As Twilight Falls

Kadie was surprised the next night, when, out of the blue, Saintcrow asked if she would like to go shopping with him.



"Sure," she said eagerly. "Where are we going?"



"To a local mall. I need to get something for the coven."



"I don't believe it!"



He shrugged. "It wasn't my idea, believe me. Are you ready?"



"Just let me get my jacket."



"Kadie?"



"What?"



"I'll want your promise that you won't do anything stupid."



"I promise," she said, and ran to get her coat.



It was a beautiful night for a drive. Kadie stared out the window, excited by the prospect of going shopping, even if it wasn't for her.



Saintcrow drove with the windows down, one arm resting on the back of her seat. It felt like they were flying down the road, making her hesitate to look at the speedometer.



She glanced at Saintcrow. "Can we turn on the radio?"



"Eager to hear the news of the day?"



"Can you blame me? I've been living in a vacuum for weeks."



With a shake of his head, he turned on the satellite radio and surfed the stations until he found a news program.



After five minutes, she'd heard enough. "It never changes, does it?"



"What's that?"



"The news." She skipped through the stations until she found one that played all oldies all the time. "It's always bad. Wars everywhere. Parents killing their children. Democrats and Republicans blaming each other for the horrible state of the economy, no one willing to take the blame for anything. It's so tiresome, and it never gets better. I don't know how you've stood it for nine hundred years."



"I rarely pay much attention to the news. The affairs of humanity don't have much effect on my kind. Sickness, wars, poverty, the price of gas . . . none of it matters. Our lives don't change. So long as people endure, we endure."



"Wow."



He grinned at her. "Wow, indeed."



"And as long as you endure, the people of Morgan Creek endure, for their lifetimes, anyway."



"So it goes."



She was still thinking about that when he pulled up in front of a covered mall. "Remember your promise," he warned when he opened her door.



Kadie took a deep breath as they entered the mall. She had always loved shopping, whether she was buying or just looking. There was something about wandering from store to store that appealed to her. One of her favorite comedians had remarked that some malls had birds, and how strange it must be for them, when going south for the winter meant flying to Sears.



She frowned when Saintcrow bought several iPhones. "What are those for?"



"The other vampires."



"Can I have my phone back?"



He looked at her a moment, then shrugged. "Why the hell not? There's just one thing-think carefully before you contact anyone. Because if anyone comes here looking for you, they'll never leave. You understand what I'm saying?"



"Perfectly."



"I hope so."



"Why iPhones?" she asked while waiting for the clerk to ring up his order.



"So they can stay in touch with each other on the outside."



"On the outside?" She stared at him. "I don't understand."



"I've agreed to let them go if that's what they want."



"That's wonderful!" Kadie exclaimed. "That means you won't need Marti and the others anymore. They can all go home!" Without noticing Saintcrow's silence, she thought how happy Marti would be to return to her husband and daughter. Kadie smiled. She couldn't wait to get back to Morgan Creek and tell Marti and the others the good news.



Saintcrow paid for the devices, then asked, "Where do you want to go now?"



"I could use some new clothes."



Saintcrow followed her as she wandered through Kohl's and Macy's. She had only to remark that she liked something-a pair of skinny jeans, a pink sweater, a lavender sweatshirt, a pair of white fuzzy slippers-and it was hers.



When they passed a Godiva candy store, she stopped. "Can I buy something for Marti and the others?"



"Why not? I'm Santa Claus, remember?"



Laughing, Kadie went inside and bought ten two-pound boxes of mixed chocolates for the human inhabitants of Morgan Creek, and a box of dark chocolate truffles for herself. She couldn't wait to pass out the candy, thinking how excited everyone would be when she told them they would soon be free to leave town.



"Should I wrap these?" the saleswoman asked.



"All but the box of dark chocolates, please."



"Now what?" Saintcrow asked when they left the candy store.



"I think you should buy something."



"Me? I don't need anything."



"Yes, you do." She regarded him a moment. "I think you need a red sweater."



