LITMIR.BIZ

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      “I’m not, love. There’s far more to this than you and Angela realize.”

      She folded her arms under her breasts. “That so? Any plans to share it with us?”

      “We didn’t plan to. Not yet. But in the circumstances…” How to start? A two-minute guide to two millennia of distrust and confrontation? “It’s complicated.”

      “I don’t see why. You’re mad because I helped Angela do what she needed to do. Tom’s going to be pissed at you and that will make a rift in your centuries of male bonding.”

      Abel give him strength! “Have a seat, Stella.”

      She must have sensed his reined-in frustration. She sat down on one of the chairs by the fireplace. He took the other, and pulled it up so they were knee to knee.

      Her wry smile hit him hard in the heart. How he loved her! But how could she have let Angela leave? And to Devon of all places? Because he and Tom had failed to share the dangers with them. There was a lesson there. “Stella, it’s a lot more serious than Tom getting put out with me.” A trace of worry creased her dark eyes. “The problem isn’t Angela going off on her own, it’s where she’s gone.”

      “To Totnes to find the shop where her coat came from.”

      “Totnes is in Devon. We don’t go there.”

      She frowned as she thought that over. “By ‘we’ you mean vampires?”

      “Yes.”

      “And I’m assuming there’s a very good reason why we should avoid Devon?”

      The hint of sarcasm irritated him. But more than that, he anticipated her shock when she heard. He reached forward and took her hands in his. “It goes back to before I came here. Even before the arrival of the first Romans. We avoid the West Country, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and parts of Dorset, and almost all of Wales.” She nodded, listening. A little furrow appeared between her eyebrows. “Those parts of Britain are steeped in magic and abound with witches.”

      “And that’s why vampires don’t go there?” He nodded. “But Angela’s not a vampire.”

      “No. And perhaps may pass unnoticed, but if one of them recognizes her as vampire get…”

      “What?” Her eyes widened. “She’s in danger?”

      “I don’t know for sure. Possibly. Possibly not. Stella, we have nothing to do with them and they have nothing to do with us. That’s how it is.”

      “Why?”

      He should have expected that; why hadn’t he told her all this earlier? Because there had been other, more pressing things for her to learn. “It goes back to even before Gwyltha’s time, and she was made in the first century BC.”

      “I thought she started this.”

      “She started our colony, as the Druid society was declining.” Stella nodded and leaned forward to listen. “Before then, long before my people—the Romans—came, the Druids held sway by magic and old knowledge. My understanding is that when the first offspring of the resurrected Abel reached these islands, no one noticed. As our numbers increased slowly, the high priests realized our powers. Vampires were admitted to the inner circle of priesthood, like Gwyltha was. Some vampires were even worshipped as gods, but in time, the two arms split through mistrust, jealousy, fear, who knows what.

      “Later, as the Druids fled with their magic to the far west and the hills of Wales, we stayed behind, concealing our nature. When Gwyltha made me, we were already an invisible people. Survival dictates we stay that way. We remained hidden and kept to our part of the country. They stay in theirs.”

      “Are there no witches in the rest of the country?”

      “A few, but they are mostly amateurs, players of games. The old lore witches fled with their magic, and we’ve stayed apart ever since.”

      “What happens if you don’t?”

      “The last time witches tangled with us, a coven tried to extinguish Kit.”

      “Kit Marlowe, Dixie’s Kit?” Too blunt! Shock and worry widened Stella’s eyes as she jumped up. “We have to warn Angela!”

      He stood up and pulled her to him. “I doubt she’s in immediate danger. The attempt on Kit was planned in advance and timed for when he was weakest.” He smoothed Stella’s short, dark hair to calm her. “We just need to get her back. I’d call, but you might have more success. She might dismiss me as playing the heavy vampire.”

      “She just might.” Stella paused. “I don’t want to scare her, either. I’ll tell her we’ve discovered something that needs her to get back here ASAP.”

      She would have, if she’d gotten through. The hotel rang Angela’s room for several minutes, but no reply. The clerk assured Stella she would give Angela the message, and other than leaving her number, there wasn’t much else Stella could do. “I hope she gets it,” she said as she hung up.

      “She will.” Justin pulled Stella close. “I didn’t mean to worry you, but she’s taking a risk going there.”

      “It would have been nice to let us in on all this.”

      She was right. “I did suggest Tom tell her, but he wanted to wait until he discovered something certain.”

      “You mean in all these centuries, he hasn’t yet discovered few things are certain?”

      “I know of one.” He grasped her hips and pulled her close. There was no mistaking how he felt about her. “I love you and I’ve missed you like hell.”

      “Maybe we should take care of that!”

      Her mouth came to his as she raised up on tiptoe. Her lips were sweet and moist and soft, and he’d missed her more than he’d ever imagined possible. He wanted this woman. His vampire. Stella. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him against the glorious fullness of her breasts. As he pressed her lips apart, her tongue caressed his, and wild vampire need coursed through his ancient blood.

      The phone on his desk rang.

      She pulled away, but before she moved the two paces to lift the receiver, it stopped. She paused, a hand’s length from the now-silent phone. “Must be Pete or Jimmy calling Sam about homework or the new movie playing in Whitby. I wish Angela would call.”

      He pulled her back against him, not to kiss her this time but to hold her hand against his chest and cup her head in his hand. “She’ll call back. Don’t worry.”

      “What if she calls while he’s nattering away to his buddies?”

      “She’ll call again. She hasn’t been there long enough to alert anyone to her presence. Things will be fine.”

      She looked up. The trust in her eyes almost broke him. What had he accepted, taking on a wife and child? Joy and worry beyond belief. He bent to kiss her again.

      “Pardon me!” They both looked up. “Sorry.” Sam gave an almost wicked grin. “I can see you’re busy, but Uncle Tom’s on the phone.” He held out the portable phone from the kitchen.

      “Thanks, son.” Justin reached for the phone.

      Stella took it first. Might as well get this over. At least Tom was at the other end of the receiver. Two irate, elder vampires were a bit much for anyone to face. “Bless you honey. How’s the homework?”

      “Almost done. Can I watch Robot Wars when I’m through? It starts in ten minutes.”

      Sam had wasted no time acclimatizing himself to Brit TV. “Yes, and when it’s all finished, you can treat yourself to a Penguin, but make sure those teeth are scrubbed before you go to bed.”

      “Thanks, Mom!” He hadn’t taken long discovering the best of British snacks either. But

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