Page 138 of The Last Vampire
“Just for existing?” I ask, my jaw dropping yet again.
“Well, I am a member of an endangered species.”
“I hear polar bears get two hundred thousand.”
“Remind me to renegotiate.”
I realize I’m leaning far enough forward that I’m practically in his face, so I straighten my spine and pull back. “Why did you leave Nate and Cisco if they were helping you?”
“Remember Leonardo the Bloody?” he asks.
I nod, my hands growing clammy from just hearing the name.
“I flew to Paris to meet him.”
I can’t feel the space heater anymore, and my body temperature plummets twenty degrees. It takes me a few seconds to summon my voice. “What?”
“He is the new leader.”
Now I wish I didn’t know any of this. From what William described, that vampire only thinks of humans as sustenance, so the fact that he’s still around—and in charge—is horrifying beyond measure.
“What happened in your meeting?” I ask in a whisper, as if Leonardo the Bloody could hear us across continents.
“He—”
William’s gaze dips, and he searches the floor, as if he dropped the rest of his sentence and is trying to find it. “I did not stay long. I sensed your life was in danger and left.”
“That’s quite a superpower,” I say, and in a more serious tone, I add, “Thank you.”
He meets my gaze, and this time I catch myself leaning forward as I’m doing it. “I still don’t understand why you can’t just exist in both worlds?” I ask as I pull back.
“We both know I belong with them, Lore.”
The nickname is like a full-body caress. It loosens something in my chest, and I hear myself say, “I wish you would stay.”
He still looks so surprised that I want him around.
“As long as I am with you,” he says, “you are in danger.”
“That’s strange, since I seem to be in the most danger when you’renotaround.”
“Ever the resourceful arguer.” He almost sounds admiring.
I try to think of a more convincing argument. There are only fifty-four vampires left, and none of them can turn humans. Nor can they leave behind trails of bodies, or they risk potential discovery by the Legion. All they cando is wait for the Stoker vampires of the past to return. They sound a lot like a cult.
“If you need to lay low, why can’t you just be a student here as, like, your cover?”
“How would I feed? The nearest hospital is a couple of hours away. Even if I steal blood from them, where would I store it?”
“You can…” I swallow, my throat parched, “feed off me.”
The look on his face makes me feel naked. And I realize how much of myself I have just exposed.
William is no longer a threat to me or my friends. He is ready to walk away entirely. And I’m offering him my blood to stay.
Because I can’t let him go.
This time it feels like he’s leaning in, too. My pulse jumps into a higher gear, and I hate that he can hear it.
