“What about you?” Dom asked, leaning forward, her fork suspended midair. Her tone was casual, but her eyes said spill or suffer.

“What about me?” I replied, feigning ignorance as I took another bite of sashimi.

She gave me that look -a deadpan, unimpressed glare that could flatten a mountain. I’d seen it before. Dom had perfected that expression when we were kids. She was younger than me by a few years, but I still remembered the time I’d swiped her favorite game. Five minutes later, I was on the ground, pinned by a pint-sized demoness, her fists pounding at my chest while she demanded justice. Yeah, I knew better than to mess with her when that look came out.

“What are you? How are you here?” she demanded, setting down her chopsticks with an audible clack.

“Well,” I began, drawing out the word for dramatic effect, “that’s a story in itself-”

But I didn’t get far before she blurted out, like a sudden case of Tourettes.

“Nile’s here too,” she interrupted, her voice stumbling into a nervous laugh as she caught her breath. “I mean- sorry. Yeah.”

I just leaned back and whistled. Then I raised my brow at her and she blushed.

“That’s what I was going to say. How we got here,” she was stumbling so hard, I had to save her.

“It’s okay, take your time. I have nowhere to go.” I didn’t -not really.

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Okay! Another spoiler alert. If you haven’t read this part yet in DNA, don’t be surprised. As it hasn’t been released, yet. We’re almost there. But my story is rolling along much more quickly than DNA. I didn’t realize just how far ahead we were until I started writing this…

You’ve been warned.

Now, back to the story!

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“So, yeah, I’ll start there.” She shifted in her seat and launched into her story. “We were at the dance -you know, the big one? Zombie prom theme this year. You know. And I went out to get some air and got attacked by these things -these guys who were trying to, I mean, I'd say it's crazy. But hell, you're here, and I'm here.” She was barely holding it together as she told me her story. Like she hadn’t had anyone to talk to about it since it happened.

So I just stayed quiet and listened. Or tried to.

“And anyway, so I got attacked by some demons - things that definitely weren't human. Not even close. And Nile’s girlfriend came out and she tried to save me-”

“Wait, Nile has a girlfriend?” I cut in, eyebrows shooting up. “I thought you two were… you know. Destined. Like Bella and Edward. Or Jacob. Wait, no, Edward -oops.”

Dom blinked at me, momentarily stunned. “What? No, they weren’t exactly dating at the time. They’d broken up. Anyway, she’s an angel -like, an actual angel- and she tried to save me.”

“Hold up.” I put down my chopsticks, staring at her. “Nile was dating a literal angel? And she saved you from demons?”

Dom hesitated, her cheeks coloring slightly. “Kind of. I mean, it’s complicated. She was saving both of us. And for the record, I’m not entirely human either. I’m… half-demon.”

I leaned back, crossing my arms. “Okay, wait. You’re a demon. Nile’s dating an angel. And somehow, you fought demons? And won? I assume so, because you’re sitting here eating sushi with me and not, you know, smoldering in some underworld pit?”

“Yeah, we won. But barely.” Her voice faltered, the bravado slipping for a moment. “I don’t even remember how. One second, we were holding our own. The next, we were overwhelmed. Then… darkness. When I woke up, Nile was here at the University with me. I was shocked. Happy. Pissed. All of it.”

“And Nile doesn’t remember anything?” I asked, frowning. “No demons? No giant fight? Nothing?”

She shook her head, frustrated. “Nope. He says he ran outside, saw some thugs roughing us up, and tried to step in. Says there was a flash of light, and everything went hazy. He remembers jack.”

“Well, there’s always been something odd about Nile,” I said. “But that’s… even odder than usual.”

“Exactly!” She gestured with her chopsticks for emphasis, nearly launching a piece of sushi across the table. “And I’ve been trying to piece it together, but it’s like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing.”

“Okay, my turn,” I said, clearing my throat. “You’re not hogging all the crazy story time. Let me lay this out for you.”

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I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was using my vampire abilities to gently manipulate her into calming down. Which comes in handy, let me tell you.

“Go on,” Dom said, leaning back and smirking. “I’m dying to hear this.”

“Well,” I began, “picture this: I’m in a club, doing my knight-in-shining-armor routine, saving a damsel in distress-”

“As one does,” she interjected, grinning.

“And I follow her out of the club into a dark alley-”

“Okay, so you’re a stalker?” she said dryly.

“No! There were goons chasing her, and I was helping. Geez, can I tell the story?”

“Fine, fine,” she said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “Go on, Sir Gallant.”

“Thank you.” I gave her a pointed look before continuing. “So, I follow her into the alley, ready to throw down, and-”

I paused as Dom stole another piece of sushi from my side of the boat, her smirk daring me to say something about it. I didn’t, mostly because I was too busy enjoying the interplay of flavors in my next bite. Despite the wild turn the conversation had taken, the food was just too good to ignore.

