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“Joe, please don't be angry,” Susie said, moving to his side. “Please don't make this any more difficult than it already is.”
Cagin muttered an oath, but the anger washed out of his eyes. “I'm sorry.” He glanced at Rafe and then at me. “If you two will excuse us, I think Susie and I need to talk.”
Rafe inclined his head, and Cagin and Susie left the room.
“Where did you go?” I asked. “What happened?”
“Just what I said. I took her hunting, just as my father once took me.”
“You're not her father.”
“That's where you're wrong. She's my fledgling, and I'm her sire. She belongs to me now, in a way she'll never belong to Cagin.”
“I don't think I like the sound of that. In fact, I'm sure of it.”
Rafe smiled indulgently as he sat beside me on the sofa. “We're not bound the way you and I are bound,” he assured me. “No one else will ever share what we have.” His knuckles slid over my cheek. “Don't you know that?”
When he looked at me like that, how could I doubt him?
“So, she's going to be all right, then?”
“I think so.”
“She looks different. Does becoming a Vampire affect everyone that way?”
He nodded.
“Too bad you can't bottle it,” I muttered. “You could make a fortune.”
“You're angry.”
I tossed a lock of hair over my shoulder. “Why should I be angry?”
“Jealous, then.”
I would have denied it, but what was the point? He could read the truth in my mind. I blew out a sigh, annoyed with myself for being jealous of a Vampire, no matter how pretty she was. So what if she would never grow old, never get sick? She would never enjoy a good meal again, never take her children to the park on a sunny day, never share her whole life with her sons, or with the man she loved. Shape-shifters lived longer than humans, but not as long as Werewolves or Vampires. Susie, it seemed, was destined to live a long life as one creature or the other. Barring accidents, she might outlive Cagin.
“Kathy?”
I didn't want to talk about Susie anymore, didn't want to delve too deeply into the reason for my jealousy, so I changed the subject. “What do you suppose Edna and Pearl are up to?”
“I don't know,” Rafe said, his voice brittle, “but I intend to find out.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I'm going after them, back to the lab, if necessary.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Don't worry. They won't take me unaware this time.”
“But…”
“Someone has to stop them,” he said. “If I don't do it, who will?”
“What about Mara?”
“Mara's not here.”
“What about Clive? Or…”
He silenced me by pulling me into his arms and kissing me.
Mumbling, “You don't fight fair,” I closed my eyes and lost myself in his touch.
I forgot everything else until I heard Cagin clear his throat.
“What do you want?” Rafe asked gruffly.
“We need to decide what to do. Susie and I can't stay here forever.”
Rafe kissed the tip of my nose, then drew me against his side. “I'm going after Edna and the others.”
“When?”
“Later tonight.”
“I'll go with you,” Cagin said.
“Me, too,” Susie said.
Rafe nodded. “We'll wait until after midnight.”
“Where do you think they'll be?” Cagin asked. He sat in one of the chairs, and Susie sat in the one across from him.
“No telling. We'll start at Edna's place. If she's not there, we'll assume they're out at the lab.”
“And if they aren't there?” Susie asked.
“Then they're probably out looking for us,” Rafe said.
“Maybe we should bait a trap and let them come to us,” Cagin suggested. “Take them on our turf, on our terms.”
Rafe frowned. “What do you have in mind?”
“We could let the girls go to Kathy's house. Sooner or later, one of the hunters will come looking for them there, and when they do, we'll be waiting.”
Rafe shook his head. “Forget it. I'm not using Kathy for bait.”
“I think it's a good idea,” Susie said. “Don't you think so, Kathy?”
“I guess so.”
Rafe glared at me. “I said forget it.”
“Susie will be with me,” I argued. “She's a Vampire now. Doesn't she have the same powers that you do?”
“More or less,” Rafe admitted grudgingly.
“No matter what we decide to do, I need a change of clothing,” Susie declared. “I can't stand my own smell.” She looked at Cagin and wrinkled her nose. “You could do with a change of clothes, too.”
“Dammit,” Rafe said, “we've got more important things to worry about than that.”
“Easy for you to say,” I remarked, “since you're wearing clean clothes! Besides, you said you'd take me home tonight.”
A muscle worked in his jaw.
“Just let Susie and me go home and get some clean clothes and whatever else we need. Then we can stay at my house for a while and see if anyone shows up. If nothing happens by say, 2:00A.M ., we'll come back here and regroup.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cagin said.
Rafe shook his head. “I don't like it.”
I laid my hand on his arm. “I know you don't. But I'm in this, too, and whatever plan you come up with, I intend to be a part of it.”
“Stubborn woman,” he muttered, not for the first time. “Come on, let's go.”
We went to Susie's house first. She packed a bag, and then Rafe drove us to my place.
“We'll be nearby,” he said. “I've taken your blood, Kathy, and Susie's, too. If anything happens in there, I'll know it as soon as you do.”
“I'm not worried,” I said.
“No?”
“All right, maybe a little.” I slid my arms around his waist. “I love you.”
“I know.”
“Reading my mind again?”
He shook his head. “I can see it in your eyes.” Drawing me closer, he kissed me, and then whispered, “I can't wait to get you alone.”
His words and the husky tone of his voice sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine.
He kissed me again and then headed for the door. Cagin kissed Susie on the cheek, then followed Rafe out of the house.
