“You’re never gonna believe this,” I said, and now that I was reiterating it out loud, the entire concept seemed so impossible. “But he’s a vampire!”
“Wait times three now, a vampire? How could you not tell? Aren’t you supposed to be able to smell that or something?”
“Usually, yeah. But I have a theory that it must have something to do with his albinism. Or rather, whatever caused him to keep his albinism after he was turned. I just didn’t mention that to him because...” I trailed off. Huh, I was doing that a lot more lately. I wasn’t sure why, but it probably had something to do with the fact that a lot of really insane things were happening, and my brain was still catching up. “Of personal reasons.”
Thankfully, Tweety didn’t press me about that, no doubt able to tell that it wasn’t gossip. I hadn’t said anything because I was afraid it would hurt Rowan’s feelings. I could tell he still harbored a lot of pain after decades of being told he was wrong somehow. That he wasn’t really a full vampire. And telling him that he didn’t have the scent of a vampire would only reinforce that, and that was something I never wanted to do.
“Dude. I can’t believe this! You’re telling me both of you were pretending to be human, and neither of you were aware the other was pulling some serious shenanigans?”
“That really is the long and the short of it.”
Tweety laughed again, and I had to join in. Because really. Only in my life would such a thing happen.
“Oh, and also we’re now officially boyfriend and girlfriend.”
I had anticipated that Tweety would be enthusiastic about that, but I hadn’t expected another scream that blew out our sound filter. I didn’t complain, however. Not everybody had someone enthusiastic rooting them on, so I wasn’t going to take my dear harpy for granted.
“Anyway, I’d love for you to meet him. I think the two of you would get on in a lot of different ways. And maybe if it’s not just me and you one-on-one, you won’t feel as much social pressure. I know that can be a lot for you.”
“God yeah, who’s gonna give him the shovel talk, if not for me?” She paused, and I could tell she was considering something. “Or should it be a stake talk? I can’t imagine a vampire being very intimidated at the idea of being interned underground.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of their thing.”
“Uhm, well this week won’t work, I’m super slammed with some projects, but we should plan maybe for later in the month? Once it’s a little closer, you know?”
I recognized a brush-off when I heard it, but I wasn’t bothered. My best friend had severe social anxiety as well as mobility issues with no wings, so she would meet me when she was ready. In the meantime, I would continue to enjoy her company virtually and share my life with her.
“I have to start getting ready for work in about an hour and a half,” I said, ever so grateful that I have been proactive in planning our date for Saturday night so I only had my small Sunday crew to worry about. “Do you wanna watch something together? Or play a game?”
“Let’s play!” she said, as chipper as ever. “That way we can gab while we’re doing our thing.”
“Sounds like a great plan to me.”
“Home at last,” I murmured to myself as I shut my door and kicked off my shoes. It was Wednesday, my busiest day, and both of my morning cruises had been full of the vim and vigor that left me feeling pulled in about a dozen different directions. Nothing that I couldn’t handle, but definitely a bit crazy considering their normal habits.
“I wonder if there’s a full moon coming up.”
Normally that was something a wolf shifter would have memorized. The full moon didn’t compel us to shift, but it did cause an increase in our more primal nature and our abilities. Being a latent shifter, I was never influenced by celestial bodies, so I’d never bothered to learn the schedule.
I went to the kitchen, intent on refilling my water bottle, as the summer had not let up once in at least a week, the days alternating between insanely blazing and dry, or so humid that it felt like I was walking a bunch of wet dogs through aerated soup. As I opened the freezer, my phone started going off with the very distinct ringtone I’d assigned to Rowan after we’d agreed to make everything official.
He’s got them Love Bites, they’ll get you every time!
I grinned at his name popping up on my screen before I realized it was the middle of the afternoon. As far as I knew, it was supposed to be physically impossible for him to be awake at this time.
What the fuck was going on?
I hit the call button so fast I was surprised my junker of a phone didn’t lock up.
“Rowan, are you okay, baby?” I asked, already on high alert.
He sounded bleary and in pain. All my protective instincts rushed to the forefront of my mind, and I ran back to the door to put on my shoes.
“S-something, an animal, I-I-I think, loosened the tiles my window cover hooks into so there’s no s-seal. I… light got in. I didn’t… realize at f-f-first.”
“I’m on my way. Please tell me you’re somewhere safe.”
I’d done tons of research in my free time over the last four days. I’d learned that trying to rip themselves out of vampiric slumber was not only incredibly difficult, but also incredibly unhealthy.
