Melinda paid with a flick of her wrist and a flash of a credit card—not the kind of credit card that a college professor would have. More like the platinum black-and-silver that a vampire with centuries of capital behind her would casually wield. She caught my stare.

“Does it bother you, that I pay for you?” she asked, after the server had taken the check and card away.

I laughed weakly. “I couldn’t pay for myself! Not here, anyway. I appreciate it. ...