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taking in his perfectly trimmed goatee, precisely styled long auburn hair and sparkling hazel eyes. He always looked like he was dressed for a runway or some top celebrity party where the paparazzi would be clicking cameras and taking impromptu - um, posed - shots. “I spent three days in Caracas alone. That was a nice piece of work, Ms. Monk. Shame I saw through the ruse that it was.”
    “Took you three days though, didn't it?” I returned, unable to hide the smile at my false trails having got the better of Avery. If only for three days in one city.
    He shrugged his shoulders in an elegant wave of muscles. “Caracas was entertaining for other reasons. Maybe my desire to stay there had nothing to do with you.”
    “Yeah sure, Sherlock. I just bet.” His eyes flashed a little amber and jade at that retort. Childish, I know, winding Avery up like this. But, there was very little that gave me satisfaction anymore. Sure, staking a vampire was all good. But, the idea that Avery had been fooled by something I had set in motion was more than just satisfying. It made me smile.
    I finished getting the vampire residue off me as well as I could. My black outfit was no longer stark black, but more of a greyish black instead. It didn't matter, I had several changes at home. That's about all I had to wear. When I came to South America I had on only the clothes I wore with me. A black short fitted stretchy dress and same length black jacket on top. Michel had bought them for me. And as nice as they were, I didn't blend in. So, butt skimming fitted shorts and a cropped singlet were the order of the day. I didn't really mind, even if I'm a skirt kinda girl, I could fight in this outfit. That's all that mattered.
    “So what now?” I asked, checking both stakes were in their pockets and my knife was still sheathed.
    Avery's eyes trailed the length of my outfit languidly, hovering over the cropped top and my bare midriff. He didn't say anything about it, just smiled. A hungry predatory smile, that said everything that needed to be said and more.
    “How about a drink, Ms. Monk?” he asked instead.
    I huffed out a laugh in response. “You asking for a vein vampire?”
    “And if I were, would you offer it willingly?” he said in a low voice.
    “No,” I answered emphatically.
    “Shame,” he replied. “Then perhaps a Cachaça . I believe that is the local drink here.”
    I just stared at him for a while. He comes all this way, tracks me down and finally finds me after how many weeks? And he just asks me out for a drink, like some sort of demented date? I shook my head in disbelief. I knew he was up to something. I knew what he wanted in the end. But, he was a link to my past. Which if I was honest about it, I was craving. I may have been burying myself in hunting and despatching evil vampires, but I missed home.
    Not that Avery had ever been to my home. That's my home in New Zealand. But, he was intimately involved in my life before I came here. He knew Michel. He knew my kindred. And right now I needed that connection badly.
    “ OK,” I said slowly. “Just one drink.”
    He smiled in response, showing me a row of straight white teeth. Not a fang in sight. The lack of fangs just made me shudder. I prefer it if the predator confronting me doesn't try to hide what he really is. Avery's fangs run on the long side. And they are never really fully retracted at all.
    I took him to A Praia Mocambo , which was really humming now that night had truly fallen. I could have taken him somewhere else. Not let Gabriel and his dad see my companion. But, I needed familiar ground. And, as Avery was here, I had already said my goodbyes to The Beach Hut in my mind. I'd take one last look around, then ditch Avery and flee. I couldn't stay here now. Rio was no longer a safe hiding place at all. Maybe even Brazil was out, but I wasn't writing South America off just yet. It's a big continent and the Iunctio is blind here.
    Avery may scare me, but the