Chapter Twenty-Five
Twenty-five years later
Conor Rylan Saintcrow strolled down the town’s main street, occasionally nodding at passersby as he made his way toward the park. One of the things he liked best about his life was that it was never dull. He had been twelve years old when his father took him aside and finally answered all the questions that that plagued Conor for years.
He had to admit, it had come as something of a shock, learning that his parents were vampires. Unbelievable. A little scary. But fascinating. And it had explained so many things – like why his mom and dad had never shared a meal with him, why they never aged, why his father could be at his office in the hotel one minute and home the next, why his mother could make a trip to Cheyenne and back in no time at all, even though she didn’t take the car.
Once they told him the truth, they stopped hiding their supernatural powers. It had been a thrill, having his father transport him to school or wherever else he wanted to go in the blink of an eye. He discovered his parents could do fantastic things, unbelievable things, like going from point A to point B with just a thought, dissolving into mist, moving faster than the eye could follow, transform into wolves, climb a wall like Spiderman, fly like Superman. It was all amazing. Even the blood thing didn’t seem so bad, not compared to everything else.
His first question after he learned the truth was to ask why he wasn’t a vampire, too.
“Vampires are made, not born,” Saintcrow had explained.
From that time on, Conor wanted to be a vampire, but Saintcrow – Conor had never learned to call him father – said he was too young. And there was no arguing with Saintcrow.
Conor had watched all the vampire movies, read copious books on the subject, dressed up as Dracula every Halloween. When he turned sixteen, he had asked his father to turn him.
“You’re still too young,” Saintcrow said.
And his mother had agreed. “Becoming a vampire isn’t a decision to be made until you’re fully grown,” she said. “Once it’s done, it can’t be undone.”
“Except under certain circumstances,” his father had said with a grin, and his parents had shared a secret smile. “Wait until you’re twenty-five,” his father had advised. “Old enough and hopefully wise enough to make such a life-changing decision. If you still think it’s a good idea then, I’ll bring you across.”
His second shock had been learning that they weren’t really his parents. He found that astonishing, especially when everyone said he looked just like his father.
Blood-kin or not, his parents had given him a wonderful life. He had everything he could possibly want. Nice clothes, a good education, a couple of years of college. They had given him a sleek blue Mustang convertible when he graduated high school. It was the pride of his life.
Of course, he’d had to earn some of it. During the summers, he worked as a lifeguard at the pool. During the winter, he did various jobs – working as a bus boy at the hotel restaurant, shoveling snow from the front of the rental houses, taking reservations if one of the clerks called in sick, or whatever other task Saintcrow came up with.
Saintcrow was an amazing man. Tall, good-looking, smart, strong. Conor’s girlfriends all thought his old man was movie-star gorgeous, which made him proud and jealous at the same time.
These days, he was in charge of keeping the tourists happy, answering their questions, reporting problems to Saintcrow. Buttoday, he was filling in for the lifeguard at the pool. It had been his favorite job growing up, he thought, as he went into the dressing room to change into his trunks and grab a towel. He had enjoyed being a lifeguard. It was easy work and had given him a chance to meet a lot of girls and kiss more than a few. But there was no room in his life for a woman, not now.
He had spent the last nine years of his life thinking about what it meant to be a vampire, weighing the pros and cons, weighing what he would be giving up in exchange for what he would gain.
He knew all the other Morgan Creek vampires, as well as the Ravenwood clan. He had talked to all the ones who were vampires, questioned them about what it was like. Did they have regrets, would they do it again? Some of the answers had surprised him. He’d learned that Rosa had come to Morgan Creek hoping Saintcrow would turn her, but it had been Jake Kincaid who did the trick. He knew his mother had been turned the first time to save her life, and that she had made the choice a second time, although he didn’t know all the details.
Soon, it would be his turn.
Taking his place on the lifeguard stand, his gaze moved over the people playing in the pool. It was mostly young men and women, although there were some mothers and kids in the shallow end.
He was settling back in his chair when he saw her, a long, leggy redhead in a hot-pink bathing suit that somehow managed to be modest and sexy as hell at the same time. She stood on the edge of the pool, her long hair flowing like liquid fire down her back. She must have felt his gaze because she turned, ever so slowly, and looked up at the lifeguard station. She was beautiful, her skin a smooth, golden tan, her eyes large and honey brown, her lips ever so tempting.
He felt the force of her gaze like a physical caress.
Before he realized what he was doing, he was descending the stairs and striding toward her.
She blushed and bit down on her lower lip when he drew near.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“I’m terribly near-sighted,” she said, obviously embarrassed at having been caught staring. “I...uh...thought you were someone else.”
“Oh. Well, I hope you find him.”
“I wasn’t looking for him,” she said. “Now that I see you close up, you’re much better looking.”
“Thanks,” Conor said, with a grin.
