Night's Master

“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, 2:00A.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.”



“Susie…”



“Maybe they'd be better off without me.”



“Stop that! Rafe's grandparents were both Vampires, but they raised his mother. I'm not saying it was easy. They had to hire nannies to look after her during the day, but they managed, and she turned out just fine. If they could do it, so can you.”



“You're a good friend, Kathy. You always say just what I need to hear.”



“Can I ask you something? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”



“You want to know what it's like, being a Vampire.”



“How did you know that?” Geez, I hoped she couldn't read my mind, too. It was bad enough knowing that Rafe could do it.



“It's what I'd want to know, if I were in your place.”



“So, what's it like?”



She ran a hand through her hair again, then looked at her fingernails, as if seeing them for the first time. “I haven't been one very long, you know, but, well, so far, it's quite amazing. I think I'm going to like it.”



It wasn't the answer I had expected. Oh, I knew Rafe was happy being a Vampire, but he wasn't like other Vampires. He hadn't sought it out; no one had brought him across. He had been born to it, grown up with a Vampire father and Vampire grandparents, but Susie…I shook my head. “Are you serious?”



“You can't imagine what it's like.” She leaned forward, her words coming quickly now. “Everything looks the same, yet different. Your T-shirt, for instance, I can see every individual thread. Colors are brighter, sounds are clearer. I don't need my contacts any more,” she said, smiling. “I can see better and farther than I ever could. I can hear things I never did before. The flutter of a moth's wings, the whisper of the wind in the trees, the ticking of a clock from somewhere upstairs…the beating of your heart.”