As soon as he did, she patted her lap. “The sun is up, the vampires are no threat right now, and you’re tired. Rest a bit and then we’ll figure out how to get home.”
He seemed to hesitate and she knew it was hard for him to trust someone else to watch over him. She didn’t push, but let him decide. Finally, he lay down, resting his head in her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair, letting the motion lull him to sleep. She saw him fight to stay awake, but eventually, the rhythmic motion, the events of the night, and the brightness of the day caught up with him.
The admiral and Mac found them an hour later, with Dirk still asleep, his head in Bethany’s lap. With some effort, they got the two in the car and drove them home, with Beth explaining as much of the night as she could remember.
Once they reached the mansion, Bethany insisted that they help Dirk to her room and Julia brought her a first aid kit, a large bowl, and extra linens. Then she gave Bethany a quick hug and left the room.
Bethany wasted no time ridding Dirk of his clothes, bathing him, and treating his various wounds. Then, exhausted herself, she took a fast shower, toweled off, and crawled into bed beside him, where they both slept the rest of the day.
Bethany was sitting in the living room when she heard the massive front door of the mansion open early that evening. She looked up from the book she’d pretended to be reading and exchanged quick knowing glances with Lanie and Julia. The men had returned home safely. For the first time since the sun had set, she relaxed.
“Hello, ladies,” Admiral Winslow said as they walked into the room. “What have you been doing while we’ve been out?”
“Charles,” Julia scolded him, “you know perfectly well that we’ve been sitting here on pins and needles worrying about you men. Now, tell us all about it.”
The admiral chuckled and, placing a hand at Julia’s elbow, leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Julia, it was exhilarating. We arrived at the entrance well before sunset and went in. The stench was awful. Dirk, Bethany, I don’t know how you endured it for so long.”
Bethany looked at Dirk and Mac as they moved into the room. Mac walked over to Lanie, who stood up and kissed him. Then they sat on the couch to listen to the admiral recount their adventures.
Bethany listened with half an ear, conscious of Dirk hovering nearby. When she glanced at him, he winked at her and smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back as he came over to stand in front of her. Pulling her to her feet, he kissed her soundly in front of everyone. “I missed you,” he said softly.
She smiled up at him. “I missed you, too. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Takes more than a couple of vampires to bring that boy down,” the admiral boasted from across the room.
Dirk smiled down at her, then sat in the chair, pulling her onto his lap.
For the next hour, they listened to the admiral recount how they had gone into the sewers and hunted the vampires. They’d found most of the ones that Dirk had fought the night before.
“There were easily twenty or thirty vampires,” the admiral told Julia.
Bethany looked in alarm at Dirk, who grinned and mouthed the word “ten.” Leaning against him, she smiled and listened to the rest of the admiral’s story. When he was done, her thoughts turned to other things.
“Did you find Harris?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. “Do you think Patterson killed him?”
“No,” Mac answered. “To both questions.”
“How do you know?” Dirk asked. “Just because he wasn’t in the tunnels—”
“He’s the one who called and told us where to look for you in the park,” Mac said. “At first, we thought it was a trap, but we couldn’t take the chance it wasn’t.”
Once again, Bethany found herself feeling grateful to the vampire. Then her thoughts returned to other questions she had. “If Miles was working for Patterson all along, then why was he talking to Santi? And who killed Santi?”
“I think I know the answer to that,” Dirk answered. “Patterson had every intention of selling the venom on the black market. Santi was the dealer he chose to work through.”
“Then why would he kill him?”
“He didn’t,” Mac answered. “Neither did Miles. I spoke with John. Santi really was killed in a drug deal.”
Bethany took a minute to digest all of that. “I feel like such an idiot for letting Miles take advantage of me like that. I really thought I knew him.”
Dirk pulled her close. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s not your fault. Miles was a master in the art of manipulation. He used people to get what he wanted and when he saw a chance at immortality, he went for it, not caring who paid the price.”
“In the end, though, Patterson cheated him out of that as well, didn’t he?” Bethany asked. “He never was going to be like Harris or Patterson, retaining a part of his humanity.” She turned to Dirk and spoke softly. “He would have killed a lot of innocent people if you hadn’t stopped him. Thank you.”
Dirk looked at her with surprise and then tender gratitude. She gave him a smile filled with the love she had for him.
“Speaking of Miles,” Mac said. “John said that the media found out about Miles being killed by the Exsanguinators and assumed he was somehow working for them. His family’s not too happy, from what John’s heard.”
“That’s not good.” Bethany knew how influential Miles’s family was and worried about what trouble they might start.
“Don’t worry,” Dirk said, as if reading her mind. “We’ll deal with it later, if we have to. For now though, I have other priorities.”
He eased her off his lap so they both could stand and then draping his arm across her shoulders, he pulled her close. “I think we’re going to call it a night,” he said to the others.
“What about dinner?” Julia asked, concerned.
“We’ll get something later,” Dirk promised her with a smile. “Much later.”
“Same here,” Mac said as he and Lanie also got to their feet.
