“Benji, I’m sorry,” Pierce said. “That didn’t go as well as I planned.”
“How exactly did youthinkit would go?” I mumbled as I held my spinning head.
Pierce sighed. “Mother is never quitethrilledabout anything, but I expected a kinder reaction than that.” He offered his hand again. “You must be exhausted. Let me take you to your room.”
Without the energy to argue, I nodded. A soft beddidsound nice, and it wasn’t like I had anything to go home to - just a half-empty fridge in Caleb and I’s shared apartment, which was always half-empty, too.
“Bye, Benji,” Theo called with a smile behind me. “It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too,” I replied.
Pierce led me back into the front foyer, then in a different direction. A huge, dark staircase spiralled up towards the second floor.
I groaned. “Great. More stairs.”
“Not quite,” Pierce said. He slipped his arms under my knees and back, then lifted me up like I weighed nothing.
“Whoa!”
Not being used toeverbeing carried damsel-in-distress style, I blushed. Pierce chuckled.
“You look so cute like that,” he remarked. “And you’re very warm.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, turning my head away so he couldn’t see me blush. “Just take me to my room already.”
“Of course.”
The room washuge- I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was bigger than my apartment. A fancy four-poster bed stood on the far side, flanked by candle lamps and antique drawers. Pierce placed me down, then went to light the fireplace.
Despite my awe, I still had a lot on my mind.
“So, is all of this real, or did you actually slip some hallucinogens in my drink?” I asked.
Pierce shot me a wry glance. “I told you, I’m not that kind of man. And before you ask, no, there was nothing in your food either.”
“Oh.” I knitted my fingers together. “No garlic in the vegetables, huh?”
To my surprise, Pierce actually laughed. “No, unfortunately. That’s one thing Idomiss about being human, though.
“Seriously?” I asked. “Can you actually not eat garlic?”
“No, we cannot,” Pierce replied.
“Will you… die?”
He smirked. “Why, are you planning to sneak off and plant some garlic around me?”
“No!” I cried.
But Pierce just laughed. “To answer your question, no, we won’t die - but wewillbreak out into something like vampire hives. Not pleasant. And frankly, quite unattractive, which is why I have no desire to show you.”
I thought that was a strange thing to say, considering Pierce was probably the hottest man I’d ever met in my life. “No way. You’d still be sexy evenwithvampire hives.”
Pierce quirked a slender, dark brow. I was suddenly aware of how still he stood because he did not breathe or blink - and he was staring right at me. I pulled at my collar, feeling warm.
“Anyway, um,” I mumbled, “it was nice of you to let me stay the night. Even though everything is…. kinda weird.”
“Yes, I suppose meeting a vampire coven for a first time must be strangefor a human,” Pierce murmured.
