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The shower shut off and Arman came out of the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist, his skin glistening with water, his smile on the devilish side.

She chuckled. “Good morning. I’ll save us a seat at the dining room table.”

“Morning.” He smiled and pulled her into a hug and kissed her. And got her all wet!

“You’re not worried that I’ll be out of your sight for a few minutes, are you?”

“No. From the nightmare or the premonition that I had where you had disappeared, it was at night. So as long as you don’t slip away from me at night, I think we’re good. And as long as you’re with one of the others and not on your own.”

She kissed him back. “You only hugged me so I could help dry you off.”

He laughed. “You know me too well already. I’ll dress and be down in a minute.”

“Was Levka shot helping a couple of teen girls?”

Arman stared at Fiona for a moment. “Did you dream of it?”

“Yeah, he was having a nightmare about it.”

“Oh, yeah, and then we had to flee on a cruise ship.”

“Right, and then he had to save Caitlin.”

“Were you able to help Levka with his nightmare?”

“Of course. I turned into a fire-breathing dragon.”

Arman laughed. “Now that I would like to see. I’ll be downstairs in a jif.”

Which she took to mean he would just appear there, no walking the distance. She thought that was really cool when they had to move quickly. He would have beat her there, if it hadn’t been that he had to dress first. No speed in dressing.

Even so, by the time she reached the dining room, seconds later, there was Arman, her favorite vampire in the world. He clasped her hand and smiled down at her. His hair was still wet. She wanted to laugh at him for hurrying to join her so quickly.

Of course everyone noticed. She wondered if her parents would even accept that she was dating him. Would they approve? Then again, they hadn’t raised her, they didn’t know her, it was her life to live. And Arman had come to her rescue.

They took their seats at the table and waffles, porridge, haddock, and sausages were on the menu. Everyone was kind of quiet and Fiona suspected it was because tomorrow was her birthday, and the blood moon would appear in all its blood red glory.

Fiona hoped her parents would arrive on time to help them in their time of need. She desperately wanted to see them and hoped that she could get to know them. But what if they weren't anything like she hoped for? What if they didn't feel the same need to be with her that she felt with them? Would they even treat her brother like one of their own, though he wasn't? She wasn't giving up on her brother and if they didn't accept him too, she didn't know how she would deal with that.

She wondered how they would feel about Justin if he was turned into one of their kind now. Maybe they would feel a deeper connection to him, actually. Maybe she would be the one who wasn't like them. Or maybe they would even be saddened to think of what they had lost by no longer being hunters themselves.

Everyone began to eat. They were all pretty quiet. Then Justin spoke up. “Okay, so are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or not?”

“You better not be talking about me,” Fiona said.

“I am. About your birthday, which should be the best time ever, but because of the blood moon…” Justin shook his head.

Fiona figured she wasn’t going to sleep tonight, worried about tomorrow. But she also knew she needed to be well-rested if she was going to have to fight.

“We’re all here for Fiona,” Gareth said. “We’ll do everything we can to keep her safe. And to keep you safe too.”

She appreciated that Stasio’s cousins were there for her and her brother also.

Justin lifted his chin. “If I were a vampire, I could help her, protect her better, protect myself better so others won’t have to waste their energy trying to protect a human.”

Arman sighed deeply. “It’s a big change to make.”

“I know. But I mean, if I don’t become one, then what? I’ll be like the staff here? Humans who do your bidding?” Justin sounded annoyed.