"Your reason being?"



"I think you'd look good in red. And it's my favorite color."



"Mine, too," he replied with a wicked grin.



Kadie grimaced. "Bloodred, no doubt."



Laughing, he drew her into his arms and kissed her, right there in front of the Godiva store, with people watching. And applauding.



Later, Saintcrow watched in amazement as she gorged herself on two slices of pepperoni pizza, three scoops of ice cream-chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry-and a churro.



"I'm stuffed," she moaned as they left the mall. "Why did you let me eat so much?"



He slipped his arm around her, his gaze sweeping the parking lot. "Like I could have stopped you." Lifting his head, he tested the air, though it was hard to detect anything other than the lingering scents of the veritable feast Kadie had devoured.



He paused when he caught a faint movement out of the corner of his eye.



"Something wrong?" Kadie asked.



"No." They were at the car now. And the shadows were getting closer.



Kadie moaned softly as he opened the rear door and tossed the packages inside. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she said, "I think I'm going to be sick."



"Kadie, run!"



"What?"



"Run! Get the hell out of here!"



The urgency in his voice propelled her away from the car. Running as fast as she could, she sprinted toward the mall, then ducked behind a tree. There was no one following her.



Peering into the darkness, she watched four shadowy figures close in on Saintcrow. From this distance, it was hard to see what was happening. She heard the faint sound of scuffling, a hoarse cry of pain.



Should she go for help?



Hard on the heels of that thought came the realization that now was her chance to get away.



Instead, she crept back toward Saintcrow's car. The sounds of a struggle grew louder. Rounding the front of the car, she gasped. Four men wearing black clothing and hoods were trying to force Saintcrow to the ground. Even as she watched, he picked one of his attackers up and tossed him over the Corvette, sending him headf irst into a phone pole. With a sickening thud, the man slid to the ground and lay still.



The other three attackers launched themselves at Saintcrow again, their combined weight carrying him backward. They crashed to the ground with Saintcrow pinned beneath them. She heard muffled cries and groans, the smack of fists striking flesh. What were they doing to him?



Who were these guys?



They're vampire hunters.



One of them wielded a wooden stake. Without hesitation, Kadie sprinted across the lot toward the man on the ground. Frantic, she searched him for some kind of weapon, felt a surge of relief when she found a gun in a shoulder holster. The pistol was heavier than she expected. Holding it in both hands, she slowly circled the car, dodging another of the men in black as he flew across the blacktop. He hit a concrete block with a sickening thud.



Kadie fired the gun into the air.



Startled, the two men hovering over Saintcrow looked up.



She pointed the weapon at the biggest one. "Let him go!"



The man stared at her in amazement. "Lady, get the hell out of here!"



"I said let him go."



When the man shifted his weight, Saintcrow sprang to his feet. With a roar, he grabbed the two men by their throats, smashed their heads together, and tossed them aside. When he let them go, they sprawled facedown on the ground.



Kadie drew a shuddering breath when Saintcrow stepped into the moon's light. His skin was taut and pale. The whites of his eyes were tinged with red. Blood dripped from his fangs. He looked every inch the monster Rosemary declared him to be.



Seeing the horror on her face, he turned away, his hands clenched at his sides, his head lowered.



Kadie stared at his back, wondering why she was so shocked. She knew he was a vampire. She had felt his fangs at her throat. But never before had he looked so frightening. Never had she seen his eyes the color of blood. Except in her nightmares.



He turned slowly to face her, his body tense as if he expected her to turn and run screaming into the night.



Kadie took a deep breath, reminding herself she had nothing to fear from him. "Are they dead?" she asked, pleased when her voice hardly shook at all.



Some of the tension drained out of him. "Just unconscious."



"What about the other two?"



"They're dead." Prying the gun from her hand, he tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. "Come on, let's get out of here. That gunshot's sure to draw attention."



Burning rubber, he peeled out of the parking lot and didn't slow down until the mall was far behind them.



"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked. "I told you to run."



