Page 26 of Silent Nights and Vampire Lights

Holly sighed and walked away without looking at me. I immediately felt alone and wanted to pull her close, but I resisted. I had to get accustomed to her being apart from me. It was better this way. She was safer the further she was from me.

I turned and headed back into the cold where I belonged.

My business didn’t take long, and I returned to the warmth of the diner. I paused in the doorway until I found her seated at a window booth, sipping a cup of something warm. I thought it might be coffee until she faced me, and I saw a strip of whipped cream on her upper lip. Hot chocolate was definitely more suited for Holly than coffee. She ran her tongue over lip, cleaning it, and I steeled myself against the urge to kiss it away.

I clenched the envelope and wove my way through the maze of tables and booths, sliding across from her.

“Did you order?”

“Only for me. I didn’t think they carried O positive.”

I stifled a grin. “I prefer O negative personally, which I believe is yours. But French Toast will do for me tonight, with a side of bacon.”

She sniffed. “Is that my new identity? Who am I? Daisy Mae Fizzlepop?”

A laugh burst out of me. “I have no idea where you get these ideas. No, you’ll be Kate Morgan. Simple, easy to remember.”

She frowned. “I don’t feel like a Kate. Maybe an Ava? Or a Mia?”

I scowled. She was a Holly, and I hated calling her anything else. “All of your documents are already done for Kate Morgan. We don’t have time for you to change them to anything else. By tomorrow, you’ll be on your way to your new life in Ithaca. You’ll be working as an administrative assistant in a real estate office.”

Her frown grew bigger. “Why can’t I work as a baker?”

“Because they’ll find you that way. You have to change everything so they can’t find you.”

Tears sprouted in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to dispel them. “I hadn’t realized how much would change. Maybe I should take my chances with the police.”

I hardened my voice. “Do you think you would survive if you called the police? Do you think they would believe you?”

She looked out the window, her teeth worrying at her lower lip, not saying anything. I sighed. “I’m going to the bathroom. Order for me if the waitress comes back.”

I slid out and headed for the bathroom. When I came back, the booth was empty. The envelope was on the floor, under the table, and a plate of French toast was untouched. I glancedaround the diner and didn’t see her. Panic rose. I hadn’t heard her in the ladies’ room.

I saw one of the waitresses leaning on the counter talking to a plow driver. “Did you see my friend?”

“Blondie? Yeah, she walked outside with some guy.”

My blood ran cold.

Holly

Istudied my hot chocolate, my appetite gone. I couldn’t even muster any enthusiasm for the French toast that smelled delicious. I was going to be Kate Morgan, administrative assistant to some real estate person in upstate New York. I’d be alone, with no one I knew. I’d be alone. How long would I be stuck there? Forever? I couldn’t live like that.

“What do recommend here?” A man’s voice spoke from the booth behind me, and I turned. “Excuse me?”

His eyes were cold, dark. “You haven’t touched the French toast, so I assume that isn’t good.”

I shrugged. “I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know. This is my first time here.”

“It’s not like Sweet Crumbs, is it?”

I froze. “Sweet Crumbs?”

“I personally like the sticky buns. Were you responsible for them?”

I was frozen in place, allowing the man to get up and shift into my booth, pinning me in place. “I think my employer wouldlike to have a word, Miss Winters. Now, follow me nicely outside or we’re going to have problems, okay?”

I nodded wordlessly and followed him out of the diner, wondering if this was the last time I would ever see Nick.

---