dead until dark | Page 5

another weapon. Faster
than I've ever moved, I ran to the vampire's head and panted, "Push with your feet!" I grabbed him under
the arms and yanked back with all my might, and he caught on and braced his feet and shoved. We were
just inside the tree line when the red car came roaring down at us. Denise missed us by less than a yard
when she had to swerve to avoid hitting a pine. Then I heard the big motor of the Rats' car receding in
the distance.
"Oh, wow," I breathed, and knelt by the vampire because my knees wouldn't hold me up any more. I
breathed heavily for just a minute, trying to get hold of myself. The vampire moved a little, and I looked
over. To my horror, I saw wisps of smoke coming up from his wrists where the silver touched them.
"Oh, you poor thing," I said, angry at myself for not caring for him instantly. Still trying to catch my
breath, I began to unwind the thin bands of silver, which all seemed to be part of one very long chain.
"Poor baby," I whispered, never thinking until later how incongruous that sounded. I have agile fingers,
and I released his wrists pretty quickly. I won­dered how the Rats had distracted him while they got into
position to put them on, and I could feel myself reddening as I pictured it.
The vampire cradled his arms to his chest while I worked on the silver wrapped around his legs. His
ankles had fared better since the drainers hadn't troubled to pull up his jeans legs and put the silver
against his bare skin.
"I'm sorry I didn't get here faster," I said apologetically. "You'll feel better in a minute, right? Do you
want me to leave?"
That made me feel pretty good until he added, "They might come back, and I can't fight yet." His cool
voice was uneven, but I couldn't exactly say I'd heard him panting.
I made a sour face at him, and while he was recovering, I took a few precautions. I sat with my back to
him, giving him some privacy. I know how unpleasant it is to be stared at when you're hurting. I hunkered
down on the pavement, keeping watch on the parking lot. Several cars left, and others came in, but none
came down to our end by the woods. By the movement of the air around me, I knew when the vampire
had sat up.
He didn't speak right away. I turned my head to the left to look at him. He was closer than I'd thought.
His big dark eyes looked into mine. His fangs had retracted; I was a little disappointed about that.
"Thank you," he said stiffly.
So he wasn't thrilled about being rescued by a woman. Typical guy.
Since he was being so ungracious, I felt I could do some­thing rude, too, and I listened to him, opening
my mind com­pletely.
And I heard ... nothing.

"Oh," I said, hearing the shock in my own voice, hardly knowing what I was saying. "Ican't hear you."
"Thank you!" the vampire said, moving his lips exagger­atedly.
"No, no ... I can hear you speak, but..." and in my ex­citement, I did something I ordinarily would never
do, be­cause it was pushy, and personal, and revealed I was disabled. I turned fully to him and put my
hands on both sides of his white face, and I looked at him intently. I focused with all my energy.Nothing.
It was like having to listen to the radio all the time, to stations you didn't get to select, and then suddenly
tuning in to a wavelength you couldn't receive.
It was heaven.
His eyes were getting wider and darker, though he was holding absolutely still.
"Oh, excuse me," I said with a gasp of embarrassment. I snatched my hands away and resumed staring
at the parkinglot. I began babbling about Mack and Denise, all the time thinking how marvelous it would
be to have a companion I could not hear unless he chose to speak out loud. How beau­tiful his silence
was.
"... so I figured I better come out here to see how you were," I concluded, and had no idea what I'd
been saying.
"You came out here to rescue me. It was brave," he said in a voice so seductive it would have shivered
DeeAnne right out of her red nylon panties.
"Now you cut that out," I said tartly, coming right down to earth with a thud.
He looked astonished for a whole second before his face returned to its white smoothness.
"Aren't you afraid to be alone with a hungry vampire?" he asked, something arch and yet dangerous
running beneath the words.
"Nope."
"Are you assuming that since you came to my rescue that you're safe, that I harbor an ounce of
sentimental feeling after all these years? Vampires often turn on