Vicki crossed her arms over her br**sts. This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming again. "Where did you meet Antonio?"
"We didn't 'meet,' exactly. I was on my way back to my hotel one night, minding my own business, when I decided to take a shortcut through a vacant lot. He was there, bent over some poor kid. I pulled my.38 from my coat pocket and held it down at my side. I don't know why. I knew the gun wouldn't save me if he decided to attack. Something passed between us that night. I'm not sure what it was. I stood there, watching, while he finished drinking that kid's blood. When he was through, he whispered something to the boy and the boy walked away, looking none the worse for wear. Battista stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. I've no doubt he could have killed me that night.
Instead, he bowed in my direction and then he vanished."
When he finished speaking, the silence in the room was complete save for the sound of the raindrops dripping from the eaves.
Vicki stared at the spot where Battista had stood only moments before. Duncan had told her that vampires were real, and she had believed him. She had read about the bodies being drained of blood. She had seen the creature with the yellow eyes. And still, in some deep corner of her mind, she had not truly believed such creatures existed.
She knew now why she had never seen Antonio during the day.
She knew now why she had never seen him eat or drink anything.
She knew now how he had followed her home and how he had gotten into her house when the doors and windows were locked. Oh, Lord, she had invited a vampire into her house! He could come in any time he wanted.
Stricken, she looked over at Tom. "I'll have to move."
"What?"
"I invited him in. He can come in whenever he wants."
"If you tell him to go, he'll have to go."
"Really? Just like that?"
"Just like that."
Bobbie Sue stirred in Tom's arms. Her eyelids fluttered open and she frowned. "What happened?" She glanced around, a blush rising in her cheeks when she saw Vicki.
"You fainted," Tom said, sitting her up in his lap. "Are you all right now?"
She looked confused a moment. "Fainted? Oh, I remember now… " She glanced at Tom and then at Vicki. "It was just a bad joke, right?"
"I wish it were," Vicki said.
Bobbie Sue slid off Tom's lap. "I think I want to go home."
Blowing out a sigh, Duncan stood. "All right."
Bobbie Sue started toward the front door, then paused. "Vicki, don't forget to call Gus."
"I won't."
"Are you going to be all right, here by yourself, hon? Maybe I should stay."
"Thanks, but I'd really like to be alone."
"But— "
"Don't worry about me, Bobbie. I'm going to turn on all the lights and the TV, and I'm not going to open the door for anyone, believe me!"
"Well, all right," Bobbie Sue said dubiously.
"I'll come by and look in on you later," Duncan said.
With a nod, Vicki followed them to the door. She closed and locked it behind them, then looked at the clock. It was still early. In spite of what she'd told Bobbie Sue, she should probably just go to work, but the thought of going out into the dark, alone, was just too daunting.
Going to the phone, she called Gus and told him she was sorry she hadn't called sooner, but she didn't feel up to working that night, which was certainly true enough.
After hanging up the receiver, she went from room to room, checking the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, though it seemed a waste of time now. Falco might not be able to cross the threshold, but there was nothing to keep Battista out.
And even as the thought crossed her mind, she heard him calling her name.
Slipping her hand inside the collar of her uniform, she touched her grandmother's crucifix, taking comfort in the feel of the silver in her hand.
She took a deep breath, then went to open the front door. Antonio stood on the porch in a pool of yellow lamplight.
"You can't come in," she said quickly. "I forbid it."
He lifted one brow in wry amusement but he made no move to cross the threshold. "You have nothing to fear from me, Victoria. I will not hurt you."
"Yeah, right."
"If I meant you harm, you would be dead by now."
The truth of the words chilled her to the marrow of her bones.
"Why did you come to Pear Blossom Creek? What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to my house in Oregon when I stopped here to rest during the day. I sensed Falco's presence when I rose the next night. I decided to stay and see if he was also passing through to somewhere else."
"But he wasn't."
"No."
She made a soft sound in her throat. Maybe he was telling the truth. He had told her he had walked Sharlene and the other woman home to protect them, to warn them not to open their doors to strangers. If only they had listened! Or maybe they had. She recalled her own powerful urge to leave the safety of her house when Dimitri Falco had called to her.
"Why did you come back here tonight?" she asked.
"To tell you not to be afraid to go out after dark, that even though you do not see me, I will be watching you."
"That was some trick you pulled tonight, disappearing like that. How did you do it?"
"I did not disappear. I merely moved faster than your eyes could see."
"Where do you live?"
"I do not live anywhere," he replied, and she heard the hint of self-mockery in his voice.
"Where do you stay when you aren't here?"
"I have a house in Oregon, on the coast, and another in Maine, and one in Florida."
"Really?"
"I also have a villa inItaly and a castle inSpain."
"How long have you been a… a vampire?"
He thought a moment, then said, "Six hundred and twelve years."
"Six hundred and twelve years," she repeated, her voice tinged with awe. "That means… " She did some quick mental arithmetic. "You were alive in 1394."
He nodded.
It was mind-boggling, the things he must have seen. So many changes in six hundred years. What had it been like, to watch the world change so drastically? She looked up at him, noting that there was no sign of the injuries he had incurred earlier. His skin was smooth and clear again. He had changed clothes. Black again, she noticed, and wondered if his entire wardrobe consisted of black shirts and trousers and long black dusters.
"It must be hard to live so long and see everyone you know and love pass on."