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“I don’t think Jean-Claude would let me walk away,” he said. He wasn’t smiling when he said it. I couldn’t decide whether he was handsomer smiling or solemn.

“Humans don’t do too well in the middle of the monsters, Richard. Get out if you can.”

“You’re human.”

I shrugged. “Some people would argue that.”

“Not me.” He reached out to touch me. I stood my ground and didn’t move away. His fingertips brushed the side of my face, warm and very alive.

“See you at three o’clock this afternoon, unless you’re going to be too tired.”

I shook my head, and his hand dropped away from my face. “Wouldn’t miss it,” I said.

He smiled again. His hair blew in a tangle across his face. I kept the front of my own hair cut short enough so that it stayed out of my eyes, most of the time. Layering was a wonderful thing.

I opened the passenger side door. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“I’ll bring your costume with me.”

“What am I going to be dressed as?”

“A Civil War bride,” he said.

“Does that mean a hoop skirt?”

“Probably.”

I frowned. “And what are you going to be?”

“A Confederate officer.”

“You get to wear pants,” I said.

“I don’t think the dress would fit me.”

I sighed. “It’s not that I’m not grateful, Richard, but . . .”

“Hoop skirts aren’t your style?”

“Not hardly.”

“My offer was grubbies and all the mud we could crawl in. The party was your idea.”

“I’d get out of it if I could.”

“It might be worth all the trouble just to see you dressed up. I get the feeling it’s a rarity.”

Larry leaned across the seat, and said, “Can we get a move on? I need a cigarette and some sleep.”

“I’ll be right there.” I turned back to Richard but suddenly didn’t know what to say. “See you later.”

He nodded. “Later.”

I got in the car, and Larry pulled away before I got my seat belt fastened. “What’s the rush?”

“I want to get as far away from this place as I can.”

I looked at him. He still looked pale.

“You alright?”

“No, I’m not alright.” He looked at me, blue eyes bright with anger. “How can you be so casual after what just happened?”

“You were calm after last night. You got bitten last night.”

“But that was different,” he said. “That woman sucked on the bite. She . . .” His hands clenched the steering wheel so tightly his hands shook.

“You were hurt worse last night; what makes this tougher?”

“Last night was violent, but it wasn’t . . . perverted. The vampires last night wanted something. The name of the Master. The ones tonight didn’t want anything, they were just being . . .”

“Cruel,” I offered.

“Yes, cruel.”

“They’re vampires, Larry. They aren’t human. They don’t have the same rules.”

“She would have killed me tonight on a whim.”

“Yes, she would have,” I said.

“How can you bear to be around them?”

I shrugged. “It’s my job.”

“And my job, too.”

“It doesn’t have to be, Larry. Just refuse to work on vampire cases. Most of the rest of the animators do.”

He shook his head. “No, I won’t give up.”

“Why not?” I asked.

He didn’t say anything for a minute. He pulled onto 270 headed south. “How could you talk about a date this afternoon after what just happened?”

“You have to have a life, Larry. If you let this business eat you alive, you’ll never make it.” I studied his face. “And you never answered my question.”

“What question?”

“Why won’t you give up the idea of being a vampire executioner?”

Larry hesitated, concentrating on driving. He suddenly seemed very interested in passing cars. We drove under a railroad bridge, warehouses on either side. Many of the windows were broken or missing. Rust dripped down the bridge overpass.

“Nice section of town,” he said.

“You’re avoiding the question. Why?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I asked about your family; you said they were all alive. What about friends? You lose a friend to the vamps?”

He glanced at me “Why ask that?”

“I know the signs, Larry. You’re determined to kill the monsters because you’ve got a grudge, don’t you?”

He hunched his shoulders and stared straight ahead. The muscles in his jaws clenched