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Sitting at a small bistro table and chair set was Jade.

She had a pile of four ceramic cups mounded in front of her. She looked like a nervous wreck as she took a sip from her water glass.

I watched her for a moment and wondered if the entertainment value of my oddball neighbor was bordering on something a littletooclose to friendship.

I’d come here—surrounded by humans, in the middle of the day, for a meal that I didn’t consume—because she’d summoned me.

Nah. I know better than to grow attached. This is all just temporary—I won’t be in Magiford more than a few months. The snake-brats wouldn’t let me. Besides, her lifetime will be equal to a blink of an eye for me.

Humans died too fast and were terribly fragile. Margarida—the youngest Dracos daughter—had spent centuries yammering at me that they brought such happiness and love. Whenever one of her pet humans passed away, she was inconsolable for years. Her heart broken by the pain.

I knew from years of observation to those who loved them, humans were thieves: stealing shard after shard of a vampire’s heart. To those who tolerated them, like myself, they were ants building their nests in areas they didn’t belong and commonly getting crushed under the foot of a world that was far bigger than they ever imagined.

Still. Jade was entertaining.

I sauntered up to her table. “You look like a wreck, Tea Time.”

She scowled, the paleness of her skin making her freckles pop. “Thanks for the support.”

“Always.” I looked at the chair arranged opposite her—the only other chair pulled up to the table—and frowned at the brown and gray tiger striped feline occupying it. “What is this?”

“Oh, that’s Rajiv.” Jade checked each of her empty tea cups. “He’s the restaurant cat. He sits with me whenever I eat here since I never come with anyone.”

“How cozy. Move,” I said to the cat.

The uncooperative animal wrapped its tail around its paws, then meowed.

“Here, we can grab an empty chair from another table.” Jade stood up and peered up and down the meticulously cleaned alleyway, but all the other tables were occupied.

“I’m not letting an animal take my seat,” I said.

“Fine, I’ll hold him.” Jade picked the feline up, then sat back down in her chair.

The striped cat settled on her lap and started purring, then smugly twitched its whiskers at me.

“He’s such a good boy.” Jade peered in her cups again. “I need another masala chai.”

Eyeing the line of four cups, I shook my head. “No, I think you’re done with caffeine for now. Did you order any food?”

Jade clutched the cat to her as if he were a toy—he didn’t seem to mind as he rubbed his head on her chin—and looked at me with wide eyes. “No. Maybe. I have a usual order, maybe I told the waitress?”

I watched her for a moment. Her reactions bothered me—not the way any of the snake-brats annoyed me and got under my skin. It was more that I didn’tlikethat she was off. “Is there a reason you are up and awake when I know you worked last night?”

Jade nudged one of the ceramic cups. “Nightmares, probably. Not all epiphanies are good ones, you know,” she grimly said.

I tilted my head, zeroing in on her. I couldn’t read her biological reactions as well as a werewolf could, but as a vampire I was naturally more dialed into the scent of her blood and her heart pumping it through her veins.

“What has you so upset?” I asked.

“I’m not upset,” Jade said.

I snorted.

“I’m not.” Jade set the cat back down on her lap and started petting him again. “It was a long night, and I learned a few things that are stressing me out.” She sighed and the slope of her shoulders relaxed. “Thanks for meeting me here.”

I nodded. “Might I assume this is all work related?”

Jade puffed her cheeks up as she released an exhale of air. “Yeah. But. Stewing on it isn’t going to help anything.” She rubbed her hands together. “Man, I underestimated how chilly it was going to be today.”