Blood Lines

leave undone. He stood quietly for a moment, hand resting lightly on the phone, then came to a decision.
    Vicki watched him curiously as he came around and knelt, capturing her hands, opera cloak pooling around his legs.
    While she had no objection to having handsome men at her feet, she had an uneasy feeling that the situation was about to get uncomfortable.
    'You're right, I'm not going to call," he began. "But I think you need to know why. I can feed from a chance encounter with a stranger and not feel I'm betraying anything, but when I feed from Caroline I feel I'm betraying you both. Her, because I can give her so little of what I am and you because I have given you all of me."
    Suddenly more frightened than smug, Vicki tried to pull her hands free. "Don't…"
    Henry let them go but stayed where he was. "Why not? Tomorrow's dawn might be the one I've been waiting for."
    'Well, it isn't!"
    'You don't know that." At this moment, his death had become less important than what he had to say. "What will it change if I say it?"
    'Everything. Nothing. I don't know." She took a deep breath and wished the light were dimmer, so she couldn't see his face so clearly. So he couldn't see hers. "Henry, I can sleep with you. I can feed you. I can be your friend and your guardian, but I can't…"
    'Love me? Don't you?"
    Did she?
    'Is it because of how you feel about Mike?"
    'Celluci?" Vicki snorted. "Don't be a fool. Mike Celluci is my best friend and, yes, I love him. But I don't love him and I don't love you."
    'Don't you? Not either of us? Or both of us?"
    Both of them…?
    'I'm not asking you to choose, Vicki. I'm not even asking you to admit the way you feel." Henry stood and twitched the cloak back over his shoulders. "I just thought you should know that I love you."
    It almost hurt to breathe, everything felt so tight. "I know. I've known since last Thursday. Here." She touched herself lightly on the chest. "You gave yourself to me completely, with no strings. If that's not love, it's a damned close approximation." She got to her feet, moved a careful distance away, then turned to face him. "I can't do that. I come with too many strings. If I cut them all, I'll-I'll fall apart."
    He spread his hands. "I'm not demanding a commitment. I just wanted to tell you while I could."
    'You have an eternity, Henry."
    'The dream of the sun…"
    'You told me you've almost gotten used to it." If the effects had gotten stronger and he hadn't told her, she was going to wring his neck.
    'I'm sure Damocles got used to the sword, but it's still only a matter of time."
    'Time! Jesus Christ, look at the time! That party started half an hour ago. We'd better get moving." Vicki grabbed up her bag and headed for the door.
    Henry arrived long before she did, teetering between anger and amusement at her sudden change of subject as he blocked the exit with a swirl of satin. "We?"
    'Yeah, we. I'll be waiting in the car as backup."
    'No, you won't."
    'Yes, I will. Get out of the way."
    'Vicki, in case you've forgotten, it's dark out there and you can't see anything."
    'So?" Her brows drew down and her tone grew heated. "I can hear. I can smell. I can sit in the fucking car for hours and not do anything. But I'm coming with you. You are not trained in this sort of thing."
    'I am not trained in this sort of thing?" Henry repeated slowly. "For hundreds of years I have fit myself into society, been the unseen hunter in their midst." As he spoke, he allowed the civilized mask to slip. "And you dare to tell me I am not trained in this sort of thing."
    Vicki wet her lips, unable to look away, unable to move away. She thought she'd become used to what Henry was; she realized, now, she seldom saw it. A trickle of sweat ran down her side and she suddenly, desperately, had to go to the bathroom. Right. Vampire . I keep forgetting. Half of her mind wanted to run like hell and the other half wanted to kick his feet out from under him and beat him to the floor. Oh, for Chrissakes, Vicki, get your goddamned hormones under control .
    'All right," her voice shook only a little, "you've had more training than I could ever hope to have. Your point. But I 'm still going to go with you and wait in the car." She managed to raise a cautionary hand as he opened his mouth. "And don't tell me it's too dangerous," she warned. "I won't face anything tonight that's more dangerous than what I'm facing right now."
    Henry blinked, then started to laugh. After four hundred and fifty