Then it all came tumbling back into her mind, like a mudslide of rocks and earth and trees. It wasn’t summer. There had been no fire on the beach, no dancing, only death—women dead, autopsies, the storm, all of it drudging up old memories Emma would rather keep buried.
“Why do we need to go to the clinic?” Emma asked. She was suddenly wide awake.
“Doc just called and asked us to come as soon as we could.” James was already half dressed as he stood before her, his jeans on but his feet bare. He buttoned his now-dry clothes. He must have read her mind, because he said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I used your dryer while you took a nap.”
“Of course not,” she said. “How long have I been asleep?” She debated tossing the covers aside and sliding out of bed. She suddenly wasn’t as bold to show off her body to James. She felt heat come to her cheeks. In fact, she felt warmth spread all the way down her neck.
She had made love with him, and it had been an earth-shattering experience.
“Almost two hours,” James replied to her question.
It took her a moment to even remember what she’d asked.
He turned his back to finish his shirt and reach for his socks, and Emma took the opportunity to slide to her feet and head into the bathroom. With the door closed, she stared at her body in the full-length mirror. Her skin seemed to glow, her eyes sparkle. Is this what happens to a person after she makes love for the first time? She didn’t want to think about what Doc might have to tell them—or, God forbid, show them. She didn’t want to go to the clinic. She wanted to walk back out into her bedroom, wrap her arms around James and make love with him again. She wanted to think about her dream and feel sand between her toes as she and James danced on the beach.
“How do you feel?” James asked from the bedroom.
“I feel fine.” That was a lie. She felt more than fine. “I feel like I slept all night. That was the best sleep I’ve had since—well, since last night at your house. In fact, I feel like I could run races.”
“Good. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“James?” She leaned her head out the door to stop him from leaving the bedroom.
“Yes?”
She licked her lips, tasting him. “We never got to eat our burgers. I’m starving.”
He looked as if he’d expected her announcement, and he really must have, because he said, “I’ve got them reheating in the microwave as we speak. Get dressed. We can eat them on the way to the clinic. Where’s your raincoat?”
When they left a short time later, the storm was in full swing. It all but swallowed the small island whole, which is what Emma nearly did with her burger.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Emma asked, after finishing the last swallow of hers before James was half finished with his. Now all she needed, she thought, was a huge glass of milk, and maybe some cookies or ice cream. Or even another hamburger. That sounded really good, too. Maybe later. “I’m still hungry,” she said.
James grinned over at her before quickly turning his attention back to the road. The wipers would never swipe quick enough to outdo the rain that poured down. “I snacked while you were asleep,” he replied. “Sorry, but I couldn’t wait. I was starving, too. And I’m not surprised we’re both starving. We exerted a lot of energy.”
“After we see what Doc wants, can we go back to the diner for another burger? You were right; I think that was the best one I’ve ever tasted.”
“We’ll see. In the meantime, you can finish off mine if you like,” he offered and held it out to her.
“No thanks, you enjoy it.”
The wipers barely wiped away the rain as Emma snuggled closer to him and he finished his burger.
“I know this is going to sound stupid, but I feel renewed somehow,” Emma said slowly, looking out at the rain as she spoke. She hadn’t planned to tell him, and yet, she simply had not been able to keep it from him. “I feel free, lighter even.” She looked at James. “I feel so free of him. Does making love always make a person feel this way?”
James didn’t reply for a long moment as he drove. “I’m not much of an expert on the subject,” he replied, not looking at her.
“Well, I feel like you gave me back what he took away from me. Thank you.”
He let out a chuckled huff and squeezed her hand. “My pleasure.”
It’s been a long time for you, too, hasn’t it?” Emma asked.
“Yes, it has,” he admitted.
“You haven’t dated anyone on the island,” Emma noted.
“Maybe I’ve been waiting for you,” he said without looking at her.
In a soft voice, she asked, “Can we make love again, James? I mean, do you want to make love to me again?” Why was she asking these questions? She didn’t know. She couldn’t seem to stop them. All she knew was that now that she’d experienced the art of making love with James, she couldn’t live, couldn’t function, if she even suspected he would not make love to her again.
He pulled to a stop in front of the clinic and killed the engine. “Yes, Emma,” he replied, turning to stare deeply into her eyes. “I want nothing more than to make love with you every day, but first we have to find this killer and see what Doc needs so urgently.”
She stared into the depths of his eyes and she somehow knew why they were here. “He’s done it again, hasn’t he? And it was Lily, wasn’t it?”
“No,” James quickly reassured her, feeling unnerved that she could see so much when she looked at him. “Thanks to you, Deke got there in time and saved her, but he got away.”
“Lily’s all right?”
James nodded. “Yes, Deke’s still with her. And I’m going to get him, Emma. I’m not going to let him get close to you or hurt you. Do you understand?”
She could only nod. There was an odd mixture of emotions swirling inside her—love, anxiety, excitement and terror. Just thinking of James putting himself in danger to save her sent her heart hammering. Just thinking of James at all caused heat to come to her skin and flood her mind with memories of his hands touching her, his body within hers.
