much their time together had meant to him, how much he loved him.
His eyes began to close, and it was so cold now. The pain was beginning to fade away, and while it
was a relief, Snod knew it meant he was dying. He shivered, gagging again as more blood gushed into
his mouth.
“Frankie,” Lorenzo whimpered, broken and afraid. “You have to stop. You’re losing too much
blood...”
“No!” Frankie protested, tearful and determined.
Snod could feel himself floating, and all of their voices were becoming harder to hear. He was
sinking down into a cool fog, the agony of his body far away now. He was cold, numb, although he
could distantly feel the thick blood Frankie was still desperately trying to get him to drink.
It was too much, too viscous, and he realized he wasn’t breathing anymore. He should have been
frantic, panicked, but he was surprisingly calm. The darkness was coming for him now, and he wasn’t
afraid. He managed a small prayer for God to watch over his friends and family, giving himself over
to the nothing completely.
His last thoughts were of Frankie; beautiful and sweet Frankie who would finally be free now. The
vampire he loved, the kindest being he had ever met, could go on with his life. Snod wasn’t sure, but
he was pretty confident that he was smiling.
Frankie, I love you...
I love you, too... Obe!
Chapter Twenty-Four
Frankie was right.
Being a vampire was...different.
When Snod first opened his eyes, he didn’t understand what had happened to him. He thought he had
died. But there was Frankie, smiling down at him with bloody tears streaking down his face like
crimson waterfalls.
The blood was glittering so beautifully, and Snod could smell life in it; something ancient and warm
and absolutely breathtaking.
Breath.
He wasn’t breathing.
Huh.
