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  “Yeah but I want you. It’s overwhelming. I can taste it,” he explained, showing his protruding fangs as he spoke.

  “That’s normal too. Why do you think I wouldn’t let myself go with you when you were human?” I kissed his lips but he pulled away.

  “No. I’ll hurt you.” His eyes filled with pain.

  “It’s okay. I want you to,” I whispered as I pulled his face toward mine again and lost myself in his kiss. My hands held the sides of his face and after a few moments of passion, I pushed his face back toward my neck. He kissed me, with closed lips at first, and then a gasp escaped my open mouth as his teeth brushed against my soft flesh. I moaned when I felt the burn, followed by the hypnotizing ecstasy of his drink. The room continued to spin out of control as every horrible thing that had happened lately left me with each swallow of his throat. The burning started in my own throat, barely noticeable at first and then strong enough to make my mind snap back to reality.

  Gently pushing his face away from my neck, I found his lips again, moisture still on my neck as blood escaped before the wound began to close. I kissed the side of his face, all the while pulling his body closer. His breathing echoed in my ears as my mouth found his neck and my teeth sank into his flesh, sweetness flooding my mouth in a frenzy of colors and fire and love and relief, complete and utter rapture. His body relaxed as he melted against me. I drank him in and lost myself in him until my mind warned me to stop. Reluctantly, I released my hold on his neck and kissed his chin before I let my head fall back, exhausted. We lay still for a while, neither of us speaking. His arms finally wrapped around me and a sigh escaped his lips.

  “Wow!” he said and kissed the top of my head. “I had no idea it could feel this way.”

  “I know. Incredible, huh?” I looked at his face. He had a drop of blood on the side of his mouth and I wiped it away with my finger.

  “And yet we’re fully dressed!”

  “Now do you see why I couldn’t let myself go with you before?” I asked looking at his smiling but thoughtful face.

  “I do. I was insecure though and thought you didn’t want me as much as I wanted you. Silly?”

  “Ridiculous!” I answered and got up. “As soon as the stores open, we have to get you some clothes.”

  “Guess so. Fiore will need stuff too,” he answered and turned off the TV we weren’t watching anyway. “I don’t feel thirsty anymore.”

  “You did feed twice,” I explained. “Not much but still.”

  I heard my phone vibrate and went to retrieve it from my bag. Rain pounded against the windows and I knew Christian’s skin and eyes would need minimal protection on his first immortal outing.

  “What is it?” he asked as I opened it and looked at the screen.

  “Looks like a text,” I clicked to open it. “It’s a picture.” I waited for it to load as Christian came to stand at my side. I covered my mouth to restrain a scream.

  “What is it?”

  I couldn’t speak so I turned the phone for him to see. He grabbed it from my hands and scrolled to look at the number. “I don’t understand.”

  It was a picture of Christian, lying on his side, gagged and blindfolded. It looked like he was on a carpeted floor.

  “I need to see Aaron. Now!” I grabbed his hand and ran for the stairs.

  ~ Six ~

  “Aaron! Kalia!” I called as I ran down the stairs pulling Christian along. I heard Fiore’s door open then her footsteps right behind us. Kalia, with paintbrush in hand, and Aaron rushed in from the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” Aaron asked walking into the living room behind us.

  “This.” I held out the phone. Kalia stepped around Aaron to take a look. Fiore put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

  “What is it?” she asked. I looked at her and shrugged.

  “It’s a picture of Christian. It must have been taken when he was captive, but where did it come from?” Aaron asked.

  “There’s a number if you scroll down,” Christian said. Aaron did and shook his head.

  “Do you know the number, Lily?” I took the phone back and looked at the number for the first time. I went through numbers in my head, trying to match it to one I knew. “No. I have no idea. It’s not…” I looked around but they all looked as confused as I felt. “Is it Maia’s?”

  “No,” Kalia said looking at Aaron. He shook his head.

  “Why would she send something like this anyway?” Aaron asked. “Why would she even have this picture? She wasn’t in Ireland.”

  “I don’t know, but who else would’ve done it? Ian’s dead,” Christian answered and grasped my hand tighter. “What are you thinking?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t feel safe here. I don’t think you’re safe here.”

  “What are you saying, Lily?” Aaron grabbed my other hand that still grasped the phone. “It’s over.”

  As much as I wanted to believe it, deep down I knew it was too good to be true. It had been too easy. It had been too fast and I had gotten what I ultimately wanted: Christian. “I hope you’re right, Aaron. Maybe who ever sent this will try again.”

  “No one will let anything happen to you.” Kalia made everything sound so easy I had no choice but to believe her, for now.

  “What are your plans for today?” Aaron asked, also looking a bit more relaxed.

  “Fiore and Christian need clothes,” I said turning toward Fiore.

  “I guess we do. Sounds like fun. I can’t wait to see this town and now I have two tour guides.” She smiled at Christian’s annoyed look. I didn’t think he liked the idea of sharing me with Fiore. Kalia covered her mouth so we wouldn’t see her laughing.

  “Yeah, guess so,” Christian answered and tried to smile but with much effort.

  “Do you want me to go along? I could help,” Kalia asked, hopeful. I knew how much she loved shopping.

