When there was no reply, Rhys called, “Megan, it’s me. Open up.”
“How do I know it’s you?”
Hearing the teasing tone of her voice, he said, “I could tell you how many times we made love last night.”
Soft laughter rose in the air as she unlocked the door. “Is nothing sacred?”
“Not much.” Rhys stepped into the entryway, followed by Daisy and Delacourt. Erik locked the door behind them.
Rhys took Megan in his arms. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Did you find any more…anyone else?”
“No. Adams was the only fatality.”
“What are we going to do now?”
Rhys kissed the tip of her nose. “We aren’t going to do anything. This is between me and Villagrande and no one else.”
“How can you say that?” Megan exclaimed. “Shirl and Villagrande were both here, trying to get in. I’m pretty sure they weren’t just stopping by for a cup of coffee. I mean, Shirl lied to me!”
“She’s got a point,” Erik said.
“A darn good one, I’d say,” Daisy added.
With a shake of his head, Rhys pulled Megan into his arms. “All right, you foolish woman. What do you think we ought to do?”
“Leave town,” Megan said quickly.
Rhys looked at Daisy. “What do you think?”
“I agree with Megan. There’s a whole world out there. Why shed blood over a few acres?”
Erik laughed at her quick reply.
Rhys snorted softly. “For the last time, I’m not slinking out of town like some whipped cur.”
Megan exhaled sharply. “You and your silly pride.”
“Sometimes it’s all a man’s got to call his own,” Rhys said quietly.
Erik nodded. “Better to go out with a bang than a whimper, right?”
“Exactly,” Rhys said.
And that, Megan thought glumly, was that.
Chapter 37
On Monday night, Rhys thanked Erik and Daisy for their help. Megan had expected them to be anxious to return to Boston, so she was surprised when Daisy said she wanted to stay for another week or so.
“I haven’t been to Beverly Hills yet,” she explained with a sidelong glance at Erik.
“I’ll be broke by the time I get her out of those shops,” Erik complained, but he was smiling when he said it.
Daisy just grinned. “Let’s go find a nice hotel,” she suggested. She gave Megan a hug and Rhys a kiss on the cheek, then with a final wave, she and Erik left the house.
The next few days passed peacefully enough. Rhys continued to drive Megan back and forth to work. He kept watch from outside while she was at Shore’s, and slept by her side until dawn.
Megan hadn’t heard anything more from Shirl. In spite of everything, Megan missed her roommate. Good friends were hard to find. She wondered if they could ever be friends again now that Shirl had been turned and she was living with Villagrande. She still had a faint hope that it might be possible once Shirl learned to control her thirst. After all, Megan thought, who was she to judge Shirl’s choice of men when she, herself, had a vampire lover?
As far as Megan knew, Rhys hadn’t heard from Villagrande. She couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.
“Maybe he changed his mind,” Megan suggested when Rhys drove her to work on Saturday night.
“No, he’s still here. He’s up to something, I just don’t know what.” Rhys drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. Villagrande had threatened to destroy the members of the Vampire Council one by one and then come for Rhys. But he seemed to have backed off since destroying Adams. Maybe it was only a reprieve while Villagrande dallied with Shirl. Or maybe Megan was right and Villagrande had indeed had a change of heart.
When they reached Shore’s, Rhys parked the car, then walked Megan across the parking lot to the back entrance.
“Do you really think it’s necessary for you to stay here every night?” she asked. “I mean, it must be terribly boring, watching me all night long.”
“Not at all.” He slipped his hands around her waist and kissed the tip of her nose. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”
“Right.”
“Time doesn’t have the same meaning for me that it does for you,” he reminded her.
She supposed that was true. What were a few wasted hours when he had centuries ahead of him?
He kissed her again, then opened the back door. “Send a smile my way now and then.”
It was near the end of her shift when Mr. Parker poked his head out of the office, a sour expression on his face. “Phone for you.”
Megan nodded. Mr. Parker was a sweetheart about most things, but the one thing he frowned on was personal calls at work, so Megan always kept her cell phone off.
Mr. Parker left the office, giving Megan her privacy.
“Hello?”
“Megan, it’s Shirl.”
“Shirl, this is a surprise. Is everything all right?”
“Of course.”
“So, do you still like being…” Megan paused and peered out the door to make sure no one could overhear her conversation. “A vampire.”
“It’s wonderful, Meggie. I wish you’d think about it.”
“Are you kidding? No way!”
“Well, I’ll keep hoping. Think how much fun we could have. We could room together again.”
And hunt together. Megan frowned. Had Shirl spoken those words aloud?
“There’s so much to do,” Shirl was saying. “So much to see. Everything is new and exciting. Megan, you can’t believe how wonderful it is. I have so much energy, and I’m never tired, and—”
“I’m glad you’re happy. Are you still with Villagrande?”
“Yes, but he scares me a little. He can be really intense at times.”
“Is he still planning to take over Rhys’s territory?”
“I don’t know. He’s out of town right now.”
“Oh? Where did he go?”
“He told me but I don’t remember,” Shirl said. “He said he had some kind of vampire business to take care of. I don’t suppose you’d consider getting together tomorrow night, maybe go see a movie.”
“I don’t know.”
“I guess you still don’t trust me.”
Megan stared into the distance. Neither one of them had family nearby and so, in good times or bad, they had always turned to each other. She remembered the fun times, the silly times, all the laughs they had shared. And the sad times, when they had comforted one another. Once, she would have trusted Shirl with her life. But now…how could she, when her roommate was so changed?