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S aintcrow was waiting in the middle of the cemetery when Kincaid arrived.

“This is the best time and place you could think to meet?” Jake asked, glancing around. “Midnight in a cemetery?”

Saintcrow shrugged. “I wanted a quiet place where we wouldn’t be disturbed.”

“Well, I think you found it. I take it Eleni is still giving you grief.”

“Yeah. In spades. The thing is, I don’t think I can kill her.”

“I guess you won’t know until you try.”

“No. I mean, even if I can overpower her, I don’t think I can destroy her.”

“Why the hell not? She’s put you through hell. She’s threatening Kadie. Don’t tell me you’ve grown a conscience at this late date? Or that you’ve got feelings for a sire who turned you and abandoned you?” Kincaid frowned at him. “It’s because she’s female, isn’t it?”

Saintcrow blew out a sigh, then nodded.

“Well, hell, what other alternative is there?”

“I don’t know. You got any ideas?”

Kincaid chuckled. “Take her to bed.”

“Oh, yeah. That’ll work. Kadie would take my head.”

“Problem solved,” Kincaid said, with an impudent grin.

“Fat lot of help you are, old friend.”

“I’ll tell you what. You hold her down, and I’ll take her head.”

“That might work,” Saintcrow said, calling his bluff.

“Okay, I didn’t mean it.”

“There’s got to be some way to get rid of her. The thing is, there’s no way to keep her out of town, or out of my lair, or away from Kadie. Dammit! I’ve never had to face a vampire who was older or stronger than I am. I don’t know what the hell to do.”

“If you can find a way to overpower her for a few minutes, we might be able to bind her hands and feet, maybe with those chains Luca used on me,” Jake said, thinking out loud. “I don’t know what he soaked them in, but it was sure as hell effective.”

“They might not work. She’s older than both of us, but you never know. What the hell? It’s worth a try,” Saintcrow decided.

Kincaid nodded. “If they don’t work, nothing will.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Saintcrow muttered. “I’ll be in touch.”

It didn’t take long for Saintcrow to transport himself to the ruined castle in Ireland.

He grimaced as he materialized inside. The faint stink of the pyre still lingered in the fetid air.

Removing his shirt, he tore it into strips and wrapped the cloth around his hands before lifting the heavy silver chains out of the casket.

Returning to Morgan Creek, he made a quick trip down to his lair to get a clean shirt, then ghosted upstairs where he dropped the chains on the floor in the closet of one of the empty bedrooms.

He turned at the sound of Kadie’s footsteps.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked, from the doorway.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

“Where have you been?”

“I had some business to discuss with Jake.” Hoping to forestall any more questions, he said, “Which room were you thinking of using for the baby?”

“The one next to the master bedroom, I guess. Although we’ll probably keep him or her in our room for the first few months.”

Moving to the doorway, Saintcrow took her hand in his. “Assuming either one of us can conceive a child, what are you hoping for? A boy or a girl?”

Kadie frowned as they made their way downstairs to the living room. “I guess I’d like a girl. And I guess you’d like a boy.”

“A girl is fine with me.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a good thing taking care of babies seems to come naturally to most women,” he muttered, with a rueful shake of his head. “Because I have no idea how to be a father.”

“I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday,” Kadie said. “I guess we’ll soon know if I can still conceive.”

“And if you can’t?” he asked.

“I guess artificial insemination would be our next best choice.”

Saintcrow nodded.

“Have you talked to Izabela about the Methuselah Stone?”

“Not yet.”

She wasn’t surprised. He had only agreed to having a baby to please her. It was blatantly obvious that he wasn’t happy about the prospect of being a father. Or being human.

“Let’s not worry about any of that now,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“Eleni is still a problem. We don’t know if the Medallion can make me human again.

We don’t know if you can get pregnant or if, once human, I’ll be able to produce any viable sperm.

