"…and I can't believe that he finally let it go." Betty chuckled…her shoulders vibrating.

"Well…he was nothing if he wasn't… tenacious…" Henry's smile faded, a spasm passing quickly over his features.

"Henry?" Betty inquired.

He only shook his head. Then he lifted his chin, his head turning to the door.

"Vicki!" he said softly. He continued more loudly… "I believe we are about to have a visitor Betty"

There was an audible curse from outside the door and then a loud pounding as Vicki had apparently eschewed the use of the ornate brass knocker.

"I'll get it" Betty said as she rose from the chair.

Henry extended his senses finding a heartbeat that was achingly familiar. The scent of alcohol underscored Vicki's as Betty opened the door to reveal Vicki in the doorway just as she had raised her fist to pound again.

"Doctor Sagara…Betty, is Henry… home?" Vicki said as she leaned against the door frame.

Henry's heart contracted at the swirling emotions that he could sense from Vicki. Fear and anger tinged the air.

"Victoria, won't you come in." Betty stepped back from the door indicating that they should go to the living room.

"Thanks" she said shortly as she stepped into the entry way.

Henry rose from his seat as she came into view… his older sensibilities still held sway. It was as he remembered her aura usually so golden and fiery was drawn tight about her, dull and tarnished by her fear. Rage roiled beneath the surface of her aura. The predator in him roused, where was the threat?

Vicki visibly stiffened, when she registered his dark eyes and emergent fangs.

"Hey Henry, what's with the Prince of Darkness routine? Vicki quipped.

He started towards her, the fear scent intensified and she thrust her hands into her jacket pockets. Henry slowed when he was still half the room away, aware of the alarming increase in her heart rate. He held his hands out to the sides of his body. "Vicki what's wrong?"

Vicki walked carefully to the window, a move which put the bulk of the sofa between Henry and her.

Betty lifted the tea tray from the table… "I'm just going to clear these things away," she said quietly as she headed towards the kitchen.

"Nothing's wrong," Vicki hedged, as she stood staring out the window. "I just wanted to see you… to make sure you were alright. You disappeared so quickly…last night…" her voice trailed off. Her body language screamed the exact opposite of her words. Henry didn't need his heightened senses to know that 'Nothing's wrong' didn't even begin to cover it.

He couldn't do this… He didn't want to do this now. He wasn't ready… he needed more time.

For her sake he tried, "Vicki last night I needed some time….I just need time…

She whirled towards him hands buried in her pockets…

He was close, so close that dark eyed stranger… was this her Henry? Try as she might she couldn't contain her fear, she had been so afraid that she had lost him to Mendoza and then in that church basement she thought she had lost him to the vampire and now, now she feared she had lost him to….

Henry felt her panic; it beat against him in waves.

"No!" She cried… "You left me… you left me there with Mike bleeding from the neck where you tried to drain him. You left me so that you could… fucking run home to…" she indicated the door where Betty had disappeared with a toss of her head… "Mommy"

Even as the words left her mouth she was wondered if her conscious and subconscious brain were totally disconnected. Where in hell had THAT come from?

In an instant Henry had her by the shoulders. His fangs were bared. He angled his head to the side and his breath chilled the line of her jaw as he all but hissed into her ear.

"How dare you? Betty is my oldest and dearest friend. Yes… I need her, and yes she is here for me. You will not cheapen that with your sarcasm."

He felt Betty tug at their bond… a gentle warning…. "Henry?"

Vicky was afraid… and that drove her to fury. Her own beast roared to life. Soaked in alcohol it lashed out, believing itself invincible.

"What are you going to do Henry?" Vicki thrust out her chin, "You gonna bite me?" Her eyes narrowed as she baited him. Irrationally angry and jealous, instead of drawing back she pushed herself forward bumping against his chest.

She was toe to toe with the predator, challenging. "You gonna bite me? Go ahead; you're really good at that." In her anger she recklessly tossed her head to one side flaunting the length of her throat, even as her heart began to race, hammering in her chest. Her hand clutched tight the golden device in her pocket.

