The next morning, when my alarm went off, I got up and took turns with Mariana in the bathroom. Charlie and Thomas had gone up to get breakfast for everyone, and we passed around bagels and donuts while getting ready for class. Dani was still writing his essay, looking increasingly panicked as the minutes ticked by. It seemed like any morning for a normal college student, but there was tension in the air. Nobody seemed completely happy with what we were about to do. At the same time, nobody wanted to stay stuck in the room. Even though I was terrified of encountering the vampire again, I felt the same way. What if we never knew for sure if the vampire was still on the ship? How much longer would we stay in our room? Everyone else seemed certain that as long as we were cautious, it would be safe to venture out. I tucked my stake and my wand in my purse before I left and knew that the others had stakes as well. When it was time for Latin American History, we walked together up to the classroom and all sat down near the door. The class was uneventful, and when it was over, it was time for the real challenge: splitting up. We stopped by the computer lab, so Dani could print the essay he spent LA History typing. Then, he and Thomas explained the plan they had come up with the night before. They'd worked out a route from classroom to classroom that kept us together for as long as possible. At first, it seemed like we would spend more time in the halls than necessary, but then I realized that we would split up in a way that left Mariana and I with someone who could protect us.

Even though I felt safe alone with Charlie, I was nervous after our class while we waited for the others. The six of us walked to lunch without incident and settled in. Partway through lunch, Charlie pulled out his cell phone to call his niece.

"Hey sweetie," he said when she answered. "Happy Birthday!" He talked with her for a while, and I couldn't help but listen to the conversation. I had thought of his niece as a little girl, but that was back when I thought Charlie was my age. But as he talked, I remembered him saying he had a niece who was thirty. "Want to talk to Dani?" he asked after a few minutes. He looked up at Dani in surprise. "He what? When?" Charlie's eyes widened, and he put a hand over his phone. "You called her at midnight?" Dani laughed, and Charlie shook his head in amusement. He ended up handing the phone to Mariana.

"Hey, Ember! Happy Birthday!" She got up and walked a few feet away to talk.

Ember. My jaw nearly dropped, and I gave myself a mental kick. Mariana's friend, Ember, and Charlie's niece were the same person. I couldn't believe I hadn't caught it, before.

"You said Ember is thirty?" I asked.

"Thirty-one," Dani and Charlie chorused.

I could only laugh. This really was going to take getting used to. Mariana had been talking to Ember for a couple of minutes, when Thomas suddenly laughed and looked in her direction.

"What did she say?" Charlie demanded.

Thomas shrugged, looking amused. "Nothing important."

Charlie and Dani exchanged a skeptical look and glared at Thomas. Thomas merely shrugged again. The warning bell for afternoon classes chimed, and we gathered our things and headed off. My next two classes flew by, and soon, we were all back in the room. The few short hours that we'd been able to move around and concentrate on classes instead of the vampire had been refreshing. Spending the rest of the day in the room seemed a lot less daunting to me than it did before. I was glad Charlie won a room with a balcony. Dani and Mariana's old room didn't have any windows at all. The room would have seemed a lot more crowded if we'd all been stuck in it without windows. The fact we could open the door and let the sun and the wind in the room made it even better. Then, the announcement chimes sounded.

"Excuse the interruption. The Behind the Scenes Tour will begin at 1600 hours today. If you are one of the lucky winners of this trip, please be in Purser's Square with your ID ready to go at 1600. If you don't know what time that is... tough. You've had a month to figure it out."

"Drought, I forgot about that," Dani said. "It would've been fun."

"I think we should go," TS said.

"Really?" Dani said in surprise.

TS shrugged. "If it turns out the biter isn't onboard, I'll be sorry we missed it. But, more importantly, we'll get to see the crew-only parts of the ship. If that's where the biter is hiding, it might work in our favor if we get to scout it out."

"Good idea," Dani said. "Guess we'll get ready."

"If you run into trouble, I'll be there in a flash," Thomas promised. "But make sure you're armed."

Dani grinned. "I went shopping and now have two significantly better knives. Not to mention, I've got two stakes."

"Good," Thomas said.

The tour only took an hour, but everyone was uneasy until TS and Dani got back. They each had a smoothie, which they stuck into the fridge, before telling us about the tour. They hadn't encountered the biter, or any evidence of him, but said it would be extremely easy for him to hide from the crew. There had been a whole stack of crew uniforms in the laundry room, which would have been easy for the biter to grab. TS ranted about lax security, until Charlie reminded him that the non-magics didn't expect a hungry vampire to sneak around. By then, it was almost sunset. Thomas and TS went into the other room so Thomas could feed. I tried to act calm, but got increasingly nervous. I knew that Thomas would feed from me when he was done. But when the door opened, Thomas grabbed one of the smoothies from the fridge and went back in. A few more minutes went by before TS, already a wolf, walked out and flopped down onto the floor. Without a word to me, Thomas sat down and started reading. He didn't look very happy, and I had a feeling he was putting it off. Just when I thought I was going to snap, Thomas closed his book and stood.

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"Jennifer, if you're... ready..." he said softly, not looking at me.

Thomas started for the living room, and I followed. He let me in first, and I instinctively flicked on the light as I went in. I stood awkwardly, just inside the room, and looked at the couch. I wasn't sure if I should sit or lay down, or what to expect at all for that matter.

