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E leni reclined in the bathtub of her lair, a constant stream of epithets issuing from her lips. How dare he? How dare he! She stared at the burn marks on her wrists and ankles. It would take days for the pain to go away. An eternity to make her forget her humiliation at her fledgling’s hands.

Stepping from the tub, she dried off and dressed.

She couldn’t avenge herself on Saintcrow, at least not until she was stronger. But others would pay with their lives for what he had wrought this night.

She willed herself to the nearest big city. It would take a great deal of blood to ease the pain and heal her wounds. Men would die this night, she thought without regret, and their blood would be on Rylan Saintcrow’s hands.

Saintcrow swore long and loud when he turned on the TV the next night. The lead story on every channel was the deaths of five men in Cheyenne, Wyoming. All had died of severe blood loss.

“Eleni,” he muttered. “Dammit! I should have seen this coming.” He muted the TV when his phone rang. It was Kincaid. He didn’t bother with hello. “I’ve seen it,” Saintcrow said. “Damn her soul to hell, what was she thinking? This is going to draw every hunter in the country.”

“I reckon so,” Jake said. “They just found another body in Cheyenne.”

“I guess that’s her subtle way of letting me know she isn’t leaving the state.”

“Maybe. Or maybe she was just saying goodbye.”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

‘Yeah, thanks, Jake. I knew I should have killed her when I had the chance.”

Kadie came into the living room as he ended the call. “Killed who?”

“Eleni.”

“What has she done now?”

“She took her anger at me out on half a dozen men.”

Kadie frowned, then pressed her hand to her heart as she comprehended his meaning. “She killed them.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. Cheyenne will be crawling with hunters soon. I want you to stay away from there until things quiet down again.”

Nodding, Kadie sank down on the sofa beside him. There were stores in Morgan Creek, but mostly small boutique and souvenir shops. For major purchases and clothing, they usually visited the bigger towns where there was more variety. “Any chance she’ll leave Wyoming?”

“There’s always a chance. Dammit, it’s my fault those men are dead!”

“You didn’t kill them.”

“No? Their blood is on my hands. They would be alive now if I’d done what I should have.”

Kadie grimaced. Eleni was a monster. She was ruining their lives. “I’d be glad to see the end of her,” Kadie remarked. “No doubt about that. But …”

“But what?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “If not for Eleni, you wouldn’t be here now.”

“If not for her, I wouldn’t have the blood of six innocent men on my hands.

” He didn’t miss the irony of that thought.

He had killed a lot of men in his time—some on the field of battle, some to satisfy his infernal thirst, a few just for the hell of it.

He had never felt guilty about any of them until Kadie came into his life and awakened a conscience that had been asleep for centuries.

“Rylan, what are you thinking?” she asked.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. “Sooner or later, I may have to destroy her,” he muttered. If I can.

The next few days passed without incident. Saintcrow made a quick visit to the house in Casper. There was a House For Rent sign in the front yard and nothing inside to show that Eleni had ever been there. Despite his threat and her hard-won promise, he hadn’t expected her to give up so easily.

When three weeks went by with no sign of Eleni, Kadie suggested they go talk to Izabela.

“I don’t know,” Saintcrow muttered. “I’d hate to be human if Eleni comes back.”

“Maybe, if you were human, she wouldn’t want you.”

Saintcrow stared at her. Maybe Kadie was right. But was it worth the chance she was wrong? As a human, he would be helpless against his sire.

In the end, to please Kadie, he agreed to talk with Izabela. Kadie naturally insisted on going along.

So it was on a Sunday morning that Saintcrow found himself on Izabela’s front porch, once again answering her ubiquitous question.

“We don’t mean you or anyone else in your home any harm,” he said flatly.

Izabela grinned as she unlocked the door and invited them in, giving Saintcrow the impression that she asked that same damn question every damn time just to annoy him.

“Please, have a seat,” the witch said, gesturing at the pillow-cluttered sofa.

Kadie sat close to Rylan, her hand resting on his thigh.

She knew she had been in this house before, but never in this room, which was crowded with furniture, knick-knacks, and bookcases crammed full of books, ivory figurines, and a variety of other odds and ends.

Dark-green carpet covered the floor. A one-legged crow sat on a perch, watching her through black beady eyes. She scooted closer to Rylan.

Saintcrow glanced around, wondering where the gray cat was, when a tiny black kitten skittered out from under the sofa and leaped into Izabela’s lap. “What happened to the old cat?”

