“You like this girl.” It wasn’t a question.
He didn’t contradict her. “She is a good person. Sometimes it seems those are hard to find these days.”
“What makes her a good person?”
“She’s kind, selfless, feeds the homeless.” He looked down at the baroness. “She’s only the second human I’ve ever met who believes all vampires aren’t like the Soulless. Granted, our kind hasn’t really advertised otherwise.”
The baroness smiled and patted his arm. “She sounds good for you. It sometimes isn’t a popular viewpoint among my colleagues, but I think it’s very important to remain as close to our human selves as possible. Understanding of differences often takes a great deal of time to come to pass, but I have hopes of one day seeing humans and vampires coexisting in a friendlier, easier way.”
“That’s a tall order, especially when humanity still has problems with acceptance among themselves.”
“Yes, but we will live a very long time. There’s no telling what we’ll see.”
He didn’t know why he’d not thought of it before, but it hit Campbell that even if he and Olivia found a way to make their relationship work, it would only be for a tiny fraction of his immortal life.
“You’re thinking of your lady’s life span?”
He stopped and looked the baroness in the eye. “How did you know?”
“I’m a keen observer, Mr. Raines. How do you think I got this job? Why I’m so good at it?”
“Why do you work, anyway? I know you don’t have to.”
She pushed some of her dark hair behind her ear. “Because I bore easily.” She waved her hand in a swirling motion. “I guess I’m a little like you. Somebody has to keep all these crazy vamps in line.”
He looked off into the night. “Sometimes it feels like a losing battle.”
“I know.”
He returned his attention to her. For the first time since he’d known her, she sounded tired. It was so unlike her that it caused concern to swell in him. What did she know that he didn’t? Did it have anything to do with the fact that she was in New York?
Her abnormal moment passed and she met his eyes. “My advice is don’t think about how long her life is. It robs you of the joy you can have with her while she is here.”
“You sound as if you speak from experience.”
“I do. I loved a man very much, but I spent all the years we had together tied in knots over the fact that I’d lose him too soon, that we wouldn’t be like other couples who got to spend their entire lives together. When he was gone, I realized how much time I’d wasted, time when I could have been truly happy.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at the night sky. “If I were sane, I’d stay away from her. I fear hurting her, or worse.”
“You know what my favorite saying is?” the baroness asked. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” With that, she patted his arm again and turned on her heel. “Well, I better get back. Maybe I’ll think of a way to make Drogan’s night miserable on the walk back.”
He smiled then kissed her cheek. “Maybe I should have fallen for someone like you.”
“My dear, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.”
As he watched her walk away, her words reverberated in his head. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Was there? He wasn’t so sure, not with memories of Bridget tormenting him. But if so, he was damn well going to find it.
* * *
Something was wrong. Olivia stared out at the handful of people sitting in the diner, a fraction of the normal morning crowd. And it was too quiet. She’d noticed that as soon as Rusty had shown up. First, he’d been several minutes later than usual. Then he hadn’t been able to meet her eyes, and he’d barely said anything.
“What is going on?” she said to herself.
Could the abductions be keeping people away? Or maybe the fact she’d had two dead bodies found in her alley? She shook her head. It was more than that, and she intended to find out what. She headed for the dining room.
She stopped only a few steps in when Rusty simply left his money on the table and left. Dread settled in her stomach. With Rusty’s exit, that left only a family of four in the back corner and Jane next to the window. When she met Jane’s gaze, the other woman gave her a sad smile. Olivia took it as permission to approach. At least Jane wasn’t making a beeline for the door without a word.
Jane pointed to the chair across from her. “Have a seat.”
“Are you sure? Seems everyone else thinks I’m contagious with something.”
Jane nodded to the empty chair, and Olivia slipped into it. “Word has gotten around the neighborhood that you’re seeing a vampire.”
Olivia jumped as if she’d been stung. “What?”
Jane leaned a little closer. “One of your neighbors saw you together, saw him jump from the street to your balcony.”
What should she say? Deny it? Try to explain.
“You are not the first and likely won’t be the last,” Jane said.
“I... You don’t seem upset.”
Jane shrugged. “It doesn’t affect me. I personally think people ought to mind their own business and not tell everyone else how to live.”
Olivia glanced across her nearly empty diner. “You seem to be in the minority.”
“Unfortunately.” Jane slid her glasses to the top of her head. “You ever wonder what I’m writing in here every day?”
“Yes. Mindy and I have actually debated many times. Our latest guesses are erotic novel—that’s Mindy’s guess—or spy thriller because you used to be a spy.”
Jane laughed. “Maybe it’s an erotic spy thriller.”
“Hey, new genre.”
Jane placed her hand on either side of her laptop. “No. I’m writing about human-vampire relations throughout history.”
Olivia scrunched her forehead. “Is there enough material for that? There really hasn’t been much interaction.”
“See, I don’t think that’s true. There are too many stories of vampires throughout history. I’m taking a look at all of them again, along with historical accounts of the same periods when the stories originated. I don’t think all of those tales are fiction.”
“I was told that those stories sprang up because of rogue vampires who killed too much and didn’t make sure no one saw them.”
“Maybe part of it. But I don’t think all the interactions were deadly. They’ve just been very well hidden or disguised. Do you think your vampire would consent to being interviewed?”
Olivia couldn’t imagine it in a million years. She gave Jane an apologetic smile. “I don’t think so. Besides, he’s a very young vampire. He wouldn’t have witnessed any of these potential historical encounters.”
Disappointment fell over Jane’s face. “Oh, well. It was worth a try.”
“You don’t fear them?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m not so adventurous that I step out of my building after sunset. But they do fascinate me. I want to know the reality versus the myth. Before the Bokor virus, I traveled to remote locations all over the world writing about little-known peoples and places, but this is like nothing I’ve ever worked on before. I feel as if I could peel back layers forever and still not get the entire story.”
“They were very good at hiding their existence.” Despite her relationship with Campbell, Olivia still found the vampire world frightening and the fact that they’d lurked in the dark for centuries creepy.
“The most secret of societies.” Jane took another sip of her coffee.
“Can I get you a fresh cup?”
Jane closed her laptop. “Sorry, no time. I have a meeting this morning.”
“Will you be coming back?” Olivia hated the hint of desperation in her voice. But her dining room sat as sparsely filled as it had in the days after she’d reopened following the pandemic. Just when she’d felt as though things were getting better, bam, the rug got pulled out again. At least Mindy wasn’t here to see what Olivia’s actions had done to their livelihood.