Since plans to leave that morning vanished in a puff of gasoline-scented smoke, Jordyn asked Corbin if she could have a tour of his house—since she was now in the know. Unsurprisingly, he was happy to oblige and asked Autumn if she wanted to come, too. Autumn passed, telling him that she had to get everything packed and ready for tomorrow. After they left, Autumn finished cleaning the kitchen and went upstairs to tidy up.

How in two weeks had her life changed so much? she wondered as she cleaned hair out of Jordyn's bathroom sink. She had money to put towards her bakery, got an amazing boyfriend, and found out that vampires existed. Guess working hard does pay off, she mused, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. Huh. Take that, Mom and Dad.

As she dragged suitcases to the top of the stairs, Autumn paused. What was that bundle of cloth doing sitting on the sofa? She hoped that Corbin hadn't dropped off an extravagant present or Jordyn weaseled her way into getting something from his house.

Putting one hand on the banister, Autumn started walking down the stairs. Wait. She stopped mid-way and stared at the bundle. Beneath the layers of crimson and gold cloth was a person-shaped object.

Icy suspicion trickled down her back as she carefully made her way to the bottom. "Hello?" she called out tentatively, reaching for a slim vase on a nearby table.

And that goddamn bundle of cloth moved.

A high-pitched shriek left Autumn's throat as the bundle began to unfold itself, revealing gold-embroidered sleeves and a pair of little gold shoes. Shoes that were no bigger than a child's.

On pure reflex, Autumn threw the vase. It sailed through the air and hit an ornate mask in the shape of a ram, shattering on contact.

"Well," a soft, genderless voice announced, sounding rather surprised.

Mind blanked by fear, Autumn shoved the table onto the ground and bolted for the door. A pair of tiny, grey hands emerged from the voluminous sleeves and lifted in a "stop" motion.

An invisible force caught Autumn mid-stride, suspending her in the air. Sweat broke out all over her body and her heart hammered so hard against her ribs, she was convinced she was going to have a heart attack. If it wasn't death by an evil vampire, it was by aliens. The goddamn greys were real, too.

"This way, this way," the alien baby said.

The invisible force spun Autumn around and tugged her right back into the living room.

"Sit, please."

Autumn thumped onto the opposite couch and sat there, fingers digging into the fabric. God, she felt sick.

The alien baby folded itself up like a praying mantis; something ancient and unworldly studied her from behind the mask's eyeholes. Autumn gulped back bile and stared into the shadows surrounding the mask. There were eyes back there—red eyes—ones that were far too large for a human face. The hood of its cloak artfully covered everything else; no matter where she looked, she couldn't get a sense of how its head was shaped.

Then there was the ram mask, which was embellished with gold and lapis lazuli, diamonds and rubies; it looked as if the alien had yanked it off of a mummy. Big, curling horns sprang from the mask's brow and disappeared into the black depths of the hood.

Autumn licked her lips. "Corbin will kill you when he finds you here," she told it, feeling bold.

The alien baby hummed, rocking slightly back and forth. "I think not," the voice that was neither male nor female countered mildly. "I am his master."

Autumn froze. Corbin had mentioned the masters earlier. A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Are you here to wipe our minds?" she whispered, voice shaking. Not now—not when she had finally found some modicum of happiness.

"Is there a reason for me to do so?"

Those too-large eyes were unnerving, but Autumn forced herself to look into them. "Is ... there?"

"If the complaint of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia is to believed, there is."

Grand Duchess ... Holy shit, the Russian woman was Anastasia! The princess who died defending her family from the mad priest Rasputin. Of everything she learned in school, that was one of the few tidbits that stuck with her.

Autumn swallowed and tried to pry her nails out of the couch. "What is the complaint?" Autumn forced herself to sound calm, while her nerves were screaming at her to beat the crap out of that alien vampire baby with a baseball bat.

The shrouded head turned towards the kitchen. "You bake, do you not?" they asked.

I ... bake? Autumn blinked, sideswiped by the change of topic. "Y-yes, but what does that have to do—"

Tiny gold shoes reemerged and the vampire master hopped to the ground. As they got off the couch, Autumn caught a glimpse of smooth, grey skin and a pair of legs that were thinner than her wrist.

"What is your best dessert?" they asked as they made their way to the kitchen island.

Autumn stared. "I ... uh ... Everything was eaten at the party, but I can make you something. It'll take a while, though." Long enough for Corbin to get back, she hoped.

To her surprise, the master climbed onto a stool like a toddler and sat there, their skinny, toothpick-like legs swinging back and forth.

Unwilling to get frozen in place again, Autumn carefully made her way around the kitchen island. "Do you ... like cinnamon rolls? They're Corbin's favorite." Maybe that would curry favor with the master.

The gold ram mask tilted slightly. "Please."

There wasn't that much left in the fridge, but Autumn managed to cobble enough ingredients together to make a couple of tiny cinnamon rolls.

"Do you ... uh ... have a name?" she asked, trying not to slop batter on the countertop.

Another hum emerged from behind the mask. "When I was human, I was known as the architect Imhotep."

Holy shit, Autumn realized. They hadn't made a mask that looked like it was ancient Egyptian—it was ancient Egyptian.

"I read the questions in your eyes, so I shall answer them. Those of us who are masters realized a long time ago that the final barrier to knowledge was our humanity. Anything that could be sacrificed was done so to fully embrace the songs of the universe. We neither hunger nor thirst, we care not for pleasures of the flesh, and our appearances do not dictate our status in life."

