“You no longer need it. My scent is on you now. No one will touch you on pain of death.” He withdrew a key from his pocket and handed it to her. “You might want to stop at the store and purchase a few groceries and whatever else you need. Just tell the clerk you’re with me now.”
Too overwhelmed to speak, Kadie nodded, then hurried out of the house, anxious to be away from Rylan Saintcrow and the conflicting emotions he aroused in her.
Outside, she took a deep breath. She had a feeling that living with Saintcrow was going to be like living with the Prince of Darkness. She had his protection, but she was afraid it might come at the cost of her soul.
It didn’t take long for Kadie to pack up her few belongings. Still, she was in no hurry to return to Saintcrow, so she lingered in the house, alternately sitting on the sofa staring into the fireplace, and pacing the floor.
After an hour and a half, she climbed behind the wheel of Saintcrow’s silver ZR1 Corvette and drove to the store. She didn’t know much about cars, but she recalled seeing an ad for a car like this one in a magazine. If she remembered correctly, it cost over $100,000.00. How would a vampire come to have so much money?
Of course, she thought, he probably took it from those who came here. The humans had little need for cash in this bizarre place. Or maybe, being a vampire, he just took what he wanted and killed anyone who objected. She shook her head. He was over nine hundred years old. Even a small savings account would acquire a lot of interest in that amount of time.
She was turning onto Main Street when she made a hard right and headed toward the bridge. She was driving the head bloodsucker’s car. Maybe it could bypass whatever spell prevented her from leaving. It was certainly worth a try.
Hands gripping the wheel, she held her breath as she drove across the wooden expanse, but then uttered a very unladylike curse word when the car stopped a few feet short of her goal.
Expelling an aggravated sigh, she backed up and drove to the store, wondering what Mr. Rylan Saintcrow would do if she deliberately drove his luxury automobile into a brick wall.
Later, while pushing her cart up and down the aisles, she wondered why he even had a car, since vampires seemed to be able to whisk themselves wherever they wished to be.
She was standing in the bread aisle, trying to decide between white, whole wheat, or potato, when a sudden tension in the air warned her she was no longer alone. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Saintcrow was standing behind her.
“Finding everything you need?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“If there are things you want, all you need to do is make a list and I’ll see that you get them.”
“Is that so?” She turned to face him, and wished she hadn’t. She had forgotten how tall and broad he was. How intimidating. But she refused to be cowed. “Who do you think you are—Santa Claus?”
He laughed—a deep, masculine chuckle that made her toes curl.
Annoyed by his amusement, she moved to the next aisle, all too aware that he was following her.
When they passed the liquor aisle, he added several bottles of red wine to the cart.
“I don’t like wine,” she said curtly.
“I do.”
His nearness made her nervous. Deciding she would do her shopping during the day in the future, she headed for the checkout line.
Apparently Saintcrow made everyone nervous. The woman at the cash register refused to look at him or at Kadie. The bag boy kept dropping things. The checker handed her a receipt.
Saintcrow picked up the bags and followed her out to the car.
“You didn’t pay for anything,” Kadie said while he loaded her groceries into the trunk. “Why not?”
“No one here pays for anything.”
“Then why bother with receipts, or checkers or bag boys and cash registers?”
“The computer keeps track of what’s ‘bought’ so we know what to restock. As for the rest . . .” He shrugged. “It makes the humans feel more at home if we keep things the way they’re used to.” He shut the trunk and opened the passenger door for her.
After a moment’s hesitation, Kadie got into the car. She was living in The Twilight Zone, she thought as Saintcrow slid behind the wheel. No doubt about it.