"It's nice." Charlie pulled his knees up. "Everyone's nice. The blood was incredible. They have a library about vampire problems."
"But?"
"Is it real?" Charlie voiced a thought he hadn't quite finished thinking. "The donors, the ethics, all of it? How do they pay for it all? Can anything be this easy?"
Viktor moved to the window, peering through the heavy curtains. "That's a good question." He turned back. "I gotta tell you, kid, I don't know. When I first came here, they gave me blood that didn't come from hunting. That was enough."
"And now?"
"Now I notice things. Like how frequently the human staff changes. Like how the blood is always just a little too perfect and nobody talks about how the donors are recruited."
Charlie's stomach twisted. "So it's all a lie?"
"Not necessarily. Maybe it's exactly what they say. Maybe they found a way to ethically source blood from willing humans." Viktor pulled something from his boot—a backup phone. "Or maybe we're all just really good at not asking questions we don't want answered."
He held out the phone. "You wanted to text someone?"
Charlie took it with hands that weren't quite steady. He found Simon's number among the contacts.
But what could he write?
Something about how his night had gone?
Would Simon even care?
No, Simon did care. That was one of the few things Charlie was sure of right now.
He typed:At the retreat place viktor mentioned. Im okay. They have really good blood here that doesnt make me sick. Everyone is nice to me. It feels weird.
He stared at the message, then added:miss you
He hit send before he could second-guess himself.
"He's going to come here," Viktor said. It wasn't a question.
"Maybe."
"Charlie." Viktor's voice held gentle warning. "I saw how he was with you. How you were with him. Your bond won't let him stay away."
"He has a job to do."
"Hehada job to do," Viktor corrected. "Whatever Simon is now, he's not the Organization's perfect hunter anymore. You changed that."
"I ruined it."
"Or maybe you saved him." Viktor moved to the door. "Integration session is in forty minutes. Try to rest." He left Charlie sitting on the too-comfortable bed, staring at the phone in his hand, waiting for a response that might not come.
Twenty minutes later, the phone buzzed.
Stay safe.
Then, after a pause:
Don't be needy.
Charlie scoffed at the phone. He wasn't being needy.
But five minutes before the integration session began, just as Charlie was looking for a good spot to hide the phone, it buzzed again.
