”
“I figured you were as anxious to wash off the smell of the lab as I was. I’ll fix us some coffee while you…oh, sorry.”
Susie smiled uncertainly; then, picking up her bag, she left the room.
I stared after her. If I had to choose between being a Vampire or a Werewolf, I’d pick Werewolf, hands down. They might not have all the Supernatural powers Vampires had, they might not live as long, but at least they could eat regular food and enjoy a cup of hot coffee.
I wandered through the house while I waited for the coffee to heat. I’d probably have to close the bookstore and leave town. The thought saddened me. I liked it here, but I didn’t see how we could stay after all that had happened.
I had started a fire in the fireplace and was sipping a second cup of coffee when Susie padded into the room. She wore a long pink robe over a pink and white nightgown, and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers. Her dark curly hair framed her face. She looked more like a pixie than a Vampire.
Her gaze slid away from mine as she curled up in one of the chairs. She seemed uneasy in my presence. Was it because she was uncomfortable with her new state of being, or because I was now prey?
Unnerved by her silence, I turned on the TV and began surfing through the channels. I wasn’t really paying attention until I saw Susie’s picture pop up on Oak Hollow’s community station.
“That’s me!” she exclaimed. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I said, startled to see my own photograph and Cagin’s appear beside Susie’s, along with photos of the other men and women Edna and Pearl had kidnapped. We were all there, except for Rafe and the other Vampires, of course, since they didn’t photograph.
I leaned forward as the reporter, who looked extremely serious, stared into the camera and said, in a somber tone, “If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of any of these people, please contact the Oak Hollow Police Department immediately. The men and women in question are believed to have been inadvertently exposed to a rare and deadly virus that is extremely contagious. Symptoms include paranoia and delusions. Do not attempt to intercept these people yourself as they are considered armed and dangerous. Again, call the police if you have any information. In other local news…”
“I don’t believe it!” Susie exclaimed. “Edna and Pearl have all the nerve in the world.”
“We’re going to have to leave town,” I said, thinking the decision had been taken out of our hands. “After tonight, we won’t be safe anywhere in Oak Hollow, and probably not in River’s Edge.”
“We’ll have to tell the guys when they get here,” Susie said. “They’ll know what to do.”
“I hope so.” I quickly flipped through the other news channels. “Let’s hope it’s only been reported on the local station.”
We stared at each other a moment.
I sipped my coffee. If Edna and Pearl managed to get our photographs broadcast on the major news channels, we wouldn’t be safe anywhere.
After a moment, Susie ran her fingers through her hair, then folded her hands in her lap. “Kathy…”
“What?”
“Are we…are we still friends?”
“Of course,” I said, frowning. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Because of what I was, what I am….”
“Susie, I’m in love with a Vampire. Why would I object to having one for a friend?”
She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I can’t believe my bad luck. Just when I tell myself things can’t get any worse, they do! How am I going to raise my children?” A sob rose in her throat; a single red tear slid down her cheek.
That, more than anything else, seemed to emphasize the change in her.
“You’re still alive,” I said. “I’d call that lucky.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Cagin loves you.”
“He’s just another complication.” Susie pulled a tissue from the pocket of her bathrobe and blew her nose. “He asked me to marry him. Did he tell you that? How can I? He killed my husband. Oh, I know, Rick was about to kill me, but…” She wiped the tear from her cheek with a corner of the tissue. “I just don’t know what to do anymore. How could I have lived with Rick for so many years and never known what kind of man he was? Never suspected he was a hunter? If he hid that from me, I can’t help but wonder what else he was hiding. My mother always said I was too trusting. I guess she was right.” Another tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away. “I miss my sons. They must think I’ve abandoned them.”
“You can call them tomorrow night,” I said. “I’m sure they’re anxious to hear from you.”
She sighed heavily. “What can I say? Even if they were old enough to understand, I couldn’t tell them the truth about what happened to their father, or about anything else, for that matter.”
“You can tell them you love them.”
“Yes,” Susie said, very quietly. “I can tell them that.” She toyed with the sash on her bathrobe. “Maybe I should give them up and let my mother raise them.”