“You can’t be serious,” Ruby said, feeling nervous laughter bubbling up inside her. “I can’t have a vampire living with me,” she added, not trying hard to cover up the disgust in her voice.

She couldn’t really believe she was even saying that. Maybe she had hit her head a little too hard after all.

Didn’t one of those doctors mention something about prolonged disorientation? she thought miserably, considering Harlan with barely restrained suspicion.

Looking at home already, Harlan raised up both hands, moving them up and down as he mimicked scales.

“Letting a dashing gentleman share your abode,” he said, looking at one hand, “or bleeding out in an alley,” he frowned, looking at the other. “I don’t see how this is an unfair trade at all. Besides, it’s not like I’m thrilled about this.”

“Why did you save me anyway, since this is all such a hassle for you?” Ruby narrowed her eyes at him.

She had no idea if what Harlan was saying was even the truth. Hell, she was having a rough time accepting vampires actually existed, let alone wrapping her head around their weird, backwards customs.

“It’s not like your kind is real keen on respecting the sanctity of a human life and all that,” she added.

The image of Grant tossing Sarah aside and leaving her to die in a pool of her own blood kept replaying in her mind, making her reasonably distrustful of Harlan, who had just shown up at her place and expected her to get on board with all this craziness.

“Just because Grant has gone off the deep end doesn’t mean we’re all evil bloodsuckers,” Harlan rolled his eyes at her. “We were all once human, after all,” he added, and Ruby noted that he sounded just a little less arrogant when he said that.

“So this isn’t all a ploy to get at my neck once I let my guard down?” Ruby raised a brow at him.

“I have plenty of willing necks at my disposal,” Harlan shrugged. “My donors are downright eager to get in my teeth,” he smiled, giving her a loaded look.

Without her meaning to do it, Ruby’s hand flew to her neck, fingers tracing over the raised scars there. She could still remember the pain of Grant’s teeth sinking into her flesh and tearing it apart. Even if Grant hadn’t been particularly gentle, she didn’t think the experience of letting a vampire snack on you could be anything but unpleasant.

“They must have a screw or two loose,” she remarked, before standing up.

“It’s not like you won’t get anything out of the deal,” Harlan commented, folding his hands in his lap.

Every movement he made was so graceful and effortless, as if he were in complete control of every single muscle in his body. He did look very fit, which was hard to not notice as his sharp suit looked to be tailored exactly to his measurements. Ignoring his unnerving poise and pale complexion, he didn’t look undead at all.

It made Ruby wonder, how many vampires she had passed by on the street without even knowing it.

“And what exactly will I be getting out of it? If you’re thinking of saying the pleasure of your company, save it,” she said, starting to pace around the living room.

“I still have a job to do. Catching Grant. I thought you might be interested in that, but if you’re not…”

“I am,” Ruby blurted out, sounding way too eager. “I mean, I’m listening.”

Convincing everyone that she wasn’t, in fact, insane was currently Ruby’s number one priority. And it wasn’t exactly something she could do without getting her hands on this Grant.

Not to mention the fact that she was more than a little eager to finish what she started with him in that alley. This time, though, she fully intended to be the winner. How that was to be accomplished… well, details could be ironed out, right?

A smile hovered over Harlan’s lips and the way he was looking at her made her feel way too much like a tasty meal. Or was it something other than her blood that had piqued his interest?

“As far as I know, Grant is still in New York. Why he hasn’t left after I made my presence known, I couldn’t tell you. Seems he has some kind of unfinished business here. If I can find out what that is, finding him won’t be that hard,” he replied.

“And you need my help?” Ruby asked.

The words had barely left her lips when Harlan was standing in front of her. She hadn’t even noticed him make any move indicating he was about to stand up, yet here he was, his face mere inches away from hers.

Fear mingled with something else as Ruby stared at him. Undoubtedly, he was a handsome man. That was even an understatement, if she were being completely honest.

But she could never find him attractive. He might not be a coldblooded killer, as he’d like her to believe, but he was still someone who fed on people to survive.

Now that’s just gross, she thought, suppressing a shudder she convinced herself was one of fear.

“I don’t need anyone’s help,” Harlan said. “But you might have human connections here in New York that could be useful,” he shrugged, stepping away from her to walk back into the kitchen. “But make no mistake – when it comes to my kind, you are pathetically outmatched,” he finished, starting to rummage through her kitchen cabinets. “And I did do you a favor by not letting you be consumed for lunch.”

“You know you’re being a very rude guest, right?” Ruby huffed.

It was hardly the biggest problem she had with the whole situation, but Harlan’s questionable manners were the only thing she might complain about and actually see something change.

She couldn’t kick him out, because, well, if three shots to the stomach didn’t take down Grant, she doubted she could beat him into submission and force him to leave. And then there was the pesky fact that Harlan had saved her life, and he would get in trouble with his vampire bosses if they didn’t act like she was claimed by him, whatever that actually meant.

But the carrot on the stick that made Ruby try to make peace with having a vampire under her roof was the possibility of tracking down Grant. That man had gotten away with murder, and that just couldn’t stand with Ruby.

That woman he tore apart deserved justice. And Ruby would be lying if she said a part of her didn’t yearn for revenge for what Grant had done to her. And as Harlan had perfectly illustrated with his little demonstration, vampires were a lot faster than humans. If she tried going after Grant on her own, it was all but guaranteed the man would be picking her out of his teeth before she could even do any damage.

And speaking of damage, she didn’t even know what kind of a weapon would work on a vampire. It didn’t seem that movies had the answer, since Harlan was ransacking her kitchen in broad daylight without turning into ash.

I need to find out how to kill vampires, she thought, eyeing her new roommate. And who better to teach me than someone who is a vampire himself.