” He smiled down at her as he took her in his arms. A glance at the hearth and the logs began to burn brightly.

“But there’s one thing I know we can do,” he said, a wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

Kadie tapped her forefinger against her chin. “Gee. I wonder what that could be?”

Pulling her down on the rug in front of the fireplace, he said, “Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly, and I’ll show you things you’ve never seen before.”

“Really?” she said. “I thought in thirty-plus years I would have seen it all.”

Waggling his eyebrows at her, he said, in his best evil villain voice, “Honey, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Kadie woke in the middle of the night, uncertain what had roused her. The fire had burned out, the house was quiet. Rylan lay resting beside her.

Sitting up, she glanced around the room, gasped when she saw someone standing by the door, looking back at her.

At first, Kadie thought it was Eleni, and then she recognized Rosemary.

Rosemary? Kadie pressed a hand to her heart.

It was her friend’s ghost And she wasn’t alone.

Donna and Shirley were there, too, pale shadows of their former selves.

Slipping away from Saintcrow’s side, Kadie took a few steps toward Rosemary. “What are you going here?”

Keeping you safe. A woman was here, looking for you. She is very sensitive to ghosts. We frightened her and she left.

“Thank you,” Kadie whispered, certain the woman in question had been Eleni. “She’s evil.”

Rosemary’s ghost nodded. Be careful, Kadie. She hates you .

“I know. Thanks for the warning.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Kadie glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Saintcrow. “Rosemary’s ghost.”

He muttered an oath as he sat up and glanced around the room. “I don’t see anything.”

“She doesn’t like you much, remember?”

“Yeah. Is she still here?”

“I don’t see her now, but I can feel her presence. And she’s not alone. She said Eleni was here but they frightened her away.”

Saintcrow grunted. Vampire magic couldn’t keep his sire out, but a couple of old ghosts could do the trick. It was something to think about.

Kadie’s appointment with the doctor was Monday afternoon at two o’clock. She had fretted about it all day Sunday, by turns anxious and excited. She couldn’t remember the last time she had seen a doctor or a dentist. Vampires didn’t get sick or get cavities.

Saintcrow insisted on driving her. He overrode her protests, saying she wasn’t going anywhere alone as long as Eleni was a threat, and then went into a long discourse on what could have happened if Eleni had followed her into Cheyenne.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Kadie said. “I need to be more careful. I won’t go off alone again.”

“See that you don’t.”

“You’re like an old mother hen with one chick,” Kadie muttered.

“And you’re as helpless as that chick,” he reminded her. “You don’t have any defenses against her.”

“Neither do you!” Kadie retorted.

“True. But she doesn’t want me dead.”

His words sent a shiver down her spine. Eleni was an old vampire, Kadie thought. A look from those green eyes could probably drop her where she stood.

The examination was uncomfortable and embarrassing.

She was going to ask for a female doctor next time, Kadie mused, as she tossed the paper gown on the examining table.

The fact that she had no insurance had caused some consternation, but in the end, they had agreed to let her pay cash.

She shook her head as she left the doctor’s office.

Saintcrow always paid cash for everything.

He was waiting for her by the front entrance.

“Why didn’t you come in?” she asked, as they walked to the parking lot.

He shook his head as he opened the door for her. “The place stinks of urine and blood and death.”

Of course, she should have remembered that his senses were far stronger and more sensitive than were hers now.

“So, what did the doctor say?”

“They did some tests and the doctor said he didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t conceive and deliver a healthy child. He said everything looked fine. He took my blood pressure and listened to my heart and my lungs. Naturally, I couldn’t tell them why I was worried about conceiving.”

“Naturally,” Saintcrow said dryly.

“So, I guess we’ll just have to wait until you’re human again and see if anything happens.”

He grunted softly. He had been a vampire almost a thousand years. How likely was it that any kind of enchantment could make him human again? But, human or not, he had to face reality. One way or another, it looked like there would be a baby in their future.