It was after midnight when Vaughan met with the other vampires in the tavern. A quick glance and he knew that Gil, Wes, and Lilith had fed earlier that night. He swore under his breath, wondering how often Saintcrow fed on the delectable Kadie Andrews. But for Saintcrow's high-handed tactics, the woman would still be his. He swallowed his anger. There were plenty of beautiful women on the outside and he intended to have his share. Blonde, brunette, redhead, bald. He didn't care. Variety was the spice of life and he had a lot of lost time to make up for.
"So," he said when he had the group's attention, "what are your thoughts?"
"I don't think it's as bad out there as Saintcrow wants us to believe," Quinn said. "According to the latest news, the hunters have withdrawn from most of the cities. There haven't been any reported hits in over a week."
"Maybe they're just lying low," Browning suggested.
Lambert snorted. "Why would they do that?"
"Who knows? But if we're ever gonna leave, this seems as good a time as any," Felix said. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had it."
Lilith nodded. "I agree with Felix. The time to go is now. The world has changed in the last forty years. I want to experience it."
"Admit it," Vaughan said. "You just want to kill something."
"And you don't?" she retorted.
Vaughan glanced around the room. "We're agreed then?"
"Agreed," Gil said. "Now, who's gonna break the news to Saintcrow?"
A knock on the front door brought Saintcrow to his feet. He glanced at Kadie. She was sleeping soundly.
After pulling on a pair of jeans, Saintcrow padded down the stairs. He lifted an inquisitive brow when he saw Vaughan standing on the front porch. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"The others are waiting at the tavern," Vaughan said. "They sent me to get you."
"Yeah? I can guess why."
"And you'd be right. We want out."
Saintcrow bit back an oath. He'd much rather be in bed holding Kadie in his arms than meeting with a bunch of unhappy vampires, but this night had been a long time coming. It was time to end it.
It took only moments for them to reach the tavern.
As Vaughan had said, the vampires of Morgan Creek were all inside. They looked up as he walked in, their expressions wary. He held the power of life and death in his hands, and they all knew it.
"All right," Saintcrow said. "I'll make this short and sweet. You want to go? Then get the hell out of here."
"You mean it?" Lambert asked.
"I said it, didn't I? Get whatever you're taking with you and meet me at the bridge in ten minutes."
"It's not like we aren't grateful for what you've done for us," Browning said. "It's just . . ."
"The clock's ticking," Saintcrow said. "Get a move on. I've got a woman waiting for me and my side of the bed is getting cold."
Lilith waited until the others were gone, then said, "I want to take Jeremy with me."
"No. He's mine."
"You never feed on any of them. What do you want him for?"
"To keep him away from you," Saintcrow retorted. "I'll see you at the bridge."
She glared at him, her eyes blazing with anger as she swept out the door.
Saintcrow stared after her. "Nothing stays the same," he mused. "Not even for vampires."
He met them at the bridge at the appointed time. Most of them carried luggage of one kind or another, but little else.
There was a ripple in the air as they crossed to the highway.
There were no good-byes. In moments, all the vampires were gone save for Vaughan.
"What are you waiting for?" Saintcrow asked.
"She should have been mine."
Saintcrow snorted. "Are you still upset about that?"
"I saw her first."
"And now she belongs to me." Saintcrow folded his arms across his chest. "Do you want to fight me for her?"
Vaughan shook his head. "You'd rip my heart out."
"Damn right. Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind." Saintcrow stood there, gazing into the darkness, wondering what Kadie and the others would think when they discovered the vampires were gone. No doubt they would be relieved. He knew he was, just as he knew that Kadie was going to hound him to let all the humans go as well. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time to turn them loose and leave this place.
Grunting softly, he returned home. Taking off his jeans, he crawled under the covers and drew Kadie into his arms. There were hours until dawn, hours to hold her close.
