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Her fingertips lingered over one of the s up at Mara’s place, it was that she should always have a bottle of holy water and a stake or two close at hand With that thought in mind, she wrapped one of the stout wooden stakes in an old scarf and tucked it into the waistband of her jeans, then slipped a bottle of holy water into one of the pockets She felt a little silly, being ar to do Her gun was in her handbag Perhaps it was tiun on her person, as well She would have to ask Rane about that later

She wondered how and where her parents had obtained holy water Had they gone to the local Catholic church with a jar and asked the priest to fill it up for a good cause? And what about stakes? She seemed to recall that one of the books had mentioned that hawthorn worked the best Luckily, there were several hawthorn trees growing in the backyard

Coincidence? She thought not

She closed the box, then picked up her cell phone, intending to call Mr Van Black to let him know she was ho at the screen Being a reporter didn’t seeet the kind of break that would allow her to work in New York City or Los Angeles In the meanti s all her ti Vampires Her parents had left her financially well-off Her father had carried a large insurance policy; herinto a lucrative business

Savanah ran her hand over the top of the box again To tell the truth, she didn’t knohat she wanted to do with the rest of her life Of course, all things considered, the rest of her life could be days instead of years

And with that in mind, she punched in Mr Van Black’s nu

Rane stirred with the setting of the sun, his senses expanding, his nerves on edge until he detected Savanah’s presence inside the house She was in the kitchen cooking dinner Soht Mortals spent a lot of ti it He re his mother make Christmas cookies when he was five or six and how he and Rafe had decorated the cookies, the kitchen, and the Rafe’s favorite dessert had been fudge brownies He reot to lick the spoon and who got the bowl and how once, when their mother’s back was turned, Rafe had opened the oven door and the two of them had eaten spoonfuls of warm, uncooked brownie batter

It seemed like an eternity since he had seen his mother and his brother And his father What were they all doing now? Did they think of him often? He had shut them out of his life, blocked the link between hi hurt that they hadn’t found hi hih the earth alongside the house, then stood there a ht, his senses searching for anything out of the ordinary When he was convinced that there was no danger lurking in the shadows, he willed himself into the house

Savanah opened the oven door to check on the chicken Another few minutes and it would be baked to perfection She stirred the rice, turned the fire do under the corn, and let out a shriek when she turned around and saw Rane standing in the doorway

He grinned at her “Sorry”

She pressed a hand to her heart “A little warning would have been nice”

“Next time I’ll say, ‘Boo’”

“Very funny Where have you been?”

“Resting”

“Where? I…Well, I looked for you in the house”

“I decided to sleep outside”

“Oh?”

He closed the distance between them and took her in his arrinned at her

“Okay, maybe a little,” she admitted “Mostly I was just curious about where you were”