“Did I?” he asked, his voice thick with seduction. He was a good five inches taller than my five-foot-seven height, so I was eye level with his sculpted body but I refused to let the drool leave my mouth.

“Yes,” I murmured. He reached for my hand and brought it up to his chest. Then he slowly trailed my palm against the ridges and valleys that made up his spectacular physique. His flirtatious actions should have pissed me off, but I was enjoying myself too much to be mad. If my body had a switch, than Aiden had just turned it on. His lust set his blue eyes on fire, and if I wasn’t careful, I could get lost in those aqua pools.

“Stop it,” I protested, as I snatched my hand away, “I need to talk to you about something serious.

“How serious?” he asked, uninterested.

“Life and death serious.”

“Of course it is,” he said with a heavy sigh and slumped his shoulders.

Aiden suddenly disappeared along with the glow of candlelight. I squinted my eyes against the sudden glare of the overhead light, to see that he had used his vampire speed to extinguish all of the candles. He was in the middle of pulling a white t-shirt over his head and caught my admiring gaze. I quickly gained my wits and stared at a large painting that hung on the far wall, rather than give him the satisfaction of knowing that I found him attractive.

“You didn’t even get to see my use of the flowers you rudely returned,” he said with a pointed look. I smiled, happy that my “return to sender” spell had worked.

“That’s too bad, but I simply couldn’t accept so many beautiful flowers from a man I turned down,” I said, sending him my own pointed look. A smirk bent the side of his mouth up.

“But you kept the dress.” I feigned interest in the eclectic doodads that adorned his bookshelf, all the while trying to figure out a good excuse for keeping the dress.

“I was afraid it’d get ruined in the transport spell,” I said, deciding that sounded truthful.

Aiden laughed and walked into the kitchen, with me on his heels. Like the rest of his house, the kitchen was top-notch, black and stainless steel appliances, dark brown marble countertops accented by cherry cabinets. Wrought iron light fixtures and burnt orange tile, reiterated the Spanish theme of the house.

“So, what have you gotten yourself into now, my Gwen?” he asked, as he set a teakettle on the stove and retrieved two coffee cups. Aiden had been saying “my” Gwen ever since I had met him, and telling him not to call me that only made him enjoy it more. It had especially pissed off Micah when Aiden had claimed I was “his” Gwen. A smiled played on my lips at the thought.

“I’m not really supposed to discuss this with anyone, Wyatt swore me to secrecy, so do I have your word that this stays between us? Or am I gonna have to use a memory wipe spell?”

Aiden scoffed at my warning, “I’m surprised you think so little of me.” Deep down I knew he wouldn’t tell anyone what we discussed tonight but I had to throw the warning out there. If he had any desire to mention even the tiniest bit of information, he knew I‘d take action. The kettle’s scream echoed through our uncomfortable silence, shaking me back on track.

“This is serious and the FPD will rip me a new one if word gets out about what I’m about to tell you. It’s not personal but I need to make sure I can trust you,” I told him. Aiden filled both of our cups with the boiling water and plopped a teabag into each one.

“Got it, serious,” Aiden said, as he pretended to zip his lips shut and hand me the imaginary key. I shook my head at his juvenile gestures, but my lips turned up into a smile.

“Shoot, what’s so top secret that you’ll threaten me with a memory wipe spell?” Aiden asked as he took a sip of his tea. I wondered what it would be like to be a vampire. They could drink any liquid but had to give up solid foods. That would be some kind of hell in my mind, but Aiden seemed at home as a vampire. They weren’t dead like a lot of the myths claim, just infected with a demonic virus.

I had found a magic encyclopedia a few years ago. In the book, I discovered that a demonic virus was responsible for vampires. God had cast the devil out of heaven and into hell; the devil didn't take it too well. Human books told why the devil was sent to the netherworld but none of the books told what the devil did because of it--too scary to advertise. He loathed God’s children He believed they weren’t worthy of receiving God’s love, so he made children of his own, vampires. Perfect really, his children would feed off of God’s children and infect them with a demonic virus.

The first vampires to ever exist were nasty creatures, bat-like wings, with sharp clawed feet and hands, who haunted the skies waiting for lone humans to feast upon. The allergy to the sun came from the virus being of the netherworld--dark; whereas God’s children came from the light. Over time, the horrendous genes that made up the first vampires became diluted. Seemed the humans, although infected with the devil’s virus were able to conquer the evil in it with the free will God had given them, eventually evolving into the vampires we had today. Incredible story really, I had read it at least five times, never tiring of the complexity of what made Aiden who he was today.

