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Ender’s eyebrow arches. Obviously, he’s loving my lie and fully believing it. “Oh yes, I would definitely worry about the pants you got from some stranger and pulled on your bloody and dirty body. What if the outside got as dirty as the inside?”

“You can make the inside real dirty,” I say with a smirk.

We’re behind the lab table, so even if someone from the VRC opened the door to the lab, they wouldn’t see us.

He seems to be at a loss for words for a moment before saying, “You should probably get up.”

“ Probably? ” I ask as I slide my hands up his arms before pinning his wrists to the ground.

“Careful, my arms might get dirty from touching the ground,” he says dryly.

“It’s not the only thing that I could make dirty,” I murmur as I lean down, my eyes hooked on his. He’s watching me so damn closely, and while he probably just wants to eat me some more, I really hope that look is asking for something more from me.

I rock forward as I lean down, cock brushing against his as Ender watches me. His dark hair is splayed out on my shirt that he’s using as a pillow, and I find myself so damn hypnotized by his stare. I want him so fucking badly. I want to taste him… touch him…

I’m supposed to stay focused, stop Grady, fix my fuckups and go on my way.

And instead, I’m wanting to play with fire as I pin the very vampire who instills fear in others to the ground.

When Vivian made me aware that I was supposed to make contact with Ender, she warned me that he was a monster and that I was to be extremely cautious when dealing with him because a simple fuckup would result in me dead.

She didn’t say could; she specifically said would .

I was fed tales of the death he left in his wake, but now that I know the man, it makes me wonder what truly happened.

He’s strong, smart, and ruthless, but he can be reasoned with easily.

And most of what he says or does is clearly done to drive a wedge between him and whoever else he’s dealing with.

He’s obviously afraid of Abel and what Abel might do to those he cares about, and I honestly don’t blame him.

As soon as I saw him interact with Rylee, I questioned everything they said. It doesn’t mean he’s a good person, and it doesn’t mean he’s never done anything wrong, but the more I listen, the more I wonder what really happened.

He’s not telling me to get up, and I’m pretty sure if he wanted me off, he would either bitch at me or push me off without a struggle. Instead, his eyes aren’t leaving mine. And when his lips part, my eyes are drawn down to them.

“Are you just going to sit here all day staring at me?” he asks, voice slightly teasing.

“Well… I was thinking.”

“I thought you were smart. It really shouldn’t take you this long to think.”

“I’m smart about like sciencey stuff. I never claimed to be smart about anything else. Everything else I just wing and smile at and assume that it’ll be alright. So maybe if I give you a smile… eh?”

Ender’s eyes lazily drift down to my smiling lips before flicking back up. I suddenly feel like I’ve been caught in a mating ritual, and I haven’t quite flaunted my stuff enough to gain my possible mate’s attention.

“Is that all I get?” It’s said with such a teasing tone that I find myself loving.

“Oh, that hurts! Ender, please.”

“Please what?”

“Let me kiss you so I can feel better about that jab.”

“You’re just going to sit here and wait for permission?”

“I’m a weak man, my dear Ender. The possibility of me recovering after being shot down twice is quite low.”

“I’m positive you’d survive.”

“So are you claiming you’re going to shoot me down?”

“I can’t even tell you what I plan on doing five seconds from now.”

Apparently, if I want to kiss him, I have to make the first move and either get my heart shattered or get to kiss the very man I’ve been warned to avoid.

I’m a simple man, after all.

Leaning down, I press my lips against his, and when he doesn’t immediately kiss me back, I decide that this man really is making a fool out of me.

He wants to see me fail twice then lead me on for a third time, and I’m gullible enough to try for round three if he lets me.

But as I pull back, he follows me, his lips crashing against mine.

Ender’s hand slides into my hair, guiding me back down to him as his lips part.

His rushed movements tell me he’s not overly sure about any of this, but he’s kissing me and that’s all I care about at the moment.

My tongue brushes against his as he brings me in for a deeper kiss that makes euphoria explode inside of me.

I reach for his face, but before I can, his fingers tighten in my hair.

With what seems like a lot of reluctance, he pulls me back, like he can’t trust himself to draw away from the kiss, he has to physically pull me away to keep himself from kissing me again.

He sits up, still holding me prisoner, like he thinks if I get anywhere close to him again, he’ll lose control.

“Do you realize you’re like this baby vampire who is getting mixed up with shit you really shouldn’t get mixed up with?”

“Hmm… I’m struggling to care,” I say with a grin.

His dark eyes tell me that he isn’t teasing me right now, so I drop the grin.

“Can you talk about it? Can you talk about what you’re afraid of?”

He raises an eyebrow as if to tell me that I really am confused if I don’t know the answer to that.

“I know that Abel is obviously an issue, but… realistically, if we fail, we’re all going to die anyway. We might as well die happy. If he dies, then there’s no issue at all.”

“You don’t understand.”

“You say that, but how do you expect me to when you refuse to tell me what I should be understanding?”

Ender is quiet, telling me he’s done with this conversation. But maybe there’s hope that once Abel is dead… if we can kill him, that is… we’ll make it through this, and maybe he’ll choose to kiss me next time.

Finally, Ender says, “You saw me lose control.”

“You were affected by the bullet and lack of blood, so it’s completely understandable. And I know you feel bad about it. I promise I’m not holding it against you. If I were, would I be here right now?”

