Beth was lying down, just drifting listening to music when Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" came on. Funny thing about American music and poetry. Where did that come from in Cohen's life experience? It was so poignant, so very rich in imagery unlike her more staid English fare. Well, except for the Beatles ... and of course, The Smiths. So very romantic dying together. "There's no place I'd rather be ..."

"Hallelujah" finished and she realized she was all sobbed out, empty, maybe forever devoid of any emotion.

She'd been through the guilt about Josh. His funeral had been today, in the bright morning sunshine of this January day. His parents had allowed her a few private moments with him before closing the casket. Beth looked at his sweet face then the tears fell. She had warned him, hadn't she? She was engagement poison. If so, then marriage to a dead man was completely out of the question, now, wasn't it? Giddy with emotion, that got her almost giggling.

Marshaling herself, Beth had kissed him, said goodbye with many thank yous ... then slipped the ring into the satin cushion under his head. Take this to your grave, my love, forever ... for Trevor ... for Mick ... for me.

A knock on the door echoed through the empty house. Must be that protection detail Carl was insisting upon since Tejada had gone missing two days ago. She could still be in danger. She'd told him no, but the males in her life were all really quite persistent. As was this knocker who kept on banging away.

She was almost there when the door burst open. Mick. She smiled tremulously. He had not been at the funeral. Or had he gone and just not showed himself to her?

"I missed you ... it was a lovely ..." She started to say something more about the funeral service, what the pastor had said about seizing the day.

"Carpe Diem." He nodded but winced.

Oh, he had been there and heard. Why was he in pain? Vampires regenerate. She'd seen it happen before her very eyes. She surveyed him, taking in his battered appearance. Maybe she wasn't so devoid of emotion for she suddenly had hope!

"Are you human?"

He smiled, that sweet smile that melted her heart every time.

"Coraline's gone. It was never meant to be."

"She gave you the cure?"

He smiled again, but a much more tempered one. "The cure is mortal itself. There's apparently a shelf life. And I only had one spoon of it before she ... left."

"How long will it last?"

"I don't know. Maybe six months, a year?"

"What will you do now?"

He looked at her with hunger and she felt the old ignition turn on. "But you're injured."

"You'll just have to be gentle with me."

And she was, exquisitely tender. Beth nursed his body, allowing him to suckle her breasts (with nary a tingle on her wrist!) as he began to feel alive again. They made love, slept, and cooked together. He was ravenous for everything!

She had taken time off from work and debated whether she would just go ahead and quit but hadn't quite gotten around to it when she got the call. The editor of Buzzwire had been murdered and the new ADA was asking for her.

Regretfully, she told him but he surprised her. He said he had to get back to work, too, and that he'd come along.

She guessed the honeymoon was over.