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“Well, the speed was the easiest giveaway. There’s also the issue of body temperature, not aging, and presumably the whole blood thing. That’s a real part of the equation, correct? I’m not making this up?”

“Are you asking if I drink blood? Yeah, that’s still a vampire thing.”

Esther clenched her thighs together. Now was not the time to analyze this new kink she was developing. “Well, that makes a whole other list of potential problems.”

Ashley waved her comment away. “Don’t worry about that list. I have it under control. One of the benefits of a vampire Family is they’ll take care of getting you blood where and when you need it.”

“And the other vampires are cool with you leaving town for a week? I thought you said you were supposed to be cutting ties with your family. How does this fit?”

Ashley pulled out her list again and began writing, but it looked more like doodling flowers and stars on the borders. “It’s a farewell trip. I promised to fake my death at the end of the school year.” She looked up and pointed her pencil at Esther. “And, no, I don’t have a plan for that yet, but the vampires don’t need to know that.”

“Well, I’m certainly not planning on saying anything.”

Ashley nodded and went back to doodling.

“That just leaves monitoring your speed, hiding your age, and making sure you aren’t suspiciously cold all the time.”

“Oh, is that it?” Ashley’s tone was sarcastic, but she’d switched to taking actual notes. “Did you have any suggestions? I’ll take anything you have to offer.”

Esther froze. This wasn’t a big deal. Except it was a very big deal.

Sour cream or no sour cream was the smallest of concerns compared to how Ashley should disguise her people-eating tendencies from the two people who knew her best in the world. The number of ways this could go wrong was staggering. Actual lives lay in the balance. She shouldn’t be doing this. Going to Ashley’s parents, pretending to be her girlfriend. This was a terrible idea. She was flirting with disaster.

“I can’t,” Esther said. “We shouldn’t?—”

“Actually…” Ashley closed her notepad and set it on the desk, her gaze fixed on Esther. “We should take a break from this discussion. Christmas break is over a month away, and we’ve laid some solid ground here. What if we switch the subject to something a little less anxiety-inducing?” She shifted Esther’s computer so she could see the screen. “What are you working on?”

“Box and whisker plots.” Esther snatched the computer and began typing notes.

Ashley pulled her hands back like Esther might bite them off, which was fair. Esther needed to write this idea down before she forgot it.

“I have no idea what that means,” Ashley said. “Is it a cat thing?”

“It’s a kind of graph,” Esther answered over her typing. “I’m trying to format Professor Jenkins’s data collection from last semester and organize it into easily digestible graphs and a box and whisker plot would be perfect for comparing the span of averages between groups. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.”

“Did you want me to leave? I can let you work on this since it sounds like you just had a breakthrough.”

“No, don’t go.” Esther grabbed Ashley’s wrist as she shifted in the chair. “Sorry.” She let Ashley’s arm go. “It’s just—I should let this idea simmer before investing more time and effort into it. I just wanted to get these basic notes down. There. Now, what were we talking about before?”

“Suggestions on how to make me seem less vampiric.”

“Oh. Right.” Esther regretted reviving this conversation. Her insides shrank as her heart raced.

“You know you’re not responsible for everyone’s actions, right?” Ashley said. “Whether you suggest it or not, whatever comes out of it is not on you.”

A quick huff escaped Esther’s lips, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “Well, either I give consistently bad advice, or I’m cursed to always give the advice that leads to the worst possible outcome.”

“Okay. This is fascinating, and being cursed is something I can relate to.” Ashley propped her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on her fist like she was a Gene Wilder meme. “Were you always cursed, or was there a moment when you first noticed it manifesting?”

Esther turned away to the bookshelves. “You think I’m being ridiculous.”

Cool fingers enveloped Esther’s hand, drawing her attention back to Ashley.

“I’m honestly fascinated by you, Esther Green.” Ashley’s face was so earnest.

“Oh.” Esther’s heart beat faster at the revelation. She was fascinating? But Ashley was the one with the big personality and the gorgeous eyes. Ashley was a vampire, for crying out loud. And she was going around calling Esther Green, of the small voice and quiet demeanor fascinating. Esther needed tosit down. She slid down the desk, losing Ashley’s hand in the process, and landing with a plop on the floor. “You really want to know?”

“I most definitely do.”