“That’s not possible,” Kayla muttered to herself, eyes darting between Ezra and the spot where her coffee cup used to be.

“Look, I know I’ve turned your world upside down here,” Ezra said. “But everything I said before is still true – I’ll be a great roommate, I promise.”

“What?” Kayla mumbled frowning at him. “You just moved around the coffee shop faster than a speeding bullet, and you want to talk about being roommates?” she stared at him, fixed on his every movement.

This all was too much to take in. She didn’t know whether to be amazed or terrified, while Ezra was acting like this wasn’t a big deal at all. No one else in the shop didn’t seem to have even noticed anything was off, and she wasn’t sure if she should scream, or run, or…

What am I going to do, start raving about vampires with superspeed? That’s not going to go over well.

“I’m still just a guy,” he shrugged. “And you don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m harmless, I promise.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Kayla asked, fighting through her fear and ending up at suspicion, instead. “I would never have figured you a vampire, so there was no need to reveal that about yourself,” she said, whispering at the word ‘vampire’.

“Well, the truth is…” Ezra paused, looking displeased with how Kayla was standing as far away from him as humanly possible. “I don’t just need a place to stay, I also need a bride.”

“Like, wedding bells and white gowns, that sort of bride?” Kayla asked, hearing her voice turn higher as her eyes widened.

What the hell is going on here? Is this some hidden camera experiment? Am I on some sort of a reality TV show?

“Kind of,” Ezra nodded. “And wouldn’t it be convenient if I had a two-for-one type of thing going on.”

“How romantic,” Kayla scoffed, before her brain had properly caught up to what was going on. “Oh, no, no,” she shook her head at him. “I am not marrying some strange guy, and even less a vampire! You can just forget about that.”

“Relax, I don’t want to actually marry you,” Ezra replied, and Kayla didn’t know whether to be relieved or offended. “It’s just that my vampire dad is kind of insisting I settle down and be my own Maker…” he trailed off, noting the confused look on her face.

Could it be I’m actually asleep right now? Is this some kind of delusion?

“You’re not going crazy,” Ezra sighed, as if reading her mind. “I’ve seen that look before,” he said, gesturing toward her face.

“If I’m not insane, you certainly are,” Kayla countered. “I have no intention of living with a vampire, nor do I want to marry one,” she said, managing to sound somewhat firm and even.

“Ouch, a little discriminatory, aren’t we?” Ezra raised a brow at her. “As I said, I’m just a guy. Sure, I drink blood, but I never hurt anyone in the process and I always ask permission first. My mother taught me proper manners, I’ll have you know.”

Kayla was caught off-guard by that. She had to admit, she knew very little about vampires, and what she did know came from fiction. That knowledge was unlikely to be of much use when it came to real, actual vampires.

Am I really going along with this reality, where vampires are real? Is that the only explanation to what’s going on here?

When no alternative theories popped into her mind, Kayla realized there was no way out of having to admit the way she saw the world was now changed forever. The undead, walking among regular people? How the hell had something like that remained a secret for so long?

Now that’s the story of the century… the thought popped into her head.

“You don’t have my permission,” she hurriedly said, after processing what Ezra had told her.

He looked like he was about to roll his eyes, but then thought better of it.

“Kayla, I’m not here to bite you. But I really do need a place to stay, and for my Maker to know I’m taking my bride-search seriously. Why don’t we make a deal?” he said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a thick wallet.

Thumbing through the stack of bills there, he separated a healthy wad of cash and placed it on the table in front of her. Kayla’s eyes darted around, wondering just how suspicious she was looking right now, making cash deals with a stranger in a public place.

“Two month’s rent, and a little extra. Call it a vampire tax,” he stated, giving her a curious look.

Kayla stared at the money, wondering if she was really going to let herself be bought like this. Truth was, she needed the cash. And there was something else broiling in her brain, picking up steam ever since that thought about vampires being real making a great headline story popped into her mind.

If I could prove vampires are real, I wouldn’t even need Stan’s approval.

“How do I know you’re not going to eat me in my sleep?” Kayla asked, but she knew her resistance was already wavering.

As unbelievable as this all was, her mundane problems still remained. She needed money, and a roommate, and a way to finally prove herself as a journalist. And here was Ezra, a walking, talking way for her to get all of those things.

“Sweetheart, if I wanted to eat you, I would have already. Not to be creepy, but you couldn’t really stop me. But as I said, you don’t have to worry about that,” Ezra replied.

Kayla knew Ezra was right. The man had super speed at his side, for Christ’s sake. Who knew what other tricks he had up his sleeves? If he had wanted to hurt her, he could have, ten times over.

So maybe he is just looking for an apartment? And a bride…

“Maybe we can figure something out…” she trailed off, not even believing the words coming out of her mouth.

“Great,” Ezra beamed at her, as carefree and jovial as ever while Kayla was working hard to keep her hands from shaking. “I therefore claim you as mine, Kayla Clarke, so you will fall under my protection, our souls intertwined for the journey to come,” he said, the words sounding like a poem one had learned a long time ago and was now recalling and reciting in the most mundane way possible.

Kayla’s eyes widened as the meaning of Ezra’s declaration hit her.

“I meant we can figure out something about you living with me, not about being your bride!” she exclaimed. “What did you just do, what does it mean that you claim me?” she asked, panic starting to settle in.

“Oops, I must have misunderstood,” Ezra replied, way too innocent. “Well, in human terms, I guess I would say we are engaged now.”

Kayla blinked at him, now truly at a loss for words as the ground seemed to be tilting beneath her feet.

I need a drink. And it better be a lot stronger than coffee.