The next day, I awoke to my phone ringing. The Paws to Reflect editor wanted a special issue dedicated to an upcoming public meeting about dog park restrictions after a child had been bitten by a bad-natured sharjackanoodlese (shar-pei, Jack Russell, poodle, and Havanese).

I became caught up in interviewing the yapping factions and wasn’t able to see Ian before he left on one of his mysterious trips.

“I’m quite disappointed,” he said when I called him.

“Gabriel said he’s going to a meeting with the Council about Wilcox Spiggott’s vampire rights movement. Is that where you’re going?”

“Milagro, if you want to know where I’m going, come with me.”

“You’re trying to manipulate me by baiting my curiosity. Promise me that you won’t let those vipers lock up Spiggott. I still have nightmares about their underground lair.”

“No doubt you’re terrified of being forced to attend another tedious meeting there,” he said. “Why are you interested in Spiggott? Attractive young fellow, but insubstantial.”

“How can someone organizing a liberation movement not be substantial? It is by its very nature a serious activity.”

“My meeting shouldn’t take long. If you come, I’ll spend most of my time with you. We can get married all over again.”

“Ha, ha, and ha,” I said. “How’s everything working out with your serfs and your new neighbors?”

“Splendidly. Mrs. K’s cooking is as delectable as promised, and Cricket is especially attentive to me.”

Jealousy embraced me with the excessive enthusiasm of a drunken frat boy. “I bet she is. She’s probably talking to her divorce attorney and ordering new monogrammed linens so she can trade up. Too bad Ford seems to be in love with her.”

“Ah, but we all choose the partner who gives us what we need, not what we think we need, or want to need.”

“While that sounds insightful, it may just be glib, so I’m not going to read anything into it.”

But after we said good-bye, I did think about it.

I’d believed that Oswald was the right person for me, and I wanted to be the right person for him. Our breakup had been engineered by others: Ian’s crafty sister, who’d been assigned as our vampire wedding consultant; the vampires’ Council, who would have preferred me dead; and Oswald’s parents, who detested me. There was also a friend’s bat-shit-crazy jealous ex-girlfriend, who’d mistaken me for a romantic rival.

And there was me, too. When I remembered how I’d betrayed Oswald, I felt sick with shame and remorse. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

three

Once Bitten, Twice Snide