“Alas, my gray lady passed away a few days ago,” Izabela replied, stroking the kitten’s head. “Midnight has come to take her place. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Kadie thinks the Methuselah Stone made her human again when it broke the curse. She’s wondering if it would have the same effect on me.”

Izabela stared at him. “You want to be human again? Seriously?”

He hesitated a moment, then nodded.

“We want to have a baby,” Kadie said, with a tentative smile. “So, is there any chance Rylan can be human again?”

“Possibly. I shall have to consult my grimoires. Except for you, my dear, I know of no vampire who has found his way back to his human self.”

“But there’s a chance it can be done?”

“I suppose there is always a chance.” The witch fixed her gaze on Saintcrow. “You realize that my fee will have to be paid in advance. I have no need for human blood.”

“I understand,” he said, ruefully.

“It will take me a few days to find the answer and the spell, if there is one,” Izabela said, her tone brisk.

With a nod, Saintcrow stood, drawing Kadie up beside him.

Rising, with the kitten cradled against her breast, the witch saw them to the door.

Outside, Saintcrow wrapped his arm around Kadie’s waist and willed them back to Morgan Creek.

“She’s kind of scary, isn’t she?” Kadie remarked as she went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee and a buttermilk doughnut.

“She’s a witch,” Saintcrow said from the doorway.

Leaning against the jamb, he watched Kadie plug in the coffee pot and place a doughnut on a plate.

If the Medallion worked, his whole life would change overnight.

What would it be like to eat solid food, drink something besides blood and wine, sleep nights, dream again?

He would miss being able to think himself wherever he wanted to go, scale a wall, leap over a building, lift a car, mask his presence.

His wounds would no longer heal instantly.

He would be subject to illness and death.

He had rarely given much thought to the hereafter, had always assumed that his soul was bound for hell.

“Rylan?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Contemplating humanity,” he said, with a shrug. “Wondering what a doughnut tastes like.”

Moving toward him, she kissed him lightly. “Pretty soon, maybe you’ll find out.”

Maybe you’ll find out. Those four words haunted him long after Kadie had fallen asleep that night.

Lying in bed beside her, he tried to imagine what it would be like to be human again.

He tried to remember what it had been like all those years ago when he’d been a mortal man.

He had been strong and virile, taller than most. He’d had his pick of women, both highborn and low.

He tried to remember what it had been like to sit at a well-laid table, eat a full-course meal, make polite conversation.

He couldn’t recall what it felt like to be tired or ill, or to have injuries that took weeks to heal.

Suddenly restless, he slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and left the house, barefooted and shirtless. Standing on the porch, he gazed at the town. Save for the hotel, all the shops and houses were dark.

He closed his eyes. He loved the night. The darkness, the quiet. The south wind caressed his skin and whispered her secrets in his ear. The moon smiled on him. He could feel the gentle vibration of the earth beneath his feet. How could he give all this up?

Human. Saintcrow shuddered. Taking a deep breath, he murmured, “You can do it. For Kadie.” He loved her more than his own life.

He opened his preternatural senses, ever on the alert for some sign of Eleni, but the only vampires in Morgan Creek belonged there.

A faint movement drew his eye. “Kincaid. What are you doing wandering around the town?”

Jake shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. My best friend has a lot on his mind.”

“He surely does.”

“I probably shouldn’t say anything, but, dammit, Saintcrow. I don’t want you to be human again. We’ve been friends a hell of a long time. Hell, you’re the only real friend I’ve got. I know we can still be friends if you go ahead with this crazy scheme, but it won’t be the same.”

“I know that. Don’t you think I know that? I wouldn’t even consider it for anyone but Kadie.”

“Dammit, she has no right to ask that of you!”

“She’s the only one who does. She chose to be a vampire because she wanted to stay with me.”

Kincaid grunted. “She wouldn’t have chosen it if she hadn’t been dying.”

“If she hadn’t taken a bullet meant for me, there would have been no choice to make,” Saintcrow muttered.

“All right, have it your way. But I just can’t picture you as human. Or as a father. You know you’re going to hate it.”

“I know. But I love her.”

His voice thick with anger, Jake said, “If she loved you , she wouldn’t ask you to do this. Has she even asked you if this is something you want?”

“No. I told her I’d do whatever she wanted. She knows me well enough to know that I’d tell her if I was against it.”

“Don’t you think you should say something before it’s too late?”

“Dammit, Jake—”

But he was talking to the wind. Saintcrow scrubbed his hand over his jaw. Shit! What if Jake was right? But he couldn’t change his mind, not now. Kadie had been through hell and if a baby would make her happy, he intended to do everything in his power to make her dream come true.