“Yeah.”
“I’ve never known anyone who owned a town,” she said.
“Me, either. My Mom’s the one who produces all the ads you see in magazines.”
“Wow, they’re great. Raelynn saw one in a magazine and that’s why she decided to come here. She read somewhere that it used to be a ghost town, and somewhere else that it used to be some sort of haven for vampires.”
Conor chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve heard that myself. You have to wonder where those stories come from.”
“I know. I mean, who in their right mind believes in vampires?”
Conor shrugged, thinking the conversation was getting dangerously close to home.
“I’ve got to run,” Bryn said, glancing at her watch. “Thanks for breakfast.”
Conor rose when she did. “Have a good day.”
“You, too.”
He stared after her a moment, then resumed his seat. He was still thinking about Bryn when the waitress dropped off his check. He signed it, left her a generous tip, and took the elevator up to his dad’s office on the top floor. He found Saintcrow seated at his desk.
Saintcrow smiled when Conor stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. “Hey, kid. What brings you here?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Saintcrow asked skeptically.
“I met this girl,” Conor said, dropping into the chair in front of his father’s desk.
“Nothing like a girl to fill your mind with confusion.”
‘Yeah. I really like her, but she’s coming off a broken relationship and I’m about to become a vampire, and....”
Saintcrow nodded. “I hear ya.”
“She’s only here for a few more days.”
“You can put off being turned,” Saintcrow said, leaning back in his chair. “There’s no hurry.”
Conor scowled at him. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to become a vampire.”
“I know.”
“What if I wait and I get to know her better and we spend a year together and then it’s over?”
“Then it’s over. What have you lost except a little time? You can still become a vampire. Once done, it’s done. You know that. You can’t change your mind six months down the road. So you need to be damn sure it’s what you want.”
“I know.” He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Have you ever been sorry? Ever wished you could be human again?”
“No. And no. I think I was born to be a vampire.”
“And Mom?”
Saintcrow sighed. Conor knew Morgan Creek had once been a refuge for the Undead. He knew this was where Kadie and Saintcrow had met, but that was all. Maybe it was time he knew the whole story.
“Your Mom stumbled into Morgan Creek by accident, back when it was still basically a ghost town. I knew as soon as I met her that I had to have her....” He held up a hand to stay the question in Conor’s eyes. “Yes, I kept her here against her will because I wanted to get to know her.” He grinned at the memory. “She hated me at first. And she was afraid of me, probably with good cause. But I loved her from the moment I saw her and after a while the feeling was mutual. Kadie’s old man was a vampire hunter. He came here with some other hunters looking for me. By accident, her father shot her. It was a fatal wound. I asked her what she wanted me to do. She didn’t want to be a vampire but she didn’t want to leave me, either. And in the end, she chose to live.”
Conor stared at Saintcrow. It was a compelling story. “I’ve got a lot to think about,” he said, at last.
