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  “You got that by looking at them?”

  “Years of practice,” I assured him.

  “But they’re just kids,” Christian protested. “They look like most of my students. I don’t know…”

  “Does it make a difference how old they are? I mean, think about their victim. What do you think she’s going through?”

  “Still, they’re so young.” He frowned.

  “They’re both over eighteen and old enough to know better,” I explained, hoping he would understand what the girl was dealing with because of them. “It was too easy for them. They’ll do it again.”

  “You really think so?”

  “Absolutely. Did you see them looking around when they walked in?” He nodded. “What do you think they were looking for? A woman sitting alone.”

  “Oh. Since you put it that way…I couldn’t imagine something like that happening to someone I love. This is still terrifying,” he whispered.

  “Welcome to my world.”

  “That was by far the most terrifying yet exhilarating thing I’ve ever done. I almost hate to admit that.” Christian looked at the bodies of the boys whose short lives had come to an end. We both felt full and were in no hurry to drag them into the ocean since no one else was crazy enough to be on this cold, wet beach at this late hour. Luring them here had been easy. We shot some pool with them and the more they drank, the easier it was to get into their heads. Even Christian had been able to pick up on the thought that what they really wanted was to get high. So with a promise of giving them what they wanted, we talked them into going to the beach with us.

  Keep doing what you’re doing. When we get there, I’ll grab one, you grab the other. Go straight for the throat and don’t hesitate. Even if they scream, who’ll hear them over the rain and waves? I communicated instructions to him on the way down the hill so there would be no questions once we began. He nodded but kept silent, even in his head, keeping his doubts to himself.

  “You did great, by the way,” I assured him as I finally stood and began dragging my meal to the water’s edge. “Be careful of the rocks.”

  “Don’t worry. I can see everything!” He smiled, finally relaxing a bit.

  “Do you feel satisfied?” I asked as I threw the body as far as I could into the water. He followed my lead, tossing his twice as far as mine. Show off.

  “I think so. The burning in my throat is gone. What if they wash back up?” He rinsed his hands in the salt water and dried them on his jeans.

  “I used my blood to close the wounds.” I motioned to my neck. “Don’t worry. No signs of foul play, right?”

  “Is this how you always do it?” He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “I never imagined I’d be having this conversation with you.” I turned to face him, his arms still around me.

  “I bet you never imagined we’d be killing together either but here we are. Will you tell me about them?” He looked serious.

  “Who?”

  “The ones you’ve killed.”

  “Why would you want to hear about them?” I pulled out of his embrace.

  “Because it’s part of who you are and I want to know everything about you.”

  “On the way home,” I said and grabbed his hand to lead him back up to the street.

  As we walked hand in hand, I told him everything I remembered and he listened without asking questions until I finished. I even told him about the waitress, Lori, from Washington, whose abusive ex-boyfriend I had enjoyed killing. He looked calm as I described the details to him.

  “So, you’re like an avenging angel?” he asked with a smile.

  “If you want to think of it that way, I guess. I didn’t always kill this way. I’ve killed plenty of innocent people, before I knew any better,” I explained, remembering what it had been like in the beginning.

  “Is this how all vampires do it?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Ian killed as he pleased. He wasn’t a picky eater. He killed anything with a heartbeat. The others in Ireland hunted the same way,” I shuddered remembering my first night there, when Fiore had lured two drunken men home for dinner.

  “How do you justify the way you do it?”

  “I make it easier on myself by thinking of the victims. They may never know what happened to the person who violated them, but will never have to worry about it happening again, not by the same person, anyway. Imagine running into the person who raped you?”

  “What about Fiore?” He scrunched his nose, having caught the image of the dinner party from my mind.

  “I hadn’t thought about it since she’s been with us. I’ll have to talk to her.” I stopped walking and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Do you think any less of me?”

  His lips brushed my forehead. “Of course not. I understand your reasoning. Besides, you are a very sexy teacher.” This time, his lips found mine and I lost myself in his kiss, forgetting about everything, including where we were standing, until a car blew its horn and made us jump.

  “Just because we’re immortal doesn’t mean we should tempt fate. Let’s get back on the sidewalk and go home.”

  “So, how did it go?” Fiore called from the living room as we entered. Kalia and Aaron were with her, paging through what looked like photo albums.

  “It was horrible! I made such a mess of things!” Aaron’s jaw dropped so I elbowed Christian. “I’m kidding.”

  “It went very smoothly. He’s a natural,” I said and everyone’s relaxed. “What are you all doing?”

  “We’re showing Fiore some photos, filling her in on the family history.” Kalia moved over on the sofa so I went to sit by her. Christian made himself comfortable on the floor in front of me, his cheeks glowing with new color.

  “Who’s this?” I asked pointing to a picture of a thin man with long dark hair; a severe contrast to Aaron’s blond, standing next to Aaron in a library. Both were dressed in clothing not of this period.

  “Oh, it’s Aaron’s great-grandfather,” Kalia answered. “Can’t you see the resemblance?”

  “Since you mention it, some of the facial features are similar but definitely not the hair,” I examined the photo. “He looks about the same age as Aaron in this picture.”

