END

Jennie managed to get a flight back to Seoul that night. She spent the time before, during and after the flight wavering between happiness and despair. Lisa loved her. She wasn't just a meal to her. She wasn't dead, didn't sleep in a coffin, and she loved her. All of these were wonderful, marvelous things. But to be with her, she had to be "turned," had to give up her family and friends or would have to ten years down the road. That was not marvelous.

Jennie considered everything. She thought perhaps she could be with her and not turn, but the idea of aging, her body and mind deteriorating while Lisa stayed strong and sharp-minded, was unbearable. She suspected she would stay with her if that was her choice, but the idea of her hands playing over her wrinkled, sagging flesh, and leaning her gray head against her strong, lean shoulder. No, she would never do that to them.

Of course, she could simply have an affair with Lisa, then break it off in ten or twenty years when people started mistaking her for her mother. But she could barely imagine walking away from her willingly now; doing so after loving and sharing her life with her for ten or twenty years would be impossible.

Which meant she had two options: allow her to turn her and give up everyone else she knew and loved in ten or twenty years, or walk away now, while she had the strength. Neither option seemed acceptable. Despite the distance that separated them since she left her hometown and moved to Seoul, she was very close to her family. Her mother and father often came to Seoul to attend plays or to shop, and they stayed with her. And her sisters made several trips a year to Seoul, to visit, shop and just generally hang out with her. They were her family, knew and loved her better than anyone. They had encouraged her dream to write, had thought her intention to be an editor in the city was admirable. They were her support, the foundation of her life. But to have Lisa, she would have to give them up. Or to have them, she'd have to give up Lisa.

Jennie hardly slept that night. In the morning, she showered, dressed and went out to catch the subway to YG. Her mind had been going in circles all night and she had yet to come up with an answer that would allow her to keep both Lisa and her family. It was making her crazy. She was desperate to get away from the concern for a bit, and hoped that some work would take her mind off of it.

Taehyung was in the office when she arrived. It wasn't surprising to Jennie; all of the other editors worked long hours and weekends. Taehyung, however, was terribly surprised to see her.

"I thought you'd be in Jeju right now, playing kissy-face with Lisa," she teased, but there was concern in his eyes as he saw how pale and weary she was. That concern was echoed in his solemn voice when she asked, "Was I wrong, then? Did she really just want to discuss a tour?"

Jennie shook her head and walked past him along the hall to her office. "You weren't wrong. We didn't discuss the tour at all."

"What did you discuss, then?" Taehyung asked, following her.

Jennie set her briefcase on her desk. She stared down at it silently. Then, instead of answering, she asked, "Taehyung, if you could live forever, would you?"

He gave a bark of laughter. "Shit, no! Live forever and have authors chasing me for eternity? Dear God, you'll give me nightmares."

Jennie smiled at the exaggerated horror on his face, but said, "I'm serious, V. Say you didn't have to deal with writers anymore. You could live somewhere else, with someone you love very much. You would have money, love, live forever and never age."

"What's the catch?" she asked with the cynicism she expected.

"The catch would be that, because you didn't age, you would have to give up your family and friends and disappear from their lives forever. To have your one passionate, almost all consuming love, you would eventually have to give up many people you love."

Taehyung whistled softly. "That's a tough one." he thought about it briefly, then said, "Well, I guess it would depend upon how much I loved her. I mean, family are special, but they have family of their own."

Jennie frowned. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Well, couples have kids who grow up, fall in love, move away and have kids and a family life of their own. The original family are still important to them, but their own children become a priority. When push comes to shove, their own family comes first."

"Yes, but"

"Is this character a man or a woman?" Taehyung interrupted. Jennie blinked.

"What?"

"The character? I presume you're fretting over the plot of a book, yes?"

Jennie hesitated, then nodded. She could hardly tell him that it was real life. He’d think her nuts, she'd gone off her cracker. "A woman."

Taehyung nodded. "That makes it easier, then."

"It does?"

