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Pearl insisted. “You are so closed up, so guarded, Kaya. You need to trust people. Or vampires. Whatever. You’re too young to act this old.”

“That’s harsh,” I said, a bit stung. “My head is only just feeling back to normal.”

“You’re fine,” said Pearl firmly. “But you got burnt. Shit, I know all about that but I have to try to be a normal human being for Princess, as do you. We depend on you.”

I smiled at that. I had come to depend on them too.

But if I was going to learn to trust others again, I had to start with someone who was less dangerous, less of a risk.

But who?

I didn’t like most of the people I knew, and most men annoyed me with their silly pick-up lines and dumb jokes.

Jack Beaufort was the first man to spark my interest in a long time and he wasn’t even a man.

I didn’t know what that said about me.

Chapter Six

Jack

Kaya was not taking my calls.

I had lost count of the number of calls I had made, the text messages I had left for her. I was becoming annoyed that she wasn’t returning my calls. It was rude and I liked good manners. I called at her place of work and was informed that she had taken a few days off work. The man at the shop didn’t appear to know why or where she was. He seemed like a dim-witted fellow.

I dropped by her house a few times and scouted the neighborhood for her truck but she wasn’t around. I sensed that she had left town.

But three days of this was enough for me.

I established that the child was with her grandmother nearby and decided to pay them a visit as soon as the sun set.

I knocked on the door and the little girl opened it. She was a pretty little thing, with sharp blue eyes that didn’t miss a beat. I picked up a heightened awareness around her.

“May I help you?” she enquired politely.

“I am a friend of Kaya’s and I’m looking for her,” I said with a smile, trying to look friendly but not too friendly. “She doesn’t seem to be at work or at home?”

“If you are a friend, how come I don’t know you? I know all Kaya’s friends,” she said, frowning.

“I’m kind of a new friend,” I said.

We were still standing at the front door but she had not invited me in. She appraised me carefully through narrowed eyes.

“Are you a vampire?” she then asked.

I chuckled. “I am, yes.”

“Kaya hates vampires,” the girl said, crossing her arms.

“She does?”

“They killed her entire family; she says they are all killers.”

This was news to me but it did explain her behaviour in a way.

“I am not a killer, Princess, I promise you that,” I said in my most sincere voice.

She looked at me for a while.