As Twilight Falls

In the morning, it was difficult for Kadie to sit at the breakfast table with her father and pretend she hadn't overheard his conversation the night before. She had a million questions she was dying to ask him, like when had he become a vampire hunter, and if her mother knew, and how many vampires he had killed, and did he really intend to hunt Saintcrow.



Those questions and more chased themselves through her mind as she listened to her mother and father discuss their plans for the day, the weather, the latest headlines, Kathy's prognosis.



"In a word, not good," her father said. "It's taking her longer each time to absorb the infusion. And the effects aren't lasting as long as they should."



Kadie studied her father surreptitiously. How was it possible that he'd managed to hide the fact that he was a hunter from her and her mother all these years?



"Kadie, you're very quiet this morning," her father said. "Is everything all right?"



"Yes, of course. I'm just a little tired."



"I'm not surprised," her mother said. "You were out pretty late last night."



"Quite the night owl, your friend," her father remarked.



Kadie looked at him sharply. Was he fishing? Trying to find out if she knew Saintcrow was a vampire?



"Are you serious about Mr. Saintcrow?" her mother asked. "I was under the impression you'd just met."



"I'm in love with him."



Her father rose from the table so abruptly that his chair tumbled to the floor with a loud crash.



"For goodness' sake, Ralph, what's gotten into you?"



"Nothing." He righted the chair, then stood with one hand braced on the back. "Is he in love with you?"



"I don't know."



Her father glanced at his watch. "I'm late for a meeting." He drained his coffee cup, kissed her mother on the cheek, and strode out of the room.



Was he going after the other vampire, Kadie wondered, or going hunting for Rylan? Questions flooded her mind. How did her father find those he hunted? What did he do with the bodies? Were the hunters organized? Sanctioned by the government?



"Where is Mr. Saintcrow?" her mother asked.



"Attending to business," Kadie said. "He'll be back tonight." But not if she could help it. He wasn't safe here.



The day passed with agonizing slowness. Her mother took her to lunch and then they spent the rest of the afternoon at the hospital with Kathy. Carolyn read to Kathy for a while, and then the three of them played a few hands of Uno. Later, Kathy challenged Kadie to a game of checkers. It was impossible for Kadie to concentrate. She was concerned about her sister's illness, worried by the fact that Rylan was in danger and there was no way to warn him.



"You're not paying attention," Kathy said when she beat Kadie three games in a row. "Is something wrong?"



"No, of course not," Kadie said, smiling as she set up the checkerboard again. "This game is mine."



Kadie and her mother left the hospital an hour later. By then, Kadie's nerves were so taut, it was all she could do to keep from screaming.



At home, her mother went into the kitchen to start dinner.



Kadie stood at the window in the living room, staring out. Where was her father? Where was Rylan? Was the young vampire Saintcrow had told her about still alive, or had her father and his friends hunted him down and driven a stake into his heart?



She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat when she imagined a hunter destroying Rylan.



She let the curtain fall back into place when she saw her father coming up the walk. Outwardly, he looked the same as always, but he was forever changed in her eyes. He was a doctor, sworn to save lives. How could he, in good conscience, destroy life? And even as she pondered that question, she knew what his answer would be. He wasn't taking a life. Vampires were already dead.



She felt herself tense as he opened the door.



"Hey, pumpkin," he said cheerfully. "Were you waiting for me?"



She shook her head. Did he smell like blood, or was it just her imagination?



"Something wrong?" He shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed it over the back of the sofa. "Is your mother home?"



"She's in the kitchen. Fixing dinner. Pork chops. And stuffing."



"Good. I'm starved." He regarded her a moment, his brow furrowed. "Kadie?"



"How was your day?"



"Same as always. Kathy told me she beat you at checkers. Your visit really cheered her up." He glanced around the room. "Saintcrow not here yet?"



"No."



"Well, it's still early," her father remarked, and headed for the kitchen calling his wife's name.



Kadie stared after him. She had known him all her life, she thought, and yet she didn't really know him at all.



Kadie was a nervous wreck by the time Saintcrow arrived. As quickly as she could, she hustled him out of the house.



"What's going on?" he asked as he pulled away from the curb.



"We have to leave. My dad's a hunter, and so are two of his friends."



"I know."



"You do? How did he find out about you? And why aren't you more upset?"



"I doubt if he intends to try and take my head while I'm at your house. He'll never find me when I'm at rest, and if he did . . ." He shrugged.



Kadie stared at him. "You wouldn't hurt him?"



Saintcrow glanced in the rearview mirror. "No, but his friends are fair game."



