“Besides, we’re going to find them. At their age, they won’t be able to run for long.”
“I hope so,” I said, bristling with anger over how they’d upended my life.
I had to stop letting my emotions get the better of me. It couldn’t be good for the baby. I shook my head. It was all so surreal; Istillcouldn’t believe I was going to have a baby. With a vampire. I’d forget that I was pregnant for a millisecond, and then the idea of being a mother would float to the center of my thoughts, leaving me shell-shocked all over again. I was both excited and terrified about the whole thing. What if I never saw Robert again?
“Are you alright?” my grandfather asked.
“Yes, just lost in my thoughts.” I waved a hand. “And I’m . . .”
He glanced over at me.
“I’m starving,” I admitted, rubbing my midsection. “The Nolans were far from generous with their meals.”
“I really do despise those people,” Sebastian said with a scowl. “I’ll pull off as soon as I see a sign.”
Embarrassed, I said, “I, um, don’t have any money.”
“I kind of figured that. You don’t even have both shoes.” He grinned at me cheekily, which cheered me up. “My treat, of course.”
After thanking him for his generosity, I changed the subject. “Is there a name for what we are?”
“Not officially. I call us Partials, as we’re partially human and partially vampire, in a sense. But we’re predominantly human.”
“I thought you said we aren’t vampires?” I wasn’t sure if it was because I was hungry, exhausted, or pregnant, but I still found the whole bloodline thing confusing. I hoped Sebastian wasn’t getting frustrated with my incessant questions.
“We aren’t vampire in a traditional sense,” he said. “It has more to do with the story of how we came to be.”
“Whatisthe story?”
“It’s a long one, so how about I tell you after we get our food. There’s an exit up ahead. You good with hamburgers?”
“Sebastian, I’m so flipping hungry that I’d be good with roadkill right now.”
My grandfather laughed. “I always suspected you were a bit of a dramatic.”
As we waited in line to order our food, I asked, “How come you never introduced yourself to me or my mother? Why did it take me almost being killed before you came forward?”
A woman asked for our order over the crackling drive-thru speaker. I didn’t want to be greedy, since Sebastian was paying, so I asked for a simple hamburger. Despite my halfhearted protests, he made my hamburger a cheeseburger and tacked onfries and a milkshake, in case I was hungry for more. I had no doubt he knew I’d eat it all.
Pulling forward in the line, he said, “There are a few reasons I stayed away from you and your mother, and Tilly, too. Mainly, it was because I’d made a deal with the Nolans. Obviously, I feel no sense of loyalty to them—they can go to hell, as far as I’m concerned—but Richard’s hunting club is dangerous. Given our ancestry, I didn’t want to place any of you in their crosshairs. I was also hoping to keep your lives as uncomplicated as possible. As you’ve probably gathered, once vampires enter your world, life can get difficult fast.”
I chuckled. “You can say that again.”
Sebastian paid for our food at the pickup window and then doled it out. I was so hungry that I was beyond caring how I looked as I tore into it like a rabid animal.
He said, “There were so many times I wanted to make myself known, but there was no way I could have done it without any of you figuring out that I’m not a regular human—which would then makeyourealize that you also weren’t regular. I was supposed to be about eighteen when Tilly and I met. Had I gone to see her in the latter part of her life, I should have been an older man. But look at me.” Sebastian shrugged, gesturing at himself.
His reasoning was sound, and I couldn’t argue with it. “They died, you know. My mother and grandmother.”
“I know. I went to their funerals.”
“You did?”
“Yes, but I was careful and didn’t stay long. I still visit their graves, too. I also went to your Dewhurst graduation. I saw you walk and get your diploma,” he said. “I watched over you the best I could without interfering. It was difficult because there were countless times I wanted to send money or talk to you secretly, but I was afraid the Nolans would realize I’d never trulyleft your lives. I knew they’d also been watching you, but I figured I’d stay away as long as they did, too. After it became clear they intended to harm you, I decided it was time to intervene.”
I swallowed. How chilling was it that so many strangers had observed the lives of three generations of women, yet none of us had been any the wiser?
Shyly, he added, “I’m hoping you’ll allow me to be in your life, now that you know about me?”
