computer, hardwired to perform specific tasks in a specific manner, some believe from birth, but other evidence points to crucial windows of development open to stimulation in the first years of life to form the neurons vital to normal human behavior and intelligence. However we’ve also observed individuals suffering severe injuries being able to regain functions that should have been lost because other areas of the brain have taken over the work, indicating that maybe the hard wiring isn’t so hard and fast. The question for you seems to be where has the wiring been switched and where has it stayed the same.”

A tantalizing smile appeared on her moist lips. “You make me sound like a machine, not a creature of flesh and blood.”

He looked at her, all too flesh and blood for his comfort. “It’s just a way of looking at things. We’ve been accused of reducing the soul to a circuit board.”

One feathery dark brow inched up. “What do you believe, Joe?”

He was taken aback. Just what did he believe? Was there a soul beyond the firing of the neurons? He couldn’t believe in anything he couldn’t explain, going through the motions of religion not to offend his family, but he didn’t really believe in God or an immortal soul. Still, what made an individual unique and human? That was certainly some kind of a soul. “I’m not really sure,” he admitted.

“Only way to find out. Beats sex a hundred to one. Tempted to be my partner in joy?”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Let’s make it a standing invitation.” A secretive little smile twitched the corners of her mouth. “Shall I continue?”

Joe nodded and resumed his seat.

“The intensity grew to be too much, we pulled apart, gasping with pleasure as we collapsed panting on the bed, our bodies wet with perspiration, barely touching but very aware of the other next to it. Then Ethan pulled over me and slid into my… ”

Joe spoke up, “We can skip the next part.”

“Jesus! Well, just let me say this, my darling doctor, no mortal male can compare, for sheer endurance or intensity, and Ethan was unbelievably skilled on top of that. There’s no human equivalent.”

“Then why bother with mortals?”

“Blood is everything with mortals.” She leaned forward, provocatively. “Unless of course we see our own qualities inherent in them… Well, the honeymoon was off to an arousing start. Honeymoons, however, have this habit of ending much too soon.”

Joe interrupted her again, “How old was he exactly?”

“As a mortal, he fought as a cavalry officer with Stuart and then became a confederate spy. Quite a history but I didn’t learn much about it until later. At this point, it only served to romanticize him.

When we left my apartment that night, I left mortal existence behind forever. We went to the top of the Empire State Building to view the city. It was like a dream, overlooking it all from afar. I no longer felt kinship to mortals around us. A veil shimmered between us, through which I saw and heard in the abstract, like in a different dimension, one of light and air. They were plodding earthbound creatures— voices babble and faces featureless. Only Ethan was real.

All that night, we walked and talked together, along the waterfronts and through the parks, full of each other. Then as the sky began to lighten, we went to Ethan’s brownstone on the Upper East Side.

Hated the place. Dark, grim, thoroughly Dickensian. All massive dark mahogany and stiff horsehair in muddy colors, overly embellished. As Ethan closed heavy oak shutters and velvet drapes, the realization I’d never walk in the sun again came over me. Rushing to the door, I flung it open. He caught me and held me tightly as I struggled, beating my wings against the cage.

“We must stay indoors when the sun rises.”

“I can’t be shut up! I’ll die if I go into one of those things!”

He shook with laughter as he realized what I was referring to. “We don’t sleep in coffins, you goose.”

A strange numbness settled over me. “What will the sun do to us?”

“An agonizing death that unleashes a cancer and rots away your flesh.”

“What about stakes through the heart?”

“Why these morbid questions, cara mia? You needn’t worry about anything, my precious girl. I’ll protect you always.”

“From what?”

He chuckled, and set me down, locking various bolts and locks around the room with a key he placed safely into his pocket. Then he led me upstairs to a vast bed. I undressed