  “He was only two years older than me when he was made,” Aaron said, holding his hand out for the album. Kalia handed it to him. “I do miss him. I wonder what he’s up to.”

  “I can’t believe you have another vampire in your family! It must be strange being so close in age with your great-grandfather.” Christian sounded shocked. It all must seem so surreal to him. Not long ago, vampires were only legend to him and now he was one of them.

  “His name is Aloysius. He’s a nomad so he’s hard to track down. I haven’t seen him in years,” Aaron explained handing the book back to Kalia.

  “I take it he doesn’t have a cell phone,” Christian said.

  “Not him. He still hangs on to some of the customs of his time,” Aaron explained. “I have letters upstairs from him and they come from all over the world.”

  “So you have no idea where he lives?” I asked as I paged through the album.

  “The last letter I got from him was about a year ago. He was in Germany then.” Aaron grabbed another album and began turning the pages.

  “Does he have a wife?” I handed the album back to Kalia. “He’s alone in all the pictures.”

  “No. His wife, my great-grandmother, died in childbirth. She was the love of his life. He’s had women, I’m sure, in all his years, but nothing serious.” He put the album on the coffee table.

  “That’s so romantic,” Christian said. Fiore laughed.

  “Is he the one who made you?” I asked.

  Aaron looked at me and his expression changed from melancholy to plain sadness. “Yes. I had cancer and, back then, there wasn’t much the doctors could do for me. Aloysius insisted.”

  “So what happened then? Did you have to leave your family?” I asked.


  “Actually, I had to pretend to die. I lied still in a coffin for hours while my family mourned and cried over me. That was really difficult. Sometimes they would talk about something funny they remembered and I had to fight not to laugh or reach out and comfort them. I was relieved when I was finally put in the ground. After I was buried, Aloysius dug up the grave and got me out. That same night, I left the state and came here.”

  Kalia patted his hand and smiled. “And I’m so glad Aloysius did what he did.” She said. Aaron smiled.

  “So, any thought on the text message? Have you heard from Maia yet?” I wanted to know more about Aaron’s fascinating history but there were more urgent issues that were nagging at my mind. I couldn’t help but feel like we were still walking on eggshells.

  Kalia looked at Aaron before she spoke. “No, nothing from Maia, but I say we don’t let it concern us unless it happens again. There’s nothing to do right now. We don’t even know where that message came from. Aaron called the number under the photo and got a recording saying the number is not in service.”

  “That’s it then,” I said and stood to go upstairs. Christian followed and after a few moments, we heard a knock on our door.

  “May I come in?” Fiore asked.

  “Sure. It’s unlocked,” I called. Christian sat on the edge of the bed.

  “We were talking while you were gone,” she said. “They told me about their feeding habits, and yours, and I want you to know I’m okay with it.”

  “I don’t think we need your approval,” Christian said with a frown.

  “I don’t think that’s what she means,” I said and motioned for Fiore to continue.

  “I’m easily adaptable. I’ll do it your way as long as I’m here.” She sat between us and Christian stiffened. I rolled my eyes.

  “Thank you. It means a lot to me. What do you mean as long as you’re here? Planning on going somewhere?” I felt a knot in my stomach suddenly.

  “I mean while I’m here…well, I don’t think you need a third wheel. There’s an unanswered question still hanging in the air and I’ll just be in the way. I’m sure you’ll want to live alone.” She looked at both of us.

  “I hadn’t thought about moving. Wait, what question? I don’t…oh!” I looked at Christian and his eyes dropped to the floor. The question he asked me in the cabin, the one everyone in the living room had heard. The one I answered but Christian took back because he knew I was unsure.

  “I forgot you all heard that,” I groaned.

  “Well, I’ll leave you alone now. It’s my turn to hunt and Kalia said she’d go with me.” She kissed the top of my head before she left the room and I heard Christian’s sigh.

  I went to the closet to make room for the clothing Christian would need and he followed.

  “What’s wrong, Lily?” he asked sitting on the floor next to me as I was taking things out of the bottom drawer.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “You seem sad. I thought you’d be happy since Fiore won’t be killing innocent people anymore.” He took the papers from my hands and set them aside. “What’s bothering you?”

  “Besides the horrible text?” I said a little harshly. “I was wondering…are you planning on asking me again?” I turned to look at his reaction. His face was calm as ever but a glint appeared in his eyes.

  “I didn’t think it was what you wanted.” He pulled more papers out of my hand and took both my hands in his.

  I swallowed hard before I spoke. “What I didn’t want was to have to bury my husband, like I knew I would have to do since you were, after all, human.”

  “Come with me.” He pulled me out of the closet. “We’re going for a ride.”

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see,” he said and grabbed my car keys on the way out the door.

  As we passed the living room, he called to Aaron. “We’ll be back shortly.” We were out the door and in the car before Aaron could answer.

  He drove in silence though I tried to ask questions. He said nothing except that I’d see when we got where we were going. I tried to figure it out as we passed familiar buildings but he laughed every time I got it wrong. Finally, he pulled onto the street with the Japanese restaurant where we’d had our first date. I knew we weren’t going there, considering it was closed and he no longer ate.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked as he opened my door and pulled me out of the car.

