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He remembered the day he had met Barbara He had taken one look at her and known she was the wo only a few months when he proposed He had been surprised when she not only refused to ive up easily, he had sent her flowers and candy every day, called her every night, until she ade was out of the question It had taken another month before she’d told him why

“I’m a Vampire hunter, Will,” she’d said “I can’t marry anyone”

He had looked at her in disbelief “You’re a what?”

“You heard me”

“But hohy?”

“It’s in my blood, Will It’s what I was born to do”

He had listened as she explained what she did and how she did it, his sto as she explained, in vivid detail, how one went about staking a Va its head It was a brutal business She had showed him the kit she carried in the trunk of her car, explained why she alore a silver cross and carried a small bottle of holy water in her pocket, why she could never have children He had assured her that none of it mattered He loved her

They were married two months later In his mind’s eye, he saw her as she had been on the day they wed—a beautiful, vivacious woether, happier than any other couple he knew He had hated what she did, but it was a part of her, a part she felt strongly about They never talked about it He never questioned her on those nights when she went hunting, never let her knoorried, always afraid that she wouldn’t come home

A year passed and then another and another, and their joy in each other grew, spilling over into every aspect of their lives together Soht, Barbara lamented the fact that as much as she wanted a child, she would never have one She had explained to him that few hunters ever married Spouses and children could all too easily becoame of cat and mouse that hunter and hunted played At those times, Willialad they remained childless He didn’t want to share her life with anyone, not even his own child And then, after five years of wedded bliss, Barbara had announced that, despite all their precautions, she was pregnant In spite of her determination not to have a child, she had been overjoyed with the news

William had pretended to be as happy as she, pretended until the doctor placed a tiny, squirhter William had feared that a baby would ruin their lives, but Savanah had drawn theether Barb had quit the hunt when she learned she was pregnant Will had never said anything about it—it was her decision, but he had been relieved He had been busy with his career, but always, in the back of his ht Barb wouldn’t coed all that He recalled how happy he and Barb had been at each new milestone in Savanah’s life—her first smile, her first tooth, her first step, her first word

He had been content, certain that the future would hold the same joy as the present And then the unthinkable had happened The Vampires and the Werewolves came out of the shadows and went to war He had prayed that Barb wouldn’t become involved, but he should have known better

“I can’t just sit at ho while people are being killed I couldn’t live with myself if someone died because I wasn’t there to save the late on a story for the ot a frantic phone call froet to the hospital as fast as he could; Barbara had been in an accident It was the call he had been dreading their wholethe office, didn’t re to the hospital, didn’t re until he reached Barb’s bedside At first, he had been afraid he was too late, that she was already gone Her skin had been fish-belly white, her lips blue; she didn’t appear to be breathing

“Barb?” He had taken her hand in his, felt the icy coldness of her skin seep into his own “Barbara!”

Her eyelids had fluttered open and she had stared up at hier “Will?”

“Barb! Thank God!”

“Kill me”