“I guess it’s just you and me,” the admiral said as he stood and offered Julia his hand. “I’m glad you decided to move in,” he told her warmly.
She smiled back. “Thank you. Me, too. Oh, before I forget, you had a phone call earlier this evening. A Jessica Winslow?”
The admiral smiled. “She’s my cousin’s daughter. I haven’t heard from her in years.” His smile faded. “There’s nothing wrong, is there?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. She wanted me to tell you that she’s on her way. She’s flying in and wanted to know if she could stay here for a few days. I believe she’s bringing you something from Gerard as well.”
The admiral’s excitement grew. “She must be bringing the sword. This is wonderful news. I can hardly wait to see her. She must be in her twenties now.” His eyes took on a faraway look. “My, time does fly, doesn’t it?”
Then, as if he felt them watching him, he smiled. “Good night, everyone.”
Beth and Dirk went upstairs to his room, where they spent a considerable amount of time exploring their love. Much later, they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.
It was well after midnight when Bethany woke up feeling hungry. Dirk was fast asleep and not wanting to wake him, she slipped out of bed, pulled on his T-shirt, and padded down to the kitchen for something to eat.
Gem was standing by the back sliding glass door and she turned those large, red eyes on Bethany when she walked in.
“What’s the matter, girl?” Busy watching the small creature, she didn’t hear Dirk until he spoke.
“What’re you doing up?” He came toward her, wearing nothing more than his jeans.
“I was hungry. I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“I missed you.”
Gem pushed against the door again, distracting Bethany. When she turned back to Dirk, he was leaning against the counter, staring fixedly at the floor.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” she asked softly, going to stan
d beside him, touching his arm. He raised his head and looked so troubled, she was immediately concerned. “Dirk?”
“Marry me.”
Her heart stilled as various emotions hit her. Mistaking her silence for hesitation, he hurried on. “I don’t want to rush you, and I realize that with everything that happened with Miles—”
She placed her finger against his lips to silence him, then leaned forward and placed a short, sweet kiss where her finger had just been. “Yes.”
He looked at her, surprised. “Yes?”
She smiled. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“What I do is dangerous. You heard the admiral. No changeling has lived very long. You could end up a very young widow.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“I’d want you to be up at night, while I’m awake, and sleep during the day, with me,” he warned her.
She trailed a finger down his chest. “Despite the vampires, I’ve grown rather fond of the nights,” she said playfully, lightly kissing each corner of his mouth. “You might say I’ve been seduced by the night.”
He smiled then and the transformation made her heart sing.
“Stay right here,” he told her, pushing away from the counter and leaving the kitchen. For a second, she was too stunned by his departure to do more than stand there. Then, as she considered going after him, he returned, strolling toward her with his hands behind his back. “I have something for you.” He held the “something” out to her and she gave a small gasp. Sitting in the palm of his hand was the clown doll her grandmother had given her.
Tears filled her eyes as she took it from him. “Where? How?” She’d thought it lost forever. Bringing it close, she hugged it as she had when she was a child.
“I found it at the lair,” Dirk explained. “I thought you might like to have it back.”
Overwhelmed, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him until the only thing either of them could think about was returning to their bedroom where they could finish what they’d started.
They were halfway to the stairs when a rattling noise stopped them.
“What’s the matter with her?” Dirk asked, watching Gem pawing at the sliding glass door. He pulled Bethany after him as he went to investigate.
“What’s that?”
Bethany looked at the object lying against the back door and felt a small chill run along her spine. “It looks like Dr. Weber’s journal,” she said in awe, recognizing the book. Dirk opened the door to retrieve it and when he did, Gem shot past him.
Bethany and Dirk exchanged worried glances. About to go after her, they both stopped.
Standing at the far end of the yard was the adult chupacabra. Gem ran up to her and they rubbed muzzles in an obvious show of affection. Beside the adult was the lone figure of a man, his red eyes a faint light in the distance.
“Harris,” Bethany whispered.
She and Dirk stood watching him. After a moment, Gem ran back to the mansion, brushed past them, and disappeared inside the house. Bethany took the journal from Dirk’s hands and held it up so Harris would see that she had found it. She knew why he’d returned it and she wouldn’t let him down. She was starting a new life with the man she loved—and now, she had a purpose.
After a moment, Harris raised his hand in farewell. Dirk and Bethany waved back. Then, vampire and chupacabra turned and walked away, disappearing into the still, dark night.
About the Author
Robin T. Popp grew up watching Star Trek and reading Nancy Drew, Robert Heinlein, Sharon Green, and Piers Anthony. She loved the daring and romantic exploits of heroic characters on grand adventures in otherworldly places. It wasn’t long before she wanted to write such tales to share with others. Though she was forced to take a thirty-year detour through the real world—which certainly wasn’t without its share of adventures—armed now with two master’s degrees, a full-time job, and a family, she has taken the first steps toward realizing her original dream of becoming an author.
Too Close to the Sun, a futuristic romance published in July 2003, was her first novel. Out of the Night was her second novel and represents her first foray into another of her favorite alternate realities—the realm of vampires.
