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wasn’t exactly right, dangling that carrot,
but he was desperate.
    “Really?” she asked hopefully.
    “Frankie, when I said no, I meant it. But I admit you took
me by surprise, so I am willing to consider it even though I doubt it’ll make
any difference.”
    She looked triumphant, obviously hearing only what she
wanted to. “Thank you, Kellen.”
    “You’re not listening. I’m only thinking about it.”
    “I know. It’s something and I’ll take it.”
    “Good. Come on.” He shook his head. She thought it was
settled the way she wanted it to be when it was nothing of the sort. He didn’t
give her much choice. Grasping her hand firmly in his, he led her in the
direction of his home.
    “Tell me something, if you would,” he requested as they walked.
    “Sure. What do you want to know?”
    “Where do you live?”
    “I have an apartment over on South Peach.”
    “Ah,” he said, mentally picturing the area.
    “What?”
    “My guess is unsecured building. Bad lighting. Kind of
ratty. Right?”
    “Well yeah, but it’s not that bad.”
    “It’s a dangerous location for the sort of thing you’re
undertaking. In that part of town no one will react if you start screaming.
Making you a target would be much too easy.”
    “Oh. I guess.” She frowned.
    “You need someplace better. More public.”
    “I can’t afford anyplace else. I haven’t had the best record
with jobs since all this happened and I’m pretty sure that’s just going to get
worse.”
    “That’s not at all what I had in mind.”
    “No? What then?”
    He opened an iron gate and indicated the house beyond. “You
can come stay here. With me.”
    Frankie was stunned. “Huh? You want me to move in?” She
drifted toward the front door as if in a daze.
    “Yes. There’s plenty of room.”
    “But…”
    “But what?”
    “I can’t just come live with you.”
    “Why not? You’ll have your own rooms, so you’ll have your
privacy if that’s what you’re worried about. And it’s a hell of a lot safer
here than where you are now.” He let them in and deactivated the alarm. “As you
can see there’s a security system. The glass in the first-floor windows is
shatterproof. There’s a lot more police presence in this neighborhood than in
yours.”
    “Yeah, but…”
    “Again, Frankie, but what? Simply living here would keep you
alive longer.”
    “I suppose.” She wandered through the first floor. “This
place is amazing.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Um, can I ask you something? Personal?”
    “Of course. Anything.”
    “What do you do to live? I mean, how can you have all this?”
    “I’ve earned it.”
    “How?”
    “I write. Always have.”
    “Oh?”
    Kellen named several names, all from different time periods.
    “Oh my God, are you serious?”
    “You’ve heard of me then?”
    “Well duh! Me and most everybody else in the world who can
read. I can’t believe it.”
    “Why not? I need to do something. Writing is perfect. I play
up that I’m a recluse who doesn’t appear in public. I age and die on paper. I
can move around and assume different identities as needed. Now that I’ve
started having agents it’s even easier.”
    “Wow.” She seemed awed.
    “What did you think I did?” he asked, enthralled by her
reaction.
    “I didn’t really think about it. Or where you might live.
I’m sorry. That was dumb of me.” They were in his study and she was looking
over his bookshelf. She ran her fingers over a set of leather-bound books with
titles she knew to be written about a hundred years ago. “My sister loved these
books. She took a night class when I was in high school. English Lit. She went
on and on about how he, you, moved her.”
    “I’m honored,” he said sincerely, moving to stand behind
her. “I wish we could have met.”
    “Yeah. But I don’t know how she’d do with the whole vampire,
living-forever thing.”
    “Not as open-minded as you?”
    “No. Kate was much more practical. She lived in