Page 53 of The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends

“Except, that’s not right.” Brennan rifled through his notebook.

“God, it was in a pamphlet. What was it?” He tilted his head, spoke slowly as he recalled it.

“Thralls—they take focus to maintain. If Travis is across town, wreaking havoc at the vampire ball, maybe that’s the best opportunity to free them.

Maybe his hold on them would be weaker. Free Sunny and Nellie, they stop Travis. ”

“But it’ll be too late, won’t it?” Cole asked.

“Unless we can put off the attack. Distract him,” Brennan said.

“How?” Mari and Tony said in unison, then glanced at each other and furiously looked away.

“I would love to think he’s a sad old man having a temper tantrum,” Brennan said. “And I would love to believe I could convince him not to do it. At the very least, I can try to buy us time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Cole said. “You and I can attend, keep an eye out, and you can talk to Travis. The rest of y’all can be waiting in the wings with blood if hell breaks loose.”

“Uh, hold on,” Mari said, putting a hand up. “Isn’t that basically throwing you to the wolves? Anyone in there is at risk. Including you, Brennan. What if you’re affected?”

“All the more reason I should be there to make sure he’s okay,” Cole insisted.

“Mari’s right. Any one of you guys coming in could be in danger,” Brennan said, looking apologetically at Cole.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Cole said, and everyone’s heads swiveled toward him in shock. “I’m not a damsel in distress! I don’t need anyone’s permission to go. I’m going in with Brennan, and that’s it.”

He was so defiant, chin jutted out, head raised.

His eyes cut to Brennan with a second of doubt, of is this okay?

Brennan answered with the tiniest of nods, and a surge of affection.

As much as he wanted to be protective, Cole was his own person.

Besides, Brennan was sure he couldn’t do any of this without Cole.

“I need you to know that you’re super sexy when you take control like that,” Brennan said instead of something sappy.

Mari groaned, outraged.

“Okay, good progress,” Dom said. “What else?”

Everyone leaned forward, eagerly awaiting instruction, and Brennan was overwhelmed with gratitude. Really, he couldn’t do any of this without all of these people who decided, for some reason, that Brennan was their friend.

He laid out his notebook on the coffee table for the group to see.

“Well,” he said, “it looks like we have a busy week ahead of us.”

brENNAN’S PHONE

“The New Squad” Group Chat with you and 4 others

Mari

so, we’re at 23 packs out of a goal of 180.

Tony

challenge accepted

brENNAN’S JOURNAL

Quinn Miller

Runs the main branch of the vamps’ blood drive up in Maine.

Most active member of FB group besides Sunny and Nellie.

Seems to be friends with a few other vamp women, Crystal and Narrissa.

If we can reach Quinn, maybe they can reach others?

Once he unleashed his Southern charm, it took Cole no more than eight minutes on the phone with the hotel hosting the vampire ball to convince them to send over the event space’s floor plans and catering information.

Mari scheduled a few time slots over the next week to set up the secret blood drive, and between Mari, Cole, and Tony’s combined friend groups alone, they quickly garnered a sign-up list.

Brennan put together a list of potentially trustworthy vampires from the Facebook group based on Sunny and Nellie’s interactions with them, and with Cole and Tony’s help, started sending out feelers for someone who might be able to help.

So far, Quinn was the most promising lead, but they’d need more than just one other vampire if they wanted to free Sunny and Nellie.

But Brennan couldn’t count on Sunny and Nellie to save the day. With or without them, they would have to face Travis.

It was past 2 a.m. when Mari and Tony went to bed, leaving Cole asleep on the couch. Dom and Brennan sat on the living-room floor with the box of pamphlets between them, Brennan leafing through one while Dom lay on her back, throwing a ball up in the air and catching it rhythmically.

“So,” Dom said. “What do you plan on doing? Once all this is over?”

Brennan laughed, distractedly scanning the pamphlet. “Honestly, I’m more focused on getting through this week.”

“Well, what for?” Dom said, grabbing the pamphlet from Brennan to demand his attention. “Say we pull this off, vampires stay hidden, and you get to live your little life how you want it. What are you gonna do?”

Brennan blinked away the research haze and centered himself on the new question.

Without Travis and murders looming, he imagined his life, vampire and human intertwined.

Dating Cole, going to Bachelorette Night with Mari and Tony, meeting up with Nellie and Sunny, maybe even Dom, wherever she ended up after this.

“I guess,” he said, and naturally, his eyes floated to Cole, asleep on the couch.

Hair messed up, shirt riding up exposing his stomach, hands curled by his chin.

“Maybe I want to take life slow for a while. I’m still only nineteen, and I have nothing but time.

I kinda just want to enjoy this. What about you? ”

“I thought I might ask Sunny and Nellie to hook me up with other clans, maybe see the world, you know? Try out some different lifestyles.”

The idea made Brennan a bit squeamish. What kind of lifestyles and clans would she explore? She seemed so much more like a real vampire than Brennan—she had powers, she had the desire to turn, to kill.

“Yeah, I guess it’s harder to pretend to be normal when you have actual bona fide powers,” Brennan said. “What is that even like?”

Dom scoffed. “Aw, you’ve read all these pamphlets and you don’t know?”

“It’s not the same, obviously.”

“Obviously. But I know the stuff in action but not in theory. That’s your area.”