“Anyway,” I said, leaning in conspiratorially, “that’s when it gets interesting…”

“So,” I continued around a bite of the most delectable and melt-in-your-mouth sushi I’ve ever had -I gestured with my chopsticks for emphasis, “I followed them into the alleyway. And there they were, closing in on this girl, ready to -well, you know. Attack her or worse. And me, being the idiot I am, I decided to step in and call them out. Because in my infinite wisdom, I thought they were just some thugs hassling a random chick. You know, damsel in distress, knight in shining armor, all that crap.” I finished lamely, punctuating the statement with a self-deprecating shrug.

“Go on,” Dom prompted, her tone equal parts interest and challenge.

“So, I call them out. Turns out, they’re not just regular goons. Nope, kind of like your situation. Turns out, they’re vampires. And not the sparkly, brooding kind either. I mean, these guys were vicious -more Nosferatu, less Edward Cullen.” I gestured toward my face, drawing a line across my scars. “And, well, as you can see, they left me a little… parting gift.”

Dom’s expression softened, and she tilted her head. “You held your own, though. Didn’t you?” Her tone carried a mix of genuine concern and begrudging respect.

“Well… yeah. Sort of. I mean, I distracted them long enough for the girl to escape, so there’s that. But then, uh, they beat the absolute shit out of me.” The admission came out with an embarrassed cough. “Next thing I know, I wake up in this pit of corpses, blind as a bat -pun fully intended.”

Dom’s eyes widened. “A pit of corpses? Like actual corpses?”

“Oh, yeah. And not the restful kind either. These were corpses that moved. Like, hey, surprise, it’s a zombie party, and I didn’t RSVP. So there I was, blind, disoriented, trying to figure out which way was up while fighting my way out of this pit.” I shivered at the memory. “Honestly? I don’t even know how I survived. But somehow, I ended up on the steps of a church. In Vegas.”

Dom leaned forward, clearly invested now. “Wait, wait, wait -Vegas? You were in Vegas? I wondered where you disappeared to! We didn’t get a chance to catch up after I got back in town.”

“Yeah, Vegas. It was my best buddy’s bachelor party. That’s why we were at Club Twilight in the first place.” I stabbed at another piece of sushi, letting the absurdity of it all settle between us.

Dom blinked, then smirked. “Oh, right -Peter! I forgot he was getting married soon. I was supposed to go to that wedding…” Her voice trailed off sheepishly.

“Well, long story short, I found out I was a vampire. Caught up with the girl I saved, and she brought me here.” I finished with a flourish, spreading my arms like a magician revealing a trick.

Dom deadpanned. “That’s it? That’s your big story? You’re cutting out all the good stuff! Why did she bring you here?”

“Fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “She brought me here because apparently, there’s a chance -maybe- that I can avoid going full vampire. You know, retain my humanity. There’s this whole process I have to avoid triggering, and if I can hold out, there might be a cure.”

Her brow furrowed. “A cure? Like… going back to being human? But wouldn’t that mean -wouldn’t that mean dying?”

I shook my head, though the question gave me pause. “I don’t think so. I don’t think I actually died in the first place.” I hoped. “But yeah, there’s this slim, razor-thin chance I can get out of this mess. Maybe.”

Dom leaned back, chewing thoughtfully. “So, how did you even get into the University? What, did they just roll out the red carpet?”

I chuckled. “Not exactly. She left me at the gates to sort out permissions or something, and that’s when I met the Guardian.”

Her eyes lit up. “Wait -you met the Guardian? What was that like?”

“Interesting,” I said carefully. My thought immediately conjured up an image of how she looked when I first saw her.

Dom arched an eyebrow. “Interesting? What, like, ‘Hey, here’s a giant fire-breathing dragon, no big deal’ kind of interesting?”

“Uh, not exactly,” I said, scratching the back of my head. “She wasn’t a dragon. More like… well, she looked alien. Magical. Her skin was like tiny scales, and her eyes -just, wow. She was intimidating but… you know -not in the way you’d expect.” More in the I’m an ancient and hot dragoness walking around nude like its my gift to the world. But I didn’t say that.

And still, Dom seemed to pick up on it.

“Oh, really? She, huh?” She leaned in conspiratorially. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were smitten.”

Damn women and their intuitive ways.

I coughed on a bit of rice, and continued after downing a shot of plum juice. “She let me in and sent me to the Director.”

Dom’s fork froze midair. “The Director? You met him too? What was he like?”

“Nice. Kind of matter-of-fact. Oh, and he told me there’s no cure,” I added softly, my voice losing its humor.

Dom’s face fell. “What? After all that, after coming all the way here, there’s no cure?”

“Well… maybe. He gave me a choice,” I said, my voice sharpening with the memory. “I can either find and kill the vampire who turned me -that’s the only way he knows to sever the bond -or embrace what I am and find a new path. Stay here. Learn what it means to be, the new me.”

Dom stared at me, her expression unreadable for a moment. Then she sighed and picked up another piece of sushi. “Damn. That’s a lot.”

She was taking this much better than I thought she would. But that’s Dom for you. And I could tell that she’d been through some stuff. So, maybe having your friend turn out to be a vampire was no big deal.

“Tell me about it,” I said, exhaling a humorless laugh. “But hey, at least the food’s good.”

That earned a faint smile. “Yeah, it really is. Welcome to the University, Declan. Buckle up. It only gets crazier from here.”