j.l. picked up the keys while barker opened the back door. robby deposited olivia on the backseat.

"so basically you're the good vampires, and the malcontents are the evil ones?" barker asked.

"aye." robby shut the back door.

"what's the deal with the skirts?" j.l. asked. "i thought you guys were more into capes."

robby gave him an annoyed look, then noticed olivia was waking up. "i'll need you to keep this a secret. 'tis imperative that the mortal world no' know."

j.l. snorted. "like anyone would believe this." he climbed into the driver's seat.

"you can trust us." barker circled to the other side of the car. "i don't want my secret to come out, either." he folded his long frame into the front passenger seat.

j.l. started the engine, and robby stepped back. olivia sat up in the backseat and looked around with a dazed expression. she spotted him, and her eyes widened with horror.

his heart twisted in his chest.

the car backed down the driveway. as it turned onto the road, olivia peered out the window at him.

he raised a hand. was this good-bye? would she ever agree to see him again? she had to. he couldn't let her go without a fight.

the car sped off, and he was left looking at a cloud of dust.

"are ye all right, lad?" angus walked up to him.

he swallowed hard. "i may have lost her."

"she could still come around." angus patted him on the back. "give her some time."

"what did i miss?" robby changed the subject. it hurt too much to dwell on the horrified look on olivia's face. and he knew he'd missed some of the strategy meeting while he'd chased after her.

"casimir is clearly moving south, but we doona know his final destination. phineas teleported to new orleans to warn them, in case casimir is headed there. dougal went to jean-luc's home in texas to warn him."

robby nodded. "maggie and pierce live in texas, too. we should warn them. and we should tighten security at the romatech in texas." casimir had blown it up last summer, but production had started again.

"we're going to spend the rest of tonight checking all the storm cellars in the vicinity." angus sighed. "'tis a waste of time, most likely. they could be far away by now."

robby glanced at the farmhouses. "and the people who died? is whelan going to take care of the cover story?"

"aye." angus chuckled. "he's threatening to have you arrested for assault."

"let him try, the bastard." after olivia had run off into the cornfield, robby had walked up to the smirking whelan and punched his face.

his friends had applauded.

"he'll get his comeuppance," angus said. "one of these days he'll find out his grandchildren are half vamp."

robby smiled. he didn't know how roman could stand having sean whelan for a father-in-law. his smile faded. he could end up with some angry in-laws, too, if olivia ever agreed to marry him.

olivia took a shower, but it didn't wash away the shock. she took two aspirin, but it didn't take away the pain. she lounged on the lumpy bed in the motel room in her pajamas, staring into space. the television was on with the volume turned down low. the old familiar sitcom helped her believe the world was still normal. even though it wasn't.

vampires. the word repeated over and over in her mind. vampires were real. and robby was one of them.

she recalled how much attention he'd given to her neck when they'd made love. two giant red hickeys below each ear. but he hadn't broken the skin. instead, he'd bitten her decorative pillow. she shuddered, remembering the twin punctures. robby had fangs.

he was never available during the day. robby was dead. or undead. it was all rather confusing.

she'd caught him drinking something in the villa on patmos. she'd thought it was a glass of wine, but now she knew better. it must have been blood.

she groaned. she didn't want to think about vampires anymore. she grabbed the remote control to access the movie channel on the television. tonight's feature was...a vampire movie. great. she flipped the channel to hbo. a vampire series was showing. she switched to the history channel. a documentary on the history of...vampires.

"dammit!" she turned the television off and sprawled across the bed. it was a conspiracy.

a knock sounded at her door, and she sat up with a jerk. please don't be robby. she couldn't handle that yet.

"liv, it's me!" j.l. yelled. "i've got pizza!"

like she really wanted food after an evening of dead bodies and shocking revelations. but she didn't want to be alone. "just a minute." she checked her long flannel pajama bottoms and baggy sweatshirt and decided she was decent enough. she opened the door.

"how's it going?" j.l. strode inside, his arms loaded down with a pizza box and a plastic bag of food. he set it all on the table by the window. "come on, let's party."

she shut the door and locked it. "what's there to party about?"

he reached inside the bag, grabbed a diet cola and passed it to her. "we're still alive. that's something."

she unscrewed the top off the bottle. "i suppose."

"yeah. could be worse." he opened a cola and drank a few gulps. "we could be dead."

"or undead," she muttered, and sat in one of the two chairs that flanked the table.

"and guess what?" j.l. opened the pizza box. "harrison drove all the way back to kansas city, so we don't have to share our food with him. isn't that a lucky break?"

"what's he doing in kansas city?"

j.l. selected a pizza slice, then sat in the other chair to eat. "barker called him at his home, and he doesn't even remember coming here. he knows nothing about this assignment. isn't that weird?"

olivia sipped from her bottle. "how did that happen?"

"the vampires zapped him with some mind control." j.l. took a big bite of pizza.

she frowned, recalling how frustrating it had felt when whelan had controlled her mind. "what about the guy from the cia? he tried to control my mind and make me leave."

j.l. nodded with his mouth full. "the cia guys are members of the stake-out team. robby told us about them. they have psychic power so they can resist vampire mind control."

"when did robby tell you that?"

"while we were walking to the car." j.l. took another bite. "you were unconscious at the time. robby was carrying you."

she winced. she couldn't believe she'd fainted like that. she never fainted. but then she didn't usually spend her evenings surrounded by dead bodies while she discovered her boyfriend was a vampire and her boss was a dog.

she took another drink. "where is barker?"

