It was almost four thirty before Maggie borrowed Pablo’s phone and made her way outside to call Aiden. Feeling as if she were walking through a haze, she realized she’d left her coat inside only when the wind bit through her clothes and froze her cheeks.

He might be annoyed with her for not contacting him sooner, but she hoped Aiden would be able to meet her here. She needed to see him and hug him as Roger’s death had only solidified her decision to join him. She didn’t want to become a vampire because she was afraid of dying one day too, but because, for once, she wanted to jump in with both feet and truly live with Aiden.

If the relationship blew up in her face, then so be it. She would deal with the aftermath just as she’d dealt with every other curveball life had thrown her over the years.

Aiden didn’t answer, and she hung up on the computerized voice mail. She shivered when the wind beat her hair against her cheeks, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back inside yet. If Aiden was waiting for her, wouldn’t he have answered his phone?

Oh yeah, Maggie, you’re so irresistible he’s sitting by his phone hoping it rings. She hated the bitter thought, but once it took root, she couldn’t shake it. Had he moved on already?

The hell he has!

She redialed Aiden's number, determined to get to the bottom of this. Then, she remembered she wasn’t calling from a number he knew. If he were anything like her, he’d ignore it unless someone left a message. When the computer picked up, she waited until the beep.

“It’s Maggie,” she said. “Something’s happened. I can’t—”

“Maggie.” She turned to find Pablo standing behind her, holding her coat open for her. “You must be freezing.”

“I am.” She stepped into her coat, and Pablo pulled it on as she finished her voice mail. “My phone’s broken, but I’ll call you again later.”

She hung up and handed Pablo’s phone back to him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime. Some of us are going to O’Shanighans to toast Roger. Do you want to come?”

“I’d love to, but there’s something I have to do.”

He cupped his hands to blow into them as he stomped his feet back and forth. His black eyes were bright against his bloodshot whites. “Do you have someone to take you home?”

“I took the T here; I’ll ride it home.”

“You’re not in the condition to deal with that right now. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“No, I'll be all right. Go and be with the others.”

“Roger would be pissed at me if I didn’t see you safely home. Come on, let’s get out of here. Hospitals give me the creeps.”

Maggie gave him a wan smile and took his arm when he offered it to her. They didn’t go back inside but walked around the building to the garage behind it. When he opened the door for her, she slid inside, and he closed the door. She rested her head against the window when Pablo settled behind the wheel.

“I’m going to miss him,” she murmured.

“We all are. He was the kind of asshole you couldn’t help but love.”

She snorted with laughter as he pulled out of the parking spot. “That he was.”

* * *

Aiden watched the red Ford slide into a parking spot across the street from the passenger seat of Declan’s car. He smelled Maggie before he saw her inside the car. His hand fell on the handle, but he kept himself restrained from flinging it open and going to her. A man in his late thirties or early forties climbed out from behind the wheel of the car.

Maggie was already stepping out of the vehicle when the man arrived at her side. The wind whipped her hair forward, blocking Aiden’s view of her face. Behind him, he felt Brian and Killean leaning closer. Beside him, Declan hunched over the wheel.

The man said something to Maggie and took her arm as he led her toward her door. Something malevolent swirled within Aiden as they stopped outside her building and the man hugged her. When she embraced him back, red filled Aiden’s vision as the need for blood and death burst over him.

She’d made her choice, and it was another man.

A snarl erupted from him as all control and any sense of reason vanished. He was about to open the door when something smashed against his temple. Aiden spun on his attacker. His fangs sliced into his bottom lip as he lunged for Brian. Brother-in-law or not, Aiden would tear his throat out.

Brian recoiled from his attack as something else bashed Aiden in the head. Stars burst in front of his eyes, a ringing sounded in his ears, and pain lanced like lightning across his fractured skull. The blow staggered him but didn’t stop him as his fingers curled around Brian’s throat. When a third blow hit him, part of his skull caved in, and the world went black.

* * *

“Have you seen the man I was here with the other night?” Maggie asked one of the bartenders at the hotel when he walked over to speak with her. He’d served her and Aiden often enough she hoped he remembered them.

It was almost seven, she was beyond late, but by the time she’d gotten showered, changed, and felt emotionally capable of handling the T to make the trip here, it had been after six. Now, she was one of the few patrons in the bar, and she was acutely aware Aiden wasn’t one of them. Fresh tears pricked her eyes, but she fought them back. If she started crying again now, she would never stop.

“He left a couple of hours ago,” the bartender replied.

“But he was here?” she asked.

“He was.”

“Okay, good.”

She sat and bought a drink in the hope Aiden would return soon. At ten, she gave up hope. When the bartender returned to her, she paid him. “If he happens to return, could you let him know I went home?”

“Will do,” the man replied, but he barely acknowledged her, and she doubted he would remember to tell Aiden if he came back.

On her way home, Maggie stopped at a store to buy a new phone. She called Aiden again and left a voice mail with her new number, but by the time she returned to her apartment building, he hadn’t called, and he wasn’t waiting outside for her.

Holding her breath, she turned into her hallway with the hope of finding Aiden there, waiting outside her door, but her hallway was empty. He didn’t know the code to the building, but she knew that wouldn’t stop a vampire from entering the building, and especially not him. Besides, Mrs. Mackey would probably let him in and bake him an entire batch of cookies.

Maggie unlocked her door and entered her apartment. Slumping onto her couch, she gazed around the small space that no longer felt like her home. Her grief for Roger swelled within her and tears slid down her cheeks as she waited for Aiden to come.

* * *

The ringing of his phone roused Stefan from sleep. He glanced at Isabelle to make sure she hadn’t been disturbed. Then, he threw back his blankets and rose from the bed. He padded out to where he’d left his phone charging in the living room.

A chill of foreboding slid down his spine when he saw Brian’s number on the caller ID. Things were still a little strained between them, but they’d been working on establishing a new friendship. However, it was too late at night for this to be a friendly call. Answering the phone, he brought it to his ear.

“What happened?” he asked as he walked over to pull back the edge of a curtain. He scanned the snow-covered field and the other homes, but nothing unusual stirred and none of the alarms were sounding.

“Aiden,” Brian said.

Stefan’s hand clenched on the curtain. “Is he dead?”

Brian hesitated before replying, “No, but he might be better off if he was.”