Smiling, Kadie lifted her arms over her head and stretched as she relived the night past. Rylan had made love to her so tenderly, it had brought tears to her eyes. Never before had she felt so loved, so cherished. Little had been said between them. No words of love had been declared. But there was a new depth to their relationship, one she dared not explore too closely. As much as she enjoyed his company and his lovemaking, she couldn't ignore the reality of what he was, or pretend they had a future together. There were some things that even love couldn't overcome. Not that she loved him, she reminded herself quickly, though falling for him would be all too easy. If only he was human....
She blew out an impatient breath. No sense dwelling on what could never be. And with that thought in mind, she went into the bathroom to shower.
Closing her eyes, she imagined that it was Rylan's hands streaming over her body, his skin hot against her own, his mouth on hers, arousing her, carrying her away to places no mere mortal could ever take her.
Why did he have to be a vampire?
The thought was as effective as a splash of cold water.
Rinsing off, she grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. Would it be so bad to be in love with a vampire? She studied her reflection in the mirror, her fingers lightly stroking the place where Rylan had bitten her the night before. Bitten her! So what if it felt wonderful? So what if his kisses and his loving only made her yearn for more? He wasn't human. Hadn't been human for hundreds of years. He had killed people. He fed on their blood.
On her blood. She had to remember that.
"England?" Kadie gaped at Saintcrow. "You want to take me to England?"
They were sitting on the sofa, in front of the fireplace. Kadie had just finished cleaning up the kitchen.
"Not if you don't want to go," he replied dryly.
"Of course, I want to go." England. Home of Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Stonehenge, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle-places she had heard about, read about, and longed to see.
She was a small-town girl. She had been born and raised in Morro Bay, a town with a population of less than eleven thousand. She had graduated high school, gone to college in San Luis Obispo, and worked part-time on the local newspaper. After selling a few stories, accompanied by her photographs, she had, much to her parents' dismay, bought the Durango and hit the road. To Kadie's surprise, her stories had gathered a following and the demand for her photographs had grown steadily. Of course, writing and photographing ghost towns and old mining sites didn't take her to too many big cities. Visiting England had long been a dream.
"I'd love to go," Kadie said. "But-can you leave here? What about the vampires? And Rosemary and the others? Who'll look after them?"
"The vampires are gone. They left last night."
Kadie stared at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. They were gone, just like that? "You don't mean to go off and just leave everyone else here, do you?" If Rosemary and the others couldn't leave town, they'd all starve to death in a few weeks, since Saintcrow was the one who arranged for supplies and brought them into town.
"Of course not," he said. "I'll make sure they get wherever they want to go."
"Are you going to tell them tonight?"
He shook his head. "I'm leaving that up to you. There are bound to be tears and questions I don't want to answer. You find out where they want to go, then make a list of who goes first, and I'll see that they get there."
"Why did you decide to do this?"
"Why the hell do you think?"
"I don't know."
"You had a hand in it, but so did Vaughan. He's been stirring the vampires up for some kind of revolt. I don't need that. They can take care of themselves. At least they think so, and I'm tired of babysitting the lot of them. And tired of this place. When everyone else is gone, we're leaving. I need to feed," he said abruptly, and vanished from her sight.
Kadie stared at the place where he had been standing. The vampires were gone. He was freeing Rosemary and Nancy and the others.
He was taking her to England.
It was a lot to think about. But the only thing on her mind now was Saintcrow.
He seemed different. Withdrawn. Almost angry. She wondered if he was hurt because the vampires had decided to leave. Even though he wouldn't admit it in a million years, she knew he worried about them. Which seemed odd to her. They were vampires. At the top of the food chain, so to speak. Other than vampire hunters and sunlight, what did they have to fear?
She waited an hour for Saintcrow to come back, and when he didn't, she drove to Rosemary's. The drapes were open, the house ablaze with lights; she saw several of the women milling about in the living room. Jeremy and Claude were sitting on the front porch stairs, swilling beer from bottles.
Kadie parked the car in the driveway. "Looks like a heck of a party," she remarked, making her way across the grass to the walkway.
"Darn right!" Jeremy said with a crooked smile. "The bloodsuckers are gone. The house on the hill is empty!"
