She felt his presence again. It was the same figure she’d witnessed in her room with her before. The look and the few details she could pick out in him were all the same and again she experienced no fear. She felt soothed and comforted just by his being there and it was a wonderful change for her. She allowed herself to surrender to it a little more this time and all her prior worries and concerns were soon washed away. Suddenly his touch was upon her. She cringed slightly at first but it was so gentle, her body was convinced it would be missing out if she were to fight it. The stranger moved in closer. He had the most tender, most endearing smile Sarah had ever seen. Her fingers raised to delicately trace over his firm jaw and outline his mouth, seeking to identify him in the only way she could and he lovingly pressed a kiss against her fingertips. She felt herself smile back in response; much against her own will and his head lowered seeking out her mouth. He came so close then paused, almost as if asking her permission. She could feel his gaze wandering over her face, taking in every detail, committing it to memory. She didn’t move. She didn’t breathe. She wasn’t sure she could do anything at that moment but stare into the eyes she couldn’t really see. His breath played across her lips as he just barely brushed his mouth over hers, simply allowing the warmth they shared between them to entice her. It made her long for so much more and she felt as if her body were betraying her.

It frightened Sarah to realize if the stranger desired her in that way, he probably could have taken her right then. He had full control and he knew it, but he didn’t appear to wish to abuse the power he possessed over her. He wasn’t there to cause her harm. The soft words he was whispering against her ear told her so. He simply needed to be with her and only her and she believed him. There was so much passion in the words, the heat of them burnt her flesh and a small groan came to her lips. His kiss took the sting away almost instantly.

The next moment Sarah found herself sitting bolt upright in bed with her heart racing and her breath coming in short gasps. It was as if the stranger had stolen it from her. She ran for the light switch and scanned the room. Nothing. Like last time, and the fear flooded through her when she realized she still didn’t know any more about him than before. She still didn’t even know if he actually existed or not. That couldn’t have been a dream. It simply couldn’t have. It was too real.

Sarah hesitated, not really wanting to wake Nick. It was 4:30 in the morning. He’d probably only gotten in a little while ago. Perhaps it could wait until later. No, she couldn’t put this off. She needed to speak to him now. About this and a few other things as well. She had tried to deny it, but everything those two female vampires had told her was haunting her thoughts. Had been all night and it was only the seductive stranger who’d been able to release her from their grip for a little while during the time he was with her. Sarah knew most of what they’d told her was probably lies. They were toying with her. Possibly jealous of her. They knew she and Nick were close. A vampire usually was with anyone they brought over. It was especially so when they were of the opposite sex. The worst part was wondering which things they said weren’t lies. Sarah already suspected, but she needed to hear it from him. She really needed that right now.

She stopped at his door and knocked softly, unwilling to plow right in and chance finding Nick in the arms of Tessa or some other female. For some reason, the possibility of it had never even entered her mind before. She hated them right then for planting that seed of suspicion within her. They had gotten to her whether she wanted to accept it or not.

There was no answer and Sarah took the initiative and entered. A few thin streams of light were just beginning to filter in, but she didn’t need it. She knew her way around the room now even if she’d been blindfolded. She found Nick in bed sleeping--alone, thankfully. She took her place on the edge of the mattress and slowly maneuvered him unto his back. He didn’t wake. She swore that cannon fire could have been going on around him and he’d have never known it. She had no idea they slept so deeply. Maybe that’s why vampires always looked so well rested.

"Nick," she whispered. "I hate to do this to you but I need to talk to you right now."

"Ugh, not again? Can’t we talk when I’m something slightly more than comatose?" he complained attempting to pull the pillow over his head.

"This is important, Nick. It really is. Remember when you told me that the other vampires wouldn’t touch me if I had that mark you made? Well, I need to know what happens to a vampire who makes the attempt."

"He is electrocuted instantly by fifty thousand volts of electricity moving through his body," came the muffled response from beneath the pillow. "Now goodnight...good day...whatever." Sarah didn’t see the humor in it and her silence gave away the seriousness of the situation to him.

She watched the pillow slowly move away and Nick’s deep blue eyes captured hers leaving her no chance to evade his next question. "Who was it?" he asked sitting up, his voice filled with nothing but possessive concern suddenly.

