“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.”
Her words made that heart beat a little faster. She still looked like Susie, but she was a Vampire now. I needed to remember that.
“You don't have to be afraid of me,” Susie said, and I heard the hurt in her voice, the disappointment.
“I'm sorry.”
“It's all right. I guess I can't blame you.”
“What was it like, hunting with Rafe?” Even as I asked the question, I couldn't stifle a twinge of jealousy because Susie had shared a part of Rafe's life that I never would.
“So much different than I thought it would be. I didn't think I could do it, drink blood, but he made it easy.”
“Wasn't it disgusting?”
Her gaze slid away from mine. “It should have been, but it wasn't. It was…pleasant.”
Pleasant? Pleasant! I didn't know what to say to that. A day at the beach was pleasant. Spending time with your loved ones was pleasant. Getting a full-body massage was pleasant. But drinking blood? No way!
Silence fell between us. It wouldn't have bothered me before, but it bothered me now. I wondered what Susie was thinking, couldn't help being somewhat amazed that she had adjusted so quickly to being a Vampire when she'd had so much trouble being a Werewolf. The absurdity of it all made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Susie's life would never be the same again; but then, neither would mine now that I had pledged my life and my love to Rafe.
“At least the four of us can still be friends,” I said, thinking aloud. After all, I didn't really have any other friends in town, certainly none Rafe and I could share an evening with.
“That's true, isn't it?” Susie remarked with a win-some smile. “I won't have to pretend with you, or make excuses about why we can't go to lunch.”
I grinned at her. “Right.” I suddenly felt a lot better. Maybe everything would work out after all.
But later that night, curled up on the sofa, hovering on the brink of sleep, I wondered if I had made the right choice in deciding to stay with Rafe. I loved him, loved everything about him, but now tiny doubts insinuated themselves into my thoughts. In choosing to stay with Rafe, I had distanced myself from my family. I would never have children or grandchildren, never cook a big Christmas dinner for my husband and kids, and while I didn't want kids right now, I had hoped to have one or two in the future. After all, I was only twenty-three years old. I still had a few good years left in me….
I shook off my doubts. I had made my choice, and I would make the same one again.
Yawning, I checked the time. It was almost two. “The guys will be here any minute,” I said, switching off the TV.
“I can't decide if I'm relieved or disappointed that nothing happened,” Susie said. “I sort of expected Edna and company to show up any minute.”
“I know what you mean. Maybe we should just leave town, now, tonight.”
“Don't you think they'd come after us?”
“I don't know. Actually, I'm surprised they didn't leave town. We should have gone to the police and pressed charges.” Funny, none of us had thought of it earlier.
“Do you think they would have believed us?”
I shrugged. The police weren't known for being sympathetic to the Supernatural community, or to those who associated with them. “It doesn't matter now.”
“Edna and Pearl must have some powerful friends somewhere,” Susie said thoughtfully. “I mean, how else did they get our pictures on the news? For that matter, how did they get our pictures, period?”
“Beats me. They must have taken them while we were drugged.” Now that I thought about it, we'd all looked sort of spaced-out in the photos. Hopefully, the national news media wouldn't pick up the story. “I've been wondering about something else, too.”
“What's that?”
“How did two elderly women who aren't doctors convince the Oak Hollow police chief that we were infected with some mysterious virus?”
“Maybe the police are in on it, too.”
Now there was a scary thought. “You might be right,” I said, warming to idea. “Being a police officer would be the perfect cover for a hunter. The cops can come and go pretty much as they please, poke into other people's business, snoop around at any hour of the day or night without arousing suspicion, lock up anyone they want for twenty-four hours without a warrant.”
Susie nodded in agreement and then, for no reason that I could see, she sat up straighter, her body tensing as she stared at the front door.
“What is it?” I asked. “Are the guys here?”
“No.” She stood up, and I saw her eyes begin to change.
I felt a whisper of power flow through the room as Susie's eyes took on a reddish glow.
“It's Travis Jackson,” she said, “and he's not alone.”