“What’s the matter? Change your mind?”
“Yes. Let me go!”
“Not just yet.” Keeping a firm hold on her arm, he led her into the shadows.
“What are you going to do to me?” She whipped her head back and forth, hoping to find someone to help her, but the parking lot was empty.
“Relax. This won’t hurt a bit.”
She looked up at him through brown eyes wide with fear. “Please let me go. I have a little boy. He needs me.”
“Yeah? Then why aren’t you home with him?”
“I’ve got to earn a living!” She was trembling now.
When they reached the back of the parking lot, Derek folded her in his arms, felt his eyes go red as the hunger rose within him, the brush of his fangs against his tongue.
“No.” She stared at him. “No, please!”
Holding her immobile, he lowered his head to her neck, his fangs pricking her skin. Her blood was clean, though heavily flavored with tobacco and alcohol.
He had intended to drain her dry, but guilt rose up within him when his mind brushed hers. She really did have a son, a four-year-old named Danny. Her mother looked after the boy while Star worked the streets.
Lifting his head, he ran his tongue over the tiny wounds in her neck, then wiped the memory of his bite from her mind.
She blinked up at him, her eyes unfocused.
“How much do you charge for your time?” he asked.
“What?”
“What do you charge?”
“Forty credits for an hour. A hundred for the night.”
“What’s your name? I’ll see that you get it.”
“St . . . Star Anderson.”
“Look at me.” Capturing her gaze with his, he said, “You’re going to go home now. You won’t remember any of this. Tomorrow, you’ll go look for a new job, one that lets you be home nights.”
“Yes.” She nodded, her expression blank. “Tomorrow.”
He walked her to his car, then drove her home, noting the address as he walked her to her door. He released her from his spell when she stepped inside.
Bemused by his unexpected benevolence, Derek slid behind the wheel, only to sit there, staring into the distance.
And then he drove to Sheree’s house.
Chapter Eleven
Pearl and Edna stepped out of the restaurant’s shadow. “That proves it!” Edna exclaimed, nodding.
“He ate a steak, dear,” Pearl said, strolling down the sidewalk. “That doesn’t prove anything.”
“Do I need to draw you a diagram? Vampires don’t eat, not anything! Ever! Don’t you see? The only explanation is the werewolf gene.”
“Or maybe it’s just that he’s half human, and the human part is kicking in. Did you ever think of that?”
“No.” Edna shook her head. “No, I don’t believe that.”
“Well, the moon is full and he didn’t shift, so let’s go home.”
“Not yet.”
“Why not? Why are you so obsessed with his becoming a werewolf? It’s not like he’d be the first vampire/werewolf in all of recorded history. Remember Susie McGee?”
“Of course.” Edna tapped her forefinger against her lower lip. “I wonder what ever happened to her?”
“She was both.”
“But not at the same time,” Edna said smugly. “She was a werewolf who was turned into a vampire. Derek could be both at the same time. It’s . . . it’s unprecedented!”
“So, what? You want to see him get furry, is that it?”
“Exactly.” Edna smiled. “We need to buy a camera!”
“And what if he rips our throats out while we’re watching?”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic. That isn’t going to happen, and you know it. I just have to know if he’ll go back to being a vampire once he turns into a werewolf. . . .”
“Assuming he becomes a werewolf,” Pearl interjected dryly. “The change might be permanent, like it was with Susie.”
“Well, that’s probably more likely,” Edna admitted. “But, whatever happens, I want to be there to see it.”
They were in a residential area now. Pearl stopped to peek into the window of a large house. Inside, a young man and woman were sitting side by side on a long white sofa. A large calico cat lay curled up next to the woman, purring softly.
“What are you looking at?” Edna asked, coming to stand beside her friend.
“Nothing, dear,” she said, a wistful note in her voice.
Edna tilted her head to the side. “They look cozy, don’t they?”
Pearl nodded. “Do you ever miss being married?”
“Sometimes late at night, I wish I had a man to hold me,” she said, sighing. “It’s been so long, I’ve almost forgotten what it was like being held, being loved.”