"Sure. Women have been faced with this decision down through ages. From medieval times on, they grew up, married and moved away, usually far enough that they didn't see their family ever again," he pointed out. "After all, it wasn't as if they could hop a plane."

"No," Jennie agreed slowly.

"Heck, you even faced a similar choice when you came here to work. You left your family in your hometown."

Jennie frowned. "That's different. They're there if I need them. It isn't like I will never see them again."

"Well, they'll still be there for this character, too. It isn't like they will die when she disappears from their lives. She could probably see them from a distance, keep tabs on them. And if there was an emergency, and she really had to, she could probably approach them in the future. Somehow."

Jennie nodded slowly. She hadn't thought of that. She might not be able to speak to them but"

"Is this a modern book or an historical like her first?" Taehyung asked.

Jennie hesitated. He obviously thought she was concerned about Lisa's latest book. "Modern," she said at last, leaving him her delusion.

"Hmm, that makes it a bit harder," she decided.

"Why?" Jennie asked.

"Well if it was a medieval like her first one, the heroine could move away and still correspond with her family. They would never know she wasn't aging. But nowadays, it would be hard to move somewhere that wasn't a flight away."

That might work, Jennie thought to herself. She smiled at her. "You're pretty good with plot devices, my friend."

"That's why they pay me the big bucks." He gave her a wink.

Jennie laughed. None of them got paid big bucks. They were underpaid, overworked and stressed most of the time. And she had moved all the way from her hometown to do it. They were all insane, she thought with a shake of the head. But they loved books. She picked up her briefcase and headed for the door.

"Where are you going now?" Taehyung asked with interest. she fell into step beside her.

"Home to bed. I need more sleep before I can consider your suggestions properly."

Jennie slept long and hard, mostly because she was sure there was an answer to her problem in what Taehyung had said. If she could just think clearly, she would find it. That belief eased the ache in her heart and gave her some hope for a possible future with Lisa.

It was mid-afternoon when Jennie awoke to the sound of knocking on her door. Stumbling sleepily out of bed, she dragged her fuzzy pink robe and pink bunny slippers on over her flannel bunny nightgown and made her way into the living room.

"Who is it?" she asked through a yawn when she reached the door.

"Dara."

Jennie stiffened, her weariness disappearing in a heartbeat. Lisa's mother? Dear God.

The smile she offered in greeting was a wary one when she opened the door. "Mrs. Manoban. What a surprise."

"I imagine so." Dara's smile was confident and amused. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Jennie stepped out of the way to allow the woman to enter, then closed the door and followed her down the short hall to the tiny living room. "Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea, juice?"

"No, thank you." Dara settled on the couch, her gaze slipping over the manuscript on the coffee table, then to the computer set up on the small dining-room table. "I see you are a writer like Lisa."

Jennie's gaze dropped self-consciously to the first ten chapters of the story she was writing. She'd printed them to edit, then never got the chance.

"It's no wonder the two of you deal well together. You are the same in many ways, but the opposite in others."

Jennie shifted uncomfortably. "Mrs. Manoban"

"I asked you to call me Dara, if I recall," she interrupted calmly.

"Dara," Jennie corrected. "I"

"I came to help you," Lisa's mother interrupted again. "Not to badger or berate you, but to help you make what is probably the hardest decision of your life."

Jennie hesitated, then asked, "Can you? Can you really help me? Lisa is your daughter."

"Yes, she is. But I also had to make this decision myself several hundred years ago. I know how hard it is."

Surprise flickered in Jennie. "You mean, you weren't"

"I was human like you when I met Lisa's father, Jiyong. He was dark and sexy and seemed all-powerful to me at the time. I thought I loved him. I thought he loved me. He didn't. His heart had been given to another long before he chose me to mate."

