I found discussing my experience with Sasha horrific. I didn’t need Geoffrey to know that bit of information, even though he seemed to believe he did. In fact, he seemed far too interested in getting the minutest details of the experience out of me. I suspected it was more for him than for the job.Men!I agreed that it was probably best not to tell Nevi about Geoffrey or what I’d become for the time being. That meant more secrets and lies between us, but I just didn’t see another option. Especially after hearing Geoffrey’s story.Nevi worked at night and slept part of the day, so my schedule would be pretty flexible to train and work with Geoffrey. I gave it considerable thought. If there was a way I could help to rid the world of nasty, evil, bloodsuckers, then I was all for giving it a try.We agreed to meet the following day at a small, out-of-the-way gym that he liked to train in. He wanted to get a better idea of the skills t

Geoffrey was calling again.It had been a week since he’d talked me into sneaking out to fight vampires with him. It had been a week since I’d allowed my lover to laden himself with guilt over the false assumption that he’d been controlling me. It had been a week since Nevi and I had a heart to heart talk about freedom and what it meant to me. Yes, I’d shamefully fallen into step with his assumption of guilt. I justified it by reminding myself that I was an independent woman and it wouldn’t hurt for him to realize this.I felt awful about my participation in lie after lie after lie where Nevi was concerned. It had to stop. I just didn’t know how to stop it. I saw the anger, hate, and pain in Nevi’s eyes the night Geoffrey drove me to his doorstep and I heard the growling and shouting that went on behind closed doors the following afternoon. Grant it, when they surfaced from those closed doors they acted amiable enough. I knew i

Robert Dugal Ewing was born a healthy, premature baby in the wee hours of a crisp fall morning. Although he needed to remain hospitalized for a week longer than I did, he eventually came home to the doting and loving arms of his family.I was thankful that I decided to remain with my parents until after the baby was born. The unexpected premature birth of my son sent me into a tailspin of worry, along with a little postpartum depression. I doubt I would have been able to cope though this time had it not been for my rock of a mother. She took over the care of little Bobby as if he were her own son, leaving me the time I needed to regroup and heal.I checked Bobby for signs of vampire on a daily basis in the privacy of my room. Since he was toothless, I had no way of really knowing. Geoffrey said he smelled of vampire. To me, he smelled of baby power and spit up. On an occasion or two, I’d picked up the faintest smell of Nevi. It was the scent he had after a night

Marie barely waited for Paul to park the car before she hustled over to my car and took possession of my son. I didn’t try to stop her. This was an exciting occasion for Nevi’s fiercely loyal staff. They had not seen the innocence of new life come into the home in over fifty years. The fact that this new life was Nevi’s son and heir had to be thrilling for them.I learned that the entire staff consisted of humans who kept themselves alive by occasional tiny doses—every twenty-five years or so—of vampire blood. Marie and Paul were actually new comers to the mix. Many had been with Nevi since he discovered what his blood would do for a human in his early youth. He never imposed his blood on any of the staff. They willingly asked for his vampire blood in exchange for the gift of a lengthy life. He proved to be a fair, kind, and generous employer, which won the iron clad loyalty they had for him. They became more like Nevi’s family than his hel

I didn’t have to wait long for Nevi to return home. Marie and Keona worked out a reversal for the witch’s protection the rogues enjoyed all those many months. My three hundred-year-old vampire’s strengths had been amplified by an enormous amount of handler blood and his wrath was unleashed. Combined with the allegiance of a thousand-year-old handler and a fifty-year-old, incredibly bitchy vampire and Frank and his cronies didn’t stand a chance.I made an anonymous call to the police on Geoffrey’s behalf. They reached him just in time to save him. I will probably wonder if it was the right thing to do for my remaining days.It took several days for Nevi to come down from his handler blood high, and even longer for Marie and Keona to cleanse him enough with their herbal concoctions so that his hunger was once again satisfied by vegetarian food; not to mention becoming tolerable company. During this time, the two women did their best to calm