She grimaced. "It isn't just you. It's everything. I'm out of a job, I'm almost out of credits, I was bitten by a werewolf, and I'm…"
"Go on."
"I'm afraid I've fallen in love with you."
"And that makes you unhappy?"
"No, but…" She shook her head. "It's a complication, you must admit."
"I should not have come here tonight," he said, "but I could not stay away."
"I'm glad you're here. My life seems incredibly dull when you're not around."
His palms slid up and down her sides, his thumbs lightly skimming over her br**sts. "I could change that."
"I'm sure you could but I'm just not ready."
"I can wait."
"I'm sorry."
"You need not be sorry, Regan. I will wait until you are ready, no matter how long it takes," he said with a wry grin. "I have nothing but time." He drew her close, his arms tightening around her as his lips brushed the crown of her head. "I must go now, but I will see you at the Byways when the moon is full."
"All right."
He kissed her then, a lingering kiss that spoke of his love for her and his yearning, and then he was gone.
With a sigh, she sank down on the sofa, wondering if she should have asked him to stay.
Chapter 25
Vasile was waiting at the door when Nadia's father arrived.
"The moon will rise shortly," Stefan announced.
Vasile nodded. He would have preferred to avenge Nadia's death himself, but he couldn't deny Stefan the right to avenge his daughter's death.
Vasile understood the need for vengeance all too well. His yearning to destroy Santiago burned as bright and hot within him as it had the day he destroyed Marishka. A day he would never forget. A day that had changed his life forever.
He had loved her from the moment he first saw her dancing in front of a Gypsy wagon. In the fire's light, she had been enchanting, her body moving fluidly to the strains of a Gypsy violin.
He had loved her, and had thought she loved him. While he had been blindly pursuing her, she had been meeting Santiago on the sly.
Santiago. He spat into the dirt. He would not rest until he had destroyed the bastard.
But first he and Stefan would pay a visit to the villager who had killed Nadia.
With a feral cry, Vasile shifted and ran into the night. He did not look back to see if Stefan followed.
It took only minutes to reach the house of the man responsible for Nadia's death. Light shone from the windows. Smoke curled from the chimney.
Vasile could see a woman inside, preparing the evening meal. For all the conveniences of the modern world, few had reached this small village, whether by choice or fate. A corral held a flock of sheep. Two large dogs slept near the gate. One of them woke as Stefan approached and immediately began to bark a warning.
Moments later, the door of the cottage opened and a man emerged, a lamp in his hand. "Who's there?" he called, peering into the darkness. "Is anyone there?"
When the dog continued barking, the man walked toward the sheep pen.
The other dog was awake now. Vasile quickly dispatched them both while Stefan stalked the villager.
The man never knew what hit him.
Chapter 26
Regan woke knowing that the moon would be full that night. It was something she had dreaded every night. Filled with a sense of apprehension and with her nerves on edge, she skipped breakfast and had a thick chocolate malt for lunch. She cleaned house with a vengeance, straightened the kitchen cupboards, did her laundry, and washed her car.
She went out for an early dinner and ordered a steak, rare, and ate it with gusto, even as she was inwardly repulsed.
Shortly before dusk, she changed into a pair of old sweats and sandals and drove to Santiago's lair in the Byways.
He was at the door waiting for her when she arrived.
He stood back, allowing her entrance, then closed the door and keyed in the lock code.
"So," she said. "What do we do now?"
"Whatever you wish. I can lock you in my lair, or we can drive out to the country and you can run under the moon. The choice is yours."
The thought of being locked in the vampire's lair, with his coffin, gave her the creeps. "Do we have time to get out of the city before the moon rises?"
He nodded. "Is that what you wish to do?"
"I think so." As she said the words, she was surprised to find she was looking forward to running through the night. In spite of her revulsion at being a werewolf, there was an undeniable thrill to being a wolf, a sense of freedom that she had never known before.
Santiago took her in his arms, one hand stroking her back, her hair.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Shouldn't we be leaving?"
He pressed a finger to her lips. "I will carry you there."
Before she could question him further, they were out of the city.
Regan turned in a slow circle. They were in a heavily wooded area. Tall trees surrounded her on every side. For all she knew, they could have been hundreds of miles from the nearest town.
"Where are we?"
"A wild animal sanctuary outside of Clanton." Clanton was a large metropolis about eighty miles from the city.
"I've heard of this place. People aren't allowed in here."
Santiago glanced at the sky. "In a moment, there will not be any people here."
Even as he spoke the words, Regan felt the familiar but unwelcome burning sensation that signaled the onset of the change. She looked at Santiago, who sensed what was happening and obligingly turned his back to her. Hands shaking, she threw off her top and stepped out of her sandals and sweatpants. She hadn't bothered with a bra or panties.
She howled with pain as the werewolf took control of her body, transforming her nails into claws and her skin into fur. Her bones stretched and shifted until the change was complete. She howled again, this time with triumph, as she bounded into the darkness, her nose testing the wind for prey.
Quickly shifting into wolf form, Santiago ran after her. He had long ago accepted his existence as a vampire. He reveled in his preternatural powers and strength and his expanded senses, but there was something about being a wolf that surpassed even that. There was a wildness, a sense of freedom and exultation that was unmatched in any other form.
He soon overtook Regan and fell in alongside her.
And the fun began.
They flushed a red fox, a couple of deer, a bull moose, a pair of coyotes, and a jackrabbit.
Regan went after the rabbit.
Santiago watched her with a wolfish grin as she gave chase, laughed inwardly when the rabbit eluded her snapping jaws by diving into a hole. Lifting her head, she howled her frustration to the moon and the stars.