Jennie sat back, feeling as if she had been punched. She had questioned whether she could give up her family for Lisa, but had never questioned her love for her. Not since admitting it to herself in that hotel bathroom at the conference. But what if she didn't really love her, but was merely dazzled by her charm and powers and her thoughts died when Dara burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, my dear," the woman apologized, covering her mouth for a moment. She explained. "It's just that your thoughts are quite the silliest I have heard in a long time. Dazzled by her charm and powers? You are half repulsed by those powers they frighten you silly. As for her charm, Lisa is my daughter and I love her, but even I must admit she is sadly lacking in charm. The woman was as surly and grouchy as a bear with a burr up her butt until you came into her life."

Jennie was shocked to hear the woman use such modern terms, but she was more concerned with: "You can read my mind?"

Dara nodded.

"But, Lisa said my mind was too strong for her to read. she said"

"She couldn't read your mind," Dara assured her. "You guarded it from her because you were already half in love. You don't bother to guard it from me, however, and I have read your mind and recognized your reluctant respect and love all along. Never doubt your love for her, Jennie. You recognized her true character from her books, and that her off-putting behavior hides a sensitive soul. You have learned much more since meeting her and you do love her despite those special abilities you find so abhorrent."

Jennie was silent for a moment. "But you didn't love your Jiyong."

"No. Not with the kind of love you and Lisa share. Jiyong wasn't as strong as our children have grown to be. He was an essentially weak man, though I loved him as such. By the end, he was like a fifth child rather than the partner and helpmate a husband should be. He didn't seem to have hope I think that's why he turned to drinking from alcoholics and drug addicts and died the way he did." She sighed. Then, shrugging, she said, "But that does not matter. What matters is that, despite that, I have never regretted my decision to cleave to him. I have four wonderful children and two children-in-law from it. I have seen the world change and reshape in ways I never imagined. I have done almost everything I ever wanted, yet every day I come up with more things I want to do."

"But what if I'm not strong enough? What if I turn out to be like Jiyong?"

"You are strong enough," Dara assured her. "I have seen your mind. You, Lisa and all my children you have hope. No matter how bad the situation gets, or how low you feel, there is still one little grain of hope left in your heart, and that makes you strong. It forces you eventually to wipe away the tears, slap a bandage on your wounds, and reenter the fray. You would do well as Lisa's lifemate."

Jennie agreed. But that still left one concern. "My family?"

Dara's expression turned sad. "Yes. Your family. It must seem like we are asking you to give up everything to be with one special woman."

Jennie suddenly held her breath as Dara's words made her recall the psychic: "She is special, your woman. But to be with her you will have to make a choice. You will have to give up all. If you have the courage, everything you ever wanted will be yours. If not"

"We would be your family, Jennie," Dara said softly. "And so long as they lived, you could always have contact with your other family."

"Lisa said that after ten years"

"Yes." Dara interrupted. "After ten or twenty years, Jennie Kim must not be seen by those who know and love her at least not those who are not of our kind. But you could still write to them. They must simply never see that you are not aging. You will have to avoid them and travel, make excuses not to visit or not to attend funerals. It would be easier for Jennie to have an accident and be thought of as dead, but there are other more intricate ways to work things out. Surely Lisa is worth that effort?"

"Thanks," Lisa muttered as Jeongyeon closed the van door on the coffin she and Lisa had just moved out of the basement.

"No problem," Jeongyeon assured her. "I'll store it in my basement until Seulgi can bring herself to part with it. I'll just tell my housekeeper not to bother cleaning down there for a while."

Lisa shoved her hands into her pockets and nodded. She supposed she should invite her sister in for a drink or something, but she really didn't feel like talking much right now. Her mother had come by that morning to see how she was doing. Apparently, Seulgi had mentioned that Jennie had come by. Dara had made her tell her what had happened between them, then had left her to her own devices. She suspected that Jeongyeon's coming by to pick up the coffin had just been an excuse to check on her again, and she fully expected that Seulgi and Mina would find their way to her home sooner or later to check as well. She supposed she should be grateful for the distraction they offered. She had been driving herself nuts pacingher home, waiting for Jennie to make up her mind.

