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“I can’t believe you got caught slippin’ like that,” he says as I roll my eyes and turn around. He follows me into the bedroom and doesn't let up. “I can just imagine your ass running around here at light speed trying to get out of the sun, your skin popping like fried pork. She smelled it, by the way—thought someone was cooking bacon. Are you good or what?”

“I'm fine,” I say, cinching my robe together before sitting on the bed. “It took all day to heal completely, but I'm okay now. How did it go with her?”

“I can't lie, she looked pissed about you not being with her when she woke up. She was mad at me for being there, but I think it really was about you. I can only assume you two slept together and she thought she’d wake up with her man next to her for some morning kisses, or maybe even a round two. You fumbled a little with this one.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “I know.”

Shawn sits down next to me on the edge of the mattress. “Did you tell her everything at dinner last night?”

“It’s harder than I thought it would be,” I answer. “I don't know how to just come out and drop a bomb on her like that. She's already talking about feeling overwhelmed just from spending time with me and being picked up by you. It’s like I've shaken her life like a snow globe, and she's just not used to the vibrations. She didn't seem ready to handle the revelation just yet, and she made matters worse by telling me she took off the bandage I put on her the first time she was here. I’d put it on because I didn't want her to know I'd healed her, but she took it off and saw that her skin didn't have a single mark on it. I had to Influence her just to get her to let it go because I couldn't explain something like that.”

“You know, with all due respect, you're gonna have to answer some questions eventually. Otherwise, how is this gonna work?”

“I don't know,” I bark, standing up just to pace around the room. “This Companion thing is a vampire issue. I know we’re fated to be together, but she's human. What if she doesn't accept it? I don't know if there's ever been a time when a human denied a vampire after being told they're Companions.”

Shawn nods. “Because the vampire always turns the human, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don't you just do that?”

I whip my head around. “Absolutely not. I will never turn her. I didn't want this for myself, and I won't give it to her. You know that.”

Shawn chuckles, his head shaking. “So you're gonna risk it all because you don't want to turn her? But if you did, she’d understand that you're her Companion. I don't get it.”

“You don't have to,” I growl, my exasperation peaking. I stop pacing and take a deep breath. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to pop off on you when this is my problem to deal with. I drank from her again last night—just a fucking sip, and it still has me on a high that’s making everything worse. Her blood does something to me that I can't explain. I lose my shit. I even healed her again like an idiot.”

“Then why bite her again?” Shawn exclaims.

“Because the thirst always wins, Shawn. It was only a little,” I say, sounding like a kid. “It wasn't a full bite. I merely scraped her skin a bit with my fangs while she wasn't looking. I shouldn't have, but now that I've had a taste, I’m hooked. Her blood is my new drug.”

Shawn’s head just won't stop shaking. “Damn. I'm starting to worry about you, man. I didn't know this Companion shit would hit you so hard.”

I sit back down next to him. “Tell me what to do then. How do I tell her everything? Do I drop the hammer all at once, or do I give it to her piece by piece? Tell me how to solve this equation, and I’ll consider every word you say, because drinking her blood again has me feeling even more infatuated, and I don't know how I’ll act when I see her again.”

Shawn does me the courtesy of actually thinking about it for a moment. I see him rack his brain for a solution, but ultimately, he goes right back to shaking his head.

“I think we both know I can't do this for you,” he says as calmly as he can. “You've decided that you won't turn her, which means you're in uncharted territory. How can she be your Companion in life if her life is going to be cut short way before yours? You gotta think about that. Oh, and think about this, too. You’ve lost control and bit her, and had to implant memories in her head to replace what really happened. You've had to Influence her away from questions about your blood healing her. You couldn't keep it together and bit her again tonight. Now, you’ve been caught in the sun, barely able to slip away without waking her up. That’s a lot. You really need to figure out how to tell her, because if you don't, something tells me you won't be able to hold it all back forever. This secret of yours is clearly trying to expose itself.”

AALIYAH

Thirty

When I step into the apartment after leaving Amari’s place, nothing feels right. My emotions surge through my body like a raging river. I feel like I'm in a million different places at once. I'm everywhere and nowhere. The questions tormenting my mind on the elevator ride up have not slowed down. If anything, they’ve only sped up and multiplied. It’s so overwhelming, and I can't help but think about how unfair it all is.

