He was mourning, he thought, with no small measure of astonishment, mourning for his only child, mourning for what might have been had she not sacrificed her innocence to that bloodsucker.

Turning away from the window, he moved restlessly through the room. He had never been one to do anything halfheartedly. His only daughter was dead and he would mourn her after the manner of his people. For the next seven days, he would sprinkle ashes on his clothing and deny himself food and water. Each night, he would light a candle to commemorate her life.

And when his period of mourning was over, he would destroy the man who had defiled her.

Chapter 25

Ana Luisa woke with the setting of the sun. Opening her eyes, she saw Ramon lying on the bed beside her, the sheet pulled up to his waist. Propped on one elbow, he smiled at her when he saw she was awake.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked.

He wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger. "Maybe."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I like looking at you."

"Even when I am sleeping...." Her voice trailed off. "It is not really sleeping, is it? I did not fall asleep. One minute I was awake, and the next, darkness enveloped me. I did not dream...." She looked at him, her expression troubled. "It really is like death, isn't it?"

"You'll get used to it." Leaning forward, he kissed her cheek. "You're not sorry I brought you across, are you?"

"No, it is just different than I thought it would be. I think there will be more things to get used to than I expected."

"You'll get used to everything, in time," he said. "I promise." He kissed her again, longer, deeper. "And time is something we've got plenty of."

"Have you been a vampire a very long time?"

"Five years, give or take a month or two," he replied with an easy grin. "In the vampire world, I'm just a baby."

"Do you like being a vampire?"

"Yeah, I do."

"All of it?" she asked.

"All of it," he said with conviction. "And you will, too."

"Even the blood part?" she asked dubiously. "I did not really think much about that."

He laughed softly. "Even the blood part."

"How did it happen? Did you want to be a vampire?"

"Not at the time. I had a good friend who started acting strange, you know? He stopped hanging around with our crowd, wouldn't talk to anyone. I went to his place one night and asked him what was wrong. He didn't want to tell me, but I kept buggin' him. Finally, he said, 'You wanna know what's wrong with me? I'll tell ya. Hell, I'll show ya!'"

Ramon shook his head. "He showed me, all right. Showed me his fangs, and then buried them in my throat. I don't remember much after that. When I woke up the next night, I was in his house, but he was gone. I never saw him again."

"How awful! You must have been terrified."

He grunted softly. "You could say that. I didn't know what to expect, or what to do, but I figured it out."

She considered that a moment before asking, "Do you have a family?"

"Sure. They live in Mexico. My old man owns a fishing boat. My two older brothers work with my father. I have an older sister who lives in San Francisco, and a younger sister who lives in Fresno."

"Do they know what you are?"

"No."

"Do you see them very often?"

"We all go home every year or so and spend a few days with our folks." He winked at her. "My mother will be happy to meet you. She was beginning to think I'd never settle down."

Ana wasn't sure she wanted to meet his family. What if they didn't like her? Then again, what if they did? It would be nice to be part of a large family. It had been lonely growing up as an only child. She'd had no one to play with, no one to confide in. Her father hadn't allowed her to play with the children in the village; considering her parentage, she doubted if the children would have been allowed to play with her, either. As a child, she had wished for brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins.

"Are you very rich?" she asked.

"Who, me? Not hardly."

"But you do not work."

"Sure I do. I'm on vacation right now. I don't have to go back to work for another two weeks."

"What do you do?"

"I'm the night manager at the local market."

She pondered that a moment, thinking that she really didn't know very much about him, and then she smiled. She had years to learn everything there was, she mused, and then frowned. "Do I look the same?" She ran her hands over her face and down her throat. Never again would she see her reflection in a mirror.

"More beautiful than ever."

"Do you remember what you look like?"

Ramon lifted one brow, as if amused by her question, and then frowned. He hadn't seen his reflection in over five years.

"I have pictures to remind me," he said, and knew a moment of regret that he hadn't taken Ana's photograph, but then realized it wasn't necessary. If she wanted to remember how she looked, he would take her to a studio and have her portrait painted. Hell, they could have one painted every year if she liked.

