He looked up, not daring to hope. "You don"t mean that. It"s the meds talking."
She raised her eyebrows at him in her old sarcastic expression. "I am on a lot of meds, I"ll give that to you." She finally reached out for him. "But I do love you."
He took her hand in both of his, intending to hold onto her for as long as he could. "Look, I know I f.u.c.ked this thing up to kingdom come and back..."
"You did no such thing," she interrupted.
"Let me finish." He pressed her hand between his. "If you can forgive me and take me back, I promise I"ll never let you down again." He let out a breath he hadn"t been aware of holding. "G.o.d, Eden, I love you so much. When I found you back at the house and thought I"d lost you..." His voice went hoa.r.s.e.
"But that"s over now." She pulled her hand from his to stroke his face. "The wicked b.i.t.c.h is dead, and we can go home. Maybe we can even try living like normal people this time."
He caught her hand with his and brought it to his lips, imagining the moment when she"d be well enough for him to kiss her from head to toe. "I don"t think the two of us ever have much chance of being normal." He managed a faint smile. "At least I don"t have to worry so much about someone killing you, now that you"re a full fledged vampire."
"But I"m not. I"m still a dhampire. Apparently my father"s blood made me a little harder to kill than we"d thought. Besides, would I need all these tubes and wires if I"d become the immortal undead?" She pulled back, surprise etched over her face. "You really thought they brought me over?"
"You mean they didn"t?" His tone of shock matched hers.
It was her turn to stare at him. "You came up here thinking they"d brought me over, and told me you love me anyway?"
He nodded slowly.
"No wonder I love you." She moved over. "Put down the rail and get in beside me." She held out her arms for him.
He lowered the bedrail and climbed in gratefully beside her, letting her hold him.
Cameron had finally come home.
Epilogue.
Dracula"s Ball A Major Success by Maria Vega Houston Vampire Press Houston"s first time in almost a century to host the world-famous Dracula"s Ball was a roaring success, said planning committee co-chair Jade Simon-D"Aria.
"We had a wonderful turnout," D"Aria told the Houston Vampire Press. "The death of the vampire killer and the capture of her accomplices made it a much more enjoyable experience for everyone."
Agent Katya Stern was given an award from the Texas Slayer Squad during a special ceremony, bringing a difficult chapter of vampire history to a close.
The highlight of the ball, however, was the coronation of Eden Lockhart as the new Empress of the Gulf Coast Court.
A surprise came during the festivities when Eden"s head of security, Cameron Zane of Houston, proposed to the new empress.
She said yes.
Alecia Monaco Alecia Monaco lives in a Gothic castle on the top of a remote mountain, where she"s served by her retinue of vampire loves slaves and...
Oh, whatever. Alecia actually resides rather happily in Houston with her family and her three fur daughters (one feline, two canine). She manages to live out her wildest fantasies of s.e.xy night creatures in her fiction, and hopes her stories have fulfilled a few of your fantasies as well.
When she"s not churning out her latest heartbreaking work of staggering genius, she enjoys eating too much, napping, and playing Mah Jongg. She"s also obsessed with the color pink and is a rather hopeless girlie girl.
Alecia loves to hear from readers. You can write to her at or visit her site at www.aleciamonaco.com. She looks forward to hearing from you soon!