“I didn’t ask her,” Sheree replied, pulling on her jeans. “She doesn’t approve of my marriage to Derek. I doubt if she’d want to help me pick out a dress. Besides, it would have been hard to explain why I no longer have a reflection.”
“True enough,” Mara said, laughing. “Anyone you’d like to invite to the wedding?”
“Just Edna and Pearl. And my parents, of course.”
“Edna and Pearl?” Mara exclaimed. “Why on earth would you want them there?”
Shrugging, Sheree finished dressing and stepped into her sandals. “I think I hurt their feelings when I dumped their serum. I’d like to make amends.” It was only a little lie.
“Well, they wouldn’t have been on my guest list, but it’s your wedding.”
“So, you’ll invite them?”
Mara nodded.
“Thank you.” Grabbing her handbag and the gown, Sheree left the dressing room.
Mara waited while Sheree paid for the dress, which was carefully zipped into an opaque garment bag.
“So the groom doesn’t see it before the wedding,” the saleswoman explained with a smile.
Outside, Mara glanced up and down the street, her expression wary.
“Is something wrong?” Sheree asked.
“I got wind of a hunter earlier.”
Hunters, Sheree thought bleakly. She hadn’t given much thought to the danger they presented to her now that she was a vampire. “How do you know when they’re near?”
“You can smell them,” Mara replied, a note of disgust in her voice.
“Really? What do they smell like?”
“Death. Come on, I’ll see you safely home.”
Derek was waiting for Sheree when she arrived. She had invited Mara in, but the vampire had declined, saying Logan was waiting for her. They were going hunting together.
“I see you found a dress,” Derek remarked, eying the garment bag.
Sheree nodded.
“We’re all set then. I found just the place. It’s an old church in Northern California. I think everyone in the family has been married there except for my mother and Logan, who were married at home.”
“Did you set a date, too?”
“A week from tomorrow night. Mara cleared it with Father Lanzoni.”
Nodding, she placed the garment bag over the back of the sofa. “I’m hungry.”
“Come on, I’ll take you hunting.”
“Your mother said she smelled hunters in town.”
“Then we won’t hunt in town,” he said, taking her hand in his.
Moments later, they were in Texas.
“Texas?” she asked. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
She shrugged, wondering what the odds were of running into Pearl and Edna.
“Slim and none,” he said. “It’s a big state, and we won’t be here very long.”
She nodded agreeably, but, in spite of what Derek had said to the contrary, she was determined to try Pearl’s serum. If he read that rebellious thought, he didn’t remark on it.
It was still early and the streets of San Antonio were crowded with shoppers and tourists.
“Don’t you have to ask the head vampire’s permission to be here?” Sheree asked.
“No.”
“Why not? Your mother said master vampires are very possessive of their territory.”
“Well, that’s true enough, but Mara pretty much outranks every other vampire on the planet. And as her son . . .” He shrugged. “I guess you could say I have diplomatic immunity.”
She grunted softly. “Must be nice.”
Sheree had never been to Texas, although she’d once had a friend who was born there. According to Beth Ann, everything in Texas was bigger, better, and less expensive. Sheree didn’t know if any of that was true or not, but she was surprised to see men, and even a few women, wearing gun belts in plain sight.
A short time later, they turned onto the River Walk. It was a lovely place, with quiet walkways, tinkling waterfalls, and placid pools. Surprisingly, it was located one block below street level. They strolled past elegant Victorian mansions that were built on what had once been farmland belonging to the Alamo. Walking on, they passed the Pioneer Flour Mill, as well as hotels, restaurants, outdoor patios, and a number of shops.
They eventually ended up at the Alamo. Sheree knew little about the Alamo’s history, except for what she had seen in old movies. It was a lovely old place, and the first mission built in the city.
“Too bad it’s closed,” she remarked. “Maybe we could . . .” She paused, nostrils flaring at an unfamiliar scent carried by a vagrant breeze. “What is that awful smell?”
“Hunters. Three of them.”
“How do they know we’re here?” She glanced anxiously at the drifting shadows, but saw nothing.
“I don’t know, but we’re not waiting around to find out.” Grabbing her hand, he said, “Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
Moments later, they were in another part of the city. Derek quickly found a young couple walking down a quiet, tree-lined street. He mesmerized them with a look. “Which one do you want?”
“The man.” Sheree fed quickly, carefully. She had never realized how fragile mortals were until she became a vampire.
When she finished, Derek sent the couple on their way.
At home again, he settled into his favorite chair, his legs stretched in front of him, his gaze on his wife. “Are you ever going to forgive me?”
“I don’t know.” There were aspects of being a vampire that appealed to her—staying forever young, never getting sick, her increased strength. Even the blood part wasn’t nearly as bad as she had expected. But there was a whole part of her life that was forever lost to her. She missed her morning coffee. She missed all her favorite foods. She missed jogging in the morning, sunbathing in the backyard, going to lunch at the mall. She could no longer see her reflection in a mirror, or wear her favorite silver jewelry.
But those were superficial things. There would come a time when she would either have to stop visiting her parents or tell them the truth. How else could she explain the fact that her body didn’t age? Or why she couldn’t give them grandchildren . . . Children, she thought, blinking back tears. She would never have a daughter of her own, never know the joy of holding her child in her arms. . . .
Derek’s jaw clenched and she knew he was reading her thoughts again. She let her mind brush his, but it was closed to her. How did he do that?