What? Is he just trying to drive me crazy? Her stomach rumbled.

Roger chuckled, nuzzling her neck. "Hungry?"

"Yes, but I need to start getting ready for work and I have an errand to run before I go."

He leaned up on his elbow and looked down at her. "Sounds like you're trying to brush me off?" His finger trailed over her nearest breast and down to her bellyb.u.t.ton.

"I wish I didn't have to go to work tonight." She gazed into his deep brown eyes. "How soon until we get another night off together?"

His hand cupped her furry mound. "I'm off tomorrow night."

Julie almost jumped off the bed. "Me too!" Then she fell back to earth. "That is, if you'd like, we can have dinner here."

His finger dipped into her c.u.n.t. "And dessert?"

"Like I said, I'll stock up on whipped cream."

"Okay, girlfriend, spill." Kim stood in front of the ER nurses station, hands on hips, her white, rubber-soled shoes tapping noiselessly against the polished linoleum tiles. "You've been walking around the hospital like a zombie all night. Did your date go sour last night, or what?"

"What can I say?" Julie had slinked around the hospital ER, her head downcast, her normally happy smile squashed behind tight lips. Every time she saw blood or stared too long at a person's neck, she salivated. Her shoulders were so tense it would take a master ma.s.seuse to work out the kinks. She'd avoided everyone since she'd gotten to work, looking for excuses not to be alone with anyone, especially Kim. She couldn't tell Roger what had happened to her last night, why did she think she could tell her best friend? Not to mention, her fangs were beginning to show.

Kim's foot stopped tapping. "You two did get some action, didn't you?"

Her face flaming, Julie glanced around before hissing, "Of course we did."

"Then what's the problem? You've been sneaking around here like you're afraid to talk to anyone? If you can't talk to me, who can you talk to?"

Julie sighed. If she didn't tell someone, she'd explode. "Come on." She grabbed Kim's arm and hurried her to the janitor's closet.

Kim giggled as Julie shoved her inside and shut the door behind her. "Are we going to have a little girl-on-girl time? Cause if we are, cool. I've always wanted to experiment." She reached for one of Julie's b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Julie leaped back, banging into a wire shelf of toilet paper, slapping at Kim's hand. "No!"

Her lips twisting in a disappointed grin, Kim crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, h.e.l.l. Go ahead and tell me your deep dark secret before Lindeman finds us."

Taking a deep breath, Julie launched into the digest version of what happened since the last time she'd been at work, leaving out her night of pa.s.sion with Roger. When she finished, she leaned back and studied her friend's face.

For a long moment, Kim stood with her mouth unhinged and then her lips spread into a wide grin. "That's so cool! You mean you're a real honest-to-G.o.d vampire?" She reached out and lifted one of Julie's lips, her thumb grazing the tip of a fang. "Wow!

Check out the hardware."

With a frown, Julie slapped Kim's hand away. "It's not cool. It changes everything."

"What did Roger have to say?"

Julie stared at the floor. "He doesn't know."

"You didn't tell him?"

"Don't you see? I didn't want to spoil our first night together." She didn't regret the incredible s.e.x, but she knew she should have told him and let him make an informed decision on whether or not he wanted to f.u.c.k a vampire.

"You know about Roger's ex-wife, don't you?"

"Yeah, apparently she screwed around on him. So?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "So, Roger has trust issues. By not telling him as soon as you found out, you may have created a huge problem."

"How so?"

"You're kidding me right?" Kim grabbed Julie's shoulders and stared her in the eye. "You've lied by omission. If, or rather, when he finds out, he's likely to go ballistic."

Her empty stomach dropped to her knees and all her happy dreams about her next meeting with Roger disintegrated. "f.u.c.k."

Kim hugged her and gave her a fake smile. "Then again, maybe he won't notice." "Not notice these?" Julie peeled back her lips, exposing her fangs.

"Okay, so you're a little different now." Kim pushed a long, straight black hair out of her eyes. "You gonna let a couple of funky teeth come between you and the man you love?"

"It's not just the teeth. There's the blood drinking, scorching in the sun, crazy vampires claiming to own me and a slayer out to stake me at every turn."

"So, you have a few other challenges." Kim shrugged. "You're a tough lady. Deal with it."

"A few challenges?"

"Main thing is that you have to tell Roger."

"I know." Julie's shoulders sagged. "But how?

"Tell him the next time you see him."

"What if he comes to the hospital?"

"Okay, so maybe the next time you two are alone."

Her stomach knotted at the thought, but she knew she couldn't keep the knowledge from him, if they were to have any kind of lasting relationship. "Okay. Tomorrow night I'll tell him."

A shout sounded out in the hall, followed by more yelling.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Julie jerked the door open.

Nurses and orderlies ran away from the entrance.

Head Nurse Lindeman raced the opposite direction yelling, "Call security, now!"

At the entrance to the emergency room Bob Marley stood with a loaded crossbow. When he saw Julie, his eyes flared. "There she is!" He raised the crossbow and aimed it at Julie. "She's the devil and must be purged from the earth."

Instinct kicked in and Julie dove into Kim, knocking her to the ground, just as a wooden arrow hit the supply closet door. Had they stood still, one of them would have been the recipient of that arrow.

