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‘I’m joking.’ A small smile plays at the corner of his mouth. ‘Sort of, I guess. Sometimes.’

‘Yeah?’ I ask. ‘What do you miss about it?’

‘The taste of food,’ he says, smiling. ‘I loved food so damn much. I miss tasting it. Everything is bland now. Like rubber.’

‘Really?’ I ask in surprise. ‘That’s so interesting.’

‘I miss the sunshine on my skin. Laying on the beach, the heat drying up the water. I surfed a lot. I can swim now, but I can’t be out in the daylight like I used to. It’s just not the same.’

‘I also enjoy being out in the sun.’ I gesture to my arms. ‘Not that you can tell.’

Theo smiles. ‘Sunshine is good for the soul.’ He leans back in his chair, studying me in that way he does, as if he’s trying to pry every thought and feeling out of my head to assess and sift through. ‘What about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘Do you want to stay human?’

My heartbeat picks up and his eyes drop to my neck, as if he can see my pulse. I mean, he probably can. I lean back against the seat, surprised by his question, feeling quite unprepared for it. I suppose I’ve never thought about it before.

‘Why wouldn’t I?’ I ask after a moment.

‘I don’t know,’ he says, voice soft now. ‘We are bound to each other now. It’s sort of inevitable. No rush or pressure though, of course. The choice is entirely yours.’

‘I haven’t thought about it before,’ I say.

‘Oh?’ he asks. ‘Not once?’

‘You know I used to hate vampires, right? Like properly hate them. I thought they were evil. Leeching off people. Monsters in gothic-looking coats that stalked people in the shadows, and I mean, I thought this only days ago.’

He chuckles softly. ‘I don’t mind a dramatic coat and a prowl in the shadows.’

I shoot him a look. ‘You know what I mean.’

‘I’m being serious.’

I actually can’t tell if he is or not.

‘I truly thought they were the most evil of evil.’

‘And now?’

I shrug, playing with the coaster in front of me. ‘Now I’m not sure about anything.’

The air between us crackles. It seems like the locals have gone quiet, the bartender now wiping down glasses, glancing over at us probably more than what is considered normal.

I keep thinking about his question.

Do you want to stay human?

‘I always thought being human was a good thing,’ I say. ‘It means you feel things. Bleed. Screw up. Learn. That it ends, you know? That becoming a vampire, being undead, is messing with the natural world.’

He watches me but doesn’t say anything.

‘But now I’m here in the middle of nowhere. Dreaming about fires I can’t remember, being hunted by bounty hunters that my family, who have lied to me my whole life, have sent out. It feels like everything is changing. I’m changing. It’s all out of my control and I don’t seem to have a choice in any of it.’

‘You still have a choice.’

‘Do I?’ I whisper. ‘How, exactly?’