Page 80 of Twilight Longings

“There’s got to be some way to get rid of her. The thing is, there’s no way to keep her out of town, or out of my lair, or away from Kadie. Dammit! I’ve never had to face a vampire who was older or stronger than I am. I don’t know what the hell to do.”

“If you can find a way to overpower her for a few minutes, we might be able to bind her hands and feet, maybe with those chains Luca used on me,” Jake said, thinking out loud. “I don’t know what he soaked them in, but it was sure as hell effective.”

“They might not work. She’s older than both of us, but you never know. What the hell? It’s worth a try,” Saintcrow decided.

Kincaid nodded. “If they don’t work, nothing will.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Saintcrow muttered. “I’ll be in touch.”

It didn’t take long for Saintcrow to transport himself to the ruined castle in Ireland. He grimaced as he materialized inside. The faint stink of the pyre still lingered in the fetid air. Removing his shirt, he tore it into strips and wrapped the cloth around his hands before lifting the heavy silver chains out of the casket.

Returning to Morgan Creek, he made a quick trip down to his lair to get a clean shirt, then ghosted upstairs where he dropped the chains on the floor in the closet of one of the empty bedrooms.

He turned at the sound of Kadie’s footsteps.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked, from the doorway.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

“Where have you been?”

“I had some business to discuss with Jake.” Hoping to forestall any more questions, he said, “Which room were you thinking of using for the baby?”

“The one next to the master bedroom, I guess. Although we’ll probably keep him or her in our room for the first few months.”

Moving to the doorway, Saintcrow took her hand in his. “Assuming either one of us can conceive a child, what are you hoping for? A boy or a girl?”

Kadie frowned as they made their way downstairs to the living room. “I guess I’d like a girl. And I guess you’d like a boy.”

“A girl is fine with me.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a good thing taking care of babies seems to come naturally to most women,” he muttered, with a rueful shake of his head. “Because I have no idea how to be a father.”

“I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday,” Kadie said. “I guess we’ll soon know if I can still conceive.”

“And if you can’t?” he asked.

“I guess artificial insemination would be our next best choice.”

Saintcrow nodded.

“Have you talked to Izabela about the Methuselah Stone?”

“Not yet.”

She wasn’t surprised. He had only agreed to having a baby to please her. It was blatantly obvious that he wasn’t happy about the prospect of being a father. Or being human.

“Let’s not worry about any of that now,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Eleni is still a problem. We don’t know if the Medallion can make me human again. We don’t know if you can get pregnant or if, once human, I’ll be able to produce any viable sperm.” He smiled down at her as he took her in his arms. A glance at the hearth and the logs began to burn brightly. “But there’s one thing I know we can do,” he said, a wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

Kadie tapped her forefinger against her chin. “Gee. I wonder what that could be?”

Pulling her down on the rug in front of the fireplace, he said, “Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly, and I’ll show you things you’ve never seen before.”

“Really?” she said. “I thought in thirty-plus years I would have seen it all.”

Waggling his eyebrows at her, he said, in his best evil villain voice, “Honey, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

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