Page 109 of My Vampire Plus-One

“She’ll be asleep for days,” he murmured against my skin. “We’ll be quiet. She won’t hear a thing.”

“Won’t I?”

Cassie’s voice rang through the quiet apartment like a bell. Reggie and I sprang apart like naughty teenagers.

She stood at the end of the hall, just outside the bedroom she’d been sleeping in. Even at this distance, I could tell something about her was subtly different, though I’d have been hard-pressed to say what it was if I hadn’t known. She looked taller, somehow. Her stance was more self-assured. It was difficult toreconcile this person with the Cassie I’d known for decades as Sam’s flighty best friend.

“Cassie!” Reggie jumped from his chair, all thoughts of seducing me forgotten. He rushed to where she stood, placing a gentle hand at her elbow. “Are you all right? You shouldn’t be awake right now.”

“I’m all right.” Her voice sounded different, too. Rougher, somehow. I didn’t know if that was due to her having just woken up, or if whatever changes were happening in her body had done something to her vocal cords. “Hungry, though. It’s…really unpleasant.” Her hands shook a little; they went to her throat.

“I know. I’m sorry. Freddie went out to get something for you,” Reggie assured her. “He didn’t think you’d need it this soon, though. He might be a while.”

Cassie nodded, and her eyes flicked to me. “Amelia. Hi.” She closed her eyes, then took in a deep breath through her nose before letting it out again. Her whole body shuddered. “I think I better not be around you right now. I’m…not quite myself.”

While lying in bed together the night before, Reggie had told me his human memories were fuzzy and insubstantial. He’d compared them to faded photographs from a different person’s life. Was that because he’d last been human such a long time ago? Or did something happen to a person’s mind and memories when they became a vampire?

When Cassie said she wasn’t quite herself, was this what she meant? It would break Sam’s heart if Cassie didn’t remember their friendship anymore now that she’d turned.

“You should rest,” Reggie said. “When you wake up, Freddie will be back with something for you to eat.”

Cassie smiled at the mention of Frederick. At least some memories were still intact, then.

“The only thing I feel more than hunger right now is fatigue,” she admitted. “Going back to bed sounds amazing. You won’t think I’m rude if I leave you alone out here?”

“The only thing I think is rude about you is your art,” he teased, grinning at her. She managed a watery laugh. He was trying to put her at ease. God. This man. “Now go back to sleep.”

When we were alone again, Reggie sat back down in the chair next to mine, elbows on his knees. He peered at me quizzically. “What are you thinking?”

My mind was in too much of a muddle to answer that question. My thoughts were flitting from The Collective, to the choice Cassie had made, to whether I would have to make it myself one day if I wanted to be with Reggie, and then back again. My every instinct was to stop and think everything through, and not get up from that chair until every puzzle in front of me had been solved and the next ten years of my life had a nice, neat, careful plan. But I knew that wasn’t possible.

Some puzzles, I was coming to realize, were only solvable in the fullness of time.

“What am I thinking?” I repeated. If I shared any of it with Reggie, he’d feel guilty. Or worse. “I’m thinking that I’d like you to hold me for a little while.” That part, at least, was true.

I didn’t have to ask him twice. His arms were around me as soon as the words left my mouth, his embrace steady and sure.

And then, as if reading my mind: “I don’t expect anything, Amelia. I would never ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.” There was an unmistakable undercurrent of emotion in his words that touched my heart. “I promise.”

I slid my arms around his neck, then pulled back to look into his eyes. “But what if you change your mind? What if in twentyyears you don’t want to be with someone who looks like she could be your mother?”

He gave me a crooked grin. “A week ago, you said you’d never see me again after Gretchen’s wedding. Now we’re planning our outfits for your retirement party?” I opened my mouth to reply to that, then closed it again when I realized that that was exactly what I was doing. “Amelia, I want as much of you as you are willing to share. Planning things too far into the future often amounts to little more than wasted time.”

“But you might want more one day.” How could he not see that? “How can you know now what you’re going to want later?”

Reggie leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of my mouth. I closed my eyes, reveling in its sweetness. “IfI change my mind about this, we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” he promised. “But I can’t imagine ever feeling differently about asking you to fundamentally alter yourself at a cellular level just so I can keep you forever.” He pulled back so he could look into my eyes. I wondered if he knew how much I already missed having his mouth on mine, or if he could somehow sense the rash of butterflies taking flight in my stomach at the mention of the wordforever.

TWENTY-NINE

From: John Richardson ([email protected])

To: Amelia Collins ([email protected])

Subject: Meeting

Dear Ms. Collins,

I look forward to meeting with you one final time to get everything in order for our fillings. I have a few questions for you before we meet.

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