A Girl's Guide to Vampires

Christian stood silent for a moment, then released me and walked over to where Raphael lay. When Raphael tried to raise his hands, Christian squatted next to him, placing a hand on Raphael's side.

"He is dying."

A moan slipped out of my lips, fresh tears burning down my cheeks. "Save him," I begged.

He placed both hands on Raphael's side for a few moments, then brushed his thumb across Raphael's forehead, leaving a long bloody smear. Raphael twitched, then slid the rest of the way off the bench, onto the floor.

I watched, a silent scream of anguish so deep there was no end to it building inside me. He was dead.

With him died my heart.

"I feel your pain, Joy, but you allow yourself to suffer needlessly. He is not dead, simply resting. I sent him to sleep so his heart would slow down. I ca

My relief at his words was so great that I dropped to my knees, my arms wrapped around my waist.

"Thank you," I said, my eyes on Raphael's still form, unable to say anything else. "Thank you."

He walked over to me and held out a hand. I looked up at him, unwilling to take it, but knowing I had to keep my part of the bargain. "Do we have to go now? Can't I stay with him just a little longer? Just until an ambulance comes for him?"

Christian took hold of each arm and hoisted me to my feet. He held one of my hands in his, rubbing Raphael's blood off my fingers. "With you as my Beloved, I would see to it that you lived in eternal happiness, untouched by any of the emotions which trouble mortal man." He glanced over to Raphael, then raised my hand to his lips. "Tell him for me, please, that for the first time in a very long life, I truly find myself envying a human."

I stared at him for a moment as the full meaning of his words sank in. He wasn't going to take me. He was sacrificing himself for us. I knew that Christian honestly believed he was giving up all hope of his salvation. I blinked back more tears, then pressed my lips to his in a gentle promise. "I swear to you that I will find her. I will find your true Beloved. You won't have to spend the rest of eternity alone."

He set me aside gently, a faint mocking smile curving his lips. "This once I will not object to help from a human." He looked at me intently before making a courtly bow. "Be happy, Beloved."

I met his dark gaze, filled with longing and resignation and despair.

"I'll find her," I promised, then turned and ran to Raphael.

I didn't see Christian melt into the shadows of the cave, but heard his beautiful voice as it echoed back to me. "I will hold you to your promise. I, too, wish to know what it is like to be loved above all else."

The words reached me as I knelt over Raphael, one hand holding his, the other stroking his face. His skin was warm, his pulse was slow but steady, his long brown lashes resting peacefully on the taut skin of his cheeks.

"I love you, Bob," I whispered to him.

His fingers tightened around mine as voices from the far side of the cave echoed down to us, calling to find out if we were all right. The police had finally arrived.

"Love you, baby," he murmured.

High in the night sky a beautiful voice etched into the heavens the song of a brave warrior and a beautiful maiden, and their love so true it could not be destroyed, not even by death itself.

I smiled at my warrior as I waited for help to arrive.

Epilogue

To: Joyful

From: Roxa

Date: November 5, 2003

Subject: I'm baaaaaaaaaack!

Hi Joy (and Raphael)! I'm back home, and boy do I have a lot to tell you! You're not going to believe what happened to me after I left Germany… but I'm going to tease you and make you wait for it. Are you waiting? Am I driving you nuts? Good. Now you know how it feels. Hahahahahah!

I'm glad to hear you guys made it to London OK. What's Raphael's apartment… sorry, FLAT look like? 'Roomy and near a big park' doesn't tell me much. Take pictures.

And speaking of him, I'm happy the tattoo wasn't touched when they dug that bullet out of his gut. A scar you can live with, but if that tattoo was ruined… well, I'm just glad it's not. How long will it be before you know if Interpol is going to throw him out of the organization for going off on his own to find the vampire murderers? I can't believe they yanked him off the case in the first place. I mean, didn't he have Dominic and Milos pegged all along? It wasn't his fault if someone messed up the evidence; he knew it was Dominic, they should have listened to him, not forced him to take a leave of absence. Is he still in denial about Christian, or has he finally given in and admitted that there are Dark Ones? Must be tough living with an infidel unbeliever. Still, all's well that ends well, eh? You got your man, Inspector Bartos has Milos locked up safe and sound, and I got… heee! Nope. Not going to tell you yet. Waiting, waiting, waiting…

OH! I got an e-mail from Christian! Who knew Dark Ones were Internet savvy? He said he was going to send me a sneak peak at Book Thirteen, and was even going to name a heroine after me. Too cool, huh? I hope you're doing everything you can to find his Beloved, although I don't have a clue how you're going to go about it. Maybe you should put an ad in a London paper asking to interview single women? Or how about this—write a book about vampires so steamy that it will bring Christian's Beloved out of the woodwork. I even have a title for you: A Girl's Guide to Vampires. Brilliant, huh? Yeah, I know. I should be in marketing.

Work is the same old same old, no fun without you, but I'm not crying in my coffee. Want to know why? Ha! I just bet you do. Keep waiting. That's a hoot what your mom said about Bradley, BTW. I always said he was no good. I hope they take his license away. There's just no excuse for drunk drivers! Can we say LOSER? Sure we can!

Rats, it's after five. I have to go. I'm flying out to Rio tonight. RIO! As in, de Janeiro! You're dying to know why, aren't you? OK, I'll spill, but only because you're my best friend, even if you did leave me to shack up with a guy halfway around the world. You'll notice I'm not screaming about this. Why, you must be asking yourself, would dear sweet old Rox be so calm and collected?

I'll tell you why—Captain Richard Blaine. That's captain as in airline captain. Richard was deadheading on the flight home from Frankfurt, and sat next to me, and we talked, and I spilled my screwdriver on him, and one thing led to another, and… well… let's just put it this way: Miranda is two for two, Joyful.

Can I have my condoms back, please?

Will e-mail you when I get back from the land of sun and samba. Kisses and hugs to the big guy!

Roxy the no longer pure