Twilight Hunger Part 34

Max smiled. "Yeah, I heard that somewhere."

"So?"

Max thought about it for a long moment. "It really would make a great place for the business. But, um, well, Stormy is my partner. She would have to come, too."

Morgan nodded slowly. She had only observed the blonde from a distance, but there was something oddly familiar about her. "Does she know about me?"

"I haven't told her," Max said. "But I think she suspects. And I do trust her. You know, she's convinced that she met you while she was in the coma. She goes on and on about how you led her back to the land of the living again. There's no telling her it was just a dream. So she feels she owes you. You can trust her not to betray your secret."

Morgan smiled just slightly as the memory that had been eluding her finally clicked into place. She had met her sister's best friend before-in a dream, when she was hovering between life and death in that hospital. Or... maybe it hadn't been a dream at all.

"And of course there's Lou. I have to consider him," Max went on.

"Do you think he'll agree to move up here? To work with you?"

Max shrugged. "I think I've got my work cut out for me to convince him to give it a try. But he was talking about a little cabin on the beach, and a fis.h.i.+ng boat. He retires from the force soon, you know."

"Then what's stopping you, Max? Come on. Do it." She clasped her sister's hand. "I miss you. If you were here, we could have more time to make up for all the years we missed."

Max licked her lips. "If you're sure you want us here."

"You're my sister," Morgan said, smiling now, knowing Max would agree. "You know I want you here."

Finally Max nodded. "Okay. I'm here then. The Supernatural Investigations Service shall be based in Easton, Maine."

"SIS," Morgan said, with a slight nod. "I like it."

"I kind of thought you would."

Arm in arm, they rose from the bench and walked back to join the men at the grave. Morgan curled herself into Dante's arms, and he held her gently, lovingly. "It'll be dawn soon, love," he told her.

"I know." She smiled at her sister and the man who stood at Max's side, looking uncomfortable. "I'll see you soon?"

"Very soon," Max promised.

Morgan and Dante turned, moving into the shadows.

"You know, she's happier now than she has been her whole life," Max said, watching them walk out of sight. "She's so lucky."

"How's that?" Lou asked. He started toward the car, and Max fell into step beside him.

She shrugged. "Isn't it obvious? They're soulmates. Madly, wildly, eternally in love. I can't imagine how gratifying it would be to have a man love me the way Dante loves Morgan. It's pretty special, what they have together."

"I guess you're right," Lou said, sliding a casual arm around Max as they walked along the path toward the parking area. "Some folks go through their whole lives without finding that kind of thing."

"Yeah. And some have it right under their noses and refuse to see it."

"You think?" he asked, glancing down at her.

Max rolled her eyes, shook her head. "Yeah," she said. "I think."

Lou shrugged and kept on walking.

From the darkest shadows, Sarafina watched Dante talking and laughing with the mortals, finally leaving them with his lover held tightly in his arms.

"I'll love you forever," he whispered to Morgan. "I think, in some way, I already have."

"We were meant for each other, Dante. You know that now, don't you?"

"I've always known it on some level. The first time you said it, I got a chill." Gently, he kissed her. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

She smiled and kissed him back. "Just don't let it happen again." Then she danced away from him, her eyes sparkling with life and love. "Race you back to the house!" And, whirling, she laughed and ran off, nearly as rapidly as Sarafina herself could have moved.

Dante raced after her, never looking back.

So this was what he wanted. He had a new family now. He had turned his back on her. Dante-the last remaining link to her own family, her heritage, her blood.

d.a.m.n him.

He had betrayed her. Just as surely as every other member of her family had betrayed her.

It didn't matter, she thought, as she walked into the open and sat on the ground in a pool of spilled moonlight. She was a vampiress. She did not need a family. She didn't need anyone at all. And she never would.

No. Not ever again.

Ask Anyone.

Sherryl Woods.

Something new is developing in Trinity Harbor...

Jenna Pennington is a desperate woman... and she will do anything to catch the attention of Bobby Spencer. Bobby is the owner of the riverfront property in Trinity Harbor, and Jenna knows she's the perfect person for the job to redevelop it She just has to convince Bobby.

The last thing Bobby wants in his life is a s.e.xy, single mom who's driven to succeed. The last thing Jenna needs is another emotional roller-coaster ride. But in Trinity Harbor, love has a way of defying expectations.

"Sherry! Woods gives her characters depth, intensity and the right amount of humor."

-Romantic Times.

On sale mid-March 2002 wherever paperbacks are sold!

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Coming March 2003.

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MAGGIE SHAYNE.

TWILIGHT.

HUNGER.

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