Ana smiled when he told her about having her portrait painted. "Maybe we can have one made of the two of us," she suggested.

"Sure, whatever you want."

"Will people know what I have become?" she asked, then answered her own question. "They will not. I did not know you were different when first we met. Yet now..." She stroked his cheek, ran her fingertips down his arm. "Now, I see it so clearly."

Ramon brushed a kiss across her cheek. "Things will only get better. You'll be amazed at what you can do. Every sense is heightened, every touch magnified." He laughed softly as her eyes widened. "Yes, making love will be better than ever."

"I cannot imagine that," she said with a shy smile.

"Shall I..." He frowned as someone knocked on the front door. Reaching for his jeans, he muttered, "Who the devil can that be?"

Ana Luisa shrugged, then offered him a seductive smile. "Do not be gone long."

"Don't worry." With a wink, Ramon zipped his fly and went to answer the door.

Ana Luisa stretched languidly, then sat up at the raucous sound of male laughter. Curious to see who had come calling, she got out of bed and pulled one of Ramon's T-shirts over her head.

Entering the living room, she found Ramon talking to two women she didn't recognize, and a man she recognized all too well. It was Maitland, the man who had threatened her in the alley. What was he doing here?

"Ramon?"

He turned to her with a smile. "Ana, these are friends of mine...."

"How can you bring him here?" she exclaimed, glaring at Maitland.

Ramon moved to her side and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Calm down, chica. You can't blame Maitland for putting the moves on a pretty woman...."

"Is that what he was doing?" Ana Luisa demanded. She shook her head. "I do not think so. I think I would be dead now if you had not interfered. I do not want him here."

"Now, listen, Ana--"

"No, you listen. I do not trust him."

Ramon looked at Maitland, a clear warning in his eyes. "He won't hurt you. You have my word on that."

"How can you be so sure?" Ana demanded.

"Because he knows if he so much as lays a finger on you, I'll destroy him."

At Ramon's words, tension thrummed through the air like lightning about to strike. The two female vampires glanced at each other and then looked at Ramon, as if waiting for him to say something, do something.

Ana Luisa looked up at Ramon, her head tilted to one side. "Would you?" she asked. "Would you destroy him?"

Ramon nodded. "No one will ever hurt you or scare you again. I swear it."

Ana Luisa smiled, touched by his words and the conviction in his voice. "I believe you, but I still do not want him here."

Ramon grunted softly. "Sorry, Maitland, but you heard the lady."

Maitland's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "You're throwing me out?"

"Looks that way." Ramon smiled at Ana. "She's the lady of the house."

Maitland threw an angry glance at Ana Luisa, then turned on his heel and stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Ana Luisa nodded and smiled as Ramon introduced her to Nita and Jan, but her mind was on Maitland and the malicious look in his eyes. Perhaps she had been too rash in denouncing the man. She bit down on her lower lip, wondering if what she had just done would somehow come back to haunt her.

Before she could worry about it too much, a sharp pain speared through her. With a gasp, she looked at Ramon. Had something gone wrong? He hadn't told her there would be pain.

Ana saw Jan and Nita exchange knowing glances. What did they know that she didn't?

"It's all right, chica," Ramon said, taking her by the hand. "The hunger is always worse the first night after the change. Come, it's time to go hunting."

Chapter 26

"You're leaving?" Kari stared at Rourke, unable to believe what she was hearing. "What do you mean, you're leaving? Why? When? Where are you going?"

"To retrieve my father's sword."

"But...I thought..." She frowned, then shook her head in disbelief. "You don't mean to go after Vilnius, do you? Are you crazy? Have you already forgotten what happened to you the last time you crossed him?"

"The sword is mine," Rourke said adamantly. He stood and began to pace the floor. "It is all I have left of my father. All I have left of my old life. Vilnius has stolen three hundred years from me. I will not let him take the sword, as well."

"But...I...how soon are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow night."