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“And you come in to the station first thing tomorrow, Miranda, you got me? You come in, finish this report, and then we’ll get Stan to come out here and put up a new door and install a damn sight better security system.”

“No arguments there.” She lifted her hand to press lightly against her throat. When she winced, Cain ground his back teeth.

“You need to go to the hospital.” Sam was tapping his foot against the stone steps as he made this decree.

“I’ve told you five times already, I’m not going. I let that crime scene guy photograph me, but that is it! I’ve got a few scratches, that’s all. I don’t need to drive forty minutes to get to Springs Memorial to have a doctor tell me I’m fine,” she snapped.

Cain blinked. Oh, but the lady had a nice temper on her. He liked that—a lot.

“Okay, calm down.” Sam motioned to the other deputies.

“I am calm!” she argued back, not sounding particularly calm. “I’ve just had one hell of a night, and I really, really just want to get in bed now and try to pretend that all of this crap never, ever happened!”

That was what the humans usually did. Made excuses for the things they saw. Tried to act like reality wasn’t some screwed-up mix of heaven and hell.

Sometimes those lies worked.

Sometimes they didn’t.

Sam hugged Miranda. “Fine, but I’ll be close. Call if you need me.”

She brushed his shoulder a bit awkwardly. “Okay, uh, thanks.”

Sam turned his attention to Cain. “Watch her, and don’t you even think of taking advantage.”

Well, other than his plans to rip apart the vampire, taking advantage of Miranda was the only other thing occupying his mind. Not that he was going to confide that little tidbit to the deputy, but⁠—

“All right, guys, let’s pack it up and get out of here. I want to search Smith Swamp before we call it a night,” Sam said, rapping out orders as he walked away.

A few minutes later, the patrol cars disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights.

Cain was left alone with Miranda.

Finally.

Chapter Two

She had to be crazy. Miranda paced the length of Cain’s living room, spared a brief glance for the unpacked boxes lined neatly along the left wall, and tried very hard to make her hands stop shaking.

Alone with Cain Lawson. Jeez. Had she taken leave of all her sanity? She should have gone with Sam or locked her house up tight and stayed at a hotel.

“You’re safe with me, Miranda. Relax.” His voice came from right behind her, and Miranda spun around, surprised to find that Cain had crept silently from the kitchen.

He held up two glasses, each filled with a dark, amber liquid. “Here, drink some. It’ll make you feel better.”

Well, since she doubted that she could feel any worse, Miranda took the offered drink and downed the fiery contents in two deep gulps. When she handed him the glass back, her hands weren’t shaking any longer, but her gut seemed to be on fire.

He smiled at her and, wow, the man had the sexiest dimple she’d ever seen along his right cheek.

Get a grip. You’re running on adrenaline and fumes right now. Stop lusting after the man next door.

Cain set the glasses down with a soft clink on a nearby table.

Miranda exhaled slowly. “I, um, didn’t get a chance to thank you before.” When Sam had appeared with his sirens wailing, there’d been no time at all to speak privately with Cain. It had been a mad rush of explanations, searches, and general chaos.

No, there’d been no time to thank Cain for saving her life. And there’d been no time to ask if he truly thought Paul Roberts was a vampire.

And what about Cain? For a while there, he’d been sporting teeth a hell of a lot sharper than the ones he showed now.