Page 47 of Incandescence

I nodded. “I agree.”

It was only as we headed back that I told her what Jasper had consumed. She shook her head. “Imagine that, our dog living a long life with us.” She giggled. “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but right now I can’t help but see the funny side of it.”

I squeezed her hand, loving her so much it hurt. “I think it’s safe to say we can afford to laugh now. Just promise me you won’t ever stop laughing and smiling.”

She looked up at me. “That’s one promise I’d love to keep.”

After being on such a low, I returned to Newry’s house on a bit of a high. Though I knew the doctor was far from moving on from his grief. There was at least a determined glint in his eyes as he pulled on his socks and boots at the dining table.

Charley stilled just inside the doorway. “Doctor Newry, is everything all right?”

He shook his head. “Nothing will ever be right again, will it? But it don’t mean I’ll be sitting around crying in my hands. I need to find out all I can about the vampire. See that there are no more out there. Make sure no more ‘missing people’ are reported to the police and never found.”

I nodded. “You’re right. We should go.” I let Jasper off his leash and called him into the fenced back yard. I made sure he had plenty of water and returned inside.

Charley assessed me. “Are you sure you’re ready to face the nest again?”

A shiver of doubt for a moment took hold. Then I forced a smile and said, “The vampire is dead and gone. I can face my demons knowing that.”

Newry stalked into the kitchen and retrieved a set of keys. “Well then, no more faffing about. Let’s put this nightmare behind us.”

As I followed the doctor out to the tiny garage at the side of the house, which I’d never once suspected was there, and saw his bright red beast of a car that only just squeezed into the garage’s tight dimensions, I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over my face.

“Could this get any weirder?” Charley whispered.

I shook my head. “Guess every man’s got one love in his life.”

As the car fired up, Charley leaned close and asked, “So what’s yours?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m looking at her.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Maya

Ilooked around thelobby of the apartment building where I’d been taken against my will. I brushed a hand down my faded shirt, decidedly drab and ugly compared to the women strutting past in high heels and power suits. The ground floor didn’t just feature a restaurant—there was a real estate and building society too.

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