“Gwen?” Aiden said, drawling me out of my thoughts, “You have a vision?”

“You know I can’t have visions without Aura,” I told him.

“So you were what, daydreaming about what would’ve happened if you would have given into me earlier? I can put those thoughts to rest and show you; care to follow me upstairs?”

Would I be a horrible person if I said I was thinking about taking him up on his offer? We were both single and adults, why not? The thought ran through my head as I watched Aiden over the rim of my teacup. Remembering that I had come here to discuss entirely different matters smacked the lusty thought from my head, much to my dismay.

“Have you heard anything about the effect witches’ blood has over new vampires? Anything called brew?” I asked, steering the conversation back onto the track I intended traveling tonight. Aiden arched his brow as he thought about my question.

“I have not heard that. What have you gotten yourself into, my Gwen?”

“Don’t call me that, I’m not yours.”

“All in good time,” Aiden promised, shrugging his shoulders as if it were only a matter of time before I came to my senses and lived happily ever after with him. I shook my head as annoyance snaked its way through my already stressed nerves.

“Will you please stay on track? A young girl is dead because of this rumor, which is turning out to look more like a fact,” I said, aggravated.

“Which girl is dead?”

“Amy Harper, don’t you read the newspaper?

“Not unless I’m searching the want ads,” he smiled. Flora’s newspaper had a small section that advertised willing blood donors from neighboring cities. Vampires could drink otherworldly blood but needed human blood to feed the virus and most vampires liked drinking live blood rather than bagged, which could have been sitting for who knows how long.

“You are so…infuriating,” I remarked. I told myself I was pissed that he wouldn’t take this serious, but there was a hint of jealousy at the thought of his lips on another woman’s body, as irrelevant as it was. Hadn’t I just got through telling him I wasn’t “his” Gwen?

“My apologies…you obviously feel strongly about this and I wish I could help, but I haven’t heard that a witch’s blood could affect a baby vamp. If you like, I could ask around?”

“No, don’t ask around, I wasn’t even supposed to mention it to you. I just thought since you’re a vampire you might’ve heard something.”

“And you’re sure it’s vampires doing this?” Aiden asked, as if it were as crazy as him stepping into the morning sun.

“Yes, I went to the morgue and read Amy Harper’s last thoughts. It was a vampire and he drained her using a needle. She wasn’t killed in Flora though, so I don’t understand why the vampire would drop her body here,” I said, slowly drifting back into my thoughts as I tried to put together the pieces.

“Why are you getting involved in this? You’re not a cop, Gwen. Please let the FPD handle it. If what you say is true, then I don’t want you anywhere near these types of vampires. And, if you’ve forgotten, you’re a witch and a powerful one at that,” he said, his tone deathly serious.

I ran a hand through my hair, “Thanks for the advice,” I said as I hopped off the barstool and headed towards the door. Aiden was blocking my exit before I had taken three steps.

“Does this have to do with Micah?” he asked.

“Of course not. I didn’t even see Micah. As I mentioned earlier, I talked with Wyatt, and even if I had talked to Micah, it wouldn’t be any of your business,” I spat out as I tried to move past him, only to run into his rock hard arm.

“Then why are you willing to stick your nose into something that may potentially get you killed?”

“Because, when I saw her last moments as she saw them…” I stopped to take a breath, not sure how to portray what I had felt through Amy Harper’s eyes. “She was so young, Aiden, and scared to death. I watched the bastard drain her like she was nothing more than a product. If I can help track this asshole down, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And you jumping on your high horse and ordering me not to won’t change my mind,” I finished, my voice slightly shaky with anger or nerves, I wasn’t sure. Aiden lowered his arm from the doorway and I pushed passed him to leave.

“Gwen?” he said over his shoulder. I stopped but wouldn’t turn around, my hand hesitating on the door handle.

“Is it so much of a stretch to think that I wasn’t trying to order you around? But was simply so pissed at the thought that someone could hurt you? I know I joke around a lot, but I really do care about you, Gwen, and I swear that if anything happens to you because of this case, then Micah and Wyatt are going to wish they never met me,” he said, his tone unnerving.