“Yeah,” Brennan said. “Together we almost make a whole functional vampire.”

They shared a laugh, but Brennan’s levity wasn’t long-lasting. He felt himself droop with everything they’d have to overcome for those plans to succeed.

“Are you,” Brennan asked, “I don’t know, ready ?”

Dom considered the question. “I’m not sure my answer is what you’re looking for.”

“Try me.”

“Well, I’m not ready for the whole heroic bit. Stopping the bad guy, saving the day. It’s a bit cliché, you know?” Dom laughed. “No, what I’m looking forward to is beating Travis. Showing that asshole he didn’t break me.”

There seemed to be a lot she wasn’t saying, but Brennan didn’t push.

Brennan had been so busy hating Dom for her mistakes that he hadn’t thought of things from Dom’s perspective, how Dom had lost her sister and Travis had swept in and taken advantage of her trust for his own plans. It felt far too late to realize it now.

“I know what has to be done,” Dom finally said. “Do you?”

Something in her tone sent a shiver down Brennan’s spine. Dom tossed another pamphlet away as she stood, and made toward the window for her exit. Brennan didn’t know where she was going. He didn’t ask.

brENNAN’S PHONE

Quinn Miller

Hey Brennan! Thanks for reaching out! I’d be happy to help out. I owe Sunny and Nellie the world. I can’t leave the blood drive unattended for longer than I had planned, especially with needing to replenish the supply, but I was planning on coming to the ball.

Let me know how I can help and I’ll be there.

“The New Squad” Group Chat with you and 4 others

Mari

update! we’re at 46 packs out of a goal of 180 after day 1 of illegal blood driving!

Tony

hey, 1/4 isn’t bad!

Dom

1/4 won’t stop vampires from starving and killing people

Cole

we have time! We’ve got this!

“The New Squad” Group Chat with you and 4 others

Mari

update! we’re at 94 packs out of a goal of 180 after day 4 of illegal blood driving!

Tony

u whoooooooooaaaa we’re halfway there!!! u

Dom

Living on a prayer is right. Halfway isn’t good enough. We have two days left.

Brennan was scribbling in his notebook when Cole strolled into Brennan and Tony’s apartment.

Tony was at Mari and Cole’s place making a vat of garlic sauce as a precautionary measure, thankfully far away from Brennan.

But all week, people had been coming and going freely, so Brennan didn’t even look up, only registering it was Cole by the smell of coffee that wafted in with him.

“Hey,” Brennan said absently, finishing a thought with a flurry of his pen.

The warm press of Cole draped over him from behind where he was hunched on the couch, arms wrapping around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head.

“Enough planning,” Cole said. “Take a break.”

“We have less than twenty-four hours before the ball,” Brennan said, scanning the list in front of him. “I’m going over the backup plans again.”

Cole withdrew and started shedding his coat and bag.

“You’ve done everything you can at this point. You need to rest.”

Brennan shook his head, even though his own writing looked like scribbled gibberish after staring at it for so many hours. But this was too important.

“If we mess this up, everything changes,” Brennan said.

“You won’t mess this up. I trust you. I wouldn’t be going into a pit full of vampires if I didn’t believe you could do this.”

Brennan swallowed hard. Cole sounded so confident.

“And what if I can’t?” he said.

Cole reappeared in front of him, and then Cole’s hands were prying the journal from Brennan’s and setting it to the side. Cole straddled Brennan as swiftly as the journal was removed, taking up the space in his lap it had occupied.

“Then I guess we’ll have to flee the country and start a new life in the French countryside,” Cole said.

“Well, thank god you have a plan,” Brennan said, but Cole was so close with his jawline and his pink lips that Brennan forgot what they were talking about.

“I like to be prepared,” Cole said.

Cole ducked down and caught Brennan’s mouth in a kiss, and, like a switch, all the stresses and questions and problems swirling in Brennan’s brain turned off, replaced by the feeling of Cole’s lips, his hands keeping balance on his shoulders, his thighs bracketing Brennan’s.

Cole pulled back.

“Everything’s been so high-stakes lately,” he said. “I thought we should have one calm night. Before everything tomorrow.”

And Cole was right, as always. Brennan could use a break.

With a little more prodding from Cole, Brennan put away his notes and the box of pamphlets and changed into comfier clothes, letting Cole borrow a pair of sweats. They curled up on the couch together and Cole queued up some music on his phone.

And like that, wrapped up in Cole like this, Brennan felt like things might be okay.

“You know what sucks?” Cole said. Brennan hummed for him to go on. “The vampire ball would actually be so fucking dope if not for everything else.”

Brennan laughed. “Oh god, you’d love it!”

“I mean, an excuse to dress up? See you dressed up? Vampire-themed everything? I almost can’t wait.”

Cole played with Brennan’s fingers with both hands like Brennan was his personal fidget toy, and Brennan didn’t mind at all.

They stayed up late talking, laughing, kissing, until Cole fell asleep halfway through a sentence, head on Brennan’s chest.

Brennan’s peace didn’t last long, an undercurrent of urgency and fear surging through him as he snaked an arm around Cole.

Because now he had something to lose, something worth protecting, something he needed and wanted to fight for.

And it was terrifying. The idea of having this, then losing it when they’d barely gotten started.

The idea of failing when Cole believed in him.

He couldn’t fail. He wouldn’t.