Other than the fact that he was serious, intelligent, and downright beautiful, Aidan Murphy hadn’t given Shay much by which to judge him. He seemed sincere. The people she’d met all seemed to trust him, even idolize him a bit. But did she like him? She wasn’t yet sure.

His mate, Krys—now, this was a woman Shay liked very much. In less than an hour, she’d come to respect her as she’d treated Shay with gentle kindness and genuine interest.

In Shay’s not-so-expert opinion, though, Krys looked exhausted. Under normal circumstances, she’d be beautiful, with her heart-shaped face, shoulder-length auburn hair, and dark eyes. Tonight, dark circles had spread under those eyes, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her dark green sweater made her skin look like porcelain.

“I’ll do an ultrasound on you tomorrow night, but since you’re past your first trimester and haven’t had any unusual pain, I think you’re fine.” She smiled. “Have you felt the baby move yet? It’s not too soon if you’re almost sixteen weeks.”

Shay hunched her shoulders. “Well, maybe. Or it could have been a roast beef po-boy.”

She had been surprised at the well-stocked exam room, and now the place had its own ultrasound? “Why all the medical equipment?” She didn’t see how Krys could have made it through medical school as a vampire, so she must have been turned afterward, but Shay had to admit the presence of a doctor and an equipped hospital setup made her more comfortable about spending her pregnancy here. “And how did you end up in Penton?”

Krys smiled. “Before all the fighting, Penton was a lot bigger, and Aidan set the clinic up so just about anything a human or vampire needed could be done here. As for me, well, you’ll hear the story sooner or later. Aidan basically kidnapped me because they needed a doctor—their previous doctor died.”

“But he’s your husband. Well, mate. How’d that work, exactly?” Shay couldn’t imagine falling for anyone who took her against her will. Not like the vampires here who were trying to keep her safe, but like Simon. She shuddered at the thought.

“Well, it sure didn’t happen overnight.” Krys laughed. “For a long time I couldn’t figure out if I really loved Aidan or had the world’s worst case of Stockholm Syndrome.” Her voice softened. “But it was the real deal. Still is.”

Shay still struggled with the concept. “But you had a medical career. I assume you weren’t a vampire at the time. Did he turn you vampire so you couldn’t go home?”

Again, Krys smiled. “I wasn’t a vampire at the time, and I went through a whole litany of reasons why I shouldn’t stay here. My career was the main one. But I’d already fallen in love with Aidan before I was turned, and knew I could make a difference here. Maybe it wasn’t the career I had planned, but they needed me. They only turned me vampire to save my life after I was attacked. I was dying.”

There seemed to be a lot of that going around. “Like Nik?”

Krys nodded. “Like Nik, although Aidan and I just found out about that. He’s a good guy. A really good guy. Aidan said you knew him back in high school?”

Shay laughed. “Yeah. I thought I was in love with him and that he felt the same…right up until the day he dumped me and walked away without a word.” She paused. “I know now he was going through a personal hell in his family life, but at the time….I was a fifteen-year-old girl. What can I say?”

Krys laughed. “No woman should ever be held accountable for what she felt at fifteen. What a horrible age that is.”

Shay agreed. She’d been confused by losing her parents and being thrown into a “normal” life with her grandmother.

“You’re a researcher in tropical medicine? So, fevers and such?”

Shay nodded. She started to mention her NSF grant but felt she’d whined about that enough for a while. “I had everything planned out. It didn’t include a baby. It sure didn’t include vampires. Nothing personal, but it didn’t include Penton.”

“It’s just until the fighting dies down. Both sides have lost a lot of people, and we have to reach a solution soon. Maybe I’m naïve, but I think once the feeding situation can be resolved, things will settle down.”

Shay thought about Frank Greisser, his demeanor, the way he’d looked at her. Krys was naïve. While that vampire was alive, Nik and his friends—including her—would never be safe.