“It’s not… Yes, the bullet set it off, but Abel used this state to control me.

I don’t know if it’s part of why I’m different.

I don’t know what it is, but he managed to find a way to fuck with my mind enough that I’d do what he asked.

I don’t know if it’s because those who are turned by someone are often more inclined to follow their maker’s wishes…

but he didn’t turn me the traditional way…

I don’t even know how he turned me. I remember very little of it.

I just remember thinking that I was dying, that these two monsters were killing me.

But I can’t always control myself. And just like last time, when I can’t, I have no idea what I could do. I could kill you.”

“You adore Rylee, but you keep her with you.”

“Because I’m selfish,” he says, looking guilty. “Because she has no one and nothing and… I… needed something. Because she reminded me of my niece. Because I wanted to do something right for all of the wrongs I did. Yet how the fuck did it still end up so wrong?”

I reach out and ruffle his hair before pulling him in and hugging him to me. He immediately stiffens and acts like he wants to pull away, but I’m not going to let him go anywhere just yet. “I’m sorry. I hope someday you can live without having to worry that something will happen to her.”

“But that’s just it. Even after Abel is long gone, what happens if I lose control one day?”

“Then maybe I’ll be there to help you. I want to help you,” I say, even though I don’t quite know what that would look like.

Could I stop him? I really don’t think I could.

But I still say it because maybe I’m selfish as well.

I yearn for comfort, family, someone… anyone.

But how long has Ender been alone? Hell, I’ve been alone years and he could have been alone centuries.

It’s no wonder he caved and took Rylee as his own.

He sighs and sets his head against my shoulder. “Fucking hell… we need to keep moving. This is getting us no closer to answers.”

“Right, right,” I say as I grudgingly get up, but the way he slowly releases me tells me that maybe he isn’t as eager to get rid of me as he acted.

Once up, I gather everything I made and toss it into a bag I’d found behind the professor’s desk. I sling it over my shoulder and hurry into the classroom to join the others.

“Good news, I am done. Bad news, I don’t have any syringes or needles, so currently the antidote is useless. Think you could get me some?” I ask.

Finn looks up and nods. “Of course. We’ve figured out where they’re holding Grady and plan to drop Rylee off at the department with River and Bentley. She is not pleased, which can be seen by the massive pout on her face.”

She lets out a whine and runs to Ender, wrapping her arms around him and wailing out, “I don’t want to leave you.”

“When did you get so dramatic?” he asks as he picks her up.

Not to hug her but to shake her a little, like that’ll make the wailing stop.

It does make her smile a bit. “And your face is so gross. Wipe your face off.” Ender grabs a handful of tissues and kind of just splats them against her face. “There. Now I don’t have to see it.”

“Nooooooo! My face is showing you how sad I am. I finally get to see you again but then I can’t see you because that guy is off doing science, and now, I can’t see you because they’re mean.”

“They are mean, that’s definitely why you can’t see me and not at all because we want to keep you safe and out of danger,” he says sarcastically.

“I’m a vampire. Look at my fangs!” She tries to show Ender her teeth. “I don’t need anyone to protect me. Look at ’em.”

“Oh wow, I might as well kick back and watch you take care of everything for me. You’re like a piranha.”

Rylee’s eyes narrow. “You’re making fun of me.”

“I would never,” he says. “They’re going to make a ballad about those fangs.”

Her eyes narrow even more. “You. Are. EVIL!”

“Thank you,” he says. “So then… why do you want to hang around me?”

She hugs his face while declaring everything she loves about him, which is how we head out of the university.

“Mads, you have everything you need?” Finn asks.

“I sure do! I made as much antidote as I could with limited resources. Each vampire will have one. Once we get the needles, we’ll be all set.

Please remember that the antidote has to be injected immediately.

Do not hesitate. You’d rather stab yourself and find out it was a regular bullet than die… I assume.”

“You assumed right,” Claude says.

“I’m just good like that.”

We head out to the SUV and file into it. Ender has to peel Rylee off to fasten her seat belt because she’s so reluctant to let go of him.

“What if, when we’re all done with this nonsense, we take you to a trampoline park?” I ask Rylee. “Wouldn’t that be fun to get to hop around with Ender?”

While Rylee’s face blossoms into a smile, Ender’s face gets cloudy.

“Do I look like I hop?” he asks.

“You’re going to hop so much!” she declares. “I can’t wait! I really can’t wait!”

Ender looks over at me as I smile at him. “We can all go!”

“I would love that,” Finn says. “Marcus is really good at rollerblading. I bet he’d take you to do that too.”

Rylee is looking more thrilled by the minute. “Ooh! That’d be so much fun!”

“It’ll be a belated birthday party!” Claude suggests.

“That I will be sick for,” Alexei says.

Marcus coughs. “Me too.”

“Vampires don’t get sick!” Rylee exclaims. “I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much fun. Ender, Marcus can show you how to rollerblade! He can like hold your hand so you don’t fall.” She finds the image of this ridiculously delightful, judging by the way she giggles manically.

“Oh joy,” Ender says quite dryly. “I’m so glad Mads thought of such a fun activity that he will be taking you to alone.”

Rylee’s happiness plummets. “You won’t go?”

“Of course I’ll go,” he says through gritted teeth, clearly unable to turn this girl down. I’m pretty sure she could ask for anything and Ender would give it to her… and that face tells me she knows it.