Why couldn't I have met a guy who was perfect? No flaws, no wild eccentricities or kinks that raise eyebrows. No family drama, no mob vibes, and no luxurious business dealings that make him look like the suspect of white collar crimes. It’s like I want Amari to be exactly who he is without the extra stuff, because I love his personality—at least the part of it that he grants me access to—and I love the way he makes me feel. Contrary to what most men out there think, they don't know how to satisfy a woman the way they think they do. Finding one who knows how to get you there every single time is like wrangling a unicorn. I know how rare it is. But why does my best sex ever have to come with a blood kink and unexplainable healing powers? Why does the most fulfilling conversation I've had in years have to be attached to a man who doesn't eat, but has a healthy appetite for blood? Why is the most attractive man I've ever seen in person only available at night? It’s not lost on me that I've never heard a peep from Amari during the day. It just so happens that the night is when I'm my most active as well, thanks to my job. But I've texted Amari upon waking while the sun was still up, only to get my response once the sky was black. Now, I wake up in his penthouse with the sun pouring in through the open windows, and he’s gone without a word. No nudge on his way out to tell me he has a meeting. No goodbye kiss. Just a disappearing act with his assistant sent to take his place and offer an explanation. It’s such bullshit, and the fact that my mind is trying to go to a place that can't possibly be real makes it even more bullshit.

I'm starting to think things I don't even want to say out loud, and I hate myself for it. It’s ridiculous, but I can't help my brain trying to put two and two together. It started when I was standing in the hallway waiting for the elevator with Shawn. The penthouse was vibrant. Yellow and orange shined through every gargantuan window and splashed sunlight all over everything in sight. It was impossible to hide from it. Yet, as I stood against the wall, I saw darkness in one place and one place only. Amari’s room. The door was closed, and it was as if a black hole was swirling beneath it, sucking in all light until there was nothing left. It was obvious to me that it would've taken a ton of effort to eliminate the sunlight like that, and while I know the drapes could've been drawn, even drawn drapes let in some light. Plus, if no one was in there, then why close the door and seal in the dark? If Amari was gone, wouldn't he have left the door open on his way out? I've been to the penthouse twice, and the door to his room was open upon my arrival both times. I know a person can do whatever they want to their room, but the fact is the door was open when he wasn't in there, but today it was closed. Why?

Against my will, my mind begins to draw its own ludicrous conclusions as it puts pieces of a puzzle together. The most I've seen him eat is when he popped a single fry into his mouth our first night together. He may have had some potatoes, or maybe he swirled his fork in it to make it look like he ate some. just That’s it. He orders food, then doesn't eat it. Why?

He has cut me open twice, and sucked blood from my body, yet there was never a wound. And to make matters even more intriguing and terrifying, I was pierced last night without even knowing how he did it. There wasn't a knife on the coffee table or a pin on the couch cushion. Yet, my blood ran down his mouth anyway, and the wound is gone once again. I felt something before I started bleeding, and I was going to ask him if he bit me, but then … well, he put his mouth to use and licked the concern right out of me. I stopped thinking about it and never got an answer, almost as if he did it on purpose. Why?

Amari is a businessman who claims to be a night owl, yet he's away conducting business first thing in the morning. But if I texted him right now, I either wouldn't get a response, or I would receive a message from his assistant whom Amari leaves in control of his phone all day. Surely a casino owner conducts business at night, and Amari would have his phone then. But only at night? Able to respond on his phone at night, but has his assistant hold it for him during the day, and has Shawn respond as Amari. Why not just say, “This is Shawn, Mr. Goddard’s assistant. He's unavailable right now, blah blah blah?” Responding as Amari makes it feel like they’re trying to hide the fact that he’s not available. But why? Make it make sense.

The cold hands. The red I've seen in his eyes on more than one occasion. How cool his cum was when it landed on me last night. The low temperature of his lips when we kissed for the first time. None of the math is math-ing.

I try to fight it away because I know it’s insane, but I think about movies I've seen and books I've read. These anomalies add up to something, but I can't let myself get carried away. This isn't a book, and even books rarely ever show us Black vamp—