fry him. And there's no way to explain this to a doctor."
Ian let out a long moan.
"But he's suffering," she whispered.
"Mama, what's wrong with Ian?" Bethany started toward them, but Fidelia pulled her back.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Heather responded. "He's just a little...sick. Something he ate."
Ian cried out again and suddenly stretched out stiff. His hands gripped his face, the knuckles white.
"What can we do?" Heather leaned over him. "Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere," he breathed. "My face. It feels like it's ripping in two."
Heather touched his shoulder. "You can't take that drug anymore."
"I have to."
"No, you don't. Phil can watch over us during the day. I won't have you suffering because of us."
"'Tis not just for you," Ian groaned. "'Tis for me."
"What do you mean?"
Phil squatted beside them. "He'll age a year for each day he takes the drug."
Heather couldn't imagine why anyone would want to age.
"I'm four hundred and eighty years old," Ian muttered. "I'm a full grown man trapped in the body of a fifteen-year-old. I canna go on like this."
"But this is hurting you," Heather protested.
"I doona care." Ian cried out again and rolled into a fetal position. "I - I need to look older. I want to find true love...like you and Jean-Luc."
She started to deny that she felt anything like love for Jean-Luc, but she noticed that Ian's body had gone still. His hands fell away from his face. "He - he's not breathing."
Phil pressed fingers against Ian's neck. "His heart has stopped."
"Oh my God." Heather fell back onto her rear. "This can't be happening." She scrambled to her feet. "He can't be..." Dead? Weren't vampires already dead? "What - what's going to happen to him?"
"I'm not sure." Phil ran a hand through his thick brown hair. "I can think of two possibilities. It could be that the drug has worn off, and Ian has simply gone into his daily death-sleep. That would be good since he's no longer feeling any pain."
"And the second possibility?"
Phil frowned. "The drug might have killed him."
"No!" Tears sprang to her eyes. "He can't die. All he wanted was an older face and a chance at true love." Dammit, these vampires were way too human.
"I don't think he's dead. At least, not permanently." Phil studied the inert body. "In my experience, a truly dead vampire will turn to dust."
"When will we know for sure?" Heather wiped her eyes.
"When the sun sets. If he's all right, his heart will start beating again." Phil pointed at his face. "Does he look different to you?"
"No." Heather examined him more closely. "Actually, yes. I think his jaw is a little bigger. And he has more of a five o'clock shadow."
Phil nodded. "Growing pains. That's what he was feeling. A year's worth of growing pains. I think he might be a little taller, too."
Heather frowned at the dead body. "Didn't the inventor of this drug know this would happen?"
Phil shook his head. "Roman never felt any pain. Of course, he was already about thirty years old. Since he was full grown, it wasn't such a shock to his body."
"Roman took the drug himself?"
"Yes. After his son was born, he took it for a week to help out with the baby. But then his hair started turning gray, and they realized what was happening."
Heather rose to her feet. "I don't think Ian should take it again. Surely there are female vampires who would understand his problem and accept him as he is?"
Phil stood. "I don't know. But I think this is his decision."
Heather disagreed and decided to talk to Jean-Luc about it. Right after she returned the clothes he'd bought. Shoot, so much for her plan to avoid him completely.
She looked down at Ian's body. "We can't just leave him lying here on the cold hard floor."
Phil's blue eyes twinkled with humor. "He's not feeling anything, believe me."
"It just looks so uncomfy." Heather searched the shelves and located two bolts of soft flannel. She slid one under Ian's head for a pillow and unrolled the other to make him a blanket.
They took a break for supper. She called the insurance company to check on her house, then she called the drama coach from Guadalupe High. Liz Schumann was delighted to offer her runway and to model one of Heather's gowns in the show. Liz promised to have her new boyfriend deliver the runway over the weekend, and Heather promised to give him a few tickets to the event.
After supper, they returned to the design studio and the