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I smile up at him. “I’m so grateful you were the conservator who showed up on my door.”

“You know that wasn’t an accident, don’t you? I had to bribe Daniel with donuts.”

“I remember you mentioning something like that.”

“A box a week for a year—I’m still paying. It wouldn’t have worked if he was a vampire.”

“You wanted to be assigned to me that badly?”

“I did, and I still do. I’d give all the donuts for you, Piper.”

“And I would give up donuts for you. Which…I’ve already done.”

“I’ll try to make it up to you,” he promises. Then he pulls back, resting his weight on his hand as he frowns down at me. “Just as soon as I figure out how to remove this corset. Is it like a modern-day chastity belt? What is this thing?”

“I have full confidence in you.” I raise a brow. “After all, we both know how good you are at breaking and entering.”

Noah’s snort turns into a laugh. “You’re never going to let me forget that stupid door, are you?”

“You want to know a secret?”

“I want to know all your secrets.”

“It was pretty hot.”

“Oh yeah?”

I smile as he kisses me. “Yeah.”

I pull up to our house at half-past three, a full week after the nomination gala. It looks the same, but I’m not.

I’m married. My fangs have grown in. And I have a sick vampire husband.

“We’re back,” I tell Noah.

“Just leave me here.” He’s crashed out against the passenger side door of our SUV, eyes closed.

“All you have to do is walk into the house, and then you can have more painkillers for your headache.”

He groans, sitting up slowly, blinking in the bright light. “Being a normal human sucks.”

I laugh, grabbing the small, soft-sided cooler that holds our blood. “You’re not normal. More like pre-vamp level right now. The doctor said you’ll be back to your usual vampire self in a few weeks.”

He turns toward me. “Bite me again. Maybe it will help.”

“That’s not how it works,” I remind him with a laugh. “You have to give the virus a chance to reestablish itself. Now, come on.”

The day we were flying back to Miami, Cassian’s doctor got the answer he was looking for. Cassian’s sickness wasn’t an abnormality, nor was it the product of biomedical foul play.

It was caused by the daylight drug.

Apparently, over the last year, a rash of vampires on the medication have been getting sick, and they all have two things in common—they’ve all been on the drug for at least twenty-four months, and they hadn’t been bitten in several years.

Married vampires weren’t having any issues, nor were vampires with more promiscuous lifestyles. But single vampires who abstained from casual relationships and vampires married to humans were all picking up everyday viruses their bodies should have been fighting.

Simply put, the drug weakened their immune systems, and they needed a Vampiria B booster shot. Thankfully for Noah, I’m happy to step up and help him with that as often as needed.

NIHA scientists have already started doing further research on the drug, working with vampires willing to abstain from bites to see how else the medication might affect them.

If they’re on it long enough, will they be able to eat plant-based foods?

Have children? Will they forfeit their immortality?

Only time will tell.

But a question keeps circling in my brain: Has NIHA found a cure for vampirism? And if they have, what does that mean for our future?

Thankfully, worrying about that is Cassian’s job, not mine.

The heads of the lines will converge in Romania again in a month, and this time, the archduke will be announced. Cassian is expected to win by a large margin.

But even if it’s not Cassian, one thing is for certain—it won’t be Jameson. He’s in a high-security prison, charged with a vampire life sentence.

At least he’s not alone.

Gerald, Larissa, and Alfred were sentenced as well, though they only got ten years, likely because none were directly involved in Etienne’s assassination.

Thanks to the pardon Cassian issued Sophia, she was acquitted, and I suspect she administered the “booster” he desperately needed.

He claims they’re not together, though. Not yet anyway.

“Couch or bed?” I ask Noah when we get inside.

“Bed,” he says, his voice scratchy. He sounds miserable, and I’m delighted that I can’t catch it.

I follow him up the stairs, tugging him to a stop when he turns toward the guest bedroom. “Where are you going?”

He glances down the hall and then back at me, looking a little befuddled.

“We’re married—you get to sleep with me now.”

“Right.” He trudges toward my bedroom and falls on the bed.

I bring him painkillers and set a glass on the nightstand. “Take these and get some sleep, okay?”

He mumbles, probably agreeing. I smile to myself and leave him to rest.

The doorbell rings when I’m halfway down the stairs.

I jolt a little, my body programmed to panic these days. I’m hoping I’ll get over it eventually.

But it’s just Cassian.

I open the door for him. “Hi.”

“I see you made it back okay,” he says. “How was your drive?”

“Long.”

We arrived in Miami just fine, but the day before we were supposed to fly back to Colorado, Noah began showing flu symptoms. It felt wrong to subject the other passengers to his germs, so we decided to drive home.

“Are you feeling better?” I ask.

“I feel fine now. I’m supposed to go in for a blood test in a few weeks to see where my Vampiria B levels are at.”

I raise my brows. “I hope you at least took Sophia to dinner before asking her to bite you.”

A wicked look crosses his face, confirming my suspicions. “I didn’t have to ask.”

“Never mind—I don’t want to know. Why are you here?”

“Can’t your conservator welcome you home?”

“You can, but you look like you have something on your mind.”

His expression becomes solemn. “I just wanted to thank you and Noah for everything you did.”

I gesture toward the stairs. “Noah is sleeping.”

“Then I’ll thank you.”

“I didn’t do much. Just went undercover, caught the evil vampire, and probably saved your life.”

Cassian laughs. “You’re right—why did I even bother making the drive over?”

“Now that Jameson and Gerald are out of the picture, are you having second thoughts about the nomination?”

“No,” he says soberly. “It feels like something I need to do—dare I say, what my life has been leading up to. Besides, I’ll probably only rule a hundred or so years and then step down.”

“Only.”

He smirks. “Do you think you can run our business here without me?”

I get giddy just thinking about my new flower farm.

“I think I’ll manage,” I say.

“If you need me, I’ll only be an ocean away.”

“ If you get elected.”

He gives me a droll look, confident as ever. Then he turns back toward the door. “I’ll go so Noah can rest.”

“See you soon.”

I close the door and then look around the house, wondering what changes we’ll make now that Noah and I are married. Maybe we can even buy it from my grandparents. The bank will probably give us a mortgage since my husband has a reliable income.

Everything is looking up.

“Was that Cassian?” Noah asks from the top of the stairs.

“Yeah, he just stopped by to check in. Did you take your medicine?”

“I did, but I don’t feel any better.”

“It’s been five minutes. You’ve only been a vampire for four years. Did you already forget how this sick stuff works?”

“Come watch a K-drama with me. I don’t want to be miserable by myself.”

I head back up the stairs to join him.

“Why are you smiling?” Noah asks, suspicious.

“Because I’m happy.”

“You’re happy I’m sick ?”

“No, but I am happy that the only thing we have to worry about is a very normal case of the flu.”

He wraps his arms around me from behind, and we penguin-walk our way into the bedroom. “I’m not happy about the flu.”

“You’re going to be fine.”

“Quick—bite me again.”

Laughing, we fall onto the bed together and crawl under the covers. “I’m not biting you.”

He nuzzles my neck. “Maybe I’ll bite you.”

“Stop it—you don’t feel good.”

Chuckling, he wraps his arms around me.

“What do you want to watch?” I ask.

“Something about a vampire and a flower farmer,” he murmurs, awfully sweet when he’s sick.

“I don’t think they have that one,” I say wryly.

“That’s too bad.” He yawns and closes his eyes, looking like he’s ready to nap, not watch a show. “It’s my favorite.”

I smile as I cuddle in close. “You know what? It’s my favorite, too.”