"What? Really?"

I nodded, and Thomas stared at me in disbelief for a moment. Finally, he shrugged and opened his mouth. He curled his upper lip back. At first his teeth looked normal. Then, I noticed that there were bumps in his gums right above his canine teeth. As I watched, those same teeth started to slide down! When they stopped, they looked a good inch longer than the rest of his teeth. I didn't think the shape had changed, but they looked a lot sharper than they had when they were retracted. In fact, they were really sharp. For a second, I thought of the biter again, but this was somehow different. His fangs had been horrifying. But I didn't feel scared looking at Thomas’ fangs. Maybe it was because I had known he was a vampire, but somehow, the fangs suited him. They almost looked cool.

"Neat," I breathed.

"What?" Thomas cried.

I shrugged.

He looked shocked. His jaw dropped, and his fangs made him look almost comical, as he gaped at me. At last, he smiled. "I really don't know what to make of you." As he spoke, his fangs slid back up into his gums.

He kept staring at me. My eyes moved from his teeth to his eyes, and I wished that I hadn't turned the light on. Thomas was almost too close for comfort. His eyes looked almost cloudy, and I still couldn't decide on gray or green. I wondered if it was a side effect of being a vampire. I felt like an idiot. I was practically gazing into the eyes of a guy who was about to drink my blood. I would've been better off developing a crush on Dani. At least he would have called me out on it. Being made fun of would have been better than this. Thomas was just inches away, and his expression was unreadable.

"Right," he said suddenly. "Let's get this over with."

I angled my head so that he could reach my neck and braced myself. He rested a hand on my shoulder and the other on the back of my head. I felt his breath on my neck and squeezed my eyes shut. It was nothing like the fictional intimacy that I had been worried about, but the room suddenly felt too hot and too cramped. He's a vampire, I mouthed to myself. Dani had been right, though. That didn't bother me. Thomas was about to sink his fangs into my neck, and I felt awkward because I had a crush on him. I was insane. There had to be more important things to worry about. I thought of one and immediately regretted it.

"Thomas?"

"Yeah?"

"Um..." I hesitated. "Are... You aren't going to... I mean..."

He leaned back and looked at me in concern. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"No, I do. I was just wondering..." I took a deep breath and blurted. "Is… uh… is-there-a-chance-you'll-lose-control-and-drink-all-of-my-blood?" I quickly added, "Not that I don't trust you!"

"You read too much," he said with a weak smile and shook his head. "Don't worry. That doesn't happen."

"Okay. I'm sorry." I could tell he'd been insulted, if not hurt, by the question. "I'm just nervous."

"It's fine. Ready?"

"Yeah."

I put my head back into position, and he leaned down. I braced myself for the feeling of his fangs piercing my skin and felt something entirely different. I jerked away in shock. "Did you just lick me?" I demanded.

"Er... yes." Thomas looked slightly embarrassed. "I should probably explain..."

"Please do." I reached up, and sure enough, my neck was slightly wet where he had licked me.

"Well, I was numbing your neck so that it won't hurt when I... And I was also sanitizing the site because, well, puncture wounds and all."

"By licking me?" It sounded cool, but I still didn't quite get the licking part.

He blushed a little. "Vampire saliva has anesthetic and antiseptic properties. Licking is pretty much the only way to apply it, I'm afraid."

"Oh. That is neat, though." It seemed like magic would never cease to amaze me. I wondered what else there was about vampires that I didn't know.

If anything, Thomas blushed more at that. He cleared his throat. "Well... if you don't mind..." He gestured to my neck.

"Yeah. Uh... lick away."

"I also, uh... Well, my saliva increases healing speed, too. So, when I'm done..."

"Okay," I said. I was glad he seemed to think this was as awkward as I did. Then again, most people probably knew it already. I doubted he had to stop and explain this stuff every time he fed.

Thomas resumed licking my neck. It was incredibly awkward for a few seconds. Then I realized that my neck was starting to tingle. Moments later, I was pretty sure he was still licking me, but I couldn't feel it.

"Okay, that should be good," Thomas said. I started to reach up to feel my neck and he caught my hand. "Don't touch," he chuckled. "It's sanitized." He released my hand and angled my head a little more. "Let me know if you start to feel light-headed. And stay still. No pulling away like you did. Not a good idea."

I took a deep breath and watched him out of the corner of my eye. His light-headed comment had me worried. I thought of Laurie and how the fight with the biter hadn't even woken her. Hadn't Dani said something about a sedative? "Thomas?"

"What?" he practically snapped. It was only a single word but it sounded strained.

"Uh..." I hesitated. His reaction had thrown me off. It occurred to me that I had, literally really, just stopped him several times in a row from taking a big bite from a juicy steak. Even if he wasn't going to go nuts and drink all of my blood, he was probably annoyed. I quickly asked my question. "I'm not going to pass out, am I?"

"No."

"Sorry, I... Go ahead." I gathered my hair and held it farther away from my neck.

"Don't move."

I felt a gentle pushing, like fingertips, on my neck. Then, nothing. I didn't want to interrupt again, but after several long seconds, curiosity got the better of me. "Are you drinking now?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm."