"Well, I should" Jeongyeon paused and glanced up the driveway as a car pulled up. "That's Mom's limo."

"Yeah." Lisa sighed, thinking she would have to put a good face on and pretend that she wasn't slowly going bonkers. On the other hand, she had never bothered putting a good face on things before. Why bother now?

"Hmm. Well, I'd better get going."

Lisa glanced at her sister with surprise. For a moment, she thought Jeongyeon was trying to avoid their mother, but then she glanced toward the limo and saw a brunette getting out of the car.

"Jennie," she breathed. she just stood there as her sister got in her van. The limo backed out of the driveway, leaving Jennie behind; then Jeongyeon's van followed. Still, she and Jennie just stood there, staring at each other. It wasn't until both vehicles were long gone that Jennie moved forward. Lisa found her feet carrying her closer as well.

Meeting halfway, they stood staring into each other's eyes. Then Jennie said, "Can we go inside?"

"Oh." Lisa blinked. Those hadn't been the first words she’d hoped for. But they were better than a kick in the ass. Last time she was there, she hadn't been willing to go into the house. This had to be a good sign. But she was impatient to hear her decision, so she snatched her arm, turned on her heel and rushed her up her sidewalk.

Entering the house, Lisa closed the door behind them with a thud, leaned back against it and ate Jennie up with her eyes. Would she make her the happiest woman on God's earth or the most miserable woman that ever existed? she was hoping for the happy option.

"I love you."

That was a good start, Lisa decided.

"And, yes, I will marry you and spend my life with you."

Lisa started to reach for her, then caught herself. "What about your family?"

"I can't entirely give them up, Lisa," she admitted apologetically. "I love them. But I will stop seeing them and only write them when it becomes obvious I'm not aging."

Lisa pushed herself away from the door and gathered her in her arms. Her solution was wonderful. She kissed her with all the relief, love and gratitude that she was feeling, then swept her up in her arms and ascended the stairs, heading for her bedroom.

"I love you, Jennie. I'll make you happy. You won't regret this," she assured her between kisses on her face.

"I know I won't," she said softly, her arms around her neck. "And we'll make ourselves happy." They were nearly to her room before she cleared her throat and asked, "Umm, Lisa?"

"Yes, love?" she asked as she pushed through the door. She finally saw her room. Any thoughts she'd had that she might sleep in a coffin immediately slid from her mind. There was no doubt in the world that this was Lisa's room. Like the woman herself, it was a masterful mix of black, silver and alabaster. The windows and the bed were covered with black drapes that would block any sunlight from entering.

It wasn't until Lisa had laid her in the center of the bed and come down on top of her that she recalled what she had wanted to ask. Putting her hand toher shoulder to keep her from kissing her, she asked, "Is it going to hurt?"

Lisa paused, her eyebrows raising. "The turning?"

Jennie nodded.

"Well." she frowned. "I'm not sure. I've never turned anyone before." she hesitated, then started to sit up. "I'll call my mother and ask her. She should know."

"No." Sitting up, Jennie huggedher shoulders and pressed her face toher back, then finished, "No. It doesn't matter if it hurts. I'd go through the fires of hell for you."

She felt her back vibrate with a laugh; then she said, "And rob a blood bank and offer yourself up for me to feed on."

She turned on the bed and framed her face with her hands, then added, "And even eventually give up personal contact with your family." she bent her head to press a soft, reverent kiss to her lips. "I am a very lucky woman."

Jennie nodded solemnly. Then her lips curved mischievously and she said, "Let's hope you're still saying that a hundred years from now, when I'm nagging you to take out the garbage and change the baby's diaper."

Lisa chuckled and forced her back on the bed. "It will be my pleasure. Everything with you is a pleasure."

Jennie merely shook her head and pulled her down for a kiss. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that they would never fight, or that the garbage detail would be a pleasure for her, but she felt sure they could weather whatever storms the next few centuries brought. After all, they had hope and so long as they had that, anything was possible.