"I don't believe this." She shook her head. "Does my mother know?"



"If she does, she hides it well."



"I think we should leave tomorrow night. My dad's friends want your head."



"So do a lot of other people, but I'm still using it."



"This isn't funny!"



"Kadie, stop worrying."



"But . . ."



"Enough." He glanced over his shoulder, then stepped on the gas. "I didn't get this old by being careless."



"Did you warn that fledgling you told me about that my dad was after him?"



"Ravenwood? Yeah. I felt responsible for him."



"Why?"



"Lilith turned him."



"Lilith!" Kadie's eyes grew wide. "She's here, in Wyoming? You don't think she'll go back to Morgan Creek, do you?"



The thought of the vampires returning to Morgan Creek made Kadie sick with fear for Rosemary and Shirley and Donna. Now that Saintcrow was gone, there was no one to protect her friends. The vampires could do whatever they liked, kill whomever they wished. For all she knew, her friends could already be dead.



"I don't know if she's gone back there or not," Saintcrow said, "but I need to find out." It had never occurred to him that any of the vampires would return. He didn't think the men would kill the women. As for Lilith, she had never preyed on the females before, but she was unpredictable at best. If anything happened to the humans, the guilt would be his.



"When are we leaving?" Kadie asked anxiously.



"We?"



"Were you going without me?"



"I thought you wanted your freedom."



"So did I. What's wrong?" Kadie asked, frowning, when he glanced in the rearview mirror again.



At the corner, he turned right, then pulled over to the curb in front of a small strip mall. It was closed at this time of the night.



"Why are we stopping?" Kadie asked.



"We're being followed. Stay here."



Before she could ask what was going on, Saintcrow disappeared into the darkness. She glanced out both side windows, gasped when she looked out the back and saw Saintcrow yank a man out of the driver's side of a black car. The man came out swinging, a stake clutched in one hand. He drove it into Saintcrow's shoulder. And Saintcrow hurled the man against one of the buildings.



A second man bolted out of the passenger side. Scrambling over the hood of the car, he plunged a long-bladed knife into Saintcrow's back and gave it a sharp twist.



Saintcrow shook his attacker off, grabbed him by the throat, and tossed him after the other man.



It was over in moments.



Before Kadie could get out of the car to see how badly Saintcrow was hurt, he had jerked the stake out of his shoulder, yanked the knife out of his back, and was again sitting behind the wheel.



Kadie stared at him. His shirt was soaked with blood.



"I'm all right," he said curtly.



She shook her head. Then, unable to resist, she glanced in the rearview window. The two men were still sprawled on the sidewalk. Unmoving.



Were they dead? She bit down on her lower lip, trapping the question in her throat.



Saintcrow pulled away from the curb. Keeping his eyes on the road, he said, "You're not going to faint on me, are you?"



She shook her head, one hand pressed to her heart.



Saintcrow drove for several miles before pulling to a stop alongside a park. Switching off the engine, he got out of the car, removed his shirt, and used it to wipe the blood from his shoulder and back. Wadding it up, he tossed it into a cement waste receptacle.



Kadie stared at him. In the faint glow of the headlights, she could see that his face was set in implacable lines. Was he in pain? Being stabbed might not be fatal to him, but she couldn't help thinking it must be painful, vampire or not.



Saintcrow clenched his hands at his sides. He could feel Kadie watching him, sense her amazement as the wound in his shoulder began to heal.



After taking several deep breaths, he returned to the car. "Are you all right?" he asked.



"That's a good question, only I should be asking it." The nasty-looking gash in his shoulder was healing right before her eyes, the skin knitting together as if by magic. "Does it hurt?"



"I've had worse."



"There's blood on the seat."



He shrugged, as if it wasn't important.



"Do you think my father sent them after you?"



"I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't matter." Word of his presence had no doubt spread to nearby towns. Taking him out would be quite a coup for any hunter who managed to cut off his head.



"Are they . . . ?"



"One's dead. The other one's gonna have a nasty concussion."



"Were they . . . ?" She swallowed hard. "Were they friends of my dad's?"



"Probably. Come on, I'll take you home."



"But . . ."



"Don't argue with me. Not now." The wound in his shoulder was minor; the one in his back, made by a jagged silver blade, hurt like the very devil and would take longer to heal. Right now, he was in desperate need of blood to replace what was trickling down his back.



Kadie had a lot to think about on the ride home. Her father was a hunter, and there were others in town like him, men who wanted to kill Rylan.



Rylan had killed a man. What would her father's reaction be when he found out?