Claude reached into the ice chest beside him and pulled out a bottle. "We're celebrating." It was obvious he'd had more than one beer. "Wanna drink?"
"No, thanks."
There was a party atmosphere inside the house, too. Kadie had never seen the women looking so happy, so relaxed.
"Kadie!" Rosemary hurried toward her and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you're here! I guess you know the vampires are gone? We would have come to get you, but no one wanted to knock on Saintcrow's door in case he was still there. Is he?"
"Yes. I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you. All of you."
The smile died on Rosemary's face. "I was right, wasn't I? He's going to kill us."
"No. No, nothing like that. He wants me to find out where you want to go."
"Go?" Rosemary took a step back and dropped onto a chair, one hand pressed to her heart. "He's going to let us go?"
"Who's going?" Donna asked, coming into the room.
"What?" Nancy hurried toward them, the wine in her glass sloshing over the rim onto her hand. "Kadie, are you leaving?"
"No." She shook her head. "We're all leaving."
In minutes, everyone was gathered around her, all talking at once.
Kadie raised her hand for silence. "Please, quiet down and I'll tell you what I know."
In minutes, they were all looking at her expectantly. Jeremy and Claude stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the doorway, propping each other up. Frankie, always a loner, stood by herself, a bottle of diet soda in her hand.
"Saintcrow is leaving Morgan Creek," Kadie said, glancing around the room. "He told me to get a list of where you all wanted to go, and he'd see that you get there."
This announcement was met with another burst of excited chatter.
"What if we don't want to go?" The question, though quietly spoken, brought all other conversation to a halt as everyone turned to look at Rosemary.
"You don't want to leave?" Kadie stared at Rosemary, unable to believe what she'd heard. Rosemary had been here the longest and hated it the most.
Rosemary glanced at the others. "Where am I going to go? The world I knew is gone. My children are grown and probably have children of their own."
"But, Rose, don't you want to see them?" Shirley asked.
"They won't know me. I won't know them." She shrugged. "This is my home now. With the vampires gone, it could be a nice place to live."
"But, how will you get along?" Kadie asked.
"I don't know."
"You'll be all alone," Chelsea said.
"No, she won't," Brittany said, moving to stand beside Rosemary. "I don't have anywhere to go, either."
"Nor do I," Donna said. "I don't have any children. My husband and I were divorced five years before I got trapped here."
Kadie shook her head, bewildered. She had been certain they would all be champing at the bit to leave Morgan Creek. "Well, those of you who intend to leave need to decide where you want to go. As for the rest of you, I'll let him know that you'd like to stay, but I don't know if he'll agree to that."
"He owes it to us," Rosemary said, her voice, as always, tinged with bitterness when she spoke about the vampires in general and Saintcrow in particular.
"Well, I'm leaving," Jeremy said decisively, "just as soon as I can."
"Me, too," Claude said. "You couldn't pay me enough to stay here one minute longer than I have to."
Frankie nodded vigorously.
"And if that bloodsucker's footing the bill, then it's Hawaii for me!" Jeremy exclaimed, pumping his arm in the air. "What do you say, Claude?"
"Why the hell not? I've got nowhere else to go, and no one waiting for me when I get there!"
Frankie tapped her chest, then pointed at Jeremy.
"Sure, Frankie," Jeremy said. "You can come along, too. What about the rest of you?"
Chelsea shook her head. "I'm going home. I want to see my folks." She bit down on her lower lip. "I hope my dad is still alive. He was having some health problems last time I saw him."
"I've only been here a few years," Nancy said, "so it's home for me, too, although I'm sure my fiance has stopped waiting by now."
"It's home for me, too," Pauline said. "My house isn't far from here. My mother lives with me. I just hope she's been able to look after things while I've been gone."
"What about you, Shirley?" Kadie asked.
"I don't know. I had a good job as a teacher back home, good friends. But I've been gone so long . . . I just don't know how I'd explain my absence." Her eyes widened. "He'll erase our memories, won't he? We won't remember any of this."