"Tom," Dani called.

Thomas paused in the doorway and turned to Dani. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say that... Well, I know it won't, but if my blood would do any good..." Dani sighed and ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Well, let me know."

I couldn't see Thomas’ face, but his shoulders stiffened. "Are you serious?" He sounded almost shocked.

"You know that's not something I'd joke about," Dani said quietly.

"I know. That... That means a lot to me. Thank you."

Thomas started to close the door. Dani's serious expression vanished, and he grinned. "Hey, now. The door stays open, kids. I don't want anything inappropriate to—" Thomas slammed the door, and I could hear Dani laughing on the other side.

Thomas chuckled, but still looked surprised. "Okay," he said to me. "Have a seat?"

I sat down on one side of the couch. "What did Dani mean by that?" I asked as Thomas sat down next to me.

His eyes widened. "Nothing! He was joking! I'm not going to—"

"I meant the first part!" This was getting more awkward by the second. I thought of an embarrassing stack of vampire-themed romance novels on my bookshelf and was struck by the fact that drinking blood was supposed to be fairly intimate and sensual. I reminded myself that they were just fiction. Thomas drank TS’s blood, and he'd been considering Crackhead Jim too. It couldn't be like it was in books.

"Oh." Thomas flushed. The red in his cheeks was a striking contrast to how pale he normally was. I hoped I wasn't blushing, too. "He's not human, so his blood wouldn't help me."

"I know that." I felt a little stab of pride being able to finally say that about something related to magic. "I meant..." I wasn't entirely sure how to say it. There had obviously been something in their short conversation that had gone over my head.

Thomas was quiet for a moment. "Offering to let me feed from him is... Well, Danio's run into some bad luck with vampires." He glanced at me and sighed. "He was almost killed by one... a long time before I met him."

I frowned in confusion. Almost being killed was a big deal, but we'd all nearly been killed by a vampire. Recently. "He was almost killed by the biter last week." And he seemed to be handling it quite well. I figured brushes with death were pretty common for MES agents.

I didn't think Thomas was going to answer me. Finally, he whispered, "That vampire didn't torture him."

My breath caught, and for a moment, I couldn't speak. "Oh my God," I managed to gasp. "What happened?"

Thomas shook his head. "Those are details we aren't going into. I don't know them all, anyway. It's not something he talks about." He sighed. "I'm not even sure what possessed me to tell you that much."

As I stared at Thomas in horror, something Charlie said came back to me. "Charlie told me that you and Dani are really close because you've both, um, gone through a lot."

"Yeah." Thomas looked at me curiously. "Why did that come up?"

I felt my cheeks grow a bit warm. "I couldn't tell if you and Dani were friends or not." Thomas looked incredulous. "I mean, he's always messing with you, and you always seem annoyed."

Thomas laughed. "I see. No, he's one of the best friends you could ask for." His expression turned thoughtful, and he paused for a few seconds. "As much of a social butterfly as he is, Danio's real friendship is hard to get, and his trust is even harder to earn. His list of people he truly considers friends is nearly as small as mine. And I'm... flattered I guess, that I'm on it. In spite of what he's been through, he's never once judged me for being a vampire. That alone means more than I can say." Thomas smiled. "He's also the only one who teases me about it, and... I don't know. Somehow, coming from him, that's okay." Suddenly he groaned. "Ugh. Look at me babbling like an idiot. I think I'm stalling."

"What do I do?"

Thomas moved a little closer to me. "Here, tilt your head like this." He put a hand on my chin and gently guided my head so my neck was exposed. He brushed my hair back and tucked some behind my ear. Then, he pulled the collar of my shirt a little farther down my shoulder.

"I guess not everything in Dracula is fiction," I said. It was a pathetic attempt to hide how nervous I was.

Either Thomas couldn't tell or he was playing along. "How so?"

"Well, you're using my neck."

He chuckled. "I could use your wrist if you prefer, but this is easier."

I swallowed nervously. "This is fine." It was as fine as letting a vampire bite you could be. I tried to focus on something in the room to distract me and spotted Dani's suitcase in the corner. I thought of how easily the biter had tossed him around and suppressed a shudder. If Thomas hadn't been exaggerating, then I couldn't begin to imagine what being tortured by a vampire would be like. It was the last thing I wanted to think about while being fed from. Then, something clicked into place. I thought of the look on Dani's face when he offered to let Thomas bite him. Even though Dani's blood wasn't human, it didn't mean a vampire couldn't drink his blood if one wanted to. I didn't need to know the details of what Dani had gone through, but I was sure I had an idea of some of it. "It hurts, doesn't it?" I asked.

Thomas smiled reassuringly. "Not if I don't want it to. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing."

"But if you did want it to?"

He looked surprised that I'd ask, then nodded. I wondered if he'd figured out where I'd gotten the idea. "It can be extremely painful. But, like I said, you won't even notice."

I took a deep breath as he leaned toward my neck. This was it. The memory of the biter hissing at me came back. His fangs looked huge, and I realized I had never seen Thomas’. "Wait."

Thomas leaned back immediately. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I was wondering... Can I see your fangs first?"