  “Sure. If we’re not taking you away from anything,” I added.

  “Not at all. Aaron has some work to do so I was going to putter around the house anyway. I’ll get ready.” She kissed Aaron before going back to the kitchen to wash her brush.

  “I feel funny with all this stuff on my face,” Christian complained as we entered the mall. He kept touching his face and fidgeting with the sunglasses. I explained to him that even though it was overcast, I didn’t want to take any chances when it came to his well-being.

  “Here,” I held out my hand, “I’ll put the glasses in my jacket. Trust me; no one knows you’re wearing make-up.”

  “Then why does everybody keep looking at us?”

  Fiore laughed, tossing her gorgeous dark hair over her shoulder. “They can’t help it. We’re irresistible to the mortals.”

  As we walked down the corridor of the lower level, I did notice that all eyes turned to us as we passed. Christian’s facial expressions changed with each person who passed, but he didn’t say anything. “What’s wrong?” I finally asked.

  He leaned in and whispered, “I can hear everybody’s thoughts. It’s terrible. They don’t shut up even for a second!”

  “You can hear it too, huh?” I asked. Christian nodded. “You’ll learn to control it. You’ll be able to shut it off when you want.”

  “I hope so. It’s enough to drive a person mad!”

  That could be fun!

  “Fiore!” I gave her a sharp look.

  “Oops. I’m kidding. Did you really just stomp your foot?” she said and laughed.

  “Yeah, guess I did. I don’t know where that came from,” I said.

  “It was actually kind of cute,” Fiore teased. Kalia and Christian shook their heads.

  “It was. It was very child-like and adorable,” Christian agreed. Fiore made gagging sounds.

  “Children, please,” Kalia said as she led us around the bend. “Let’s go to Macy’s. We can split up inside. I’ll go with Fiore.”

  Once in the store, Fiore and Kalia headed for the women’s department and Christ
ian and I went to the men’s. We started with shirts and after loading our arms with as many as we could hold, went to find some pants to go with them. We picked some dress pants, though he only wanted jeans, and found the fitting rooms.

  “Why do I have to try any of this on? I only grabbed my size,” Christian asked, overwhelmed by the heaping piles in our arms.

  “I’d like you to at least try the pants on. I don’t know if it’s my imagination but you look taller.” I handed him five pairs to start with and nudged him toward the fitting room. “I’ll wait right here.”

  He took the load from me and obediently went in. I looked around to find the underwear department. After a couple minutes, Christian stood in the doorway with a smirk on his face.

  “High-waters?” he asked, spinning around.

  “Um…yeah. I thought so. I’ll go get more.” I took all the pants with me and waited until I was out of sight to laugh.

  I grabbed each pair two sizes longer and picked out three more I thought would look good on him. When I returned to the fitting room, I called for him but got no answer. I tried mentally but still nothing. I poked my head in the doorway. “Christian? Are you in here?”

  After throwing the clothes on top of the return rack, I walked around the men’s department. Maybe something caught his eye and he went to look while he waited. I passed a few women in the tie department and listened to their thoughts in case one of them had seen him. They hadn’t. I started running through the rest of the store. In the lingerie department, I caught a glimpse of him in a saleswoman’s mind. He was headed out of the store. As I passed the jewelry counter, on my way back into the mall, Kalia and Fiore caught up to me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked in a panic though I had a feeling I knew.

  “He’s following a man. He just passed through here,” Fiore answered and grabbed my arm. “Hurry. He’s hunting!”

  “He’s hunting in the mall?”

  “He sure is. He’s headed toward the escalator,” Kalia said and led the way.

  “What if we don’t get to him in time?” I scanned thoughts as we passed people, hoping I wouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

  “Wait…” Fiore stopped and almost pulled my arm out of its socket. “He stopped. He didn’t get on the escalator.”

  “There he is!” Kalia pointed. He stood by the escalator, eyes on the back of the man he was following.

  “Christian!” I called and pulled out of Fiore’s grip. “What are you doing?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered with a terrified look in his eyes. “I…”

  Kalia and Fiore caught up. Kalia put a comforting hand on his back. “It’s okay. We’re here now.”

  He turned wide eyes to us. I held his hand tightly in mine. “I’m so sorry, Christian. I should’ve known better. It was too soon to bring you here.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Were you following him because you’re thirsty?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know…maybe. I didn’t feel thirsty until I smelled him. He was in the fitting room next to mine.” He looked down at himself and gasped. He still wore the much-too-short, now stolen, pants.

  “We’re leaving. We’ll get you clothes later,” I said and Kalia nodded. She and Fiore could shop for him later.

  “What about these?” He pointed at his legs.

  “Consider yourself a fugitive because we’re stealing those. I’m not taking any chances by taking you back there.” He looked shocked.

  “Trust me, you’ll be stealing much more than pants in the future!” Fiore winked at him.

  I elbowed her in the ribs as we led Christian back out to the car.

  “I’m so sorry, Lily.” He looked at the floor as we walked.

  “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know any better, but, I do. It’s way too soon to have you out in public. You haven’t learned to control your urges yet.”

