As Twilight Falls

“I don’t believe that. He would have called me.”

“Kadie, go let him in.”

Her hands were shaking when she opened the door. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take you home.”

Saintcrow folded his arms over his chest. “What makes you think I’ll let Kadie go?”

“Kathy’s dying.”

A cry of denial rose in Kadie’s throat. She had known this day was coming, but the shock of hearing it put into words, the finality of it, was even worse than she had expected.

“At most, she has only a few days left. Her last wish is to see Kadie.”

Saintcrow shook his head.

“You think I’m lying?” Andrews asked.

“I’m not in the habit of trusting vampire slayers, or helping them.”

“Yeah, I heard what you did to Rob, and Clarke and Gordon. Three of the best hunters in the world, and you ruined them.”

Saintcrow shrugged. “Would you rather I’d killed them?”

“Come with us and you’ll see I’m telling the truth,” Ralph said. “I have a plane waiting. It leaves in forty minutes.”

“Rylan, please.” Kadie stared at him, her eyes glazed with unshed tears. “My sister’s dying! I’ve got to go.”

“I know. Tell me what hospital she’s in. I’ll meet you there.”

Ralph stared at him, his eyes narrowed, and then he nodded. “Very well.” He pulled a card from his coat pocket and handed it to Saintcrow. “Room 305. Let’s go, Kadie.”

Kadie stared at Saintcrow. She didn’t want to leave him. To her surprise, she realized she didn’t trust her father, that, deep down, she found herself questioning his motives. Was her sister really at death’s door, or was this simply her father’s way of getting her away from Saintcrow? The thought left her feeling horribly guilty. Surely her father wouldn’t lie to her about something as serious as Kathy’s welfare. “Rylan?”

“It’s all right, Kadie,” he said quietly. “Go with him. I’ll meet you there.”

Kadie kissed him on the cheek, then followed her father out of the house and into the car. She glanced out the back window as her father put the Buick in gear, unable to shake off the nagging suspicion that she was making a terrible mistake.

Saintcrow stood in the living room, silent and still, as he considered his next move. He had let his mind brush Ralph’s. Either the man was telling the truth, or he was a master at hiding what he was really thinking.

It would take Kadie and her father less than two hours to fly from Morgan Creek to Morro Bay, another half an hour or so to leave the airport and drive to the hospital. He had seen the worry in Kadie’s eyes, and it hadn’t been for her sister. It had been for him. The thought warmed him as few things had. His sweet, fragile female was worried about him, afraid her father was up to no good, that the story about Kathy being in the hospital had been a ruse to get her away from Saintcrow.

Well, they’d know if she was right soon enough.

Going to his lair, he changed into a pair of black jeans and a black shirt, pulled on a black leather jacket, and went in search of Ravenwood.

He found the vampire in Shirley’s house. The woman was on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, her left leg propped on a pillow on the coffee table. Ravenwood sat beside her. They were watching a movie on a small flat-screen TV. Saintcrow shook his head, thinking that technology had come to Morgan Creek in his brief absence.

Vampire and human both looked up when he entered the house. The woman’s eyes widened in fear. The vampire’s eyes narrowed as he gained his feet, his hands clenching at his sides.

“Relax,” Saintcrow said. “I just stopped by to tell you I’m leaving. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.” Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew the key to the Corvette and tossed it at Ravenwood. “Don’t wrap it around a phone pole.”

Micah stared at the key. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. If I’m not back in a few days, the car is yours. Look after the women.” With a nod in Shirley’s direction, Saintcrow left the house.

Shirley looked at Micah. “What was that all about?”

He shook his head. “Beats the hell out of me.” Micah tossed the key to the Corvette in the air, and caught it in his hand. “How’d you like to go for a drive?”

Shirley stared at him. “Are you serious?”

“Sure. It’s a beautiful night. What do you say?”

“How do I know you won’t . . . you know?”

“You don’t think I’d do anything to make Saintcrow mad at me, do you?”

“I hope not.”

“Come on,” he said, and smiled at her.

His smile was her undoing. The dimples in his cheeks gave him an innocent, boyish look that was somehow irresistible.

Moments later, she was sitting beside him in Saintcrow’s Corvette, holding on for dear life as he sped down the highway. At any other time, she would have been scared to death, but with Micah, she wasn’t afraid.

For the first time since she had wandered into Morgan Creek, she felt young and carefree. Laughter bubbled up inside her and she let it out, not caring that Micah looked at her as if she was slightly insane.

“Anyplace in particular you’d like to go?”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“Doing what?”

“Spending time with me? I’m old enough to be your mother.”

“Really? You don’t look that old. Besides, it’s just a date. We aren’t getting married.”

Shirley laughed again, liking him even more. “I’d like to go somewhere for an ice cream sundae . . . Oh, never mind. I forgot you can’t eat anything.”

“Well, maybe you’ll let me have a taste of you later, and I can taste it that way.”

“You’re kidding! You can taste what I eat?”

Now it was his turn to laugh. “No, but that would be great, wouldn’t it?”

“I guess so.”

For a time, they rode in silence. Shirley kept glancing at him, unable to believe this gorgeous vampire wanted to spend time with her. In spite of Micah’s words to the contrary, she was forty-five and she looked it even though she still felt like a teenager. She recalled a conversation the women had had one night. It seemed, no matter what their age, from forty to sixty, they all felt young on the inside. They’d all laughed when Donna said she sometimes looked in the mirror and found herself wondering who that old lady was staring back at her. Shirley knew the feeling.