Denise looked to the faces huddled in the far corner of the basement room, eyes wide with fear. Former runaways or homeless kids who lived with the vampires, their rent paid in blood donations. The only other adult in the room was Justina, and even her normally imperious expression was tremulous.
“I’ll stay,” Denise said at last. “Be careful. Come right back if those things get any closer.”
Randy gave her a quick kiss. “I will. Promise.”
“I love you,” she called out as he flung open the door.
He smiled. “Love you, too.”
He went out the door and Denise locked it behind him. It was the last time she saw Randy alive.
Chapter One
“I think Amber was murdered.”
Denise gaped at her cousin. She was well into her third margarita, but she couldn’t have misheard him. Maybe we shouldn’t have gone to a bar after the funeral. Still, Paul had said he wasn’t up to sitting another shiva. His mother and sister had just died within a month of each other. If getting a drink made Paul feel better, who cared what they were supposed to do?
“But the doctors said it was her heart.”
“I know what they said,” Paul growled. “The police didn’t believe me, either. But the day before she died, Amber told me she thought she was being followed. She was twenty-three, Denise. Who has a heart attack at twenty-three?”
“Your mother just died of a heart attack,” Denise reminded him softly. “Heart disease can be hereditary. It’s rare for someone as young as Amber to have heart problems, true, but your sister was under a lot of stress—”
“No more than me now,” Paul cut her off bitterly. “You saying I might be next?”
The thought was so awful Denise didn’t even want to contemplate it. “I’m sure you’re fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out.”
Paul leaned forward, glancing around before he spoke. “I think I’m being followed, too.” His voice was barely a whisper.