  “We’re going to the beach.” He walked with a serious look on his face and it made me keep my mouth closed. As soon as we reached the break to the path, he stopped and turned around. “Hop on.”

  “I can walk,” I protested when he squatted.

  “I want to. Please get on.” His pleading eyes were nothing to argue with so I bit my lip and got on his back.

  I thought of the time we had been here, during our first date; he had lost his footing and slid part of the way down the hill. I was thankful he was much steadier tonight. As soon as we reached the bottom, he quickly stepped over logs and rocks. He didn’t set me down until we were at about the same spot where we’d sat and had our first kiss.

  “Have a seat,” he said and dropped onto the wet sand. At least, with the rain, the sand was wet and heavy enough so the wind, which had started again, couldn’t blow it in our faces. I sat next to him and leaned against his side. After a few seconds, he pulled away and turned to face me. “Do you remember that night?”

  “How could I forget? But it didn’t end well.” I had gotten carried away kissing him. I panicked when I started losing control and pushed him away. I thought he wouldn’t want to ever see me again. He shook his head, catching the memory from my mind.

  “Don’t worry about it. This place means the world to me. It’s where we had our first kiss. It’s where I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.” His smile made his eye squint and I couldn’t help but smile too.

  “I guess since you put it that way…” I started, but his face turned so serious I stopped talking.

  “I want to do this right so, please…” He was suddenly on one knee, my hand in his, his knee sinking in the wet sand. The world was spinning and there were butterflies in my stomach. He cleared his throat. “Lily Townsend, you know how much I love you. I loved you since the first time I saw you and I will love you for the rest of time.” He took a deep breath. “Will you marry me?”

  My body moved without my permission and I knocked him backward on the sand, landing on top of him. My lips smothered his and in between kisses I managed to utter, “Yes, Christian. A million times, YES!”

  The world continued to spin as we kissed under the pouring rain and felt no need to warm up or to come up for air. Being dead sure had its advantages.

  ~ Eight ~

  In the days following our happy announcement, Kalia and Fiore ran around making wedding plans like chickens without heads. Aaron seemed to take it all in stride and even offered to officiate our ceremony; another new thing I learned about him. He told me about some of the couples whose ceremonies he’d performed, which included Pierce and Beth.

  Sitting in the kitchen one day, looking at lists of possible bands for the reception, which Kalia and Aaron had insisted be held at the house, I asked, “If Aaron is the official, who’s going to give me away?”

  They all stopped shuffling through papers and looked up at me. “Me, of course,” Kalia said.

  “Women can do that?” I asked.

  Fiore was the only one to laugh. “Sure. Why not? After all, there’s nothing traditional about this wedding.”

  How true! A traditional vampire wedding? Fiore was a little reluctant when I asked but agreed to be my maid of honor. Pierce was asked to be Christian’s best man, since Christian had no family and his friends, who all lived in other states, couldn’t see him the way he was now.

  “I wish my parents could’ve met you,” he said with a wistful look. “They would’ve loved you.”

  “What’s not to love, except maybe the fangs,�
� Fiore added.

  “Besides that!” He slapped her arm, a little too hard since she rubbed it.

  “They’ll be with you in spirit, Christian,” Kalia said trying to smooth things over. Ever since our engagement, Fiore and Christian had thrown even more jabs at each other.

  “You need to pick a band before you leave on your trip. We can take care of the rest while you’re gone. Don’t forget you have an appointment at the bridal shop tomorrow morning, Lily.” Aaron was taking a bigger role in the wedding plans than I had expected and I was relieved he accepted Christian as easily as he did.

  “I know. I’m already nervous about it. What time is our flight?” I asked Christian.

  “Late afternoon. You’ll have plenty of time,” he said and went back to discussing music with Aaron.

  We were going to Pennsylvania to tie up some loose ends for Christian before our wedding. He had some belongings in a storage unit there and a bank account to close.

  “It won’t be the same without Maia here. I wish she’d come home already, or at least answer her cell.” Kalia sighed. Aaron took her hand to comfort her.

  “She’ll be home when she’s ready,” he said but didn’t look at any of us. I could tell he wasn’t sure having her here was a good idea. With the exception of Kalia, who considered herself her mother, the rest of us felt the same as Aaron about Maia at the moment. Had she been the one to kidnap Christian? Had she sent the picture to my cell phone? Was she planning to avenge Ian?

  “Lily!” Kalia’s voice was a mere whisper but still harsh and I jumped.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me those thoughts haven’t crossed your mind.” Christian took my hand under the table as I ranted. “But if she did those things, it doesn’t mean it was entirely her fault. Ian was very convincing when he wanted something. He was an expert manipulator. He obviously brainwashed her.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Lily. Kalia’s just being a mother, right?” Aaron looked at his wife, only guessing at what she may have heard in my mind.

  “Yes. I’m sorry too.” She stood and left the room. Aaron followed her and we heard their bedroom door close.