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Sylvia took his hand and kissed it. She fixated on Sebastian’s dark brown eyes. “My love, I couldn’t bear a single day without you. When he stabbed you, I thought you were done for. I would have destroyed him and everyone else in this town if I lost you.”

Sebastian leaned forward. He ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it back behind her ear. “I couldn’t ask for anything less. I wouldn’t demand anything more. That’s my good girl.”

She smiled at him. He leaned back against the couch, draping his left arm across the top of the couch.

The ghoul hurried down the stairs, but was light-footed. He made the minimum amount of noise moving into the living room. He bowed his head and presented Sylvia with the first aid kit. She took it without acknowledging the ghoul.

“Leave us,” Sebastian said. “All of you.”

The ghouls went into the kitchen, opened the basement door, and went downstairs.

Sylvia removed a pair of tweezers from the kit. “This may hurt.”

“Coming from you, it’ll be bliss,” Sebastian said.

Sylvia smiled and plunged the tweezers into his chest. He screamed in agony as the metal pushed deeper. He gripped the fine leather on the top of the couch with one hand and the side with the other. His fingers dug into the leather. He gritted his teeth,wanting to extend his fangs in anger. The pain was intolerable as she probed for the stray wooden shard.

“I haven’t found it yet,” Sylvia said.

“Keep going,” he growled as he arched his neck back. His body tensed.

“Does this make us even, my love?” Sylvia asked.

The memory of their first encounter seized Sebastian’s mind, slipping him back to that place so many years ago.

The doorto his French tavern flung open, and a bloodied woman stood at the entrance. Sebastian stood by the bar, holding a broom. Lanterns hung on thick wooden pillars dimly lit the room. A few strands of her strawberry blonde hair draped over her desperation filled face. Blood dripped from her mouth. A bloody wound stood out on her chest. The two creatures of the night locked eyes.

“Please,” she begged.

Sebastian motioned with his head to an area behind the bar. She shut the door behind her and ran. She turned the corner and descended a set of stairs to the cellar below. Sebastian rested the broom against a table and went to the lanterns. One by one, he opened the metal and glass door to blow out the candles.

“She went in here,” he heard through a window outside.

The door flung open, and the mob consisting of a priest, a farmer, and a man wearing a black coat spilled in. They all held crucifixes. The priest was armed with a wooden stake, and the man in the black coat was armed with a pistol.

“Where is she?” the man in the coat asked.

“Where iswho?” Sebastian asked.

“The woman who came through here. Where is she?” he asked again.

Sebastian motioned around the empty tavern. The patrons had long since left. The chairs were placed on top of the tables.

“No one else is in this room,” he answered. “I’ve been cleaning up for the night. It’s only me.”

“She’s not here,” the priest said as he retreated through the door. “She must have gone down the street.”

The farmer followed behind.

The man in the black coat examined the room. He moved to the bar. Sebastian placed a hand on the stool behind him, ready to wield it as a weapon if he got too close. The man in the black coat stopped. Sebastian relinquished the stool.

He turned to Sebastian. “You didn’t see anyone come this way?”

“Can’t say I did,” he replied.

“It’s illegal to obstruct the affairs of the Holy Roman Emperor. I’ll ask again, where is she?”

Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”