Page 46 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“I couldn’t commit to anything serious. Not with work and my family responsibilities. They took up my time.”

“Yes, responsibilities tend to do that.” Bastian glanced at Whitby, who was still bathing beneath Jesus on the cross. “I took Whitby in five years ago, and the sense of obligation I felt for her was immediate. It stunned even me. She’s a scrappy little thing, but she needs me.”

Bastian drew himself up, remembering the gravity of his present situation. “It’s why I must clear my name. I don’t know what Whitby would do if I wasn’t around anymore. If the Obliterati did their worst and ended my life…I’m not sure Whitby would cope.”

He felt De Luca’s gaze on him, shining in the gloom of the church. He turned to look at him and noted the muscle tensing and untensing in the inspector’s jaw. Perhaps he couldn’t believe that a vampire could be a person, too, rather than a mere set of fangs. Bastian got the impression the inspector had his own preconceptions, and they were being challenged with every second they spent together.

“A shame, though,” Bastian said, “that your life is so consumed by the needs of others. It’s so easy to deny our own needs, but it’s important to indulge in life’s pleasures, no matter how fleetingly.”

De Luca scowled. “Pleasures can be overrated.”

“I think it’s more a case of finding the right person with whom to indulge in them,” Bastian said.

The inspector met his gaze, hovering on him for a moment, and there it was again, that adorably nervous look. That inner conflict wrestling to the surface.

“You look better,” Whitby said. She had hopped onto the pew behind them to appraise Bastian. “Is it time to resume our investigation?”

“Yes, dear,” Bastian said, unfolding his shirtsleeves so that he had something to focus on other than De Luca, whose cheeks had flushed once more. “I think I’m ready to go back out into the sun.”

The cat’s tail thumped against the wooden pew. “The question now, then, is where we go next.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” De Luca said. “Both victims were found by the sea, which could mean the killer has fled each scene not on foot, but by boat.”

“Interesting theory,” Bastian said. “What are you suggesting?”

“The Grotta della Maimuna is a cave beneath the town. It’s accessible only by sea. You can take a boat there directly from the harbor.”

“Sounds like a great hiding place for a killer,” Bastian said.

De Luca nodded. “Agreed.”

“Inspector, it sounds like you’re inviting us on a boat ride,” Bastian said, “in which case, yes, let’s go. I do so love boats.”

De Luca’s eyes flashed at him, and Bastian was certain they contained a smile.

16

Whitby stayed ashore.

“Are you certain you don’t want to join us?” Bastian asked, but she eyed the rowboat with disdain and refused to step aboard, saying she needed time to practice her spells after the success with the scooter.

He was pretty sure she was just scared of the water, but he didn’t call her on it.

“Just remember to apply more sun cream,” she shouted after them as De Luca rowed them out to sea in the wooden, two-man vessel. “I can’t bear any more of that sun sickness rubbish.”

It wasn’t long before Whitby shrank to a speck in the distance. The farther out to sea they sailed, the less Bastian was able to discern her sitting on the beach, even with his vampire sight.

The cat’s sudden absence, so soon after he’d lost her in the streets of Vernazza, caused an ache behind his ribs. He had meant what he told De Luca in the church. Whitby meant a lot to him, and they needed each other. If that was codependency, so be it.

“She’s some character,” De Luca said, and he could only mean the cat.

“She’ll be the death of me,” Bastian joked, still searching the shore.

“Are you worried about her?”

“She’s kind of a stress-monster. And she hasn’t had to look after herself in a long time.”

“I get the sense she can handle herself,” De Luca said. “Even if she pretends otherwise. Was she a stray, before you took her in?”