"You're bleeding." His shirt was torn in several places. A jagged piece of wood protruded from his stomach. A long gash spanned his chest from one side to the other. There was another cut along the side of his neck.



"Yeah."



"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked, pointing at the wood embedded in his flesh.



Biting back an oath, he withdrew the thing and tossed it away.



Kadie flinched. "Are you all right?"



"I will be. But the next time I tell you to run, you run. Those hunters would have killed you."



"Why? I'm not a vampire."



"They wouldn't have stopped to find that out. Guilt by association." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have brought you with me Why didn't you leave when you had the chance?"



"What?"



"You could have taken a taxi, gone to the airport. Left town. Why didn't you?"



"I would have, but all my camera equipment is still at your house."



He pulled the car off the road and turned sideways in his seat to face her.



Kadie met his gaze squarely, felt the brush of his mind against her own. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Don't you believe me?"



"No."



"I promised I wouldn't do anything stupid."



"But you did," he said flatly. "You stayed when you should have run."



She thought about what he'd said as he pulled back onto the highway. Was it a warning? Had she made a mistake in staying?



She slid a glance at him. He was staring at the road ahead, his jaw rigid. What was he thinking? If only she could read his mind for a change.



By the time they returned to Morgan Creek, his wounds had healed, leaving no trace.



After seeing Kadie into the house, Saintcrow retreated to his lair to clean up. She didn't miss the fact that he took all the phones with him.



In her room, Kadie put her new clothes away, took a quick shower, changed into her nightgown, and went back downstairs.



You stayed when you should have run. Had he been trying to tell her something?



She curled up in a corner of the sofa, trying to dismiss his words from her mind, but it was impossible. They had sounded so ominous.



She couldn't stifle a little shiver of unease when he returned a short time later. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and the red sweater she had picked out.



His favorite color. The color of blood.



"Are you all right?" he asked tersely.



She scrubbed her hands up and down her arms. "I'm a little cold," she lied.



He glanced at the fireplace and flames sprang to life in the hearth.



She stared up at him. He stood in front of the fireplace, looking incredibly tall and strong. Powerful. Supernatural.



She flinched when he took a step toward her. Forcing a smile, she said, "I was right. Red is your color."



He didn't miss the tremor in her voice. "What's wrong, Kadie?"



"Nothing," she said quickly. "What could be wrong?"



"What are you afraid of ?" he asked, and then frowned. "You're afraid of me again. Why?" It was a stupid question. She had seen the monster beneath the civilized veneer he habitually wore.



"Because . . . I . . . what you said . . ."



"What I said?"



"You told me I stayed when I should have run. Why did you say that? What did you mean?"



"Only that you won't get another chance." He raked a hand through his hair, then sat beside her. "Vampires are notoriously selfish creatures."



"So?" She shook her head. What did that have to do with anything?



"I've never kept a woman with me," he said. "Most of us are solitary creatures by nature. I didn't want to share anything of myself with anyone else. And then you came along, and I found myself wanting your company."



"I still don't understand."



"When the other vampires go, you'll be staying here."



She had expected that. "You're not making any sense."



"You're staying," he said. "And because I want you here, the women will be staying, too."



"But why? You said you don't drink from them."



"I don't want you to be alone during the day. Here they are, and here they'll stay."



"I don't need them, Rylan. Let them leave. They have families. . . ."



"My mind's made up, Kadie. Let it go."



She clenched her teeth, horrified to think that Marti and the others would have to remain here because Saintcrow wanted her to have company. Suddenly, it was all too much. What kind of company would they be when they found out he was keeping them here because of her? They would probably never speak to her again, and she wouldn't blame them.



"I'm going to bed," she said abruptly. Avoiding his eyes, she rose from the sofa and hurried out of the room.



Saintcrow started after her. He flinched when he heard the slam of her door, the turn of the lock. As if a lock could keep him out.



Cursing under his breath, he left the house in search of prey. It was time to act like a vampire instead of a lovesick teenager.