Two security guards showed up as Bob Marley was loading the next arrow into the crossbow. They tackled him and took away his crossbow.

Bob shouted throughout the ordeal. "But she's the devil's sp.a.w.n! She'll turn you all or kill you. Mark my words!" He was still shouting when Lindeman stuck him in the a.s.s with a heavy dose of sedative.

As his words slurred and finally trailed off, the entire ER staff loosened up. Some laughed, others stared at Kim and Julie and shook their heads.

Lindeman strode by, her demeanor no different than any other day in the hospital. As if crazy men wielding crossbows was a normal occurrence.

Julie admired the woman more each day. She stood by as they carried Bob Marley to an examination room, a chill crawling across her skin.

"You think he knows?" Kim asked in a whisper. With a snort, Julie brushed at her scrubs. "I'd bet my last dollar he knows what I am."

Just when Julie thought the night couldn't get worse, Roger entered the ER with his partner, Chase. He rushed to Julie, his face creased in a worried frown. "I heard what happened from one of the EMTs as I came in. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." He looked as good as an ice cream sundae on a hot day. Julie practically drooled all over his dark blue uniform.

Roger's mouth thinned into a straight line. "We'll take care of Marley so he doesn't bother you anymore."

"You won't hurt him, will you?" After all the man was right. She was a vampire and he was only trying to rid the earth of the bloodsucking creatures. He meant well for mankind, even if it involved genocide of a bunch of living dead people. Julie couldn't help but feeling a little sorry for Marley.

"No, sweet Julie." He lifted a hand to cup her face, smiling down at her with a loving glint in his gaze. "We won't hurt him. But we'll lock him up in a padded cell."

Julie wanted to run and hide from the truth. Roger was too good for her. Instead, she turned her face into his palm and kissed it.

"Thanks."

"Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Eh-hem." Kim stirred beside her.

Julie jammed her elbow into Kim's side. "Yes. And, Roger, we need to talk." She shot a glare at Kim as if to say, Are you satisfied?

Before Roger could respond another shout rang out.

One of the security guards raced in from outside. "Get a gurney out here. Out in the alley behind the hospital. We have a man down."

The trained professionals raced to respond. Julie set off at a run toward the exit, Roger close behind her.

"Over here." The security waved from the alley. "I think he's dead."

Roger sprinted ahead of the gurney, nurses and orderlies, his gun drawn. "Stay back until I clear the scene."

The security guard unhooked the safety strap from his holster and drew his weapon.

Julie cringed. He probably hadn't drawn that weapon for all of the ten years he'd worked there.

Roger ducked into the alley and back out. "It's clear, but the guard's right, this man's dead."

Orderlies lifted victim onto the gurney and transported him into the hospital. Once inside, nurses and the doctor on duty gathered around, checking for any traces of vital signs. The man was cold, so he'd been dead long enough reviving wasn't an option.

Kim stood by the man's head, her face paler than the white makeup she used in her Goth persona. She stared across his chest at Julie then pointed at the twin puncture marks on the man's neck.

No signs of blood were evident on his lips.

Julie wanted to sink through the floor.

f.u.c.k. She'd bet her last dollar the stiff was a couple pints low on blood.

Chapter Seven

Roger stuck around the hospital and talked to as many of the staff as he could who might have been outside at the time of death guesstimated to be less than a half-hour earlier. By the time he finished interviewing people in and around the hospital, it was two- fifteen in the morning and he was on duty until five. Tonight was going to be a long one.

An hour into the interviews, he cornered Julie. "I don't want you leaving this hospital without an escort to your car. That's the second murder with the same M.O. in the past three nights."

She held up her hand scout-style. "Trust me. I'm calling security before I cut out of here."

"These murders are unusual and I don't like it. Who goes around draining the blood of their victims in alleys?"

Julie shrugged. "You got me."

He smiled. "And I'll see you tonight?"

"Can't wait." Her response seemed less than enthusiastic.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She looked toward the exit, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'd say two murders are enough to have anyone worried."

He grabbed her hand and tugged on it. "That's not what I meant. Is there something wrong between us?"

She glanced at where their fingers entwined. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You seem different somehow."

A soft snort escaped her lips. "You're telling me." She looked into his eyes. "Just promise me we'll talk later."

His gut knotting, Roger replied, "You bet." What could be so dire that Julie wouldn't look him in the eye? And she hadn't smiled at him once since he'd arrived at the hospital. He leaned forward and kissed her. "I have to collect my prisoner from the psych ward before I leave. Maybe I'll see you on my way out?"

"That would be great." Her lips curled upward, but her lips didn't part into her normal full grin.

Roger had a bad feeling about her responses. Thank goodness they were meeting later. The more he'd been around Julie, the more he realized she was the girl for him. Usually, she was happy and smiling, a joy to be around and full of fun and laughter. His ex-wife had always complained about one thing or another, usually to do with him. Not Julie. Whatever was troubling her could be worked through. Together.

He liked the ring of that. For two years, he'd been just Roger. Not part of a couple and no desire to ever go that route again. Julie had changed all that and he wasn't giving up on her without a fight.