“I need to check my post office box,” he remarked as they walked across the street to the parking lot. “I haven’t picked up my mail in weeks.”
“I used to follow you there sometimes,” she confessed.
“I know.”
“I don’t believe you! How could you know? I was always careful to stay out of sight.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, love, but you weren’t nearly as sneaky as you thought.”
“Well,” she muttered with mock despair, “so much for my James Bond impersonation.”
Ronan laughed, thinking how good it felt. Laughter was something that had been missing from his life for a long time.
They pulled up in front of the post office a few minutes later. “Do you want to wait in the car,”
he asked, “or come in with me?”
Shannah glanced out the window. The post office was located next to the Department of Motor Vehicles. They were the only two buildings on the block, and both were dark. “I’ll go with you.”
He opened the door for her, then took her hand and they walked into the building together.
Her footsteps echoed on the cement floor. Ronan walked without making a sound.
“It’s spooky in here,” she remarked.
“Is it?”
“Don’t you think so?”
“No, but then I’ve never been afraid of the dark.”
It wasn’t entirely dark inside the building but it seemed eerie somehow, to be wandering around inside when the main part of the post office was closed.
She followed him to his box, waited while he opened it and withdrew a handful of letters and a package.
“Anything good?” she asked curiously.
“A few letters,” he replied, thumbing through the envelopes. “The usual junk mail.”
“What’s in the package?”
He glanced at the return address. “Probably my latest book. Nellie Brown always pre-orders a copy and sends it to me so I can autograph it for her.”
“I hope no one ever compares your autograph with mine,” Shannah said.
He grunted softly. “I hadn’t thought of that.” He tossed the junk mail in one of the trash containers; then, taking Shannah by the hand again, he left the building.
He paused outside, his hand tightening on hers as he glanced up and down the sidewalk.
“What’s wrong?” Shannah asked.
Lifting his head, he sniffed the wind, then moved to the curb and looked up and down the street.
“Ronan?”
“It’s nothing,” he replied after a moment. “Let’s go.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“Get in the car.”
She quickly did as she was told. Ronan slid behind the wheel and pulled out of the parking lot.
She noticed he glanced in the rear-view mirror several times and that he took the long way home.
“What was that all about?” she asked when they pulled into the driveway.
He shrugged. “I guess I was being paranoid.”
“Is there another James Bond trailing you?”
“I think so.”
“You’re not serious?”
“’Fraid so.”
“Who?”
“Your friend, Hewitt.”
Shannah stared at him. “I don’t believe you. How could he find me? He doesn’t even know my real name.”
“You said he bought one of my books. My post office box is in the back.” He swore softly. “I knew putting my address in there would come back to haunt me one of these days.”
Shannah glanced out the back window as Ronan cut the engine. “Do you think he followed us here?”
Ronan shook his head. Hewitt didn’t have to follow them. He already knew where to find them.
“I guess that book tour wasn’t such a good idea,” Shannah remarked, and then she frowned.
“Why would he follow me?”
Ronan shrugged, content, for the moment, to let her think she was the one Hewitt was looking for even though he knew better. Hewitt wasn’t looking for Shannah. He was hunting a vampire.
They started their new life together the following evening. Ronan woke an hour or so before sundown. Though legend and lore had it that vampires were helpless until the sun went down, he had found that he could rise before sunset so long as he stayed inside, out of the reach of the sun, hence the heavy draperies that covered all the windows in the house.
He slept in a large room located in the basement. The door, made of stone, had no handle and was virtually invisible to the human eye. A heavy iron bar on the inside of the door ensured that, should an intruder inadvertently discover the entrance, he wouldn’t be able to gain access. The walls were also made of stone, as was the floor, which was covered with a thick gray carpet. There was an easy chair in one corner, a couple of tables, a large armoire where he kept his clothing, a small sink and a shower behind a hand-painted screen, and the bed in which he slept. He had no need for lights.
Rising, he showered and dressed and then went upstairs.
He found Shannah still sleeping. She looked incredibly young and vulnerable lying there, her cheek pillowed on her hand, her hair spread over her shoulders.
Hunger surged through him, and with it the urge to slip under the covers, to draw her into his arms and satisfy both of his cravings.
In the future, he would have to feed before he sought her out. He was about to go in search of prey when she stirred. A sigh whispered past her lips. Her eyelids fluttered open.
“Ronan. Good morn…” She laughed softly. “I guess I should say good evening.”
He nodded. “Why don’t you shower and dress? I’ll meet you downstairs.”
“All right. What time is it?”
“A little after seven.” He hated daylight savings time, when the days were longer and the nights shorter.
Approaching the bed, he brushed a kiss across her brow. It was a mistake. He could hear the slow, steady beat of her heart, smell the blood flowing in her veins. Her skin was soft and warm beneath his lips. The taste of her, the very nearness of her, only increased his desire to hold her, to taste her, to possess her fully and completely as only a vampire could.
“I’ll see you downstairs,” he said, his voice thick, and then he fled the room before his hunger for her blood and his desire for her flesh overcame his will power.
It took only moments to find his prey—a young woman waiting for a downtown bus. He mesmerized her with a look and led her away from the bus stop toward a movie theater on the next block. He bought two tickets and led her inside to a seat in the back row. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he drew her close, taking what he needed while she stared, spellbound, at the screen.