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light?”
    “Stop at this one!”
    Kela slammed on the brakes, stopping in the crosswalk. She had no idea where she was going. All she’d wanted to do was get away from that alley. The thought of crawling into bed and hiding beneath the covers was appealing, but dawn was still a few hours away.
    When the light changed, she pressed the accelerator and kept within the speed limit. The adrenaline rush over, Kela’s whole body ached with fatigue. “Where can I drop you?”
    “I think we should stick together. Do you have a place where we can rest?”
    “I have an apartment.” Kela had moved from the suburbs and rented a studio in the city. After she’d quit her job, had begun drawing on the trust fund she’d inherited from her father and had started a new career, vampire hunting.
    Her life was simple and frugal, devoid of pleasure and nothing like the one she’d planned with Roland, but at least it had purpose. “I only sleep there during the day.”
    Ansara placed his hand on her shoulder. Even through her jacket, Kela felt his heat and strength. “I’ll make it safe for us to sleep there tonight,” he said.
    Was it possible? She was exhausted both mentally and physically, the thought of driving until sunrise was sheer misery. When was the last time she’d slept at night?
    “I think the vampires know where I live,” Kela said, recalling the scratches she’d discovered on her front door just last week.
    His warm fingertips grazed the scratch on her cheek and a feeling of calm settled over Kela.
    “I’ll keep you safe,” he said.
    That was good because she wasn’t going home in the dark without him. After weeks of being alone, Kela didn’t give a second thought to staying with Ansara. Right now she needed an ally. She needed someone who didn’t think she’d gone around the bend and someone brave enough to fight vampires.
    Kela drove around until she found a working payphone. She made the call, provided the location of the blonde’s body and disconnected without identifying herself. Knowing that the cops would find the young woman within minutes gave Kela a sense of relief but didn’t lessen her guilt.
    If she’d been able to stop Roland maybe the blonde would be alive. How many others would be alive? God forgive her, Roland’s sins rested on her shoulders.
    Fifteen minutes later she turned off the street, driving down a short ramp. Kela punched the remote control attached to the sun visor and the gate to the parking facility opened. She pulled into her assigned parking spot and killed the engine.
    “I’m on the fifth floor.”
    Kela opened the door and climbed out of the SUV. Ansara followed. They shared the elevator ride in silence.
    She stripped off her gloves and keyed the lock. “Thanks for sticking around.”
    Ansara stepped in behind her. His gaze swept the small space and his brow furrowed.
    “It’s not much, but it’s all I got,” she said, tossing her gloves on the kitchen counter.
    The studio apartment was less than four hundred square feet with a galley kitchen. The kitchen counter was piled with newspapers and empty pizza boxes. In the living room, the sofa bed was open, the covers in disarray. The wall-mounted, flat-screen television was running and the lamps on the end tables were burning bright. Since Kela had taken up vampire hunting, the lights remained on all night and housekeeping had moved to the bottom of her to-do list. Spending night after night searching for Roland combined with fretful sleep during the daylight hours had destroyed any semblance to a normal, happy life and had brought on a slow-grinding mental fatigue.
    Her apartment was a reflection of her life.
    “Sorry about the mess,” she said, taking off her ruined jacket and dropping it on the floor. She was too damn tired to care what Ansara thought about her life. She picked up the remote and turned off the television. “Would you like something to drink or eat?”
    His gaze flicked around the apartment,