At the same time, she was filled with dread and terror strong enough to cause her skin to feel as if thousands of tiny bugs crawled on her. Doc would not have called them if it wasn’t something important, she thought as they climbed out of the truck.
The automatic doors slid open with a whooshing sound as they ran up the walk. Just inside, both Emma and James shook the rain from themselves before they entered the empty waiting room. The reception area was also empty, which was odd. This was a workday and at least staff should be here.
“Doc?” Emma called out.
“Down here!” Doc called from the stairs leading to the morgue.
At the top of the stairs, Emma paused. James met her gaze. Without a word, he reached out and took her hand, working to send his heat into her. He heard her heart race. “You’re not alone, Emma.”
“I know. I just wish we didn’t have to go down there,” she whispered. In the stillness her words sounded loud. “I wish we could go back to my pool or to this place I dreamed about with you on a beach.”
“We’ll get there, you’ll see.”
“I wish I had as much faith as you do.”
He never let go of her hand, and he kept her close to him when they entered the morgue.
James took in the body that lay on the steel table at the far end of the small room. It was covered with a white sheet. “I assume that’s Glenda Farmington.”
“Yes,” Doc replied.
“Where is everyone, Doc?” Emma asked.
“I sent them home. I told them the storm was getting too bad, and they should be home with their families. I know that was just an excuse, but after she came in, I thought it best everyone be behind the locked doors of their homes,” Doc explained, nodding his head at another body on the table in front of him.
“Ginger Rashmyer,” Emma said softly as she gazed at the woman.
James recognized her, too. As an officer o
f the law, he had frequented the Rashmyer home, doing everything lawfully possible to protect this woman from her abusive husband. “What happened?” James asked, trying to keep any emotion from his words. He was, however, unable to keep from clenching his fists and wishing Raymond Rashmyer’s throat was between his fingers.
“You tell me,” Doc replied. He reached out to touch Ginger’s face with one gloved hand and turned her head so that Emma and James could see the bite on her throat. It was the same type of bite Mary and the others had had on their necks during that night of terror five years ago.
Emma’s gasp sounded loud in the quiet, echoing room. “She’s going to wake up, isn’t she?” Emma murmured. “She’s going to wake up and want blood like the others did.”
James not only heard the fear in Emma’s voice, but he could actually feel it generating from her. “Yes,” he replied. He reached out and touched Ginger’s hand, and he felt the energy pulsing through her. He knew it wouldn’t be long until she awoke. “Is there anything you can tell us about her?” he asked Doc.
“Her husband found her. There was an empty pill bottle on the bathroom sink, and he thinks she took them.” He looked at James. “Is there anything we can do to keep her body intact but still kill her before she wakes up and tries to bite us?”
James met his gaze before looking down at Ginger. “Where’s Raymond Rashmyer now?” he asked, not yet ready to answer Doc’s question.
“I don’t know. I’m sure we all know he wasn’t the best of husbands. I’ve lost count of how many broken bones I’ve set and how many times I’ve had to stitch her busted lips. From what I know of him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was at the nearest bar having a beer. But I’d still prefer not to have to scoop up ashes and explain them to the rest of her family.”
“Take out her heart before she gets her first taste of blood,” James replied.
“Oh, my God, you’ve got to be kidding,” Emma gasped, sounding horrified.
“There are several surefire ways to kill vampires,” James put in. “If you take out her heart now, she can’t wake up as a vampire, but her body will remain intact. Once she tastes blood, she’ll understand her powers, and the only way to stop her then will be to put something through her heart or burn her or behead her. Those are the only ways to kill them.”
“There isn’t anything else we can do?” Emma asked, her voice rising in horror.
“There are things that maim them or weaken them,” James replied.”
“Like what?” Doc asked while pulling out his autopsy instruments.
“Salt, preferably sea salt, but regular salt will burn the skin, but not enough to kill,” James explained.
Emma let go of James and grabbed Doc’s arm. “You don’t really plan to do this, do you Doc?”
He paused with a saw in his hand and looked down at her, his face grave. “Don’t you remember my Mary, Emma? Why do you insist on burying so much of what happened that night? We can’t hide from it. We have to face it and destroy this evil or our little island will not survive.”
“But, Doc,” Emma started.
“No buts about it, Emma,” Doc interrupted. “The monster who did this to Ginger, as well as to my Mary and all the others, must die. Can’t you see that? And if James says we must do things this way, then I trust him.” He moved the saw from one hand to the other.
“And what will you tell everyone when they ask why you cut open her chest?” Emma asked.
“It’s an apparent suicide or perhaps wrongful death at the hands of an abusive husband, and she’s under the age of sixty, so I’m required by law to perform an autopsy,” Doc replied without hesitation. “And that’s what this will look like. Now, either help me or stay out of my way. But I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to give this woman eternal rest and keep her body intact for her family.”
Emma stepped out of the way, wanting no part of this. Yet, she couldn’t ignore the sound of the saw or Doc’s words a moment later.
“She’s completely drained of blood,” he said.
“Are you sure?” James asked.
“Yes, quite,” Doc replied.
