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Connor exhales and pulls me against him. “It’s hard sometimes for me to be on the outside.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “I know. You are so fucking patient with me, and I am endlessly grateful.” I run my fingers through his hair. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m trying.”

Connor nods and leans in, brushing his lips over mine, the kiss feather-light.

“I missed you yesterday,” I whisper, sliding my tongue along his bottom lip, teasing him.

“I missed you, too,” Connor groans, deepening the kiss.

“Summer! Let’s go!” Alice yells up the stairs, and I pull back, licking my lips.

“Later?”

Connor squeezes my ass, his eyes darkening. “Definitely.”

I slide my hand into his and lead him downstairs. “Gods, let’s go already!”

Everyone glares at me, and Connor chuckles from behind me. Alice rolls her eyes and flicks her fingers, extending her black claws. She pierces her chest, opening the portal to her birthplace. Connor and his brothers look through the doorway with wide eyes. Alice and I walk through confidently. I am more than used to the realm after spending so much time here overwinter break, barely phased by how it feels like it was frozen in the year 1500. The guys follow, Connor in the lead, always the leader and protector.

Zach pulls Ashley against his side as they step onto the cobbles. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Everyone else is quiet, but Luke is obviously feeling uncomfortable, and he moves closer to Connor.

Connor slings his arm around my shoulders and looks at Luke. “Stay close, baby Luke.”

“Okay, my band of warrior angel bodyguards! Follow me!” Alice says, smirking as she leads us through the streets.

“So what’s the plan, Al?” I ask when we get to the end of the street.

Alice grins at me. “Well, you said torture was off the table, right?”

Rafe snorts. He’s hanging at the back of the group, but I can tell he’s more at ease here than the others.

I give her a hard stare, and she smiles back at me. “Well, okay, then! Let’s go to the beach,” she says, skipping forward.

“You have a beach? Here?” Zane asks, looking at the murky gray sky.

Alice turns to face us, walking backward. “What do you think we are? Animals? We even have jet skis.”

Zane punches his fist in the air. “Oh, hell yeah!”

The streets are relatively empty as we walk through town. The few vampires we see scurry away at the sight of us. I’m unsure if it’s Alice and me, and the memory of our tirade over the winter break, the blonde Valkyrie, or the five hulking angels that scare them off, but whatever it is, Alice is delighted.

The beach looks untouched. There are no footprints in the white sand, and the brush surrounding the shore is completely overgrown, shielding us from prying eyes.

“Does anyone use this beach, Al?”

Alice laughs. “Just me.”

Though the star that Drãculea orbits never breaks through the thick atmosphere, it is still warm here next to the water. I take my shoes off and marvel in the feeling of the soft grains of sand filtering through my toes.

Alice drops her bag. “I brought swimwear for everyone, and you can change in that cubical.” Alice strips down to a blood-red bikini and runs toward the ocean, plunging straight into the waves. I squint at the water, noticing there is a slight tint of red to it.

Zane undresses with no care for modesty or concern for who sees.

“Ah! My retinas!” I yelp, covering my eyes.

“Your ass is whiter than Connor’s,” Zach quips.