He meant Roslyn's, but dressed as they were, they'd never get in. “A hamburger suits me just fine. Besides, it's late. They'll be getting ready to go home."
"Then we'll just have to persuade them to remain open,” he said with a smile. “What did the police say?" She shrugged. “Usual shit. Jake and I aren't to leave town, blah, blah, blah."
"Did they believe Monica was responsible?"
"Nope. But there again, Jake wouldn't believe it either until she attacked him."
"How is his arm?"
"Stitched. The hospital's let him go home.” She hesitated, and met his gaze. “You said earlier Monica had to return home? Why?"
"It's instinct for the newly turned vampire to return to the place of its birth. I think it's part of the centering process. To understand what you have truly become, first you must understand what you have lost.” He shrugged. “The fledglings must also find something of the past to carry with them through eternity."
"What the hell for?"
He shrugged again. “Perhaps as a reminder that once they too were human."
"Weird,” she muttered. Then she frowned. “You seem to know an awful lot about vampires."
"I have studied them for many years."
"Why?"
He hesitated. “Because my brother was killed by one."
Jasper, Nikki thought. That would at least explain Michael's fierce determination to catch the man. Or vampire, as the case may be.
"Why didn't the wood kill her, then? I thought you said wood was deadly to vampires?"