Emma turned to James, feeling angry and sick at what Doc was doing. She wished more than ever that James had left her at home where she could swim the afternoon away and revel in the afterglow of their lovemaking. “What difference does it make?” she asked sarcastically. “Isn’t that what this thing does—drinks people’s blood? Shouldn’t we expect to find her empty of blood?”
“His venom is what causes a person to become like him,” James explained.
Emma was glad he still didn’t use the word vampire. She looked straight at him. It was so much easier to look at him than to look at anything else in the small room. James seemed to tug at her, even though he stood several feet away and didn’t touch her. She wanted nothing more than to lean against him, to let him hold her as she melted against him and became a part of him. He must have read her mind, for he reached out and gently touched her arm. His touch was warm, comforting, when everything else around her was cold and unacceptable.
“And yes,” he went on, “the blood of others nourishes him, but he only needs a few swallows to sustain him for a long period of time. He did not have to drain her dry. So the question is, why would he do that?”
Emma didn’t know how she knew, or how the answer came to her so quickly. “Because he’s angry, that’s why,” she said slowly. “He’s angry because he knows I was with you. Just like he knew I was with you at the police station and he touched me to get my attention, to remind me he’s still close. He did this to get to me.” Her anger nearly vibrated off the walls.
If he was shocked by her words, he didn’t show it. Instead, he said, “He’s probably angry at the idea of Deke interrupting his plans, too.”
With a frustrated huff, Emma turned to leave.
James caught her arm. “Where are you going?”
“Upstairs to make some tea and get something to eat. I’m still hungry. Although how I can even think about eating when I know what you’re about to do, is beyond me. And even though what I really want is another juicy hamburger, you don’t have to worry. I won’t go far. But I refuse to stay here and be witness to this.” She waved a hand toward Doc and pulled from James’s grip just as Ginger woke up.
Ginger was like a wild animal, screaming and screeching and trying to bite Doc. James left Emma and dashed to help Doc. He held her down as Doc finished the messy job he’d started in time to keep her body intact, while the rest of her was very dead and no longer desiring blood.
The entire episode must have only taken a minute or two, and yet to Emma, it felt as if it lasted hours, or even days. She stared at the horror, unable to blink it away. The horrible sounds of pain and anger that Ginger had let out seemed to continue to echo in the small room long after she was peacefully gone.
“Emma?”
James put his arms around Emma, working to bring her comfort, working to ground her and ease her fear and keep her from going into shock. He knew this was hard for her to face, much harder than simply standing on his deck and facing the darkness. If anything, this had just shown them all the urgency of the situation. The vampire who had caused this was truly dangerous and had to be stopped at all costs. And James was sorry it had to involve Emma, but it did.
“Emma?” He shook her slightly to draw her attention away from Ginger Rashmyer.
Slowly, she shifted her gaze to meet his. “I don’t want to face this anymore, James.”
James didn’t like the flat tone of her voice. “Emma,” he said, uncertain as to what else to say to her. He took her hands, and found them to be icy cold. “This had to be done,” he said. “She had to be stopped.”
“You told me there were good vampires and bad vampires,” Emma reminded him in her flat voice. “You don’t even know if she was a bad vampire or not.”
“She was the product of a bad vampire,” he explained. “Her chances of being good were nearly impossible
.”
“Oh,” she replied, as if that simply explained everything and made everything all right and dandy in the world. She pulled her hands from his grasp. “I’m going upstairs. I don’t want to see this anymore.”
James let her go. He understood what was happening to her. In making love with her, he had shared his energy with her. And it was hard to tell how much the water had increased their shared energy. Things would be clearer to her. Her emotions would be stronger and her senses heightened for a while. And her judgment would be clouded by those out-of-control emotions. Before James had made love with her, she was terrified of all vampires because of what this monster had done to her. Now, she questioned the difference between a good one and a bad one, even though her terror of them still remained.
He listened as she climbed the stairs to the main clinic. He’d make sure Doc had everything under control and that he was safe. He had just killed another one of the creations of a very bad vampire, just as he had five years ago. James doubted the monstrous vampire would let the matter go this time, especially if he was already angry. This creature would instantly know that one of his own had been destroyed, for he would feel the pain and loss of its death. It would make Doc an instant target. And even though Doc had been trying to make himself a target for years, James didn’t like the idea. Doc couldn’t fight a creature as strong as this. And the fact that this monster was so unpredictable worried James even more.
Besides, James thought, everyone on the island knew Emma lived with Doc. Some inhabitants might think they had a father-daughter relationship; others might think it was more like a couple. Either way, anyone with eyes would see that Doc cared for Emma. And this monster definitely had eyes. What if this vampire decided to go after Doc by hurting Emma? James shuddered at the thought.
* * * *
Emma climbed the stairs two at a time, uncertain as to her own feelings. She should be glad Ginger Rashmyer was at rest. She should be happy Ginger could never attack anyone or kill anyone or crave the blood of another. She’d seen the horror of these creatures. She’d felt firsthand what they could do. So why was she feeling uncertainty about stopping one of them now? Why was she so angry and frustrated? Why did she want to argue with James one minute and fall into this arms the next?
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