“Of course, you might decide you don’t want to leave,” Krys said. “There’s enough money in this town for you to set up your own independent research lab should you want to.”

Shay stared at her. “How is that possible?”

Krys laughed and got to her feet, wavering a little to get her balance. She looked about ready to drop. “Let’s just say Aidan and Mirren are both more than four centuries old. Cage is about seventy, Will a mere fifty. Mark Calvert might be human, but he’s a brilliant financial advisor. They’ve had a lot of time to amass wealth.”

Holy cow. Of course, their wealth made the fact that their people were in danger of starving even more ironic. Money couldn’t buy everything.

After a soft knock, Nik stuck his head in the doorway. “Okay if I come in?”

Krys nodded and pointed to the chair where she’d been sitting.

“Aidan wanted you to take a look at my back; stab wound with a silver blade. But you look ready to crash.”

“I’m tired,” Krys agreed. “Shay, could you help me? It will give you some experience with vampire injuries.”

Thank God, something useful to do. Shay would need to rest eventually, but she was too wired to think about it for now. “Sure.”

“Oh, and Aidan wants you to stay in one of the subsuites for the next few days until you’re fully healed. You can take the room across the hall, next to Shay’s.”

Was it Shay’s imagination, or was Krys biting back a smile? The people here really needed to focus on their dwindling species, not on matchmaking.

“Shirt off, and sit on the table,” Krys said. “Shay will do the exam.”

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Shay was too aware of Nik as she watched him pull off the red sweater Glory had bought for him at the Laurel Walmart. He was sculpted, his olive skin accenting every muscle. She jerked her gaze away from the light sprinkling of black hair that trailed south of his waist and disappeared into his fatigues, and their glances met. And held.

“I think it’s getting warm in here,” Krys laughed, breaking the moment. Thank God.

Shay followed Krys to stand behind Nik after he sat on the exam table. His back looked worse than she expected; he sure hadn’t complained about it. The wound was deep, though, and the edges had turned black while the center was that odd shade of magenta.

“Is it infected?” The skin around it wasn’t reddened, but the color wasn’t like anything she’d seen. It looked almost as if it had been burned.

“No, but go ahead and clean it with peroxide.” Krys handed her the bottle and some cotton pads. “Vampires aren’t poisoned by silver like some shifters—wolves, mostly. But we’re sensitive to it. It’s almost like an allergy. It slows healing and decreases our physical strength.”

Nik flinched when Shay touched the peroxide to his back. It foamed when it hit the edges of his wound, and his back muscles tensed in response. “Sorry. This had to have hurt you all day.” He’d never given her any hint that he was in pain.

“It’s not so bad,” he said through clenched teeth.

Krys shook her head. “I would say he was a pigheaded vampire male, but Nik hasn’t been turned that long so I’ll blame it on his Ranger training. Or just being male.”

He remained silent, so Shay continued cleaning the wound. Most of the black edges were wiping away. “I thought vampires healed everything pretty fast.”

“Once you get the burned parts off, I think Nik will heal during daysleep, which is coming up fast.” She looked at her watch. “And I’m feeling it. You have to be exhausted. Both of you.”

Shay had to admit she was getting more tired by the minute, as all the adrenaline left her system. “Oh, I was going to ask about the color. I noticed at the fight, and now with Nik, vampire blood is a different color. Why?”

Krys stared at her, then at Nik. “I have no idea, and it honestly never occurred to me to ask. I just accepted that they were different.” She smiled. “You’re a researcher, though. I guess your job is to ask why.”

Yeah well, she had a lot of whys for the universe to answer, beginning with why she’d gotten pulled into such a ridiculous situation to begin with. “Guess so.”

She finished cleaning the wound. “Does it need to be covered?”

“No,” Nik said, sliding off the table. “But thanks for your help.” He stalked toward the door, but turned back. “And Krys, it’s good to see you up and around.”

Then he was gone. “What yanked his chain?” Shay asked.

Krys gave her a Mona Lisa smile. “No idea.”