"I don’t know."

"But you must know who it was. You must have seen…"

"I don’t know, Nick. It’s always dark. He comes to me in my room when I’m sleeping. I don’t know how he’s getting in. I always check to make sure the door is locked at least twice. I thought it was just a dream, but it’s becoming more real each time. He’s getting...bolder. If he is a vampire, I’m afraid he’s going to..." She couldn’t go on and Nick drew her into his arms automatically. "That’s why I needed to know what happens because he’s come to me twice now and he hasn’t been affected."

"The mark doesn’t have any effect on the vampire himself."

Sarah broke from his embrace to face him questioning. "Then what good is it if it doesn’t do anything to him?"

"It lets me know something’s happening so I can do something to him," he stated unflinchingly.

"Oh," she smiled, slightly taken back by his forthrightness. "And you didn’t sense anything earlier tonight or this morning?"

"No. Are you sure it wasn’t just a really realistic dream? Your mind can play some cruel tricks on you. And after all you’ve went through in the past few days, I could understand if..."

"It’s not a dream," she vowed breaking in. "He has this calming effect on me when he’s there. The same way I felt when I looked into your eyes yesterday, but with him it’s even more powerful. I don’t feel as if I have any control where he’s concerned. So far, he’s been gentle. Incredibly so, but I think...I think if he wanted to take my life, there isn’t much I could do about it. I can’t scream, I can’t cry, I can’t even move unless he lets me. I’ve never felt more helpless against someone. I’m not used to this. The vampire’s I’m used to battling are out here in the real world. Not in some dream one where anything is possible."

"Well, nothing’s going to be possible for him tonight because you’re sleeping here with me. Whoever it is wouldn’t risk making a move with another vampire so close."

"But won’t Alex be upset if we stay here together?" she asked anxiously.

"He’ll be even more upset tonight when I begin interrogating every vamp staying under his roof. Here, get in," Nick invited moving over and holding the covers open so she could join him. After the suspicions going through her mind earlier in the night about him, this didn’t feel right, but Sarah was afraid of the strange vampire in her dreams more so than of the real one who’d be lying beside her.

She turned on her side and Nick’s arms folded around her body, drawing it up close to him. She couldn’t say she didn’t feel just a little more secure for it and her hands slipped down his arms to settle over his resting against her stomach. The bothersome thoughts came back and she found she had to air them no matter how big a can of worms she knew she’d be opening up.

"Why are you nicknamed Chaos?" Sarah asked, shifting slightly to look over her shoulder to gauge Nick’s reaction.

"Chaos? I haven’t been called that in years," he grinned. "Alex honored me with that title in my wilder days. Who told you about that?" He paused a moment seeming to replay that evening’s events in his mind. "Ah, let me guess...Tessa and Monica right? I knew they were acting strangely tonight. You shouldn’t believe even half of what they say. They both see you as a threat. Every female that comes into this house is to them."

"You and Tess do seem close though," she pointed out trying not to sound jealous or judgmental. She failed on both counts.

"We’ve played around in the past, but it was nothing serious. Tess is secretly in love with Alex. Has been since he brought her across. We all know it and sometimes when they have a fight or she just wants to get his attention, she’ll use Kevin or myself to do it. To make him jealous. All the guys know she’s Alex’s and none of us would risk initiating anything with her, but she lets him believe we have. He’s aware of her game though. The effect only lasts so long before someone else catches his eye and ends up in his bed and then it starts all over again."

"So Alex isn’t exactly the faithful type, uh?"

"Why should he be? In his position, he can have his pick of the females and they line up to be with him. Few vampires are loyal to one another. Unless they find a true mate and that’s rare. Brian and Scott are the only two of our kind I know of that have found that with someone. They’ve been with theirs for decades. Much longer than most human relationships last. In a way, you’re stronger with a mate. You have that bond that connects you so you naturally watch out for one another. On the other hand, you can also be each other’s worst weakness."