The growl began as a vibration low in his belly. As it increased in volume, it increased in pitch until it was an unearthly urgent whine. There was nothing human about it. He wanted her; he wanted her to understand…. He was balanced on a knife's edge.

Mendoza's voice floated through his mind. "Behold the beast, now do you see?"

Abruptly he released her shoulders, drawing his arms straight away.

She staggered a little as he withdrew.

She drove him to distraction, he loved her, he loved her… and … she was right to fear him. He had warned her he wasn't human, though in this moment, for her… for her he wished he was. She feared him. It was as a knife to the heart. He could only retreat…

Henry spread his arms wide, performing a shallow courtly bow.

His eyes were impassive as he said. "You came to see me, and now you have. Is there something more?"

She turned on her heel and stalked to the door. When she was almost there she suddenly halted, raised her shoulders and then lowered them exhaling loudly. Then she turned to face him her hands balled at her sides.

Her aura blazed about her golden and fiery, magnificent. Henry's heart yearned towards her.

He cocked his head to one side braced for whatever scathing comment she was about to deliver.

What she said… took him down at the knees.

"I wanted you to know that, Mike and I…we saw Delphine" she said evenly.

He staggered sideways then catching himself he said, "Mendoza … he told me… that he killed her"

Vicki nodded and said very softly,

"He did. We found her in chains a few minutes before he had rigged the curtains to fall and let the sunrise in. We didn't know and then it was too late, there was nothing we could do."

Henry's lips moved of their own accord, whispering a prayer for the repose of the dead.

"Réquiem ætérnam dona ei Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat ei. Requiéscat in pace. Amen." *

He raised the cross at his neck to his lips.

Betty came quickly to his elbow.

"Henry," she urged her voice low and soothing, "come and sit down. "

To Vicki she said, "Victoria won't you please let us know the details of what happened."

Betty guided Henry to a seat on the sofa and perched there beside him. She captured one of his hands in both of hers and held it in her lap.

There was bald horror on Henry's face when he turned to Betty and whispered in anguish, "He gave her to the sun. Delphine… my Delphie', he tortured her, starved her and forced a confession from her. Then… he gave her to the sun."

Vicki had sunk into the wingback chair. Henry turned back to her and tears shone in his black eyes though they did not overflow.

"Tell me." he said.

She could not maintain her eye contact with him. Lowering he gaze Vicki cleared her throat. She stared into the middle distance.

She began to speak, haltingly.

"I needed to find you…I thought that Mendoza would…" She gathered her fragmented wits and tried again.

"Mike and I… we were looking for you, we had a lead to a church… where Mendoza had taken a hooker."

Henry's visage evidenced no response to this.

"She said that Mendoza had taken her there and that a woman chained to the ceiling had tried to bite her"

Henry stirred in his seat but didn't interrupt Vicki's narrative.

"It was almost dawn. We broke down the door, and in a basement room we found Delphine hanging in chains. Mike thought she was dead when he couldn't feel her pulse, then she suddenly spoke."

Henry was silent. It was Betty who breathed the question, "What did she say?"

"She begged us to feed her…"

Henry's covered his face with his free hand, as Betty squeezed his other.

"He starved her" he whispered, "She went to the sun… starved!"

"I gave her some of my blood" Vicki said quietly.

"You allowed her to feed?" The hope in Henry's voice cut at Betty's heart. Released from the hold of his territorial instincts…he sought comfort for his childe even in death.

Vicki spoke in a rush, as she remembered… "Mike didn't want me to… but I needed her to tell me what she knew. So I sliced my palm." She turned her bandaged palm upright in her lap, "I let some of my blood run into her mouth. She was asking for more but I told her no… not until she answered my questions."

Betty felt his body tense at her side.

Henry's gaze was penetrating now as frowning he focused on Vicki.

Vicki carried on lost in her memory of the events.

"I asked her where Mendoza was …she said he was …gone. I asked her where you were. She was pretty weak and all she would do was repeat your name and say forgive me."

"Then suddenly the curtains fell from the windows and the sunrise flooded the room."

Vicki fell silent. Looking inwards, she saw again the flames and heard Delphine's screams.

Henry was on his feet towering over her. His voice rose as he asked

"You… You withheld your blood… when you knew… you knew she was starving?"

