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certainly. "Ah, you really are going to my house? You . . ."
But the vampire had looked directly into Bethany's eyes and now she said, "You won't remember
anything about today or this evening except the party."
"Party?" Bethany's voice sounded sluggish. Only mildly curious.
"You went to a party," the vampire said as she led Bethany from the room. "You went to a great party,
and you met a cute guy there. You've been with him." She was still murmuring to Bethany as they went
out. I hoped she was giving her a good memory.
"What?" Stan asked, when the door shut behind the two.
"Bethany thought the club bouncer would know more. She watched him go into the men's room right on
the heels of your friend Farrell and the vampire you didn't know." WhatI didn't know, and hardly liked to
ask Stan, was whether vampires ever had sex with each other. Sex and food were so tied together in the
vampire life system that I couldn't imagine a vampire having sex with someone nonhuman, that is,
someone he couldn't get blood from. Did vampires ever take blood from each other in noncrisis
situations? I knew if a vampire's life was at stake (har de har) another vampire would donate blood to
revive the damaged one, but I had never heard of another situation involving blood exchange. I hardly
liked to ask Stan. Maybe I'd broach the subject with Bill, when we got out of this house.
"What you uncovered in her mind, was that Farrell was at the bar, and that he went into the toilet room
with another vampire, a young male with long blond hair and many tattoos," Stan summarized. "The
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bouncer went into the toilet while the two were in there."
"Correct."
There was a sizeable pause while Stan made up his mind about what to do next. I waited, delighted not
to hear one word of his inner debate. No flashes, no glimpses.
At least such momentary glimpses into a vampire mind were extremely rare. And I'd never had one from
Bill; I hadn't known it was possible for some time after I'd been introduced to the vampiric world. So his
company remained pure pleasure to me. It was possible, for the first time in my life, to have a normal
relationship with a male. Of course, he wasn't alive male, but you couldn't have everything.
As if he knew I'd been thinking of him, I felt Bill's hand on my shoulder. I put my own over it, wishing I
could get up and give him a full-length hug. Not a good idea in front of Stan. Might make him hungry.
"We don't know the vampire who went in with Farrell," Stan said, which seemed a little bit of an answer
after all that thinking. Maybe he'd imagined giving me a longer explanation, but decided I wasn't smart
enough to understand the answer. I would rather be underestimated than overrated any day. Besides,
what real difference did it make? But I filed my question away under facts I needed to know.
"So, who's the bouncer at the Bat's Wing?"
"A man called Re-Bar," Stan said. There was a trace of distaste in the way he said it. "He is a
fang-banger."
So Re-Bar had his dream job. Working with vampires, working for vampires, and being around them
every night. For someone who had gotten fascinated by the undead, Re-Bar had hit a lucky streak.
"What could he do if a vampire got rowdy?" I asked, out of sheer curiosity.
"He was only there for the human drunks. We found that a vampire bouncer tended to overuse his
strength."
I didn't want to think about that too much. "Is Re-Bar here?"
"It will take a short time," Stan said, without consulting anyone in his entourage. He almost certainly had
some kind of mind contact with them. I'd never seen that before, and I was sure Eric couldn't approach
Bill mentally. It must be Stan's special gift.
While we waited, Bill sat down in the chair next to me. He reached over and took my hand. I found it
very comforting, and loved Bill for it. I kept my mind relaxed, trying to maintain energy for the questioning
ahead. But I was beginning to frame some worries, very serious worries, about the situation of the
vampires of Dallas. And I was concerned about the glimpse I'd had of the bar patrons, especially the
man I'd thought I recognized.
"Oh, no," I said sharply, suddenly recalling where I'd seen him.
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