“I don’t know what I want,” she murmured, tears forming in her eyes.

Oliver brushed his thumb over her cheek. “You have all the time in the world to make a decision. I’ll be waiting for as long as it takes.”

Then his lips were on hers, kissing her first softly, then more passionately, while his cock moved inside her in the same rhythm.

33

“Here,” Oliver said after he and Ursula had gotten dressed. He pulled a cell phone from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

“What’s that for?”

“It’s a spare I have. It’s untraceable. I’ve programmed in my number so you can reach me, and I can contact you.” He motioned to the phone on the nightstand. “I’m guessing that phone is only a house phone. I’ve put the ringer on vibrate. Make sure nobody finds it. Hide it from Vera and the others, but keep it close enough so you know when I’m trying to contact you.”

“Thank you.” She lifted herself on her toes and kissed him.

“One thing: I know you want to talk to your parents, but it’ll have to wait.” He pointed to the phone in her hands. “The phone is locked. The only number you can call is mine. I’m sorry, but I had to do it. I know you’ll be tempted, and sometimes it’s just better to remove temptation before it has a chance to take root.”

She nodded. “I understand. Really, I do.” Her eyes confirmed her words.

He drew her into an embrace, holding her to his chest for several minutes without speaking. Then he kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

After leaving Ursula, Oliver checked in with Cain and went patrolling with him. Cain was one of the few colleagues whom he hadn’t pissed off yet, and Oliver took great pains not to say anything that would lead to an argument.

“Glad you joined me; it’s not as boring that way,” Cain said as they walked toward the entrance of another nightclub, where a couple of dozen clubbers lined up to be let inside.

“Guess it was different the other night. How bad was it?” Oliver tossed him a sideways glance then let his eyes wander over the young people outside the club to scan for anything unusual.

“It wasn’t pretty, let me tell you that.” He lowered his voice, so the humans around them couldn’t hear him. “She looked like he’d butchered her.”

Oliver spoke just as quietly. “Worse than one of our kind in bloodlust?”

Cain shoved his hands in his pockets. “And so useless. What a waste of a life. It’s terrible what drugs can do. It’s evil, pure evil.”

Oliver thought back to the time when he’d taken drugs as a human. “Yes, senseless.” And if Samson hadn’t pulled him out of it, he would have perished. Thinking about it now brought back the guilt he felt about how he’d parted with Samson. He stopped just before they reached the entrance to the nightclub.

“Listen, Cain, do you mind if I leave you for a while? I need to talk to Samson.”

Cain rocked back on his heels. “Something important?”

“Something very important.”

“No worries. I’ve still got a few more clubs to check out. Call me if you want to rejoin me later. That is, if you’re done before sunrise.”

Oliver checked his watch. He’d spent half the night with Ursula, and this was already the third club he and Cain were checking out. “It’s late. I’ll call you if I’m done in time.”

It took Oliver twenty minutes to get to Samson’s house. When he stood in front of the entrance door, he hesitated for a moment. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with cool night air, before he rang the door bell.

“Here goes,” he mumbled to himself.

The door was opened by Samson himself. His boss stared at him, his face serious. For a long moment they simply looked at each other, neither saying a word. Then Samson broke the silence. “Come in then.”

Samson stood to the side to let him enter, then shut the door behind him.

Oliver stood in the hallway, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, not knowing how to start. He hadn’t exactly thought this through. He wasn’t like any of his colleagues who had a way with words. He was much simpler than that. Less sophisticated.

He sucked in a breath, then raised his eyes and looked at his boss. “I’m sorry, Samson. For what I said.”

Samson sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. Seconds ticked by. “It’s not easy seeing you grow up and become a man with his own opinions. I guess I still see you as the kid I picked up from the street one night, to make myself feel better.”