Page 125 of The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends

He went to close the door but Tony put out a hand to stop it, moving into the doorway.

“You know, this actually makesa lotof things makea lotmore sense.”

“Great. Cool. Glad we could clear that up,” Brennan growled. “Now’s not a good time.”

Brennan tried again to close the door on Tony’s face, and this time, Tony let him.

Brennan opened a window and shoved a towel under the door to help with the garlic stench, then drank another pack of blood like it was nothing, against his better judgment.

His logical side was already scheming, rationing. They had a limited supply of blood now, with the harbor stunt, and with Sunny and Nellie out of commission, who knew when there would be more? How long could he make what he had last?

Brennan buried his head in his hands. The situation presented itself in a series of failures.

Travis was still at large.

Dom was still missing.

Cole hated him.

Nellie and Sunny were in danger.

He had no one to turn to.

He’d been so close to—something.He had Cole, he had a tentative grip on his vampirism, he hadfriendsfor the first time in ages. He should have known it would all come crashing down, and that it would all come down to this.

Him. Being a monster.

Brennan got up from the floor, crossed to his desk. He found his journal, a pen, and sat down.

His hands were shaking, and as he wiped tears from his eyes, he tried to organize the frantic spinning of his thoughts.

Vampire blood,he wrote.Triggers thirst frenzy.

The vampire ball,he wrote.March 1.

Turning,he wrote,mutual exchange of blood.

You’re a fuckup and Cole will never forgive you,he wrote.

Sunny and Nellie are gonna die,he wrote.

He clenched his hands into fists to still their tremors. He breathed in, out, in, out, like Dr. Morris used to tell him to. Then he uncurled his fingers and ripped the page from the notebook. He ripped it in half, and when that wasn’t satisfying, he ripped the pieces a few more times.

Then he started a new page.

He had a lot of work to do.

22ALONE AGAIN, NATURALLY

A Pamphlet

Protecting Your Territory: Practices for the High-Level Vampire

By Nellie Adams

While your clan and clan leaders do much of the work of protecting you and your loved ones from potential rogue vampires, we understand the desire to take extra precautions, especially in times of conflict. While everyone can do simpler protection work (see “Protecting Your Territory: Wards and Protection Charms for the Low-Level Vampire” for information about environmental wards, protective charms, and other low-level measures of protection), there are more advanced methods of protection for those with some magical ability.

Binding