Night's Master (Children of The Night 3)

I widened my eyes in what I hoped was a look of innocence. “There was a Vampire here? Really? Where?”

“Here,” Travis said, his voice tight. “You were talking to him.”

“Oh, him,” I said lightly. “He was just a guy who asked me to dance, that's all. Was he really a Vampire?” I glanced around the room, as if I was afraid. “Is he still here?”

Travis looked at me suspiciously for stretched seconds before he sat down. “No, he's long gone by now.”

“Good.” I reached for my drink, wishing I had ordered something stronger than a Coke.

I was thoroughly depressed by the time I got home, by turns angry with Rafe for being so possessive and for checking up on me, and then angry with myself for apologizing for what was a perfectly innocent evening, and then feeling blue because it seemed like the fabric of our relationship was slowly unraveling.

I was too upset to eat dinner; instead, I curled up on the sofa, a pillow clutched to my chest, and thought about Rafe.

I wasn't sure what had drawn us together other than great chemistry and the inability to keep our hands off each other. I told myself yet again that there was no future in dating a Vampire, even one as mouthwatering as Rafe Cordova. At best, we might have had a few years together. At worst, I might have become one of the Undead.

With a sigh, I hugged the pillow closer, thinking that a few years with Rafe would have been better than a lifetime with anyone else, even though I knew that staying with him wasn't a good idea. Sooner or later, we would have made love. Given his effect on my senses and the way I felt about him, it was inevitable, only I wasn't sure I wanted to give my virginity to a Vampire, even a gorgeous, sexy Vampire.

More depressed than ever, I brushed my teeth and went to bed.

There, alone in the dark, I buried my face in my pillow and let the tears flow.

Chapter Eighteen

Feeling out of sorts after his meeting with Kathy, Rafe went to Susie McGee's house to see his grandparents, who were standing watch. He found them sitting on the grass in the side yard, playing gin rummy by the light of the moon.

“Raphael, what brings you here?” his grandmother asked. “Is something wrong?”

He dropped down beside her. “No, I was just…bored.”

His grandfather grunted softly. “Sometimes the nights can be long.”

“But beautiful,” Brenna remarked. “Just look at that sky.”

Rafe looked up. Mortal eyesight was limited, but he could see millions of stars scattered across the heavens. For all the years that he had been a Vampire, he had rarely taken notice of the skies.

“How is that lovely girl?” Brenna asked. “What was her name? Kathy?”

“She's fine,” Rafe replied flatly.

“Oh, dear,” Brenna said. “You've had a fight, haven't you?”

“Not exactly.” He blew out a sigh.

“What, exactly?”

“She doesn't want me.”

“Is it you she doesn't want?” Roshan asked. “Or what you are?”

“She doesn't want to be a Vampire.”

Brenna made a soft, thoughtful sound. “Did you ask her to become one?”

“No, I asked her if she wanted to marry me. She said she loved me, but…” He shrugged as if it didn't matter one way or the other. “Not enough, I guess.”

“It's not an easy decision to make,” Roshan said. “Maybe she just needs more time. After all, you've only known her a few weeks.”

“Your grandfather's right, as always,” Brenna said. “Did you tell her she doesn't have to become one of us?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to see her again?” Roshan asked.

“I don't know. She wants us to go on like before, but…” Rafe dragged a hand over his jaw. “I don't know. It might be best for both of us to end it now, before things get any more complicated.”

“You love her, don't you?” Brenna asked, though it was more a statement than a question.

“Yeah, dammit.”

Roshan laughed softly. “Love makes fools of us all.”

“Listen!” Brenna said. “What's that?”

Rafe stood, his senses probing the night. And then he heard it: footsteps, followed by the sound of the McGees' garage door opening. Moving toward the corner of the house, he saw Rick McGee get into his car and back out of the driveway.

“I thought he moved out,” Rafe remarked.

“He came by a few hours ago. Brought the kids for a visit,” Roshan said, coming up behind Rafe.

“Where do you suppose he's going this time of night?”

“I don't know,” Roshan said. “He doesn't have the kids with him. What do you say we go find out? Brenna, you stay here and keep an eye on the girl and her mother.”

Brenna rose, her hands fisted on her hips. “I always have to stay behind.”

Roshan kissed her on the forehead. “It's a good thing, too. You never know when I might need rescuing again.”

Rafe grinned. Years ago, his grandmother and his father had rescued Roshan from a witch who had been determined to resurrect Anthony Loken, her deceased lover. To do so, she had needed the blood of an enemy, and his grandfather had fit the bill nicely, having been instrumental in taking Loken's life.

Brenna laughed softly, as if she, too, was remembering that time, and then she kissed her husband and patted Rafe's cheek. “Be careful, you two.”

Rick McGee's car was easy to follow. Because Roshan felt like running, Rafe ran alongside him. The exercise eased some of his tension, and Rafe wondered if that had been his grandfather's intent.

They stayed back far enough that McGee couldn't see them, then fell back even farther when the man made a sharp left on Oak Tree Road and pulled up in front of an abandoned meat-packing plant. McGee got out of the car and, after glancing around, he knocked on the door, knocked again, and then a third time, before a tall man in dark clothing opened it.

“You're late,” the tall man said.

Rafe frowned, thinking the man looked familiar, and then he realized it was the man Kathy had been with at Sugar Babe's.

“Yeah, well,” McGee was saying, “one of my kids got sick. He wanted me to sit with him until he fell asleep.”

With a look of disdain, the tall man stepped back. McGee went inside, and the tall man closed the door. And not just an ordinary door, Rafe noted. It was reinforced with heavy steel.

“Guess we'd better go see what's going on,” Roshan said cheerfully, and dissolving into mist, he drifted toward the building.