Autumn realized that her mouth was open and she made an effort to shut it. She was talking to an ancient Egyptian vampire—a shriveled little alien baby of a vampire. A creature who had literally stripped everything that was human from its body in the pursuit of knowledge. Could the last twenty-four hours get even weirder? "Will ... Corbin look like you ...?" She didn't even want to consider the thought.

"In a thousand years? In five thousand? Not unless he chooses to free himself of his humanity. But, I see that he has quite firmly chained himself to that."

Autumn stared at the big red eyes that regarded her unblinking behind the ram's mask.

"So, why are you here?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"To study, to learn. What else is there?"

Well, that wasn't what I was asking, she thought but kept her mouth shut and continued working on the rolls.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Oh, you said you don't drink," Autumn corrected hastily. If that was the case, why were they asking for cinnamon rolls?

"There is no biological need for me to drink, but I would like a glass of milk should you have one."

Leaving the dough on the counter, Autumn went to fetch the alien vampire baby a glass of milk. And wouldn't luck be on her side—she also found a straw! Thank God; she didn't know if she could take it if the thing took off that mask.

Sticking the straw in the glass, Autumn passed it to Imhotep. Two tiny grey hands reached out and drew the milk towards it, maneuvering the straw beneath the ram's muzzle.

In the forty-five minutes that it took for the rolls to be done, Corbin and Jordyn remained at the house. Imhotep told her she could continue her preparations and remained sitting at the counter, swinging their little legs back and forth like a child and staring at the rolls through the oven window.

When she got back, the milk was only half gone.

"Careful, these are hot," she cautioned, pulling the rolls out and layering icing on top. Putting all four tiny rolls on a plate, she slid them over to the ancient Egyptian. "I'm sorry they don't have blood in them," she added. "I used that all up for Corbin's party."

"No worries." One hand reached for a roll while another carefully lifted the muzzle of the ram mask up and away from what Autumn suspected was their mouth.

Shuddering, Autumn looked away, ostensibly to wipe the counter. When she looked back, all four were gone.

The ram's mask tilted slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality, Autumn Milford. These were quite delicious. I can see why Corbin is taken with you. I shall be on my way."

"But—what about the complaint?"

"What complaint?" They lifted one toothpick arm to touch a spot between the mask's eyeholes.

"The—" Autumn blinked. She looked down at the living room from the staircase and shook her head. There wasn't anything there. Just a trick of shadows and light. Well, hopefully, Corbin and Jordyn came back soon. She wasn't going to do all of this packing by herself. There was still Jordyn's gaming set-up to be put away—even though Autumn asked her to do that last night. Well, in any case, it was a good thing that the kid had been gaming.

Shaking her head, Autumn climbed back up to get the suitcases.

-------------

Corbin and Jordyn returned an hour later, the latter carrying a large stack of books. Autumn met them at the door, arms folded across her chest. "What did you give her?" she asked, shaking her head in wry amusement.

"Borrowing, not giving," Corbin corrected. "Some of these are three hundred years old."

Autumn stared at him as Jordyn hustled into the cottage. "You're lending her three-hundred-year-old books?"

He shrugged and put an arm around her shoulder, drawing her into the house. "They're art books, not first editions of classic literature," he reassured Autumn. "Show her what else you have, Jordyn," Corbin called out.

Jordyn dumped the books on the coffee table and grabbed the topmost volume. She raced over and thrust it at her mother. "Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

"Now that is a first edition," Corbin said with a smile.

Autumn picked up the book and turned it gently around in her hands. "Are you trying to tell me that my cooking needs improvement?" she asked with a mock glare.

He laughed. "It's the only cookbook I have in my collection."

"Thank you," she told him sincerely. "I'll have to try some of these out." Flipping the pages, she stopped on one at random. "Hey, Jor, how does 'Chicken Livers à la Française' sound?"

"I'd rather eat blood," the teen retorted, pulling a face.

Autumn smiled. "Go take those books and pack them away nicely. Then take down your gaming gear. We're leaving early tomorrow morning."

Jordyn rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom." Grabbing the books, the teenager went upstairs.

Once she was gone, Autumn looked up at Corbin. "Thank you again for this," she said, lifting the cookbook. "And this—all of this." She gestured around the cottage. Her little rental was going to feel so small after this.

Corbin cocked his head. "That sounds suspiciously like a goodbye."

Autumn's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh, God—no. No, of course not." She paused and sighed. "I don't have any experience in this area, I'm sorry."

Corbin smiled and kissed her forehead. "We'll learn together, right?"

"Right," she agreed, relieved.

He straightened and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So, I was thinking that we start off with me coming down once a week and see how that goes. Are you all right with that?"

"That works." After the whirlwind that was these past two weeks, she could use something slow. "Are Sundays good?"

He winked. "I am completely free."

Autumn laughed. "I'll bet you are."

Corbin leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I'm also free tonight if you are."

Flushing, Autumn reached up and drew his face down to hers. "Let's just remember to lock the door."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

For the first time in Autumn's life, it felt as if the stars had aligned: She had a smart, well-adjusted kid, the promise of a bakery all her own, and an amazing boyfriend—who just so happened to be a vampire.

Oh, well. She could deal with a little blood now and then.

Closing her eyes, she let Corbin's kiss draw away her worries and fill her future with possibilities.