"Why not?"
"Because I know him. He"s always in my house, he loves Stacey. He"s a good cop. You might as well suggest Big Jim."
She was startled when he remained silent. "No, no, no," she said. "He"s one of the best men I"ve ever met."
Again Bryan was silent.
"Look, there"s still the possibility we"re looking for a stranger," she reminded him.
He looked at her. "True. As we both know," he added dryly, "almost anything is possible. But it"s not probable."
"You really don"t understand. I know the people around me. I"ve been...I"ve been around for centuries. I"ve learned how to judge human nature."
"None of us ever really knows anyone else."
"For an angel of goodness, you"re quite a cynic," she informed him icily.
"I"m not an angel," he reminded her.
"Right. A warrior. For the forces of good. You might want to accept that there could be a little goodness in others."
They had reached her house; she pulled into the drive, turned off the engine, and they sat for a minute. He stared straight ahead, then finally he looked at her. "I"ll grant you this, the place is well vampire-proofed. So how come you"re able to enter?"
"You really don"t understand anything at all." She got out and headed straight for the porch, shoulders squared, indignant. He followed instantly, grabbing her arm, spinning her around. She was about to tell him where to go when she realized he wasn"t even looking at her. He was staring at the house.
"Even here, you have to be careful." He frowned, jaw locked as he looked for danger.
"There"s a vampire here, and I don"t mean you," he said.
She set a hand on his arm before he could go racing in. "Mary."
"What?"
"It"s all right. We have her under control."
He shook his head. "She has to be destroyed."
"No! Look, I would have killed her myself the night she turned-you know that. Even I was convinced that she was evil. But she"s not, Bryan."
"There is-"
"Don"t you dare go telling me again that there is no such thing as a good vampire."
She started in again, but he called her back.
"Jessica."
"What?"
"I"m trying. Honest to G.o.d. But you"d better warn Mary and all your little friends that one wrong move and they will be eliminated."
"And may I suggest that if you act against any us without provocation, I can be equally ruthless."
"I don"t doubt it," he said.
She gritted her teeth, d.a.m.ning herself for feeding right into his beliefs.
"You do realize you"re in even greater danger, now that you"ve let Mary in."
"Mary will be sound asleep all day."
"He can enter her dreams."
She froze, staring at him. Yes, the Master could enter dreams. He had entered hers, while she had foolishly imagined that it was Bryan who had somehow caused the nightmares of the past to plague her.
"You"re in very serious danger here," he said softly.
"Right-from you."
"I don"t lie. I said I wouldn"t kill you."
"You"re just a paragon of virtue," she taunted.
She was surprised when he actually laughed. "I wouldn"t go that far. But my word is good." She continued up the porch steps to the house. Stacey opened the door, and stared first at Jessica, then at Bryan.
"Is everything all right here?" Jessica asked.
Stacey nodded, still looking anxious. "Mary is as secure as...as secure as I know how to make her."
"Which is very secure," Jessica said firmly, a warning in her eyes.
"Right. And I saw to it that she was completely stuffed. I mean, if she feels like she"s just eaten an entire turkey dinner, she"s less likely to fall prey to his call, right?"
"Actually, she seems to have done a very good job of fighting him already. I haven"t seen that happen before," Jessica said.
"But it has happened before," Stacey said. "You."
Bryan made a skeptical sound in his throat.
"Where"s Gareth?"
"Watching over Mary, Jeremy and Nancy. No matter how much Jeremy objects, if Mary makes any trouble, Gareth will take care of her."
"Well, then, I"m going to get some sleep," Jessica said. "Stacey, make sure to wake me up by about two, all right?"
"What"s happening now?" Stacey asked worriedly.
"Sean and Maggie are working a few angles," she said, and set a hand on Stacey"s arm. "They know what they"re doing," she said softly. She spun and stared at Bryan. "I"m going to bed. Good night."
With that, she started up the stairs. When she reached her room, he was behind her. She turned on him heatedly. "What?"
"Do you really trust Stacey and Gareth so completely?" he asked her.
She stared back at him, shaking her head. "Yes, I do. How have you managed to live so long without learning that sometimes you have to believe in other people? We don"t exist alone. I don"t. I won"t."
She walked into the room and started to close the door, but he had followed her.
"I need some rest."
"Yes, and I won"t leave you. You"re in danger."
She looked up at him. "Maggie is certain that you are the greatest danger I"m facing."
"He"s here for you," he said softly.
He walked around the room, looking in the closet, the bathroom and under the bed.
"Bryan, he"s hardly likely to be hiding under the bed."
He rose. "Nice bed. No coffin?"
"No one sleeps in a coffin anymore," she said. "Well, all right, some do. But not the...the vampires I know."
He shrugged. "The old trunk under the bed? Scottish soil, I a.s.sume?" Her turn to shrug. "I"m surprised you haven"t already ripped my room to shreds to see what you could find."
"I really didn"t know at first," he admitted. "My mind was on...other things. I should have known, though. Even after all these years..."
"I had no idea," she told him. "Time...well, time can heal a lot of wounds. Except..."
"Except what?"
I should have known, she thought. I should have known when I felt...something I had never felt before or since.
She fought the ridiculous desire to burst into tears. She had survived this long. But she had never thought she would see him again.
She had been sure he was dead, but now...
She shrugged. "Nothing."
He looked at her expectantly for a moment, but when she didn"t say anything more, he stepped out onto the balcony and stared up at the sky. After a moment, she joined him.
"He isn"t here," he said.
"You"re certain?"
He nodded gravely. "He was, though. I thought it was my imagination that I was so intent on my pursuit I was conjuring him up, but it was real. It seems, however, that he can"t enter." He looked at her. "Either that, or he hasn"t chosen to yet."
"I think the first is correct," she said. "My friends, the people who care about me, are very good at keeping me safe."
"Ah, but did they keep you safe from me?" he asked.
Nothing could have kept me safe from you, she thought.
"You"re not a vampire," she said dryly. "Anyway, it"s daytime. He has to rest now."
"Does he? You don"t always rest by day, and you"re both ancient."
"Some women might take that the wrong way," she said.
He ignored the thrust. "The point is, you"re both strong, with powers few others will ever attain."
"Right. We"re both strong. He"s not the only powerful one."
"I still fear for you," he said.
"Fear for me-or fear me?"
He shook his head but didn"t answer.
She started back into the bedroom. He followed her, carefully locking the balcony doors. He took a long moment, staring at the garlic strings and intricate crosses that were strung there for protection.
"Interesting," he murmured.
"Don"t you ever pause to think that if there is a supreme being who strives for peace that in the heart of every sentient creature, there is both evil and goodness?"
He took her by the shoulders, looking into her eyes. "I know what I have seen," he said.
"But faith means believing in what we can"t see," she said softly.
"You don"t seem to have much faith in me tonight."
"You"ve admitted that one of your key aims in life is to kill me."
"And I"ve said I won"t do it."
"Now," she said.
"We have to defeat the Master. For good, this time."
His hands were still on her shoulders, his face close. Those eyes...
How had she not recognized those eyes?
Instinct had told her what memory had failed to see, but when she trembled now, was it because of Maggie"s warning or from pa.s.sion?
She had to resist him, dared not take a chance. But then he touched her face.
Still, she told herself, she would have resisted but for a single whispered word.