Chris smiled at me, showing two ridiculously cute dimples and a few feet away a waitress dropped an empty cup she had cleared from a table. Blushing, she muttered an apology and hurried inside.

I scowled at him, refusing to be swayed by his charm.

“I see,” he murmured, nodding slightly as if he had just solved a puzzle.

“See what?”

Ignoring my question, he pulled out a cell phone, hit a number and held the phone out to me. I hesitated for a few seconds then took the phone and put it to my ear.

“What’s up, Chris?” said a familiar deep voice on the other end.

“Good question,” I responded tersely.

“I told Chris you’d recognize him if he got too close.” Was that amusement in his tone?

“Great. You won the bet. Buy him a beer or whatever.” I glanced at Chris, saw that he looked amused now, too and I grew even more agitated. “I thought we had an understanding when you left here last week.”

“And what understanding would that be?”

I gritted my teeth. “The one where you go your way and I go mine and we all live happily ever after.”

“I don’t recall that particular arrangement,” he replied in his infuriatingly easy manner. “I believe I told you I’d be seeing you again.”

I opened my mouth but words would not come out. People say ‘I’ll be seeing you’ all the time when they say good bye. It doesn’t mean anything. It certainly doesn’t mean they will send their friends to stalk you.

“Sara?”

“What do you want from me, Nikolas? I told you I just want to be left alone.”

There was a brief silence then a quiet sigh on the other end. “We got word of increased activity in Portland and we have reason to believe the vampire might be searching for you.”

It felt like an icy breath touched the back of my neck. Eli’s face flashed through my mind and my knees wobbled.

Roland stepped close to me. “What’s wrong, Sara? What is he saying to you?”

I smiled weakly at Roland and put up a hand to let him know I’d fill him in when I got off the phone. “I don’t know anyone in Portland so there is no way he can trace me here, right?”

“There is more than one way to track someone.” Nikolas’s voice hardened. “Don’t worry, we will keep you safe. Chris will stay close by until we handle this situation.”

Great, I was the ‘situation’ again. “I don’t need a babysitter. I’m not a child.”

“No you’re not,” he replied gruffly and warmth unfurled in my stomach. “But you are not a warrior either. It is our duty to protect you even if you don’t want it.”

I felt like stomping my feet like a two year old. Didn’t I get any choice in this? My eyes fell on Chris as I spoke. “How close is he planning to stay? He’s kind of conspicuous and I can’t have my uncle or anyone else asking questions.”

Chris peered in confusion down at his form-fitting blue jeans and black sweater as Nikolas said, “Conspicuous?”

I looked heavenward. “If you guys wanted to blend in you shouldn’t have sent Dimples here. The way some of the women are staring at him, I might end up having to protect him instead.”

There was a cough on the other end and Nikolas sounded like he was grinning when he said, “Ah, I’m sure Chris can take care of himself. He will be in town in case we suspect any trouble is coming that way.”

“Fine,” I relented unhappily. “But as soon as this is cleared up you guys have to go so I can try to have a somewhat normal life again.”

I didn’t wait for his response before I shoved the phone at Chris. I turned to Roland. “Let’s go. I’ll explain it to you on the way.”

Once we were in the truck, I told him what Nikolas had said. Roland’s face grew grim when I said that Nikolas was afraid Eli was trying to track me.

“He would have to be the stupidest vamp alive to come into this area,” Roland stated confidently. “This is werewolf territory and vamps don’t mess with us if they can avoid it, especially on our home turf. I’m surprised they are still in Portland with all the patrols we have out there now.”

“So you think Nikolas is overreacting?”

“According to Maxwell, the Mohiri are very thorough and they like to take care of things themselves. They won’t sit back and take our word that this area is safe.”

“Well, I don’t want them hanging around,” I groaned in a bout of self pity. “I’m trying to move past all this.”

Roland pulled the truck in behind Nate’s car. “Just ignore them,” he said as I opened my door. “Besides what harm can it do to let them poke around for a few days?”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one on a leash.”

“Yeah, that’s no fun, believe me.” He made a howling sound and we both burst out laughing. I was still wiping my eyes when I got out and walked around to his side of the truck.

“Hey, let’s do something on Saturday,” he said. “Let’s go out and have some fun and forget about all of this.”

“Okay, but no vampires this time.”

“We won’t even leave town.” He put the truck in reverse. “I’ll see what’s happening on Saturday and let you know. Smile. It’ll be a blast.”

*     *     *