"he's in his room. he didn't think you were up to seeing him just yet."

she sighed. "it's so strange. i had no idea. i mean his name is a major clue, but people can be named wood without it meaning they can shift into a two by four."

"yeah." j.l. stuffed more pizza in his mouth. "but it does explain a few things."

"like what? his special fondness for fire hydrants?"

j.l. snickered. "no. i mean he never questioned your abilities. when the other guys in the office thought you were crazy or a sham, he believed in you. in fact, he requested you."

"really? i never knew that."

j.l. nodded. "he already knew weird-assed crap was for real."

she plucked an olive off the pizza and popped it in her mouth. "you believed me from the beginning."

"well, sure, but i'm a really smart guy."

she smiled. "yes, you are."

her cell phone rang and she flinched. was it robby? she stared at the phone. she'd left it on the bedside table between the two double beds.

j.l. rose to his feet. "you want me to get that?"

"not really." the phone rang again.

"what if it's robby?" j.l. walked over to her phone.

"i don't want to talk to him."

"because he's a vampire?"

"yes."

"oh, come on, liv. nobody's perfect."

"i'm not expecting perfection. i just think a heartbeat would be nice." the phone rang again.

j.l. frowned at her. "it really could be worse, you know. he could be like a...zombie who eats your brains."

she grimaced. "that's not helping."

j.l. opened her phone. "hello? oh, hi, robby." he gave olivia a pointed look. "so what's up? are you out biting people?"

there was a pause, then j.l. covered the phone. "he says he drinks synthetic blood from a bottle, the kind they make at romatech."

romatech. she snorted. that would be a favorite place for vampires to hang out.

"okay," j.l. said into the phone, then looked at her. "he says he wants to talk to you."

she shook her head. "i don't want to talk to him. not yet. maybe after a few days. or weeks."

j.l. sighed. "sorry, dude. she's not ready to talk to you yet."

robby suddenly appeared in the room. "she'll get over it."

olivia jumped and spilled diet cola down her sweatshirt. "damn!"

"whoa!" j.l. snapped the phone shut. "dude, what a way to make an entrance."

olivia set her bottle on the table. "i'm not ready for this. i assume you can leave the same way you came in?"

robby frowned at her. "we need to talk."

j.l. put her phone back on the bedside table. "i guess i should leave you two alone."

"no!" olivia jumped to her feet. "don't leave me."

robby stiffened. "do ye think i would harm you, lass? have ye forgotten how much i love you?"

"i remember." she crossed her arms over her damp shirt. "i also remember talking to you for months, and you never told me the truth about yourself."

"i was going to tell you tomorrow night."

"that's a little late, don't you think? you should have told me before taking me to bed!"

he stepped toward her. "i hesitated, remember? ye thought it was because i dinna want you, but it was because i knew ye deserved the truth first. but ye wouldna wait! ye forced my hand."

she snorted. "i forced you to have sex with me?"

"i'm seriously outta here." j.l. grabbed the pizza box. "you don't mind if i take this, right? barker wanted a few slices, and i'm guessing you're not into it."

"ye can take it," robby muttered.

j.l. glanced at olivia. "if you need me, call."

"fine." she plopped down in her chair and scowled at the worn carpet.

the door shut, and she was alone with robby. anger simmered deep inside her, along with hurt.

he sat on the bed across from her. "i realize ye're in shock."

"i think i'm over the shock and denial stage."

"that's good."

she glared at him. "and i'm rapidly moving into the royally pissed stage."

he winced. "how long does that one last?"

"as long as i want it to." she stood and paced across the room. "you should have told me. you know how much i value honesty. you should have been honest with me from the beginning."

he turned in his sitting position to face her. "be honest with yerself, olivia. if i had told you the truth up front, ye would have refused to see me again."

"we talked for months and you never told me. you purposely deceived me."

"i fell in love with you. that was no' a deception."

she didn't want to talk about love. it had happened so quickly on patmos, as if it were magical. she'd thought she was falling for the perfect man, but now she realized she didn't even know him. "who - what are you exactly? are you dead or alive or something in between?"

"i'm alive right now. my heart is pumping blood. my mind is thinking how beautiful ye are. my eyes have noticed ye're no' wearing a bra."

she crossed her arms and winced at the feel of her damp, sticky sweatshirt. "and during the day, when you never call or e-mail, are you sleeping or unconscious?"

"i'm dead."

she gave him a dubious look. "seriously...dead?"

"aye." he nodded slowly. "'tis a major drawback to my condition."

"i should say so."

"when i doona respond to yer messages during the day, 'tis no' because i'm being rude or neglecting you."

"right. you're not emotionally unavailable. you're just dead." she rubbed her brow. "is that supposed to make me feel better?"

he frowned. "'tis no' all bad, being a vampire. we have some excellent perks. a prolonged life - "

"how old are you?" she interrupted.

"i was born in 1719."

her knees buckled and she sat on the other bed. he was almost three hundred years old. he didn't age. and she did. this was terrible. "what other...perks?"

"i have superior strength and speed. heightened senses. i can levitate, teleport, or use mind control."

she stiffened as her anger flared back to life. "some of your friends used mind control to make harrison and the sheriff leave."

"aye."

"harrison drove all the way home, and he has no memory of ever coming here."

robby nodded. "we can erase memories if we need to."

her anger escalated to a boil. "so you manipulate us mere mortals whenever you feel like it?"