Page 68 of Just the Pool Boy at Vampire Mansion

I laughed harder. “I know they probably don’t like being referred to as human females. Was your date tonight an AI girlfriend?”

“Fuck you, pool boy. I’m in a relationship with a wonderful female.”

“Is it your reflection?”

Bentley’s eyes widened, but his lips twitched. He’d almost laughed at that one. “Stop interrupting. As I was saying, Theo doesn’t lean into his vampire side enough, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t.”

“Whatever. I’m telling you how it is as a courtesy. Be prepared to see a real vampire when we’re in there. Don’t freak out again. You silly humans are always screaming and fainting when I shake off this nice act.” He gestured at himself, with his cream suit and beautiful hair.

“This is your version of nice?”

Now his smile came out, but turned sly. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You humans are so stupid. Like sheep. Sheeple.” He laughed at his own joke. “Running around, all helpless and terrified. Like you did the morning we met. Oh no, the scary vampire showed me some fang.”

“When did I run—” Oh, right, the running away part when he’d cornered me in the garden. Yeah, I had run away from him then. “Fine. Warning received and understood. But before you do anything vampirey, let me talk to Jeremy. It’s good to give people a chance to tell you their side before any kind of murdering starts.”

His grin got wider. “You ever killed anyone, Owen?”

Wow. He just whipped that out and slapped it down on the table, huh. “No.” I answered fast, maybe too fast. Could he hear my heart racing?

“But you’ve wanted to. I see it in you. Literally.”

That was concerning. What could he see, exactly? “What do you mean, you see it?”

“After the transition, vampires recognize the fellow bloodthirsty. Theo hasn’t transitioned yet, but he already senses what you are inside. You can pretend to be a good guy, be all sweet smiles and dumb cuteness, but we see the real you. We know what’s in your heart. It’s a heightened sense. Helps us hunt the bad ones, the ones society doesn’t mind if you remove from the gene pool. Theo suspects what you are, but when he transitions, he’ll see how dark your soul really is. Like I can see it, right now. You’re a bad guy, Owen, and that makes you an even sweeter target to us. I’m surprised Theo hasn’t taken a bite out of you already. Or has he?”

“No, no . . . he hasn’t . . .” I trailed off.

Theo knew the kind of person I was inside, and hadn’t said anything? How much could he know from vibes alone? He couldn’t know how deep the rot went. He hadn’t transitioned, so I was safe until he did. Which would hopefully be a long time from now and not something I needed to worry about.

Focus.

I swallowed and tried not to think about what Bentley saw.

Was that why Theo had kissed me? Because he knew I was rotten at my core and he’d liked it? Been drawn to it, because vampires were programmed to hunt the baddest ones?

No, not thinking about it.

“I uh . . . me and Theo? We’re not a thing, by the way,” I said. “And I’m different now. Better. Turned over a new leaf an’ all that.”

He laughed, bright and loud. “You just keep telling yourself what you need to hear to get through the day. It’s pathetic, if you ask me. You should embrace the darker side of you. You won’t be a happy human until you do.”

Was Bentley my therapist now?

“I didn’t ask you, though, did I?” I snapped. I’d tried embracing it and ended up in jail. And I wasn’t taking advice from a vampire who called women human females.

“What I wouldn’t give to find out what skeletons you have in your closet.”

“No skeletons.” I’d buried them in my back yard instead. At least it didn’t sound as though he knew any details about my past, but he had been fishing. I was going to have to be more careful around Bentley in the future, or just avoid him altogether. That would be easier and more satisfying.

The massive multi-level box house appeared, glowing among its dark grounds. We had to focus on the meeting ahead, the diplomacy, so the Briars and Witherbornes could live next door to each other in relative harmony. That was the plan.

“You think they’re all home?” Bentley asked, as we approached the large, plain black front door.

“I’ve only ever met Jeremy.” Hopefully, it would just be him. I didn’t fancy trying to talk through all this if we were outnumbered by supernaturals of unknown origin. “I don’t think anyone else lives here, honestly.” Just the quiet staff.

We reached the swept-clean front steps. Not a cobweb in sight. No fallen leaves. Pristine perfection. Even the mat looked as though it had just been bought at the store and laid down for us.