“Talk some sense into me,” I demanded.
David sat on the couch next to Jonathan in Jonathan’s house while I paced in front of them.
“Unfortunately,” Jonathan said, “it’s not about sense.”
I frowned at him.
David glanced to the kitchen, looking antsy. I still made him nervous.
“This is the part where I’d make coffee or something—you know, to help soothe the situation,” he said. “But…since we don’t really drink coffee…”
“If you can do espresso, I’ll take it,” I told him, feeling bad. He didn’t know how to deal with our situation any more than I did.
Jonathan and I were the oldest of friends, and David was the one who had gotten between us. But now, as I was on the other end of the stick, I was starting to understand just how powerful being Fated was.
I didn’t want to believe it, but now I couldn’t deny it.
David nodded, looking grateful for something to do, and he stood. He kissed Jonathan on the lips before walking to the kitchen.
“I can’t even explain it,” I told Jonathan. “That feeling when I saw him—really saw him—for the first time.”
“It’s like being hit by lightning.”
I blinked and stopped pacing. “Yes. Exactly that. But in a good way. A way that makes you come alive and I…”
His eyes had widened as I continued. I supposed Jonathan wasn’t used to me divulging my feelings any more than I was with him doing the same thing.
“I understand,” Jonathan said. “It’s swift and almost brutal. Like you’re changed in an instant. And now…it’s going to take everything you have to stay away from him.”
He was right. I wanted to go to the police station right now and speak with him. Even just look at him again, to reassure myself this was real. It was like I’d known him my whole life. No, more like we belonged together.
“But that’s what I must do,” I murmured.
“Must?”
I looked at him, really searched his face. Jonathan used to be so quiet. I could always tell that he felt like he was missing something. But now that David had come into his life, he was like a new man. He was happy.
I envied that happiness even if it didn’t seem logical for me to have it. I’d spent my life dedicating it to others. Saving people, rescuing mothers and children, wives and husbands. But it did get lonely, and I’d selfishly changed many of those people. People like Jonathan.
But I couldn’t say it hadn’t worked out. He was the happiest I’d ever seen him. I let myself believe for a moment that I might be able to have the same thing.
David returned with a cup he passed to me. He didn’t return to the couch. Instead, he said, “It might not be my place to say anything, but…”
I nodded at him. “You can say anything you want to me. You’re one of us now.”
David gave a small smile. “He’s feeling the same way as you right now. I know because I was there. It’s different being on our side, knowing there are things you can control as a vampire. But on his side…well, I’ve been in his shoes. It’s powerful, this connection. And all he knows is that you want nothing to do with him.” David swallowed. “It hurts.”
Jonathan stood and wrapped his arms around David, while David shook his head.
“I swear I’m not saying this to hurt anyone,” he said, holding onto Jonathan, “just that he feels as connected to you as you do to him. He’s not going to throw that away for a story. And besides, that’s not really why he’s here anyway, right?”
I sighed as the words sank in. No, Hawk had said he was here for research, but I knew he was here looking for vampires. Me, in particular.
“So what are you saying?” I asked.
David shrugged. “Only that he came to find you. I think you should talk to him. At the very least, he might tell you how he found out we’re here. We can get the story behind the story. And then…”
“And then?”
Jonathan sighed. “Then we’ll take care of the situation if we need to.”
Which meant erasing his memory. Sending him away. But I’d still remember. I’d remember him, remember touching him, how my skin hummed against his, warming me to my very core. A feeling I hadn’t felt in 200 years.
I passed the espresso back to David. “I’ll go talk to him.”
Even though I could run into town faster than I could drive, I stuck to our rules. Blend in. Things had gotten dicey over the last several weeks, but we were still members of this community. And hopefully we would still be after all this got sorted out.
When I reached the police station, I was relieved to find the sheriff out of the building. I didn’t want to have to explain to anyone why I was here.
Chris looked up from where he sat at his desk, a stack of paperwork before him. I knew he could breeze through it all in less than five minutes, but he had to appear human and work at a human’s pace.
“Have you spoken to him yet?” I asked, keeping my voice low because we weren’t the only ones in the building.
“Not yet. I was waiting to hear from you. If you want my two cents…” Chris shrugged.
“Yes.”
He looked back up, surprised. “I don’t think he had any intention of snooping around anywhere. He just wanted to talk to you. I honestly don’t think he’s here for a story at all.”
I let his words sink in. He was here for me? There had to be more, though. It couldn’t be that simple.
“That still doesn’t explain how he found us,” I told him.
And it wasn’t like I could influence him. If what Maya said was true, then my powers wouldn’t work on Hawk, just like Jonathan’s powers didn’t work on David.
“Ask him,” Chris said. “Straight up. If he won’t tell us, we’ll get Jonathan in here.”
I cringed at the idea of influencing Hawk’s mind to get him to speak up. But I’d done the same thing to David. I had to remember, this wasn’t just about me or a man I was inexplicably attracted to. It was about the good of our entire clan.
“Is he back there?” I asked. Chris nodded and moved toward the cells, but I shook my head. “I need to talk to him by myself. He still needs to think you’re not involved in all this.”
Or at least, that Chris wasn’t a vampire. Hunters could always tell—it was in their nature. But humans, most of the time, had no idea who was a vampire and who was a human.
Hawk was the only one in the cell, his head hung low as he sat on the cot—the only piece of furniture in there.
It tore at my heart to see him sitting there—a prisoner. But when he looked up, his brown eyes locking in mine, my breath caught.
The amazement circuited through my body, the same feeling I’d had before when I’d seen him outside of my house. It was a constant thrum of energy, of awareness, strung together by a strong cord of belonging.
We were meant for each other. No doubts this time.
The feeling was so strong, I couldn’t speak for a moment.
Hawk stood but didn’t move from beside the bed.
“Hello,” I said, my greeting entirely inadequate.
He nodded, looking as much at a loss for words as I was.
“I’ve just come to talk.”
“Talk,” he said, testing the word. “I wasn’t trying to break the law. I was trying to find you. It had nothing to do with trespassing.”
“I know.”
He blinked. “You do?”
“Yes.”
Now he walked forward, stopping right at the bars and lifting his hands to hold onto them.
The urge to reach out and touch him was so strong, I could barely keep my distance. I forced myself to stay where I was standing.
“What is this?” he asked. “This…feeling? Are you doing something?”
I should have pretended to have no clue what he was talking about. Pretended he was crazy for assuming I was a vampire and for believing there was something more going on. But it was too late now.
“I feel it, too,” I told him.
His eyes dropped to his hands, like he wanted to reach out just as much as I did.
“Touch me,” he said.
The command thrilled me and terrified me at the same time. Oh, yes, Hawk was far too observant for his own good. He had no doubt who I was. We were way past pretenses.
Like I was under a spell, I stepped forward slowly. So slow, it was like moving through honey.
But when I finally reached out, when my fingers finally brushed his, my world changed forever.