Dark of the Moon

by Amanda Ashley

  But it was Sara’s face that followed him into oblivion—a wealth of sun-gold waves framing a heart-shaped face, warm hazel eyes beneath gently arched brows, pink lips curved in an innocent come-hither smile.

  He murmured her name as the darkness engulfed him and carried him away.

  The next afternoon at work, Sara couldn’t help noticing again that all the women who came into the shop were lovely and well-dressed. Their skin seemed to glow with good health. She also noticed that they all seemed to be on a first-name basis. Of course, it was a small town, so maybe that wasn’t so strange. Still, it made Sara feel like an outsider, and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was new in town. No, it had to do with some kind of underlying camaraderie that she didn’t understand, almost as if they all shared a secret she didn’t know.

  Or like they were Stepford wives.

  The thought sent an icy chill down her spine. Of all the horror movies she had ever seen, that one had scared her the most.

  At seven, she closed the store. She was deciding whether to go home and make dinner or eat out again when her phone rang. She felt a tingle of anticipation as she answered. Could it be him? “Hello?”

  “Hey, Sara. It’s me. Travis. Am I calling at a bad time?”

  At the sound of his voice, she felt her smile stretch from ear to ear. All day, she had hoped he would call. “No, it’s fine.” She couldn’t keep the excitement out of her voice. “How are you?”

  “Doing good. I was planning to wait until tomorrow night to give you call so you wouldn’t think I was too anxious, but I guess I blew it.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Are you busy after work? I know you get off late, but I thought maybe we could go out for a drink.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Great. Where would you like to go?”

  “How about Teddy’s? It’s a nightclub over in South Port. Do you know it?”

  “No. What time should I pick you up?”

  “How about if I meet you there? Around ten? It’ll give me time to go home and change.”

  “Sounds good. See you then.”

  Smiling, Sara ended the call. She had a date!

  Smart girl, not wanting him to know where she lived, Travis thought as he slipped his phone into his pocket. But it didn’t matter. He felt better than he had since he’d been turned. He showered and dressed, then headed for Mamie’s Manse, a known hangout for the undead. Owned by a middle-aged woman who was addicted to vampire blood, the nightclub was located in the basement of an abandoned warehouse at the end of a long, dirt road five miles west of Susandale.

  Candlelight illuminated the basement, casting dancing shadows on the dark gray walls and cement floor. The patrons were predominately vampires, with a few humans who were either addicted to vampire blood or just got a kick out of letting the undead feed on them. There were two house rules strictly enforced by the biggest man-turned-vampire Travis had ever seen. At nearly seven feet tall, the Hun had been a wrestler in his former life. Travis had no doubt the guy could rip a vampire’s head off without breaking a sweat. The first law of the house was that no vampire was allowed to feed on an unwilling human. The second was that any vampire who inflicted death on a patron, mortal or immortal, would forfeit his life.

  Travis recognized a few of the vampires as residents of Susandale.

  Another thing he had learned was that all the women who lived in town belonged to the vampires—some by choice. Some by compulsion.

  Though he had just met Sara, he intended to make sure she didn’t become one of them.

  Chapter 4

  Sara hurried home from work, changed into a white skirt and a pink sweater, ran a comb through her hair and drove to Teddy’s. She hoped Travis hadn’t been offended when she offered to meet him at the club, but she had only known him a few days and in this day and age, she preferred to err on the side of caution.

  After leaving her car with the valet, she took a deep, calming breath and entered the club. Round tables covered with crisp white cloths took up one side of the dance floor, booths the other. A large mahogany bar was located in the back of the room. Shelves made of teak held glasses of all shapes and sizes. A tall, good-looking man with a clipped mustache tended bar.

  It was Friday night and the place was crowded with couples laughing, talking, and generally having a good time. A three-piece band provided music for dancing.

  Sara threaded her way to the bar and ordered a Cosmopolitan.

  Travis came up beside her just as her drink arrived. “Hey, sorry I’m late,” he said.

  “I was early.”

  “Shall we get a table?”

  “If you can find one.” Drink in hand, she followed him around the edge of the dance floor. As luck would have it, they spied a middle-aged couple just getting up from a table nearby.

  Sara draped her coat over the back of one of the chairs before sitting down. “How was your day?”

  “Quiet as a tomb.” He signaled a passing waiter and ordered a glass of red wine. “How was yours?”

  “Terrific! Tomorrow morning I’ll be ordering a ton of supplies.” She shook her head. “It’s funny. The first few days I was there, I had maybe three customers. The last few days, business has really picked up. I guess changing my hours was a good idea. It’s odd, though, that so few people are out and about during the day.” She frowned. “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen more than one or two men on the streets before dark.”

  “There’s aren’t many employment opportunities in Susandale,” Travis pointed out. “I’m sure they all work out of town.”

  Sara nodded. She had thought the very same thing. “I guess you’re right, although I’ve never see any of them come home, either.”

  He could have explained it to her but, all things considered, it didn’t seem like the right time. But then, he doubted there would ever be a right time.

  Following her gaze to the dance floor, he said, “Shall we?”

