Night's Master (Children of The Night 3)

I stared at him, my mind filling with images of Raphael Cordova bending over me, his fangs poised at my throat. “No, I don't think so.”

“I didn't ask you to be dinner,” he said with a knowing grin. “But if the thought of dining with me makes you uncomfortable, perhaps we could go out for a drink.” He held up a hand, silencing the protest he must have read in my eyes. “No blood involved.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I was tempted. I hadn't been out on a date in almost six months. I didn't know anyone else in town. And Raphael Cordova intrigued me more than any man I had ever met. But still…what was the point in dating a Vampire? I opened my mouth to say, “No, thank you,” so you can imagine my surprise when I heard myself say, “Yes, I'd like that.”

“Tomorrow night, perhaps?”

“All right.” Tomorrow was Thursday. I closed the shop at seven during the week, at nine on Fridays and Saturdays. I was closed on Sundays, like every other business in town except for the gas station/mini-mart located over on Ninth Street, which was open 24-7.

“Shall I pick you up here, or at your home?”

“Here will be fine,” I said, uncomfortable at the thought of letting a Vampire know where I lived.

“Until tomorrow night, then.” He smiled at me, then left the store.

I stared after him, wondering what I was getting myself into.

Chapter Three

I woke up Thursday morning feeling jittery inside, a condition that grew steadily worse with each passing tick of the clock. I took a long shower, spent half an hour applying my makeup and doing my hair, and another twenty minutes trying to decide what to wear. Since Raphael was picking me up at the store, I wouldn't have time to come home and change for our date later. In the end, I settled on a pair of white slacks and a green turtleneck sweater that made my eyes look a shade darker than they were. I wondered if Raphael liked green eyes. The word Vampire whispered through my mind, sending me to my jewelry box where I kept a gold crucifix, not because I was Catholic, but because crosses were supposed to repel Vampires. I had worn it constantly in New York, but it hadn't seemed necessary here in Oak Hollow until I met Raphael.

I fastened the chain around my neck, then took a last look in the mirror, wishing my hair was curly and black instead of long and straight and blond. I slipped into my comfy work shoes, grabbed a pair of white high-heeled sandals to change into for my date with the Undead, scooped up my handbag and my keys, and headed to the bookstore.

To my surprise, I had several ordinary customers that afternoon.

One of them, Susie McGee, was the down-to-earth, outgoing, friendly type. She had a pretty, heart-shaped face, short, dark curly hair, bright blue eyes, and a harried expression. She was about five feet three inches tall, making her two inches shorter than I was. After she paid for her purchases, she lingered at the counter.

“This is a great place,” she said, looking around. “We've needed a bookstore for donkey's years, but we're not really big enough to interest a Barnes & Noble or a Borders, you know?”

I nodded, keeping one eye on her three boys, who were playing hide-and-seek in the aisles. They were cute kids. I estimated they were all under the age of seven. They all had their mother's dark curly hair and blue eyes. After twenty minutes of watching them run around my store, I knew why their mother looked stressed out.

“I just love to read,” Susie went on. “After a day of looking after my monsters, I need a little time to myself. Of course, the only place I can be by myself is in the bathroom. I call it my reading room,” she said with a laugh, and then she sighed. “Honestly, the only time I have to call my own is on the john. Or in the tub. Well, listen to me, running on like that. I'd best be going. Bobby, you stop pulling your brother's hair! Jeremy, put that bear back on the shelf.” She looked at me and shook her head. “Honestly, all those kids do is fight! It was nice to meet you, Miss McKenna.”

“Kathy, please.”

With a smile, Susie gathered up her books and her brood and left the shop.

I glanced at the clock. It was a quarter to seven. Since Raphael was only taking me out for a drink, I had eaten a late lunch. But even if I hadn't, I was much too nervous to think about food.

I turned off the outside lights, locked the cash drawer, then went into the back room to change my shoes. I didn't hear the bell over the door ring, but I knew the moment Raphael arrived. I'm not sure how I knew. Women's intuition, a change in the atmosphere, a sudden internal awareness, I don't know. I just knew he was there, the same way I had known that he was a Vampire.

I ran a hand over my hair, took a deep breath, and made my way toward the front of the store.

Cordova turned to face me, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. Lordy, the man was breathtaking! He wore a white shirt open at the throat, black slacks, and boots. His hair gleamed blue-black in the overhead light.

I felt a blush warm my cheeks as his gaze moved over me, the look in his eyes telling me he liked what he saw.

“Good evening, Miss McKenna.”

“You might as well call me Kathy,” I suggested somewhat breathlessly.

“Kathy.”

The sound of my name on his lips sent a shiver down my spine, made me think of warm bodies intimately entwined on cool satin sheets. Maybe letting him call me by my given name wasn't such a good idea, after all. I touched the crucifix at my throat to give me strength.

Raphael observed the gesture with a wry grin. “The belief that crosses scare off Vampires is an old wives' tale,” he remarked. “In any event, it isn't the cross that wards off the Vampire, but the wearer's belief in the power of good over evil.”

“I didn't know that.”

“And then you have to ask yourself, what if he's Jewish or Hindu?”

I folded my arms under my br**sts. “Now you're making fun of me.”

He shook his head. “Not really. In any case, if you feel the need to wear one, it should be silver.”

“What difference does that make?”

“Silver burns Vampire flesh, gold does not. Not only that, but silver renders us powerless if we're bound with it.”

I filed that bit of useful information away for future reference.

“Are you ready to go?” He glanced at the crucifix again. “Or have you changed your mind?”

“I haven't changed my mind,” I said. “Just give me a minute to lock up.”

He followed me to the door, waited on the sidewalk while I turned off the interior lights and set the alarm.