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“There is a lot that we don’t know,” Carver admitted. “Nicholas has a human partner, a little.”

“That definitely isn’t in the intel we collected,” Owen said.

“He’s a really nice guy. He made the gnomes black cloaks so they could pretend to be vampire gnomes.” Carver found himself smiling. “They painted on little fangs and everything.”

“It almost sounds like…you liked them.” Owen grabbed Carver’s wrist.

“No!” Carver gasped. “Of course not.”

“But you were smiling,” Kenny pointed out.

Shit. Carver should have been more careful with his words.

“You do like them,” Owen said.

Carver shook his head. “It’s complicated.”

“How complicated can it be? Those monsters attacked you! They practically burnt the city down. What about your turning? What about me? Or Kenny! How can you like a thing that would hurt us?” Owen was on his feet, yelling.

This had been a mistake. The entire plan was wrong. Carver couldn’t tell his best friends that. They would never forgive him.

With everything that Carver had been through. With what Owen and Kenny had been through. They’d helped Carver. If it wasn’t for his best friends, Carver was sure that he wouldn’t still be there.

He couldn’t betray Owen and Kenny.

Carver needed to get back on track. He had to find a way to harden himself and his heart toward Dante. Everything had started because of one night. Carver had to remember that. “I just need more time.”

“You’re going back?” Kenny asked. “To them?”

“Dante will let me back in. We knew it was a possibility that it would take more than one night,” Carver said.

“It’s dangerous,” Kenny told him.

Owen frowned. “More so now.”

“I can do this.” Carver meant the words more for himself than to his friends.

“If you say so,” Owen replied.

“We believe in you!” Kenny said.

The lies tasted bitter on his tongue. Carver was apparently just one big life of deceit. And he didn’t know how to get himself out of the situation without losing his best friend or Dante.

Dante

“This is where he lives?” Dante asked. He stared at the small house in front of him. It looked like every other residence on the block but behind the peeling painted siding and thin walls was Dante’s entire world.

Only a couple hours had passed since Carver had left him. The sun would be breaking over the horizon in less than an hour. All was quiet in the house. Dante could hear three distinct heartbeats.

“The title is in Carver’s name. He purchased the house almost six years ago,” Yulian said.

“He lives here? In my city?” Dante demanded. That news shocked him. How had Carver been so close, just across the city, and Dante had never seen him. Six years?

“As far as I can tell he hasn’t left in the six years since he moved in,” Yulian said.

“That means…” Horror filled him. “He was here when he was turned.”

“And we all know what happened five years ago,” Yulian added quietly.