  “All right.” Lifting her glass, Sara finished her drink, then let him lead her onto the floor. She felt a rush of mingled anticipation and apprehension as he took her in his arms. A first dance was like a first kiss. Sometimes magic happened.

  And sometimes it didn’t.

  But this time it definitely did. There was no denying the quick rush of attraction that arced between them as soon as he took her in his arms. Sara had no trouble following his lead. It was almost as if they had danced together many times before. He wasn’t much taller than she, but she detected a strength in him she hadn’t expected. A kind of … of … restrained power. He was incredibly light on his feet, making it seem as if he was floating just above the floor.

  When she glanced up, she found him gazing down at her. His eyes were a dark, dark brown, fathomless, hypnotic, filled with an emotion she didn’t recognize. She felt suddenly weightless, as if she were drifting through crimson clouds. When he lowered his head to her neck, she closed her eyes, sighed as a wave of almost sensual pleasure washed over her. Was she dreaming?

  She looked up when Travis murmured her name.

  Feeling a little disoriented, she blinked several times, trying to clear her head. What had just happened? Why did she feel so strange?

  “The music’s stopped.”

  Sara glanced around. Couples were leaving the floor. “I … I think I must have finished my drink too quickly,” she said, feeling her cheeks grow hot. “It seems to have gone right to my head.”

  “It happens. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Are you game to go again?” he asked when the band began to play something soft and slow.

  “I guess so.”

  Taking her in his arms, he twirled her around the floor until she burst out laughing.

  “What do you do for a living?” Sara asked when they returned to their table.

  “I’m unemployed at the moment.”

  “Oh. What kind of work did you do?”

  Travis hesitated a moment. He could hardly tell her the truth.
A partial lie would have to suffice. “I was a bounty hunter.”

  “Seriously? Like in the Old West?”

  “Sort of. I found people and collected the bounty on their heads.”

  “What kind of people?”

  “Oh, you know,” he said, making it up as he went along. “Fathers who were behind on their alimony payments. People who skipped out on bail bonds. Felons.” Vampires.

  “Sounds dangerous.”

  “It can be.”

  “Why did you quit?”

  “Circumstances change. I decided it was time to get out of the business. So, have you always wanted to have your own store?”

  “Not really. This is my first real job. I saw an ad in the paper for the shop and …” She shrugged. “I like it so far. I do love being my own boss, setting my own hours, having no one to answer to.” Like her bossy mother or her domineering father.

  Reaching across the table for her hand, he said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Warmth suffused her at his touch. “So am I.”

  They talked and danced for hours, slowly getting to know each other. It was near one a.m. when Sara yawned behind her napkin. “Sorry.”

  “It’s late,” he said, although it was still early for him. “We should probably go.”

  “I had a good time.”

  “Me, too. Any chance of seeing you again tomorrow night?”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  Travis left enough money on the table to cover their drinks and a tip for the waitress, held Sara’s coat for her, then walked her to her car. “Goodnight, Sara.”

  “Goodnight, Mr … Travis.”

  His gaze searched hers and then, giving her time to refuse, he slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her lightly.

  At the touch of his lips on hers, Sara’s toes curled inside her shoes. First dance, first kiss, on the same night. And both were earth-shattering.

  She couldn’t stop smiling as she drove through the dark, deserted streets of the city toward Susandale—until her car died three blocks from home, right in the middle of a construction zone.

  Rummaging in her evening bag, Sara reached for her cell phone, gasped when her door was wrenched open and a man in a long black coat reached inside. He ripped her seatbelt in half as if it was made of paper, grabbed a handful of her hair, and yanked her out of the car.

  Fear trapped the scream in her throat, but it didn’t keep her from fighting back. She gouged and kicked for all she was worth, but her attacker only laughed in her face as he backed her up against the front fender.

  Terror took over when she looked into his eyes—glowing red eyes that shone in the dark, like a cat’s. Her blood ran cold when his lips pulled back in a feral grin, revealing a pair of fangs.

  Fangs!

  The strength went out of her legs. The world around her seemed to be getting smaller, darker, as he pushed her hair behind her ear. Then, just when Sara thought she was going to die, her attacker was gone.

  Shaking from head to foot, she glanced around, grimaced when she saw the body sprawled face-down on the street, a stout wooden stake embedded in its back.

  The world began to spin out of focus when, suddenly, Travis was there, his arms wrapping around her, holding her tight.

  “It’s all right now,” he murmured. “You’re safe with me.”

  She collapsed against him, her body wracked by tremors, tears welling in her eyes and dripping down her cheeks.

  Patting her back, he murmured, “Relax, Sara. You’re out of danger. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  He settled her in the front seat of his car, then retrieved her beaded bag and keys from the passenger seat of her Chevy. After shoving her things into his jacket pocket, he slid behind the wheel of his car. “Where do you live?” He already knew the answer, but he didn’t want her to know he’d been keeping an eye on her.

  Voice quivering, she gave him her address, then huddled against the door.

  She was still trembling when he pulled into her driveway twenty minutes later. After shutting off the ignition, he opened her door and carried her up the steps to the narrow porch that fronted the house.

