“Or Ramsey. Jesse Smith’s room?”
“Oh. Ohhhh.” Rick nodded, his eyes full of realization. “Yeah. Or you can just Google it.”
“Probably easier. Do you know where the fairytale was from? What culture?”
“No, I don’t. I think maybe Russian or Siberian? Maybe Persian? I’m not a big help.”
“That’s okay. Google will fill in the blanks. Oh. There’s Jesse.”
Rick stared at the man who moved toward them, clad in denim. The dark-haired figure moved like a rangy wolf, just enough slouch in his shoulders and length in his steps to make every stride a deliberately predatory gesture. “Oh. That’s the Snow King, isn’t it?”
Sophie looked at her boyfriend.Morethan her boyfriend. She didn’t know the word for this relationship when it was about love and acceptance and strangeness. He was not her everything, but he was close. Hm. King might be okay. “My King” was actually a Nigerian term of love her mother often used toward her husband. “Yes. That’s the Snow King,” Sophie murmured, a small smile dancing across her lips.
“And there is my Night Queen,” Jesse announced, eyes only for her.
Rick left while they were still kissing, leaning against the frozen metal statue, neither one seeming to mind the cold.
“IT’S A ROMANIAN TALE.” Sophie was perched in Jesse’s bed, sitting in a nest of sweatshirts and pillows.
Jesse made a thoughtful noise. “A king who lives beyond the sun and is always cold. A queen who rules the night and joins him in his icy palace. Babe, this tale is totally about vampires.”
“Really?”
“Pretty sure a lot of ‘fairy tales’ are more real than anyone believes. Then again, they don’t know about people like us, do they?”
Sophie closed her laptop. Jesse’s offhand use of the words “people like us” didn’t annoy her, but it wouldn’t leave her mind.
“What is it?” he asked, shutting his own computer.
Sophie smiled at him. They had added another step to their routine. Jesse really was a business consultant and he spent several hours every morning making calls to London or writing emails to clients in California, and talking to people everywhere in between. She joined him in his work when she had time, taking care of the duties of her new part-time job. It was a job no one else had wanted, but that she regarded as perfection. She was the music department’s student assistant. She was in charge of making photocopies for the orchestra and band, organizing materials for faculty, requisitioning materials from other libraries in the state system, and many other little jobs. She could do many of them from her computer, but not if she couldn’t focus.
“You said ‘people like us.’ I’m not a vampire.”
“I know, Beautiful, I’m sor—”
“I want to know what I am. Do you think... do you think anyone in Pine Ridge could help me?”
“I bet. Mr. Minegold knows a lot and I know he’d be really happy to meet you. Um. You know, your parents could be a big help, too.”
“My parents don’t...” Sophie stopped. She’d been about to brush off the idea. Her parents didn’t know anything about supernatural things. Only they did. They were both deeply spiritual people, and although they’d left some of their ancestral practices and beliefs behind, the religious and ritualistic aspectsof Nigerian and Armenian culture were still very important to them. They meant a lot to her, too, albeit to a lesser degree.
“Maybe over Christmas Break,” Sophie twisted her fingers, “we could spend some time alone with our families, and then we could be together. With our families?”
Jesse moved next to her on the bed. “Is that too soon for you?”
“No. I’ve waited a long time to have someone to bring home. Even a friend.”
He kissed her hair. “I know what you mean. Geez, I can’t believe break starts this weekend.”
Sophie pushed the computer from her lap. “That’s three days away. We’d better not waste it.”
Jesse laughed and prowled up her body, hands skimming up her bare legs until they found her panties. “That’s right. I’m betting I have to be on good behavior for your parents? No sneaking into your room at night to wake you up... with a kiss?” His lips parted her thighs, lids lowering seductively as he suckled on each slim white limb, then the deep pink rose between them.
“Daddy’ll kill you if you try. What about your mother?” she teased, rolling his shirt off over his shoulders.
For a moment, the sensual, playful air between them changed. Jesse scooted up, resting his cheek on her stomach. “My father was very influential. He convinced my mother that any relationship I formed would lead to discovery and put me at risk. He knew I was unhappy, but he believed I’d be even worse if I tried to find a woman to share my life with. After all,” Jesse looked away, “she’ll die and I won’t. I’ll always have to say goodbye. For a long time, I believed he was right.”
Sophie stroked his hair in silence for a moment. “What changed?”
