V lad had his work cut out for him.

No doubt about it.

And Elizabeth was nervous as a cat, watching over his shoulder, certain that any second they would be “found out.” Not that she didn’t have some cause for concern, he thought as he slipped through the shadows of the campus, but he was handling everything. Didn’t he always? It irritated the living hell out of him that she, the one whom he adored, couldn’t, or wouldn’t, trust him.

He’d been working on the details for a very long while. It was time she had some faith in him.

Control freak, he thought as he felt the shift in the atmosphere, the calmness of the night slipping away with a gust of wind. Wispy clouds rolled over the moon, becoming thicker and moving more quickly as the minutes passed. The promise of a storm was heavy in the air, and it sent his blood singing through his veins.

He crept close to Adam’s Hall, hiding in the shrubbery as he made his way to the chapel. As he slipped quietly through the night-soaked umbra, he thought of Kristi Bentz…beautiful, frightened, supple Kristi…she’d had just a little taste of what was to come. He licked his lips at the thought of her blood, how sweet she would taste, and couldn’t help imagining what he would do to her. The images in his mind caused an immediate response between his legs and he had to tamp down the lust that boiled through his veins.

But first, there was work to be done.

He couldn’t be distracted.

Afterward he would savor her, all of her…alive and dead.

The storm picked up, gusts chasing across the campus, bending the grass and weeds, threatening rain and more…thunder perhaps. The bells began to chime and clouds swirled over the moon as he slipped into the chapel. Inside, the rush of the wind was muted and row upon row of candles, their tiny flames flickering in the vestibule, greeted him. He smelled their burning scent, noticed the wax turned liquid.

Yes, he thought, padding silently up the stairs that curved off the vestibule, he would take care of everything. As he had since he’d been a child. Elizabeth should calm herself and trust him. Had he not always provided and protected? Though often he’d been in the shadows, had she not been able to rely on him?

Yes, he thought, as he reached the balcony. Yes, he knew that four bodies had been discovered, and it pained him to think that the police were even now touching and cutting into the bodies of those he’d chosen so carefully. Yes, he realized that soon the authorities with their sophisticated equipment, trained detectives, dogs, and determination would eventually find their way here. They could no longer linger.

They had to leave.