Chad snickered and muttered something about the blind leading the dumb.
Gwyneth jammed her fists on her hips. “You take that back, Chad. I amnotdumb.”
“I should say not. Any woman who gets a guy to buy her a gift without being expected to give one in return is pure genius.”
“Crap,” Morgaine said. “I just remembered Sly probably celebrates Christmas too. Gwyneth, will you take me shopping?”
Gwyneth’s eyes brightened. “Shopping? Ya’ll want to go outwithme to shop for presents?”
“Yes. If I made it all the way to New York and back, knowing there was an evil vampire out there waiting, I think I can make it to downtown Boston now that the danger is gone.”
“Oh, that reminds me. Weren’t we gonna check to see if there were any other vampires in the area for Merry and Jason?”
“I already did. There’s a small faction in East Boston.”
“Ain’t that where the airport is?”
“Yes.”
“It makes sense they’d hang out there. Cheap rent and they can sleep through the noise.”
“With plenty of people coming and going, and no one aware of who belongs and who doesn’t, it’s a perfect place to pick off a lone stranger once in a while. Someone who might not be missed right away.”
“So how does that help Jason and Merry?”
“I don’t know. On the one hand, their kids won’t be playing there, but on the other, Jason has to travel.”
“Doesn’t the team travel together?”
“I imagine so. I’ll just warn him not to go off by himself if he can help it.”
“I guess he’ll have to hold it until he gets on the plane and use the tiny bathroom onboard,” Gwyneth said. “That’s a shame. At least when women go to the bathroom, we go in groups. Who’s the stupider sex now, Chad?”
Sly needed a long walk to clear his brain. This was a decision he couldn’t make lightly. On one hand, he’d never be lonely again, and he wouldn’t have to watch Morgaine age and die, but what if after a century or two, she just wasn’t into him anymore?
What would she be getting out of it? Immortality? If she was right and vampires lost their humanity over the years, it might not be all that great. Strength, agility, the power to mesmerize others? She probably wouldn’t use those assets anyway, unless for self-preservation. He’d want her to have those abilities if she ever needed them.
Perhaps they’d give her an added sense of safety and she’d be able to overcome her agoraphobia. But, oh Lord, what if something horrible happened and they no longer had the wine cure. How the hell would a nyctophobic vampire deal with a darkness-only existence?
As Sly wandered the Boston University campus, he snapped out of his obsessive musing when a scream shattered the evening. Charging in the direction of the distress, he realized his inner crime-fighter had become an ingrained habit. He no longer had to hunt down criminals to feed. What would he do with the perpetrator?
A young man dashed across the quad with a purse. A female student was in pursuit but lagging behind.
Sly still could make a difference and would. It was crazy to think he’d lose his humanity. Just as it was crazy to think Morgaine could ever lose hers.
He spotted where the guy would resurface after rounding the corner of an old brick building. The nearby parking lot might be his destination, so Sly stationed himself between the building and the lot.
Sure enough, the purse snatcher cast a glance over his shoulder as he zoomed around the corner and ran headlong into Sly, who stood his ground as firmly as the brick building.
“Oomph!”
Sly picked up the guy by his jacket collar. “Hand over the purth.” Oops. His fangs had descended out of habit.
The young man stared openmouthed but didn’t release it. Not that he wouldn’t have if he could make his fingers move.
Sly shook him. At last, the purse fell out of his hand and landed on the ground.
Now, what to do with him?Sly had no desire to drink from him. He could retract his fangs and mesmerize him, so all the young man knew was he had been bested by a freakishly strong older dude. That would work.