Weird. It was so strange knowing that he was sitting there drinking my blood. I nearly laughed. How on earth had I ended up here? A few seconds later, Thomas moved, and I could feel his chest pressing against my side. His hand tightened on my shoulder and pulled me even closer to him. I heard him let out a shaky sounding breath, and I became acutely aware of just how close he was. I swallowed nervously. I wasn't sure how long Thomas fed, but it couldn't have been more than a couple of minutes when I felt him shift his weight again. Much to my relief, his new position moved him farther away from me, and a few seconds later he sat back.

"All done," he said softly.

I looked at him in surprise. That was it? I really hadn't felt a thing. I wasn't sure what I had expected, but it certainly hadn't been sitting painlessly on the couch for a minute or two. Of course, I hadn't imagined it being awkward either. I wondered if it had been awkward for Thomas too and immediately felt like an idiot. I had no idea if he liked me back and felt silly for even considering it.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"So, how do I taste?" I asked. It wasn't a great question, but it was the first thing I could think of, and I was desperate to stop my current thought process.

"No idea. Fangs are just hollow teeth. I wouldn't taste the blood unless it was actually in my mouth... which I try to avoid."

"Don't you... Never mind." I had asked enough stupid questions.

"What?"

I shook my head. "Forget it."

Thomas shrugged. "I'm going to wait a bit to let you recover. You might as well ask."

"I read too much. I figured that vampires would like the taste of blood."

Thomas looked down, like he couldn't meet my eyes. "That's why I avoid it."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to say to that. "This might sound stupid," I began nervously, "but if you have to drink it, anyway... why not enjoy it?"

I was worried that I'd upset or offend him, but to my surprise he laughed. "That wasn't stupid. Actually it was maddeningly insightful." He sighed and leaned against the back of the couch. "I do. Rarely, but I do. The thing is, I'm not human. Don't get me wrong, I've accepted that I'm a vampire. If my turning had been... different, and if I didn't have to drink blood, I'd probably even enjoy it. I mean, I'm by no means unhappy. It's just... tough, sometimes. But regardless of how I feel about it, I'm still not human. That means I have instincts that aren't human. There are some situations, feeding being one of them, where my reactions are a bit… well for lack of a better word, inhuman."

I thought of his voice when I had interrupted him right before he bit me and nodded. "That makes sense. I'm sorry. I feel like I keep asking you all sorts of awful questions. I just..." I shrugged helplessly. "There's so much I don't know about magics. It's just fascinating, and I've..." He waited expectantly. I bit my lip nervously, hoping I wasn't blushing. "I've always liked vampires." I didn't think he could possibly have looked more shocked. "I just want to learn everything I can," I added. It sounded lame as soon as I said it.

Thomas laughed, still looking shocked. "You're something else, Jennifer. You really are."

I blushed even more. "Thanks," I mumbled.

"No, thank you," he said softly. He put a hand on my knee. "For everything. I... I really needed that. And I really, really appreciate that you did this for me."

"Of course. Let me know when you need more."

He actually looked surprised that I was willing to let him do it again. "I... Thank you. Ready to go to sleep?"

"Yeah." I didn't feel light-headed or anything, but I was pretty tired.

Thomas took my hand and helped me to my feet. I felt a bit unsteady, and he held me up until I got my balance. "You okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Just a little wobbly."

Everyone in the bedroom was ready for bed, too. TS was curled up on the floor and looked sound asleep. Charlie sat in bed reading. Dani and Mariana were nowhere to be seen.

"Fishing?" Thomas asked.

Charlie nodded. "They'll be back soon. How are you, Jen?"

"Fine."

Thomas got me the other smoothie. I had just settled into bed with it, and I was nearly finished when I heard a thump. Mariana flung open the door to the balcony and stormed into the room. She was still soaking wet and looked mad. Dani was right behind her. He whistled something.

"Can't understand you, anymore," Mariana snarled.

"I said—" Dani began.

"And I said I don't want to hear it! You're overreacting!"

Dani threw up his hands. "I am not overreacting! All I said was I wish you had told me!"

"That isn't what you said!"

"It's what I meant! At least let me dry you off before you soak the entire room."

Mariana stopped, back still to Dani, and crossed her arms. "Fine."

Dani held a hand a few inches from her back, and I watched as Mariana's hair and clothing started drying.

"It isn't a big deal," Mariana grumbled.

"It's not a big deal," Dani said. "But it still shouldn't be a spur of the moment thing. You should have—"

"Oh my God, Dani! You have five!" Mariana said. She turned to Charlie. "Tell him he's overreacting!"

"About?" Charlie asked.

Thomas waved to me, then hurried into the other room. He had apparently woken TS too. TS stood, shook, and trotted into the room after him.

Dani pointed at Mariana's stomach. "That!"

Mariana tugged the waistband of her swim-skirt down a couple of inches. "This." There was a small, black tattoo on the side of her stomach.

"Oh," Charlie said. "What exactly is it?"

"It's a fish petroglyph from Easter Island," Mariana said proudly.

"So you just got it?"

Mariana nodded.

Charlie shrugged. "Well, first of all, it's cute. I'm not sure what Dani said, but a tattoo isn't exactly something to rush into."

