“What are you now, the marshal of Dodge City?”
She laughed at that, as he had hoped she would.
“No, but if the vampires really are selling people … We have to stop them. Not just for their sakes,” she said earnestly, “but because it’s the right thing to do.”
“I hope you never lose that delightful spark of humanity, my love.” He said it lightly, but he meant it, just the same.
Chapter 17
Overstreet took his leave soon after Travis returned. Sara walked the journalist to the door, bid him a cordial goodnight, then went into the kitchen to clear the table and tidy up the kitchen.
Travis lingered in the doorway, admiring the sway of Sara’s hips as she moved about the room. After listening to Ronan’s assessment of what was going on in town, he was reluctant to leave her alone. While it was true that no vampire could enter her house without an invitation, that didn’t mean one of the human inhabitants couldn’t break in and force her out of the house where she would be vulnerable to the vampires.
Sara glanced at the clock on the stove as she wiped down the counter and dropped the towel over the back of a chair. “It’s late,” she said, yawning. “I need to get some sleep.”
“Yeah.” He shoved his hands into his pants’ pockets.
“What’s wrong?” She felt the tension radiating from him, saw it in the tense set of his shoulders. “Travis? You’re scaring me.”
“I don’t mean to. Sara, listen. I don’t think you should be alone tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Things have changed. This isn’t the sleepy little town I thought it was. Ronan told me how to expand my preternatural senses and it’s changed everything. You shouldn’t be alone. Not after dark. And not during the day.”
“Now you’re really scaring me.”
“A little fear is a healthy thing.”
Funny, she thought, Carl had said the same thing not long ago.
Taking her hand, Travis led her into the living room, then sat on the couch and pulled her down on his lap. “I don’t know if the humans who live with the vampires are aware of what’s going on, but we need to go on the assumption that they do. Which means you can’t trust any of them, either. I think maybe you should close the store for a while.”
“I can’t afford to do that. I’m barely making ends meet as it is.”
“Maybe we can get Overstreet to stay with you during the day,” Travis said, thinking out loud. “I’ll see about getting him a couple of stakes. And some holy water,” he added, remembering how it had burned Ronan’s flesh. “I’ll relieve him when the sun goes down.” Caressing her cheek with his knuckles, he said, “Maybe you should just go home.”
“No!” Sara shook her head vehemently. “I won’t do that.”
“Maybe move to the next town for awhile, then.”
“Do you really think I’m in danger? I mean, why now? No one’s bothered me before.”
“Well, how about taking a few days off and just staying home until we find out what’s really going on? Overstreet can keep you company.” At the store or here, in Sara’s house, Travis intended to see that Overstreet had weapons to repel invaders, human or vampire.
“All right,” Sara agreed reluctantly. “If you really think it’s necessary.”
“I do. Better safe than sorry.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m going to spend the night here, if it’s all right with you.”
“Okay. The bed in the guestroom is made up. Just make yourself at home.” Sliding off his lap, she kissed him good night, though she doubted she would get any sleep after this evening’s startling revelations.
Travis prowled through the house, his thoughts chaotic as he reviewed what Ronan had said earlier about the town, and as he considered the thrill he’d experienced while expanding his senses. he wondered what other powers he might possess that he was not yet aware of.
But most of all, he thought about Sara. He was determined to protect her, no matter what the cost. She was the best thing in his accursed life. He realized there was a chance that she might never want to see him again after all this was over, but if that was the case, then so be it. Her life meant more to him than his own.
It was near dawn when he went to the window to stare out into what was left of the night. Of course, due to his preternatural vision, he had no trouble seeing in the dark. And what he saw was troubling indeed. A motor home was parked across the street, its door facing Sara’s house. Three men—all vampires—stood on the sidewalk. As Travis watched, two of them went into the motor home. The coach rocked violently for a moment, then the two men exited the coach. The first one carried a man over his shoulder. The second, a woman.
The two vampires and their burdens vanished from sight. The third vampire got behind the wheel of the RV, turned on the engine, and sped away.
Travis cursed under his breath when he saw a young boy, perhaps five years old, staring out the back window of the RV, his pale face frightened and streaked with tears.
Shit! Should he go after the boy? Doing so would leave Sara unprotected. Torn, he left the house in pursuit of the motor home. He found it abandoned in a ditch six miles out of town. There was no sign of the boy, his parents, or the vampires.
As desperate as he was to search for the kid, the first painful rays of the rising sun drove Travis back to the shelter of Sara’s house. Inside, he went downstairs to the basement and closed the door. The sofa would have been more comfortable than the cement floor, but he needed the darkness.
He had time to make one quick phone call before the dark sleep carried him away.
Sara woke