Rylan was going back to Morgan Creek to find out if Lilith was there. And if she was, what did that mean for Rosemary and the others?



Kadie's head was throbbing by the time they reached her house.



Saintcrow pulled up to the curb, his nostrils flaring. Andrews had company.



" Rylan . . ."



"Stop worrying about me."



Kadie nodded, worried by how pale he looked, by the fact that the house lights were on so late, and by the unfamiliar cars in the driveway. She glanced at the house, quickly exited the car when she saw her father step out onto the porch. Was that a gun in his hand?



She looked back at Saintcrow. "Go!"



Kadie hurried up to the porch, determined to get some answers. One look at her father's face and she swept past him into the house, her heart pounding with fear for the man she loved.



Two men stood in front of the hearth, their bodies rigid, their faces expressionless, as if they had been carved from stone.



Kadie turned to look at her father, who'd followed her inside. "What's going on?"



"Saintcrow," her father said. "Where's he staying?"



"I don't know."



"He killed a man tonight," her father said. "A man who was a friend of mine."



"Your friend tried to kill Rylan. What was he supposed to do?"



"He's a vampire, Kadie."



She took a deep breath. "I know that."



"You know?" Disbelief swept every other emotion from her father's face. "You know? And you're dating him? Are you out of your mind? He's a monster. A killer. Dammit, he's not even alive!" He took a step forward. "You haven't . . ." He sucked in a deep breath. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Just tell me where to find him."



"I have no idea. And I wouldn't tell you if I did."



"Kadie." Her father moved toward her, one hand outstretched. "I understand you're infatuated with him, but whatever your feelings for this creature might be, they aren't real."



"Dad . . ."



"Let's leave it alone for now, Kadie. We'll talk in the morning."



Kadie nodded. She spared a brief glance for the two men in front of the fireplace, then went up the stairs to bed, only to lie there, wide awake, unable to sleep for the questions that plagued her.



Was Rylan safe?



Had his wounds healed?



And, most troubling of all, how many others were hunting him?



Thinking a glass of warm milk might help her sleep, she tiptoed down the stairs, only to pause when she heard voices on the front porch.



". . . tomorrow night."



"We'll be ready." Her father's voice.



"What about your wife and daughter?"



"Leave that to me."



Hearing muffled farewells, Kadie scurried back up the stairs, dived into bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin.



Tomorrow night? She clutched the bedspread in her fists. What was happening tomorrow night?



Chiding himself for not going back to the vacant house he was currently using as a lair, Saintcrow stood outside a rundown tavern on the outskirts of town, waiting for some unwary drunk to exit. Under other circumstances, he would have gone inside, but being shirtless, his pants stained with blood, he would surely have drawn attention, and that was one thing he didn't need right now.



So, he stood in the shadows and waited.



It was nearing one A.M. before a middle-aged couple staggered out the door. He mesmerized them both, ordered them into the car-the woman in front, the man in the back. He took the woman first. Her blood was thin and tasted strongly of alcohol, but he was in no condition to be choosy. He took as much as he dared, then got into the backseat. The man's blood tasted vile. He drank as much as he could stand, wiped the memory from their minds, and sent them on their way.



Feeling only marginally better, he drove back to Kadie's house. The two cars that had been parked in the driveway earlier were gone. The lights were out. Opening his senses, he knew Kadie's parents were asleep. Kadie was awake. And worried.



He sat there a moment, the engine purring softly while he debated the wisdom of stealing a few minutes with her under her father's roof.



He had just decided it was a really bad idea when the curtains at her window parted and he saw her staring down at him.



She gestured for him to wait for her. A few moments later, she ran down the porch steps and slid into the car.



"You've got to get out of town!" she said. "My father knows you killed his friend. He asked me all kinds of questions tonight. . . ."



Saintcrow pressed his fingers to her lips. "Hey, slow down."



She pulled his hand away from her mouth and pressed it to her breast. "This is serious!" She took a deep breath. "Don't you understand? No matter how this turns out, someone I love is going to get hurt."



Saintcrow nodded. She was right. He didn't want to kill her father or the others, but after nine hundred years, he had a strong sense of survival. If threatened, he would do whatever was necessary. But, worse than the thought of killing Kadie's father was the very real fear that she might be caught in the cross fire. And that was one risk he refused to take.



"Don't worry," he said. "Nothing's going to happen."



"There's a little dance club off the highway," Kadie said. "Wait for me there tomorrow night. I'll meet you after my dad goes out. And then we can go to England, as we planned." She hated the thought of leaving Kathy again so soon, but she would call her every day.