"I don't know," Kadie said. It was the truth. She didn't know. But Saintcrow had erased the memory of this place and everything that had happened here from Marti's mind. Had he done the same to Carl? Would he do it to Rosemary and the others?
"What difference does it make?" Jeremy asked. "Why would you want to remember this place?"
"Because it's part of my life," Shirley said, a note of panic evident in her voice. "Maybe not a good part, but still, I don't want some vampire messing with my mind."
"It's not right," Pauline said. "Sure, I hate this place, but I've grown to love all of you. I don't want to forget that."
"He'll have to wipe this place from our minds." Claude cracked his knuckles. "He can't have us running around telling people about what those bloodsuckers did to us."
Nancy took Kadie's hands in hers. "You've got to talk to him, Kadie. Convince him that we won't tell anyone."
Kadie shook her head. "I'll try, but I don't think he'll listen to me. If there's one thing I've learned about Saintcrow, it's that he takes security very seriously."
"This is so unfair!" Shirley exclaimed. "He's stolen years of our lives, and now he wants to steal our memories, as well! What kind of monster is he?"
Saintcrow stood in the shadows outside Rosemary's house, Shirley's question echoing in his mind. What kind of monster is he?
A good question, to be sure, he mused as he pondered what his answer would be.
Just your typical monster, was the first response that came to mind, even though it wasn't true. He wasn't a typical monster. He was a master vampire, one of the oldest of his kind, practically indestructible, virtually immortal. He had lived hundreds of years before any of the people in the house had been born; he would live hundreds of years after they were dust.
Monster. The others in the house might think of him that way, but not Kadie. She was still a little afraid of him, still in awe of his preternatural powers, but she no longer saw him as a monster or, if she did, she hid it well.
Swearing under his breath, he walked up the stairs. He hadn't intended to interact with those inside, but after listening to their conversation, he'd changed his mind. The people gathered in the house had two choices. He doubted they would be thrilled with either one.
A stillness like death settled over the men and women in the living room when he stepped inside. Rosemary looked at him with ill-disguised loathing. Chelsea with fear. Nancy and Shirley with apprehension. The men with suspicion. Kadie with curiosity.
He decided to get right to the point. "I know Kadie has told you that I've decided to let you go. And that you're concerned about having your memories of this place erased." His gaze swept the room, resting briefly on each face. "I can understand your apprehension. However, it doesn't concern me. I don't really give a damn what any of you want, or what you think. I know humans spend a lot of time worrying about right and wrong and about what's fair. The only thing I worry about is survival. I haven't existed as long as I have by taking chances or putting my fate in the hands of others. So, it comes down to this. I can erase your memories of the time you spent in this place and let you go. Or I can end your life. The choice is yours. For those of you who want to stay here, that's fine. I won't erase your memories of each other, only your memories of what went on here. If that seems harsh . . ." He shrugged. "You can let me know your decision tomorrow night," he said, then vanished from their sight.
Kadie glanced around the living room. Most of the faces registered shock to one degree or another. She couldn't blame them, although the choice seemed relatively easy to her. Always choose life. That had been her grandmother's motto.
"Well," Jeremy said, "that's pretty cut and dried. His way or no way. I'm goin' to bed." He swayed unsteadily as he staggered toward the front door, then glanced over his shoulder. "Anybody wanna come with me?"
To Kadie's surprise, Chelsea followed Jeremy out of the house.
"How long has that been going on?" Shirley asked.
"Not long," Pauline said.
There were a few scattered remarks about Saintcrow, none of them favorable. Nancy and the others were subdued and thoughtful as they took their leave, until only Rosemary and Kadie remained.
"It isn't fair," Rosemary declared.
"I know."
"Are you going to stay with him?"
"I don't have any choice. He hasn't offered to let me go."
"Would you leave if you had the choice?"
"I honestly don't know." Kadie shook her head. "If he wasn't a vampire, I'd probably fall in love with him."
"Are you sure you're not already in love with him?"
"I'm sure," Kadie said adamantly.
And wondered if it was the truth.