Robin lives southwest of Houston, Texas, with her husband, three kids, three dogs, two frogs, one rabbit, and a mortgage. She is living the American dream.
If you hunger for more Robin T. Popp,
turn this page for a preview of her next Night Slayer novel
Tempted in the Night
Available in mass market early 2007.
Chapter 1
Tell me, Boehler, just what the fuck were you thinking?” Assistant Chief Gamble’s voice was loud enough to rattle the windows in his small office.
Veteran homicide detective John Boehler remained unfazed as he faced his boss across the desk. “I’m sorry, was that a rhetorical question?”
“What the fuck do you think?” Gamble bit out sharply.
John thought it sounded like another rhetorical question, but this time kept his thoughts to himself. He was too tired to sit through much more of this “ass-chewing,” not that he had any hope of getting to bed soon.
“Why in the hell would you even approach Simon Brody after the trial? Much less threaten him in front of every reporter in the greater D.C. metro area?”
“I didn’t threaten him,” John said with as little inflection as he could.
Gamble picked up the TV remote on his desk and aimed it at the small television sitting on a nearby bookcase. Soon, the news footage outside the courthouse was rolling across the screen. John didn’t bother to watch. He didn’t want to see Simon Brody strolling down the steps of the courthouse, a smug, self-satisfied grin plastered across his face. Hearing the little cock-sucker’s seemingly heartfelt reaffirmation of his innocence was harder to ignore, especially when Gamble turned up the volume. As it had before, both the tone and the words ignited a slow, white-hot burn of rage deep inside of him. Today, justice had not been served. The jury may have found Brody innocent, but John knew the truth.
Then John heard himself saying, “Don’t get too comfortable, Brody. You’re going to hell—if I have to drag your sorry ass there myself.”
Gamble shut off the television and the silence that followed was deafening, if brief. “Damn it, John, what were you thinking?”
John didn’t bother to respond. At the time he’d uttered his threat, the media had been the least of his concerns. Five long months of hard, by-the-book investigative work flushed down the proverbial toilet because someone in the department had managed to “lose” a critical piece of evidence. John had no doubt that Franklin Brody and his millions were somehow involved.
Daddy might have saved his spoiled son from death by lethal injection, but who was going to save the young women of the Washington D.C. area? Now that Simon Brody was free, it was just a matter of time before he killed again.
“I want to know what’s bothering you, Boehler,” the assistant chief continued in a surprisingly sympathetic tone. “You haven’t been yourself, lately. You used to be one the best detectives I had. Lately, though . . . I don’t know.” He studied John’s face closely in a fair imitation of the department’s psychiatrist trying to see inside his head. “Are you having problems at home? With your wife?”
John wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the question. “I’m not married, remember?” He had been once, fifteen years ago, if one could call a night of drinking, a quick trip to Vegas followed by eleven months of sheer hell a marriage. John didn’t.
“Then maybe you need to find someone; settle down; start a family.”
Yeah, John thought, because it had worked so well the first time. Gamble’s attempt to counsel him was pissing him off. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.” He didn’t want to continue this particular line of conversation, so he changed the subject. “Sir, I’d like permission to look into how that evidence against Brody disappeared.”
“That’s not yo
ur job.”
“I realize that. However—”
Gamble waved him to silence. “Forget that. You have bigger problems to deal with.”
“Sir?”
“First, you practically accuse the late Miles Van Horne of being involved with terrorists. Now, you’re publicly threatening the son of Washington’s second most influential man? Is it the rich you hate, Boehler, or are you just tired of being a cop? Because I assure you, you’re well on your way to committing career suicide.”
John felt himself grow very still. “Van Horne wasn’t a random target. The Exsanguinators killed him because he tried to double-cross them. I’d call that being ‘involved.’” Gamble heaved a frustrated sigh. “Well, his mother disagrees. And now Marcie Van Horne has got the D.A. breathing down my neck to reopen the case. I’m having to bring in someone from Internal Affairs to take a second look at the case.”
John wasn’t stupid. He read between the lines. Gamble was bringing in IA to investigate him as much as the circumstances of Miles Van Horne’s death. And if they got too close . . .
John wondered how much time he had to “clean” up his files and was about to make his excuse to leave when Gamble pressed the button on his intercom. “Gail? I want to know when Dresden gets here. He is? Good, send him in.”
A moment later, the door to the office opened and a short, stocky man walked in wearing a pressed suit, polished shoes and an attitude that said his shit don’t stink. John hated him instantly.
“John, meet Richard Dresden, with Internal Affairs. He’ll be handling the investigation into the Exsanguinator cases. I expect you to show him the same respect you’d show me—and give him your full cooperation.”
Yeah, John thought, he’d show Dick some respect. Count on it. He managed to keep his mouth shut and his face expressionless.
At his boss’ dismissive gesture, he stood and headed for the door. He was seconds from a clean getaway when the assistant chief dropped the last bomb on him. “Don’t let me catch you anywhere near Simon Brody or anything having to do with him, got it? Right now, you’ve got two strikes against you. One more and you’ll be so far out, not even God can get you back in the game.”
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