Esmeralda glared at her. "Have you any idea what Tabitha would do if she ever found out?"
"I know, but I couldn't let him die. He's a good man, Es."
Her cheeks paling, Esmeralda's jaw dropped. "No, not that face."
"What face?"
"That weepy, Brendan-Fraser-is-on-the-screen face."
"Excuse me?" Amanda asked, offended.
"You're infatuated with him."
Amanda felt her face turn red.
"Mandy! Where's your brain?"
She avoided her sister's probing stare by looking back to the couch where Kyrian lay. "Look, Essie, I'm not stupid and I'm not a child. I know there can never be anything between us."
"But?"
"What but?"
"You look like there should be a 'but' on the end of that sentence."
"Well, there isn't." Amanda pushed her gently toward the stairs. "Now go on back to bed and get some sleep."
"Yeah, right. Are you going to make sure Mr. Vampire doesn't snack on one of us while I sleep?"
"He doesn't suck blood."
"How do you know?"
"He said so."
Essie folded her arms over her chest and gave her a piqued stare. "Oh well, that makes it official, then, doesn't it?"
"Would you stop?"
"C'mon, Mandy," she said, gesturing toward the couch. "The man is a killer."
"You don't know him."
"I don't know any alligators, either, but I sure as hell wouldn't leave one in my house. You can't change the nature of a beast."
"He's not a beast."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Still she saw the skepticism in her sister's eyes. "You damn well better be, little girl, or we'll all pay a foul price."
While Esmeralda dressed for work several hours later, Amanda made a small breakfast for Kyrian.
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm really not hungry," he said gently.
She set the plate on the coffee table. Tenderly, she traced her hand down the bandage on his arm where blood had already seeped into it. "I wish you had listened to me and stayed home."