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I was still fuzzy after getting drugged at the club. That was it.

Not that it made me feel better, but it was an explanation and somehow more comforting than the idea of being alone in my apartment with…

No. Impossible.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes slowly, cautiously, waiting for him to jump at me and surprised he didn’t. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t, though, which I reminded myself as I lowered my arms.

He looked the same as ever.

I must have imagined it. “I think there’s something wrong with me,” I whispered slowly. “I’m seeing things.”

“What things?” He sounded lightly amused. One eyebrow arched inquisitively.

“I… I don’t know. Your face changed. You looked different.”

“You still think that was a hallucination?” He smiled, then shook his head. “You are truly determined not to see the truth.”

“Don’t do this to me. Don’t get inside my head and stir things around.” My chest rose and fell in time with my rapid breathing as I looked up at him.

“I realize I’m stirring things around, as you say, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sure this is a lot for you to take in at once.” He pointed to the bed, as if to ask permission to sit near me.

I nodded. Not that I had a choice. I had never felt so torn between wanting to escape and wanting to placate someone so they wouldn’t hurt me.

Oh, God, I’m going to become one of those girls on the news, the ones who end up dead in their apartment after letting the wrong person upstairs. This is how it happens.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

“Yeah, well, that’s what they all say, I’m sure.”

“The difference is, I mean it. The purpose of my being here is to help and protect you. Not to hurt you.”

“Protect me from what? Help me with what? I don’t need either, thank you.”

“You didn’t feel that way earlier tonight.”

I winced. “Earlier tonight was different. Girls get accosted at clubs. It happens all the time—and I’ve never needed a bodyguard before.”

“You think that was an everyday occurrence? Come, now. I thought we had already discussed this?”

“No. Don’t be a jerk. I only mean she didn’t want to hurt me. Maybe hook up with me since it seemed like she liked me, but—”

“No. That’s where you’re wrong.” His body seemed to vibrate with intensity. “I meant everything I’ve said. I wasn’t trying to deceive you, and this is no hallucination. Everything you saw tonight was real. Everything I’ve told you is the truth. That vampire girl saw who you were—yes, perhaps she was attracted to you, as you’re an attractive girl. But it wasn’t entirely sexual. She wanted your blood, and she wanted you on her side.”

“Her side.”

“You’re not a threat to them,” he explained, “but you’re not a friend, and she felt it. Vampires don’t like witches or even half-bloods trespassing in their world. She sensed about you what I’m willing to bet you’ve sensed in yourself, only you didn’t understand until today what made you different. Even now, it’s likely you can’t fathom the extent of what your blood means.”

I wanted to cover my ears and make it all go away. “Stop it. Just stop it. Who are you, Dumbledore?”

“Enough.” Just that one simple word, spoken in a flat, toneless hiss but with as much force as if he’d screamed it, sealed my mouth shut and sent goosebumps running up and down my arms. “I’ve had enough of your sarcasm, your poor attempts at avoiding the truth of the situation. You’re wasting my time, and your own. Wouldn’t it be easier for you to simply accept what your mind is telling you? Somewhere in there, you know this is the truth. You know your eyes are not deceiving you. You can lie to yourself, but such lies only last for so long.”

He leaned closer, hands on the mattress, and I glanced down to find he’d suddenly grown claws. Claws like an animal would have.

They dug into my sheets, and I wanted to tell him to be careful of them, which was such a ridiculous reaction that a burst of laughter bubbled up in my chest and threatened to come out.

Insane laughter.