“I’m Mark Davidson, and I’m great, thanks. I think your inn is wonderful. I was hoping you might have a cottage left.”
She cocked her head slightly. “You’re looking for a room at three AM?”
He laughed. “I have a room, but I just saw your place, and I think it’s enchanting.”
Lilly Martin flushed with pleasure. “Thank you so much. And I do have a cottage vacant. I’m not sure I’d feel right, though. I can’t just give you the room for free, but I can’t really charge you for a full night, either.”
“We could split the difference,” he suggested.
“Lovely. Sold,” Lilly said.
She turned toward the computer. “Let’s see. Mark Davidson. Address and phone, length of stay, and will this be on a credit card?”
He produced his driver’s license and credit card. As she looked at the information, he made a point of looking over her shoulder. The registrations for the night were up on the screen.
He scanned the screen quickly. The girls were obvious. Cottage five.
Lauren Crow, Heidi Weiss, Deanna???.
He leaned back, smiling
As she typed information into the computer, Lilly asked, “Just being nosy, Mark, but what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a writer.”
“Oh! Have I read anything you’ve written?”
He hesitated. “Probably not. I mostly do sports articles for syndication,” he lied.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Hm. And here I thought you might be an underwear model.”
“What?”
She laughed. “Sorry. You look like those guys in the ads.”
“Uh, thanks. I think.”
“Or a ninja,” she added.
“A ninja?”
She laughed. “Silly of me. Okay. Maybe a cop. Or FBI.”
“Just a writer,” he said. “But thanks.”
Within ten minutes, Lilly had him registered and he had a key to his cottage. He hesitated, though. “You really should lock up this late at night,” he told her.
“I know. My kids would be angry.”
“As well they should be.”
“But I filled another cottage tonight, didn’t?” she asked cheerfully.
He turned to her, catching her hands. “Yes, but it’s not safe, Lilly. Please, lock up much, much earlier, okay?”
She let out a soft sigh. “Yes, of course, you’re right.” She winked. “But don’t tell on me, okay? Anyway, it’s bedtime for both of us now. In the morning, coffee and croissants are served in the dining room, to your left there, or on the patio, by the pool.”
“Great. Thanks. I’ll go pick up things from my dreaded chain hotel,” he told her, grinning. “Then I’ll be back.”
After she accompanied him to the main door and watched him go, he heard her slide the bolt, and he was relieved. It worried him a bit to stay here; he hoped he wasn’t putting Lilly in danger.
But if he thought that woman looked like Katie, so would Stephan. And he knew that Stephan was here. He had followed the creature’s trail from Abruzzi to Cannes to Essex, then here to New Orleans. Mark was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Stephan saw the woman—if he hadn’t seen her already.
Because Stephan was definitely here. He could feel it.
Mark simply hadn’t expected that he would come across so many other vampires along the way. Tonight he could have sworn he had found Stephan at last, but he’d been wrong. Was he going to think that every tall, dark man he caught a glimpse of was Stephan?
It had still been a good night’s work. He couldn’t regret killing the vampire in the cemetery. He’d saved someone’s life, at least.
And yet…
The lust for vengeance was like a fire inside him. Complicated now.