Vicki started to rise from the chair as Henry continued,

"You gave her a taste of what she needed… to torment her into answering your questions."

Vicki shook her head in negation, "It wasn't like that… I needed to find you…I thought she might know…"

"She had been kidnapped, tortured and starved, Vicki…. She needed your help and instead, you used her."

Revulsion was written loud on Henry's face.

Vicki stuck out her chin… "I told you… I needed the information" she said stubbornly."

"And she needed your blood, Vicki"

"It's… MY… fucking… blood, Henry!!!" she shouted into his face. "You have no right…."

"Tell me, Vicki… if Delphie had been a human woman dying of thirst and hanging in shackles would you have left her hanging? Would you have wet her parched lips with water telling her she could drink… once she had answered your questions? Or would you have shown her the compassion, you denied Delphine?"

Vicki pressed her lips together and shook her head back and forth. "It's not the same and you know it Henry. She wasn't human, she was a starving vampire and she could have killed Mike and me."

Henry shook his head sadly, "Yes," he sighed. "Delphine was a vampire, as am and I. Creatures unworthy of your compassion."

Vicki's mouth opened, but no sound emerged. She heard again Mendoza's words.

"If you care for this creature…"

Betty put her hand on Henry's chest… "Henry, please…" she begged.

"I didn't mean it like that Henry"… Vicki sputtered.

Henrys shoulders sagged. He was unable to fuel the heat of his anger in his grief. He turned away from Betty and went to stand at the window…gazing down onto the cars passing on the street.

"It doesn't matter Vicki," he said hollowly, his eyes never leaving the glass. "You just might be right."

Betty's heart had ached to go to him but she held her peace. She felt a shift in the pattern. This was not hers; she had to let it be.

Henry stood forlornly at the window. His arms were crossed in front of his body protectively; his shoulders were slumped in defeat.

Vicki's anger had drained away as quickly as had Henry's. She felt hollow and cold as the anger that had warmed her fled. She was losing him, she could feel it. She could feel his withdrawal. She was losing him… Before Vicki could talk herself out of it she had risen and crossed the room to him.

Henry stiffened as she put her arms around him. She pressed herself to his back. Vicki laid her head against him and whispered, whether to him or to herself she was not sure.

"Don't go… stay with me."She fought clear of her fear and willed herself to continue. "I'm not afraid of you Henry."

And then said softer still… "I am afraid that I will lose you. I'm afraid I'm not good enough, not strong enough. I'm afraid that I won't be able to hold you."

"When I saw Mendoza drag you away, I thought…I thought…" She swallowed thickly, was silent for a moment and then forged doggedly ahead.

"When I found you …like that…like this …I just don't know if I can be what you need."

"I'm so afraid Henry. I'm afraid to lose you…to blindness, to old age, to another woman…. I don't think that I'm brave enough to face that."

"My only defense against that threat of pain is to hold you distant. I am afraid to love you."

"But then when I thought it was too late… when I thought Mendoza had… then the pain was unbearable. Henry I am so afraid to lose you. "I'm sorry Henry…I'm so sorry."

Henry turned in her arms to face her. He smiled sadly at her.

"Vicki, you are afraid that I will leave you. I promise you I will never leave you. I could never leave you. You are part of me."

"But understand me clearly Vicki. I am vampire. I will not age and I will not die."

"You fear what you think might happen, Vicki, and you resist love out of fear."

"I fear what I know will happen." He continued… "You will leave me Vicky, you will go and I must stay. I may wish it were otherwise, but it is not. I can cleave to you but in the end all of my love will not be enough to keep you and you will die."

He gathered her to him, bending to kiss her lips tenderly. His Vicki…

"I fear the pain that I know is to come." He said with a sigh.

"So what would you have me do Vicki?" "Would you have me take the coward's way and sacrifice love for the avoidance of pain?" Henry shook his head. "That, I cannot do, for that is death and I choose to live."

She looked into the vampires face as his words resonated in her heart.

"No one ever said I was a coward Henry." She said…"But I will need time, will you wait for me?"

"I have nothing but time…Vicki"

* "Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen."