him to be up. I wasn’t disappointed. After four rings, I heard the vampire’s voice say, “You know the drill. If I know you, leave a message. If I don’t, hang up now ’cause I won’t call you back anyway.”

I blinked. That was different. Yes, Paul has a sense of humor, but in his speech he’s usually precise and even slightly old fashioned. That message was a departure.

Just then Paul’s voice came on the line. I could hear the smile in it. “Well, were you going to leave a message or just make me guess it was you?”

“Uh, sorry. You mean you were there the whole time, just waiting through the message.”

“Yes. It’s not what you expected, was it?”

“Not exactly, no. But I kind of like it.”

<...

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