Page 58 of Cooper’s Passion

“Could’ve fooled me. Your fangs were out, and your eyes were glaring red. You were coming toward me.” Her chest heaved as if she was reliving the incident.

“I smelled somebody near you in the parking lot. I couldn’t see his face, but I know he was a vampire.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Anita leaned forward, becoming more the combative woman he knew. “If you couldn’t see his face, you couldn’t see his fangs either.”

“That’s true, but I recognized by his aura that he was a vampire. And by his smell.”

“Aura?”

“It can only be seen by preternatural creatures. It’s invisible to the human eye.”

“And you’re telling me that you could smell him from afar?” she asked with a good deal of skepticism.

“Yes, a vampire’s sense of smell is extremely sensitive. Better than a dog’s. I smelled the vampire. I didn’t know who he was, but I was worried. He was lurking, and considering that a vampire who’s a serial killer is loose in this town, I decided to be careful and get you out of there quickly. But my adrenaline was spiking, and I realized too late that I showed my vampire face to you.”

Haven and Yvette entered the living room. Yvette set two glasses of water on the coffee table.

“Your dad and I have to go to work.” Yvette looked directly at Anita. “And Anita, I’m keeping your gun. And I took the liberty to check your handbag for any other weapons. Know this: if you hurt my boy again, I will come after you.”

“Yvette,” Haven admonished. “Cooper can look after himself.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

When they left the house, and the door fell shut behind them, Anita let out an audible sigh.

“Has anybody ever told you that your mother is scary?”

“She can have that effect on people who don’t know her.” He smirked. “Luckily, Dad knows how to handle her. And now that they’ve finally left us alone…”

Instantly, a panicked look crossed Anita’s face. She jumped up, and Lestat woke from his slumber and jumped off the couch. He barked. Anita gasped as if she expected the dog or Cooper to attack her.

“Lestat, go to bed!”

The dog looked at him, then trotted to the soft dog bed in the corner near the fireplace.

“Please sit down again, Anita. I’m not going to hurt you. I was just going to suggest that we talk about more personal things, since we have some privacy.”

“Oh.” Anita slowly sat back down. She folded her hands in her lap, then took a deep breath. “I’ve encountered him before.”

“Whom?” Cooper asked, not following her rapid change of subject.

“The serial killer.”