  “Are you going to be all right?” he asked as he set her on her feet.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be all right again.”

  “Take a warm bath. Have a cup of hot tea. It’ll calm you down.”

  “I don’t think so.” She paused a moment, then said, “Will you come in for a few minutes? I … I don’t want to be alone right now.”

  “Sure.” He pulled her bag and keys out of his jacket pocket, then, noting how shaky her hands were, he unlocked the door and followed her inside. He figured she was far too upset to notice the odd vibration in the air when he stepped across the threshold.

  Sara quickly turned on a light and shrugged out of her coat, then collapsed on the sofa.

  “Can I get you that cup of tea?” he asked. “Or maybe something stronger, if you’ve got it?”

  “I think there’s a bottle of wine in the cupboard. Over the sink.”

  With a nod, he went into the kitchen. He turned on the light, because she would expect it, found the wine in the cupboard. He filled two glasses and carried them into the living room. After handing her one, he sat in the overstuffed chair across from the sofa.

  “Thank you. And thank you for saving me from that … that …” Her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed. “What was that thing? And how did you happen to be there?”

  “It was late,” he said quietly. “I decided to follow you to make sure you got home safely.”

  She considered that, then nodded. “You … you stabbed him with a wooden stake.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t have a gun.”

  “Why did you have a wooden stake?”

  Well, damn, he thought, taking a drink of wine to give himself time to fabricate a lie. He should have expected a question like that. He was about to make something up when he decided against it. If she was going to stay in Susandale, she needed to know the truth. Or at least part of it.

  Setting his glass aside, he said, “I wasn’t completely honest with you earlier, when I said I was a bounty hunter. The truth is, I used to hunt vampires for a living.”

  Eyes wide, she stared at him. “Are you saying that … that thing was a vampire?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing.”

  “I’m afraid there is.”

  “And you hunted them?”

  He didn’t miss the skepticism in her tone. On the plus side, it seemed to have chased her fears away. “Yes.” Even though he no longer hunted them, he still kept the tools of his trade in the trunk of his car. He wasn’t sure why. But tonight he’d been damn glad they were there.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Then how do you explain the man who attacked you? You saw his eyes and his fangs, same as I did.”

  Suddenly chilled, Sara pulled the afghan from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. She would never forget those hell-red eyes or the primal terror that had engulfed her. Hadn’t she known, on some deep, instinctive level, that she was facing something inhuman? But a vampire? How was that even possible? She might have thought someone was playing a horrible joke on her but dying for a laugh seemed unlikely. A vampire. She shuddered. If there was one, were there more? And if so, how many?

  “You should get some sleep,” Travis suggested. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  She nodded somewhat doubtfully, certain that sleep would be a long time coming.

  Rising, Travis kissed her on the cheek. “Lock up after me.”

  “A fat lot of good that will do,” she muttered, remembering how the monster had ripped the door off her Chevy with no trouble at all.

  “Vampires can’t enter your home without an invitation.”

  She recalled hearing that in some old horror movie but had thought it was just a Hollywood myth, like vampires themse
lves. A rush of panic engulfed her as Travis headed for the door. “Wait! Would you mind staying with me until I fall asleep?”

  “Not at all, if that’s what you want.”

  “Maybe you could spend the night? I really don’t want to be alone.”

  Nodding, he locked the front door.

  “There’s a guestroom …”

  “I’ll just crash on the sofa if it’s all right with you. Good night, Sara.”

  “Help yourself to a pillow and blankets.” Clutching the afghan with one hand and holding her wine glass in the other, she padded out of the room, the afghan trailing on the floor behind her.

  Travis stared after her for a moment, then glanced around the room. It was sparsely furnished. The walls, painted a pale yellow, were bare. The floor was hardwood. A flowered sofa and matching chair faced each other across a distressed coffee table. Matching tables stood on either side of the sofa. An assortment of photographs lined the mantel. Most were of Sara at various ages with a tall, austere man with brown hair, and a petite woman with hair the same honey-gold as Sara’s. Her parents, he guessed. Above the mantel, a large, wrought-iron clock ticked away the minutes. A braided rug covered the floor in front of the fireplace.

  Sinking down on the couch, Travis blew out a sigh. And then he grinned. Hell of a night, he mused. He had saved the world from one more vampire.

  Just like the good old days.

  Chapter 5

  Carl Overstreet drove slowly up Susandale’s Main Street, which was wide and several blocks long. He grunted softly as he noticed that most of the shops didn’t open until later in the day. There were no schools, no playgrounds. He passed a red brick post office. The sign out front said mail was delivered at 10 a.m. and that the office was open 24 hours a day. Odd, he thought, unless everyone had a post office box.

  A grocery store, which appeared to be the largest building in town, occupied the lot next to the post office. It’s hours of business were from noon until midnight. He noted the department store across the street didn’t open until three.

  A small, glass-fronted café. was located on the corner next to the grocery store. Bamboo shades covered the windows. A hand-lettered sign proclaimed Winona’s opened at 11 a.m. Oddly, it didn’t say when it closed. A store that sold bath products was located a few doors down from the café.