Chapter 4

Midnight

After a quick scenting of her neck at the courthouse and a meeting in the judges chambers, Beth had her signed court orders. She really hoped these guys didn't also work for the humans because everything looked perfect.

At midnight she was sitting in her apartment and waiting on her pain medication to kick in. She ignored the eight new messages that blinked at her from her answering machine. The pain in her head was only going to get worse with time, Beth knew that, but she hoped modern medicine could keep her going a while longer. The fact she had cancer didn't really matter now; her fate was sealed. She knew what most of those messages said anyway: they'd found a doctor who'd see her at Mayo Clinic or Sloan Kettering or some other specialty hospital, experimental treatments for advanced disease, how she needed to pick up her CT and MRI films and take them with her to see these specialists that maybe could buy her time, but not the functional time she needed. Sometimes the treatment really was worse than the disease. Josh had died just before the biopsy results came back. At least he would have wanted to stay with her. But Josh was gone, and Mick was out of reach. Even by the most optimistic estimates she had a month at most left able to work, and suddenly chasing after celebrities and crooked public servants no longer held any appeal for her.

Feeling her time ticking away motivated her to do what she could for someone she could actually help, a young woman very much like her who was in love with a vampire, but unlike her, she was loved in return by a man not afraid to claim her for eternity. Josef had found a way to be with a human, and hadn't cowered behind some desire to protect her from what he really was. Why she got lost along the way, Beth could only speculate, but she hoped that there was a way to bring her back. She was sure now, more than ever, that she needed to get the compound from Coraline that could reverse the vampirism, and give them a chance to figure out what went wrong and correct it before the effects wore off. Following Morgan around last month while trying to prove she really was Coraline had yielded more than proof, it had given her the location of Coraline's safe deposit box, and a search of her home had given Beth the key. For all she had tried to take away from Beth, Coraline had at least given her something positive, hope that another could live happily ever after. Not a bad way to spend the last few months of your life, really, even if she were living vicariously through another. Someone should have a happy ending with the vampire they love.

Beth was tired, but there was no time now to sleep. She'd sleep when she was dead. Her cell phone rang again; it was Mick, for the third or fourth time since she'd gotten home. Beth turned the phone over and removed the battery and threw them both in the trash can. If he'd had a solution, or a desire to throw caution to the wind and be with her anyway, he'd have been knocking on the door to her apartment. For anything less she wasn't ready to talk to him.

She unplugged the phone and answering machine and threw those in the trash too, followed by all the pictures of her and Josh, and even the old picture of Mick that she'd cut out of the book written by that serial killer. Beth filled a small suitcase with some clean clothes, toiletries, her valuable jewelry (including the engagement ring from Josh), her vitamins, iron pills, and the pain meds. She glanced around her apartment. Everything else had to be left, but she knew she would not really miss anything from here. It all reminded her of Josh, and of Mick, two people that she could no longer afford to have any remorse over if she was going to get this done.

She packed up most of the things she didn't want a stranger to see and planned to take them to the dumpster in the morning. She paid off the bills she owed currently by phone or online, and made plans to have her utilities turned off or sent to her landlord. After thinking she would try to eat something and going to the kitchen, Beth saw the remains of the meal she had fixed for Mick and lost her appetite. She set her alarm for four hours and tried to sleep.

She dreamed about Mick, about what should have happened that night if he had stayed with her. In her dream she still felt the warm caress of his lips on hers, his hands unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the floor. She started to unbutton his shirt but Mick could not wait and pulled it over his head quickly, revealing the firm expanse of his chest. Beth felt the warmth of his skin, the hardness of the muscles beneath, and the strength of his arms as they encircled her. He picked her up easily and carried her to her bedroom, laying her down upon the soft sheets as he climbed up her body with a look in his eye that was all about love and lust and held no hint of doubt.

Mick's mouth descended upon hers again, more demanding this time. He stared at her as a dying man lost in the desert stares at a fountain of cool water, as if he wanted nothing more than to fully immerse himself within her. Beth knew he soon would, and she moaned his name.

"Do you want me, Beth? Tell me. I want to hear you say it." His teeth on her earlobe teased her while his hands moved to more intimate places.

"I want you, Mick, please." Just as his hand brought her closer to the brink his fangs sank into her throat and a wave of pleasure like none she had ever felt washed over her.

A horrible noise shattered the dream into a thousand pieces. It took Beth a moment to figure out what was causing it, really longer than it should have taken, but finally she turned off the alarm and added the clock to the trash can. It would be dawn soon, time to go back to Logan's for the first identity and to tidy up the loose ends so she could leave L.A. for good.