Sarah knew the truth of that. She’d seen it up close. A few years back when Angela began focusing more on rallying the slayers together and encouraging them to patrol in larger numbers for safety’s sake, Sarah’s group came upon a vampire couple leaving one of the seedier nightclubs downtown. The slayers had no idea they were mates as Nick had described, but Sarah had noted how they appeared to fight in tandem, always knowing the other’s movements and being able to cover for each other’s vulnerabilities with precision. It was as if they’d trained together for years and for awhile the two vampires were all the four slayers could handle. When the male was finally staked, his partner seemed so profoundly affected, she surrendered the fight and let herself be staked as well. The incident had always haunted Sarah and made her wonder if vampires really were capable of love or devotion or something close to those things.

"That was Scott and Risha," Nick informed out of the blue, his breath ruffling her hair near her ear warmly.

"What?" Sarah asked, his words disrupting her thoughts.

"The couple you were just thinking about. The ones your slayer friends staked...the male was the same Scott I was just talking about." He paused a moment seemingly to try to absorb what had happened to them all over again. "We had just assumed he and Rish had run off together and were living on a beach down in the Florida Keys by now. They were always talking about doing something crazy like that. Just getting out of the city and going off by themselves to some island. I guess you could say it was their dream."

Things grew tense between them for several minutes as Sarah sensed the news was weighing heavily on Nick’s mind and she debated on whether to apologize or not. She’d just been doing her job. Doing what she was chosen to do. She didn’t believe Nick held it against her, but she felt bad about his friends all the same and that he’d had to find out about them this way.

"Do mates have to be vampires?" she asked, longing to change the subject.

"Always. Well..." he began to relent, "I suppose it would be possible for them to be human, but there would be definite disadvantages. The male or female could be at grave risk from other vampires. Jealous past lovers and other enemies might come out of the woodwork and seek out the person and they would be a liability for the vampire. The human is much safer if they become one of us. At least they have a fighting chance."

She continued cautiously knowing she was entering dangerous territory. "Have you ever brought someone across?"

"Why do you ask?"

"It was something Tess and Monica mentioned tonight. They said there was a girl last year..." She felt her partner’s arms tighten around her briefly as if it hurt him to revisit the memory and Sarah was instantly sorry she’d broached the subject. "I didn’t mean to bring up something painful for you, Nick. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I know it’s none of my business."

"There was someone," he interrupted appearing to be willing to fill in the blanks for her so she wouldn’t jump to her own conclusions. "Crystal. She wanted nothing more than to be one of us. Actually she really only wanted to be with me and felt that she had to be like me for it to work. I tried to tell her differently, but she wouldn’t believe. She asked me dozens of times to bring her across and I kept turning her down. She was very persistent. Even Alex was urging me to do it at the end. So I did. But with the final bite, I took too much from her. I couldn’t stop myself once I tasted her and she never regained consciousness. I brought her to the hospital in hopes there was some medical miracle they could perform, but there was nothing. Not even a transfusion was possible. She’d simply lost too much. I wanted to be with her, so at least she wouldn’t die alone in some hospital room surrounded by strangers, but once the sun came up, I couldn’t even give her that." Nick’s look was solemn, more than sad and Sarah ached to comfort him, yet felt unable.

"Have you ever tried again...to bring someone over I mean?" Her voice was hardly a whisper. It was almost as if she couldn’t breathe.

"No. I won’t try again," he vowed, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "That’s why you never have to worry, Sarah. No matter how much you would beg me, I wouldn’t take the chance of that happening with you. My control is better now, but I’m still afraid to trust myself."

"I hope it never comes to that. Knowing everything I do now, I realize more than ever I would never want to be brought across. By anyone. You spend your lives hiding away, carrying out Alex’s orders and taking life to prolong yours. That’s not an existence I admire, much less would wish to share in."

"I’m sorry," Nick apologized, his hold about her loosening significantly as he pulled away. His voice was frighteningly empty suddenly, the hurt being almost tangible.

Sarah turned within his embrace to face him and correct that. "No, that isn’t exactly true. I may hate the lifestyle, but I still want to know you, Nick. I want to be with you." She watched her hands tentatively glide up his chest and she smiled a bit wryly when she faced him again. "It’s ironic, but you’re becoming the best thing that’s ever happened in my life."

"You already are in mine," he insisted, drawing her close and kissing her lips softly. Her arms wrapped about him. Why couldn’t things be this way forever? she mused and allowed him to share the thought as she silently closed her eyes and nestled her face into his warmth. Why did it have to change?