‘Oops,’ she says, not sounding sorry in the slightest. ‘The bleach she used on the couch must be addling my brain.’
I feel guilty for causing flatmate conflict. ‘Why did you say “yes”?’ I ask in a small voice.
‘Sadie has Elliott ... in some capacity ... If Damian’s your heart’s desire, I think you should be allowed a chance at love. It’s your life, Floss—and it’s going to be a long, lonely one without someone special to share it.’
‘Well, thank you ... I think,’ I say. ‘In a way, I wish Ihadn’t met him. At least I wouldn’t be dealing with this.’
‘Don’t say that.’ Hester doesn’t quite meet my eyes, and I suddenly realise why she voted like she did.
‘Oh no, not you too! What’s his name?’
‘Will Knight. He’s in my drama class. He doesn’t know I exist.’
‘I don’t believe that for a second.’
Hester is striking: tall, flaming auburn hair, green eyes.
‘Let me rephrase that. Heactslike I don’t exist. And since he’s pretty talented, he’s good at making me believe it.’ She huffs a laugh.
‘What do you know about him?’
‘Honestly, nothing much. I just ... listen and lurk—and drool from afar. It’s pathetic, really.’
‘Oh, Hester ...’ If anyone deserves to be happy out of the three of us, it’s her. She’s spent 500 years looking for the right man.
‘The weird thing is there’s something familiar about him. I feel like I’ve met him before. But from where, I have no idea. It’s really annoying.’
I grin. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ve run into a lot of people since the sixteenth century, so it’s not surprising he resembles one of them. Why don’t you read his mind and find out more about him?’
Hester shakes her head. ‘I tried that. Normally, I’drespect his privacy. However, I did get desperate once and tried to see if he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend. But I didn’t find out much, except that he was looking forward to having KFC for dinner.’
Sadness flickers across her face; then she collects herself.
‘Anyway, enough about me. More importantly, how are you going to tell Damian?’
‘I hadn’t thought about it. I was sure you were going to vote “no”.’
My stomach flips. This is it. I’m going to tell Damian I’m a vampire—a guy that I’m starting to develop serious feelings for. If he chooses the memory wipe, it’s going to crush me for years. I may never recover. My resolve wavers.Don’t be a coward, Floss.
‘Maybe invite him out for a drink and say you have something important to discuss?’ prompts Hester.
‘Yeah, a public place is best, I suppose.’
Hester nods. ‘You don’t want to make him feel like he’s in physical danger and that he can’t leave if he wants to. He might panic.’
I gulp and try not to imagine the worst: Damian skedaddling out of the bar as fast as his lovely muscular legs will carry him.
Chapter 20
Florence | London, 1888
On the fifth night, the three of us go out for supper. Dr. Dryden asks me to call him Alexander in front of Charlie, but to address him as Master when we’re alone, since Charlie might grow jealous if he hears me referring to him like that. Ever since he turned me, Alexander has been trying to placate him. Apparently, I was meant for Charlie, to provide him with sustenance and sex. But Alexander took me for himself.
‘Charlie is a man-child with no control over his appetite, Florence. His other governesses barely lasted a month, and he promises he’ll try harder each time it happens. But there was something special about you—something strong between us. When he couldn’t stop drinking from you, I didn’t want you to die like the others, so I intervened. Once you drank my blood, you became mine, my darling.’
The ‘man-child’ is now throwing me frosty looks in the carriage as we head out of Belgravia. I was slightly nervous about being in such close confinement, but Alexanderreassured me before we left, ‘There is no need to fear, Florence. You are with me, and I will stop him this time if he tries anything. Besides, I believe you can hold your own now.’
One advantage of being a new vampire is that my strength is currently at its peak and why even Alexander was afraid of me at first. But he’s my love, and I’d never hurt him. I don’t even feel angry at him for turning me into a vampire as it is the only way that we can truly be together.
