As Twilight Falls

Shirley sank onto the love seat next to Ravenwood, her gaze darting around the room. She wasn’t up-to-date on the latest home fashions, but there was no mistaking that the furniture in the room was top of the line. She couldn’t help wondering if the armor in the corner was genuine or just a remarkably good reproduction.

“What are you going to do with the hunters?” Ravenwood asked.

“There are only two choices,” Saintcrow replied. “Kill them or wipe their memories.” He glanced at Kadie. “I suppose the latter.”

Ravenwood frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve done that a few times, of course, but I couldn’t help wondering how long-lasting it is. When you erase a memory, does it ever come back?”

“Not if you do it right.”

“What, exactly, are you going to erase?” Kadie asked. Saintcrow rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Their memories of this place, for one thing. And all memory of being hunters, as well as their knowledge that we’re vampires.”

“How can that work?” Kadie asked. “My father probably knows a lot of hunters.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Saintcrow said. “Thinking about vampires will cause both of them severe headaches.” There was no guarantee that Andrews or any of the others would never regain their memories of what they were. Hunting was in their blood. But it was either erase their memories or kill them. And with Kadie’s father, that wasn’t an option.

“What about hypnosis?” Ravenwood asked. “Could a good hypnotist restore their memories?”

“Let’s not go looking for trouble,” Saintcrow advised. “We’ve got more than enough to go around.”

“You don’t think Kadie’s father would hurt her, do you?” Shirley asked.

“No, but he’d do his damnedest to destroy the rest of us.” Saintcrow looked at Kadie. “Are you going to be all right with this?”

“I don’t know what else you can do. What about my mother?”

Saintcrow clucked softly. He had forgotten about Carolyn Andrews. “I’ll have to do something about her, too.” He grinned as he wrapped his arm around Kadie. “Your family is a lot of trouble, you know that?”

“I know, but we’re a package deal,” Kadie said with an impish grin, and then, seeing Shirley’s expression, she frowned. “Are you okay?”

Shirley nodded. “I can’t stop thinking about how surreal this all is.”

“Surreal?” Kadie repeated, and then she nodded as understanding dawned. Shirley was surrounded by vampires and it was making her uncomfortable. “Do Rosemary and Donna know about me?”

“Yes.”

Micah laid his hand on Shirley’s arm. “You doing okay? You look a little pale.”

Unable to keep the hurt from her voice, Kadie said, “I think she wants to leave.”

“Kadie, I . . .”

“It’s all right, Shirley.”

Kadie blinked back unwanted tears when Ravenwood and Shirley left the house.

“How can she be so upset about me being a vampire when she’s obviously in love with one?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s easier for her to accept Micah because he was already a vampire when she met him.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t worry about it. She’ll come around, in time.”

“I hope so.” In her job, wandering from ghost town to ghost town, holed up in hotel rooms to write her articles, she hadn’t had time to make many friends. She had grown close to the women in Morgan Creek. It hurt to think they would look at her differently now, that they might be afraid of her.

Saintcrow gave her shoulders a squeeze, “I’m sorry, Kadie. I never thought about how being a vampire would affect you.” He shook his head. “Only how losing you would affect me. Selfish, as always.”

“You saved my life.”

“I didn’t want to go on without you. Selfish, like I said.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to live without you, either.” Cupping his face in her hands, she kissed him. “Now, let’s go see my dad.”

Chapter 42

It took quite a bit of convincing on Saintcrow’s part, but he finally managed to persuade Kadie to remain in the living room while he went to take care of their visitors. After promising that he wouldn’t do any permanent damage to either man, Saintcrow made his way down to his lair.

He stood outside the door for a moment, listening to their conversation as they tried to decide what they would do when he confronted them. When they ran out of ideas, he lit the candles in the wall sconce, then opened the door.

Harry and Ralph sat side by side on the top step. They blinked at the light when he opened the door.

When they lunged at him, Saintcrow held up his hand. They fell back when they hit the invisible barrier.

Saintcrow crossed his arms. “Harry, I’ll deal with you first. Come here.”

Unable to refuse, the man crossed the threshold into the turret room, then stopped, prevented from moving any farther.

“What are you going to do to him?” Andrews demanded.

“Whatever I want,” Saintcrow replied, and slammed the door.

He spoke to Harry’s mind, erasing everything that had to do with vampires and hunters. After implanting a posthypnotic suggestion, he told Harry to wait in the car for Andrews, then sent him on his way.

Andrews’s face was livid when Saintcrow opened the door. “Where’s Harry? What have you done to him?”

“He’s fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t give a damn what you believe. You’ve interfered in my life for the last time.”

The threat didn’t faze Andrews. “Where’s my daughter?” he asked belligerently. “What have you done to her?”

“I saved her life.”

Andrews’s face went from belligerent to furious. “You turned her into a bloodsucking monster, didn’t you? Damn you! I’ll kill you for that.”

“No, you won’t. When I’m through with you, the very word vampire will give you the mother of all headaches. You won’t remember anything about being a hunter, nor will you recognize a vampire when you see one.”

Doubt shadowed Andrews’s eyes for the first time. “What do you mean?”

“Just what you think I mean,” Saintcrow replied coldly.

“No!” Andrews staggered back, his arms raised to shield his face, as if that would save him. “Dammit, you can’t do this!”