"You didn't give Ember a hard time when she got hers," Mariana said.

"That's because we talked it over. And I went with her," Charlie said. "You don't want to just go out and get a random tattoo. The potions to remove them are incredibly expensive, not to mention, they don't always work."

"A potion isn't going to work on this one," Dani grumbled.

Charlie's eyes flared, and his jaw dropped. "You got a non-magic tattoo?" he cried.

Mariana pulled her skirt back up over it. "There aren't exactly a ton of magics doing tattoos on Easter Island."

"That's completely different!" Charlie cried. "Ashes, Mariana! That might never come off! Not to mention the risks! You could get an infection and—"

"It's already healed," Mariana said.

The flames in Charlie's eyes were wild. He took a deep breath, and, to my surprise, Dani rushed forward and clamped a hand over Charlie's mouth.

"You know what, it's done," Dani said. "We don't want to say anything we'll regret." He turned to Mariana. "I wish you'd told me first. I would’ve even gone with you if you'd wanted. And I would have at least liked to talk it over and make sure you were sure about it. Go get ready for bed."

Mariana hesitated, glanced at Charlie, and hurried into the bathroom. Dani removed his hand, and Charlie sighed. His eyes were still bright, but the flames were slowing.

"Thanks for that," Charlie said softly. "I was about to erupt there."

"I know." Dani hopped into bed and grabbed a book off of the nightstand. "It is a splashy looking tattoo. She has taste, I have to give her that." He looked up at me. "How was it?"

I shrugged. "It was okay."

He winked. "Good."

I studied him as he settled back to read. I remembered the star I had seen on his wrist. "Dani? Do you have a tattoo on your wrist?"

"Which wrist?" he asked. Charlie smacked his shoulder. Dani chuckled. "Sorry, yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I saw it and..." The way he was holding his book gave me a perfect view of his wrist. "Wait... I don't see it now."

Dani grinned and grabbed a bottle of water from the nightstand. He poured some over his right wrist, and I watched in awe as a green and black star appeared. "They only show up when they're wet."

"So, it's magic? That's so cool!" Magic tattoos. I toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo from time to time, but never settled on something I wanted for the rest of my life. A tattoo that only appeared underwater would be kind of neat. It wouldn't be limited by places I'd have to cover.

"You think that one's cool," Dani chuckled, "Check out this one." He held up his right hand. There was a tiny black tattoo on his palm, about an inch below his ring finger. It looked like a little arrow.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Northwest."

"Northwest?" I asked, confused. "Why northwest?"

He grinned. "Because that's the direction we're going."

It took me a moment to figure out what he meant, and my jaw dropped when I did. "You have a tattoo that's a working compass?"

Dani nodded.

"That's..." I couldn't even finish. I really wasn't ever going to get used to magic.

Dani grinned and went back to reading. I studied him again and thought of what Thomas had told me about Dani’s past. Even though I seemed to have a bad habit of asking awful questions, I knew better than to say anything about it to Dani. I had a million questions, and I was sure that Thomas didn't want to answer them, either. I realized that I could at least narrow down how long ago it had happened. Thomas said it was before he met Dani.

"Dani? How long have you known Thomas?"

"Hm, that's a good question." Dani stretched and hummed thoughtfully. "Wow. I've known Thomas for thirty years."

"God help me," Thomas yelled from the other room.

Dani laughed and studied me. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," I said innocently. I didn't think he'd figure out why I was really asking. As I had hoped, Dani came to the wrong conclusion and smirked.

I settled back in bed and started to wish I hadn't asked. The answer hadn't really helped me figure out how long ago it had happened and only reminded me of how old everyone was. The only one close to my age was Mariana and they obviously thought of her as a child. Dani and Charlie reacted to her tattoo like parents, not friends. I wondered what they all really thought of me. As I got lost in thought, Mariana came out of the bathroom. She got in bed, and after she was settled, I heard her hum. Dani flashed her a smile, and I wondered what she had said to him.

"By the way, Mariana," Dani said.

"Yeah?" She sounded nervous.

"When you tell your parents, make sure they know I wasn't involved. I'd hate to be murdered by your father."

"Okay," Mariana giggled. "What should I tell Hope?"

Dani wrinkled his nose and didn't answer.

Mariana leaned over to me. "My sister has a huge crush on Dani."

"Your sister is insane," Dani muttered.

They laughed, and I went to take my turn in the bathroom. The moment the door shut, I leaned forward to look in the mirror. There were two spots on my neck, right over my jugular. They weren't quite the tiny pinpricks I had expected. In fact, they were really large. They almost hurt to look at, and I couldn't believe I hadn't felt anything. I wondered how deep Thomas’ fangs had gone. Then, I noticed that they weren't scabs, they were already scars. Fresh scars, but if I had to guess, I would have thought they were a couple of weeks old. Thomas hadn't been exaggerating when he said he could speed up healing.

I was dead tired by the time I finished getting ready. I double-checked my alarm and climbed into bed. We were going to go to class again in the morning, and then we just had to get through one more night before we arrived in Peru. With that in mind, I drifted off to sleep.