Leila Marcus, the only one of her famed family left, wasn't new to the world of romance. However, in most cases, when the men found out her name, they turned a cold shoulder in fear. Leila didn't blame them. Her brothers and she had been the best Hunters in all the world… other than D. But with her brothers gone in the mission to kill the vampire Mayerling, she couldn't hunt Vampires solo. It would be insane to think she could. Only dhampirs ever hunted solo. So she needed a new life, and she knew where she could find it. Out of all the men who had asked her to marry them, there was one man who had been willing to marry her after he found out her name. She would see if he still wanted her.

Without her beloved battle-car or her brothers' bus, she did the only thing she could: she walked, and when she hit a town, she was able to get room and board in an inn with her well-known status. The following morning, she was able to get someone to take her as far as Village, a few villages over from the man's. From there, she walked.

She had been caught up in the life of a Vampire Hunter for so long, that she had forgotten what it was like to meander along the road between the villages and look around. Though it was far from safe even during the daytime, she had hunted Vampires, and the creatures that were out during the day went with the living. She wondered what she would do if he refused and decided she would come to that if it happened.

By late afternoon, with a stop for a bath in a stream that crossed the road, she was safely checked into the next inn.

After two more days of this, she was in the town where the man lived. Funny the tricks memory plays, but she could almost have sworn that she and her brothers came through this town only a few days before, when it had really been nearly ten years. The houses still looked the same, though the people were older. People she had last seen as children were now adults.

"Oh my-! It's Miss Leila!" whispered a woman's voice, and Leila found herself staring into the eyes of the man's sister.

"Hello. Would you happen to know where your brother is?" Leila found herself asking.

"Yes. Come this way." The child the woman was holding made a grab for Leila's hair, and Leila caught its little finger. The woman laughed and took the child's arm to wave its hand. "Say hello, little Charles."

"Heyyo!" said Charles.

"Oh. He's adorable." Leila smiled.

"You can hold him, if you like," the woman held him out.

Leila shook her head. "I got hurt on my most recent mission. I'm done with that life now."

The woman looked over in shock. "What do your brothers think-? I'm sorry for bringing them up, but you are the sister of the famous Marcus brothers."

Leila turned away, remembering her embarrassment the last time she had come through this town when the woman and her brother had found out who she was. How little it mattered now. "My brothers died."

"Oh…" The woman turned away. "I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like to stay with us until you decide what you're going to do?"

"If it isn't an inconvenience."

The woman smiled. "No inconvenience at all. I own an inn, and we'd be happy to have you. Jeremy always said to keep a room open for you."

Leila smiled. "Thanks."

"Beth!" yelled a voice from across the street.

"Leila, I'd like you to meet my husband, Ian Holsmer," the woman introduced. "Ian, this is Leila."

"The one Jeremy has a crush on? The Leila Marcus?"

Leila ducked her head.

"Her brothers died. She's going to be living with us for a while," Beth said.

Ian nodded. "Welcome to our home. Now that the formalities are over, I think someone will be wanting to know you're here." He turned towards the house and yelled, "Jeremy! Guess who's here?"

The man who stuck his head out of the house had aged nine years, but when he saw her, the years melted off in a second. "Leila?" he asked.

"Jeremy." She found herself smiling.