  Everyone made small talk on the way back home, avoiding the incident with Christian. I was thankful for that. What kind of teacher would I make for him when I hadn’t had one myself when I was new to this life? Ian didn’t bother to teach me about my new talents. He didn’t explain all the changes my body had gone through. But I knew I had to do just that for Christian. I had to teach him everything I knew so that he wouldn’t ever have to wonder. Kalia’s warm smile told me I would not be alone in my efforts to help him acclimate to his new life. She would be there to guide me and fill in the blanks when I could not.

  We found Aaron in the living room watching TV when we entered. I knew by the way he looked at Christian’s pants, and the fact that we had no packages that he knew the shopping trip had not gone well. He smiled at us and kissed Kalia before returning to the sofa.

  “This movie just started if you want to join me,” he said and patted the sofa.

  “Maybe we will,” Kalia said looking at Fiore. She glanced at me.

  “You guys go ahead. We’re going upstairs. If he’s getting clothes, I have to make room for them.” I led Christian to the stairs.

  “What the hell happened to me?” he asked as he closed our bedroom door.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. You were just following your instincts,” I explained.

  “It felt like I had absolutely no control. One minute, I’m trying to take off these ridiculous pants, and then, I’m zipping them back up, my throat is on fire, and I’m walking like a puppy dog behind some man.”

  “Yeah, but you stopped. You didn’t go through with it. You had enough self-control to restrain yourself,” I led him to the bed to sit.

  He shook his head. “Self-control has nothing to do with it. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted his blood.”

  “That is what we do. We are predators. We hunt and humans are our prey. You just have to make sure it’s the right time and the right human,” I explained.

  “That was an awful feeling. I hate the thought that I might have killed that man.” He finally raised his eyes to mine and I could see the pain.

  “But the point is, you didn’t. What made you stop just then?”

  “You did. I heard you coming and it snapped me back. And then, once I heard your voice, I couldn’t remember what I was doing by the escalator.”

  “You still stopped. That’s all that matters.”

  “This time. What if you hadn’t found me? I could’ve killed him in front of everyone!” He looked at his lap again.

  “But you didn’t.” I turned his face to look into his eyes. “I have to teach you to hunt now. It’s time.”

  He sighed. “Is it my only option for survival?”

  “It is, unless you want to live off my blood, or animals, for the rest of eternity.” I laughed to lighten his anxiety, and mine.

  “Yours would be fine with me, but…” He scrunched his nose, “Animals? I didn’t think we could do it as our only source.”

  “We could, I suppose, if we really had to. Their blood does not taste as good and it doesn’t sustain us as long. Unfortunately, you’d have to feed much more often if you were to survive that way.”

  “So, you don’t recommend it then?”

  “Not really. I will teach you all you need to do to kill only criminals. It feels more moral that way,” I explained, hoping it wouldn’t trouble him as much if he knew he was bringing justice to the victims.

  “Then I guess I will be a proper vampire and do things your way.”

  Proper vampire…whatever that means.

  ~ Seven ~

  We walked down the dark street as rain poured down on our heads. The streetlights reflected off the wet pavement and gave off a glowing effect that made the deserted street look almost magical. The wind was still for once and I didn’t have to fight my hair.

  “It’s amazing how comfortable I feel, not one bit cold,” he said as we passed darkened, closed stores.

  “And you always thought I was cold. Remember?”

  He nodded and smiled, remembering what seemed like so long ago
when in reality it was not. We had been through so many trials together that it felt like we had been together for years rather than mere months.

  “Okay. We’re hunting my way,” I explained as we crossed the street. “My way means no innocents ever.”

  “So how do we know?”

  “We listen. Any human who has committed a crime will think about it without realizing. The crime committed will always be in his or her subconscious. Especially when guilt is at play, they never get over it.” It was my theory anyway. “I want you to stay with me at all times and do exactly as I tell you.”

  “You are the expert,” he said and put his arm around me, which caused me to walk crooked.

  The bar we found was to my liking: dark, loud, and full of smoke. He seemed nervous as he looked around the room and focused on each face. I led him to a table near the back of the room, closest to the pool table. As soon as we were seated, the man behind the bar walked over to get our drink orders. Christian looked at me with raised eyebrows.

  “Two gin and tonics, please.” The man nodded and hurried back to the bar. I turned back to Christian. “We can dump those under the table and it won’t be too noticeable.”

  “Oh. No color, I get it,” he looked around again. “How do you ever focus on only one mind?”

  “It takes practice, believe me. Try focusing on just one person for a while,” I coached. He looked at the bartender, concentrating.

  “I can hear everyone else, him too but everyone else. It’s frustrating.”

  “It’s okay. Don’t expect to get it on the first try. No one does.”

  We listened to the room as we pretended to enjoy our drinks. Christian’s eyes gleamed and he licked his lips, obviously thirsty. I followed his gaze and noticed two college aged guys had walked in and were ordering drinks from the bar. I listened to their minds for a moment. “Perfect,” I said and took Christian’s hand.

  “What?” He looked back at the guys.

  “Those two,” I nodded toward them. “See the smiles on their faces? Both of them think they got away with date rape. One planned and it and the other one went along with him.”