Dinner was over and the dishes done when Travis knocked at her door.
She met him with an enthusiastic, “Hi!”
“Judging by that smile on your face, I’m guessing you heard the vampires have all left town,” he said.
She nodded as she tugged him toward the sofa. “Isn’t it wonderful? Did you know that most of the women were kept here against their will? I’ll bet that’s why I rarely saw them. They were probably afraid they’d let something slip.”
“I think you’re right.” He dropped down on the sofa beside her, his hand curling around hers.
He was different, too, Sara thought. More relaxed than he had been in days. She hadn’t realized until now that he’d been on edge, too. When his gaze met hers, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to go into his arms. To raise her head so he could brush her lips with his. So she could wrap her arms around his neck and climb onto his lap and kiss him in return.
She shivered with pleasure as his hand slid up and down her back, then dropped to stroke her thigh.
“Sara.” He groaned low in his throat as his rising desire aroused his hunger.
She pulled back a little, her gaze searching his. “Travis? What’s wrong?”
“I’m all right.”
“You don’t sound all right.” She frowned, then murmured, “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He threaded his fingers through her hair. “I should have … ah …” He cleared his throat. “You know, before I came to see you, but I wanted to make sure you’d heard the good news.”
“Maybe you should go now and … you know.”
He kissed the tip of her nose, then set her on the sofa. “Okay if I come back after?”
Sara nodded. “Hurry.”
Like Sara, Travis had noticed the change in the town as soon as he roused from the dark sleep. The aura of danger and oppression and fear was gone.
Not wanting to feed on any of the women in town, he went to the neighboring city. He was strolling along a side street, searching for prey, when he saw Ronan striding toward him. Startled, he came to an abrupt halt, his hands clenching as his sire paused beside him.
“Am I intruding on your hunting ground?” Ronan asked.
“And if you are?”
“Proper etiquette demands that I go elsewhere.”
“Is that another rule you failed to teach me?”
Ronan shook his head. “Still waiting for an apology?”
“No. And you don’t need my permission to hunt here. Or anywhere else. Bowman and the others left Susandale.”
“I know. I can’t help wondering why.”
“I figured they were afraid of you. They sure as hell aren’t afraid of me. Where’s Shannah?”
“She went home. I told her I’d join her in a day or so.” He jerked his head toward a pair of women coming toward them. “Shall we?”
“Father and son dining together for the first time,” Travis said, his lips twitching in amusement. “I’ll have to make a note in my diary.”
Chapter 20
With the vampires gone, there was a dramatic change in the town. The women spent more time outside. Tourists stayed longer. Sara realized belatedly that visitors hadn’t left early of their own free will. The vampires had kidnapped most of them. The very idea made her shudder as she imagined being imprisoned and then sold as prey to hungry vampires. It was worse than slavery, she thought bleakly, and wondered how long a vampire could drink from someone before they died. Or did they keep them like cattle? Thrusting the disquietly image away, she wondered what they had done with the cars, vans, and motor homes left behind.
With the change in the atmosphere, some of the tourists passing through decided to stay. There was no government in the town, so no one objected when Robert Clary, a retired Los Angeles police officer, decided to take on the duties of Sheriff. Or when Leonard Amata, a retired general practitioner, hung up his shingle at the hospital. Without the vampires to heal the women when they got hurt or sick, a doctor was just what Susandale needed to look after the town’s inhabitants.
Winona smiled more. She hired a cook who went by the name of Oscar. She also hired his daughter, Mercy, as a waitress.
Within a month, Susandale had turned into a bustling little town.
Four of the women decided to leave town. They sold their homes to a realtor in the neighboring city and moved away. Weeks later, three families with children ranging in age from a few weeks to seventeen moved in. One of the women, Mary Robbins, mother to twin six-year-old girls, was a teacher, who found a vacant building and turned it into a school.
Sara was amazed at the changes. Susandale was like a different place. She knew now that it had been the vampire’s influence that had hung over the town like a dark cloud. People who had sensed it had hurried through without stopping. Those unaware had been captured and sold by the vampires.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Sara remarked one night while sitting on the front porch swing with Travis. “So many changes in such a short time.”
He nodded, thinking how glad he was that he’d come to this town. Since meeting Sara, his life, while still not normal, was a hundred percent better than it had been before. Most amazing of all, since meeting Sara, his nightmares had stopped. Ronan had left town the day after Shannah went home, which was also a bonus as far as Travis was concerned.
They sat in silence for a time and then, needing to touch her, he slipped his arm around Sara’s waist. She sighed and snuggled against him as if it