Saintcrow nodded. "Be careful."



"You, too."



She leaned forward for his kiss, her eyelids fluttering down as his hand curled around her nape. He kissed her deeply, his fingers tunneling up into her hair.



She was breathless when he drew away.



"You'd better go." He glanced at the house. "Your father's waking up."



"All right. Until tomorrow night."



He watched her run up the stairs. She turned and waved, and then closed the door.



With his preternatural senses, he tracked her movements through the house, waved when she peeked out the window.



"I love you, Kadie mine," he murmured.



He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.



He didn't look back.



The next day seemed twice as long as usual. In the morning, her father asked her again if she knew where Saintcrow spent the day. She was grateful that she could honestly say she didn't.



She and her mother went to the hospital to visit Kathy shortly after lunch. Kadie smiled and hugged her sister, wondering how she was going to go off to England and leave Kathy behind. Her sister seemed to be growing weaker every day. There were faint shadows under her eyes, hollows in her cheeks.



"Do you have an appointment, Kadie?" her mother asked when they stepped out into the hall so a nurse could draw Kathy's blood. "You keep looking at your watch."



"No," Kadie replied quickly. "I was just checking the time. Kathy's favorite teen heartthrob is going to be on one of the talk shows this afternoon."



The day passed quietly. Kadie hugged her sister good-bye, wondering again how she could even think of leaving her.



Kadie forced herself to relax on the drive home. It wouldn't do to arouse her father's suspicion. She was in the kitchen helping her mother prepare dinner when he came home from work.



Conversation at the dinner table seemed strained to Kadie. Her parents exchanged several looks that she couldn't interpret.



"Another wonderful meal," her father said, pushing away from the table. "You outdid yourself, Caro. Kadie, could I see you for a few minutes?"



"Can't it wait until I help Mom clear the table?"



"It's all right," her mother said. "Go along, dear."



Filled with apprehension, Kadie followed her father into his study.



"Where is he?" her father asked. "He's usually here by now."



"I honestly don't know."



"But he's coming over later?"



Kadie shook her head. "I don't know."



"And you wouldn't tell me if you did," he said, and there was no mistaking the disappointment in his voice.



If things had been strained at the dinner table, they were more so when she followed her father into the living room. Her mother switched on the TV and Kadie tried to lose herself in what was on the screen, but it was impossible.



At nine o'clock, the two men Kadie had seen last night arrived, along with another man.



"Kadie, Carolyn, I'd like you to meet Rob, Gordon, and Harry. They're associates of mine. Rob and Gordon and I are going out for a while. We have a little business to attend to."



"Nothing serious, I hope," Carolyn said.



"Nothing to worry about. Just something I couldn't take care of this afternoon. Harry will be staying here. He's going to spend the night."



"Oh?" Carolyn Andrews frowned at her husband.



"It's not a problem, is it?" Ralph asked.



"No, of course not," Carolyn replied, as if having a strange man stay the night was an everyday occurrence.



At ten thirty, Kadie excused herself and went into the kitchen on the pretense of getting a glass of water. Plucking her mother's car keys from the hook beside the back door, she tucked them into the pocket of her jeans. Returning to the living room, she said, "I think I'm going to bed, Mom. It was nice to meet you, sir."



Harry nodded, but said nothing.



In her room, Kadie changed into a pair of black jeans and a dark shirt, then stood by the door, listening. A short time later, she heard her mother show their guest to the spare room and bid him good night.



Kadie waited half an hour before opening her window and shinnying down the tree outside her bedroom.



Grateful that her mother had left her car in the driveway, Kadie slid behind the wheel. She backed slowly out of the driveway, keeping the lights off until she reached the end of the block.



Since there was little traffic at that time of night, it took less than twenty minutes to reach the club.



Inside, she sat at the bar to wait for Saintcrow. Excitement fluttered in her stomach every time the door opened, followed by a sharp stab of disappointment when Saintcrow failed to arrive.



Midnight came and went and still there was no sign of him.



Kadie jumped up when her father and his two friends entered the bar. No doubt her mother had discovered her absence and told her father. All he'd had to do was search for her mother's car.



"Where is he?" her father asked, his voice harsh.



"I don't know." The tears that stung her eyes were real. "I don't know."



Her father insisted on staying until the bar closed. Taking Rob and Gordon aside, he spoke to them for a few minutes, and then he drove her home.



Kadie stared out the passenger window, her heart breaking, her cheeks wet with tears as she faced the truth. Now that she no longer wanted it, Saintcrow had given her the freedom she had pleaded for so many times in the past.