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An eternity with Wolfe. It was frighteningly easy to picture.

Elaborate mansions with hideous, uncomfortable furniture.

Soft touches mixed with possessive fire.

Easy reassurances every time Eric’s insecurities ran away from him.

And…someone who didn’t expect anything from Eric other than his continued existence.

His presence alone being enough, for the first time in his entire life.

Being wanted, always. Every day. Forever.

Yeah, that sounded fucking perfect.

Jamie’s dark eyes lit up at whatever he saw in Eric’s expression. “See what I mean? Crazy can be fantastic .”

Eric saw it then, out of the corner of his eye. A familiar mop of messy brown hair, a pointed, elfin chin. Crouching among the trees at the opposite edge of the playground, watching the mothers and their children with the hungriest expression Eric had ever seen.

“That him?” he asked as quiet as he could.

To his credit, Jamie barely turned his head, catching Eric’s energy and looking out the corner of his eye. “Yup. That’s him.”

Unfortunately, even as quiet as they were, vampire hearing was apparently no fucking joke, because the kid took notice of their words, startling up from his crouched position.

For one long second, he stood there, staring at Eric, right in his eyes. Then he looked to Jamie. Back to Eric…

And then he bolted.

Eric sped through the forest, the trees a blur all around him.

He was fast now—light-years faster than he’d ever been in his short stint on the track-and-field team in college—which was theoretically helpful.

But really, speed was useless when he didn’t know where he was going.

It was like the kid had disappeared into thin air, and now Eric and Jamie were just tearing through pine trees without purpose.

When they paused to catch their bearings, Jamie looked around doubtfully. “Maybe we should split up?”

Eric tried to control his panting, unsure why his vampire body even insisted on it. “Isn’t that how people meet their bad ends in all the horror movies?”

Jamie’s eye roll was sassy as fuck. “Dude. He’s a kid. I think we’ll survive.”

Eric hesitated, just for a moment. He knew what Wolfe would want—he’d want Eric to have the extra protection. He’d want him unharmed and with plenty of backup.

But wasn’t it more important to not lose this kid? What if they never got another chance like this?

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, we can split up.”

So they did. Jamie went east. Eric went west.

He went deeper than he’d ever cared to explore in these woods—deep enough that he’d worry about finding his way back, if not for the fact that he’d learned how to use the sun to gauge cardinal directions in the Eagle Scouts his mother had made him join.

Something about making him competitive for prep school.

The run wasn’t exactly pleasant. The pine smelled good and all, but the winter sun had melted the snow enough to make everything a muddy mess. And maybe it still could have had some sort of scraggly charm if Eric weren’t so fucking frustrated.

Where had this kid gone ?

He stopped in a small clearing, one where the melted snow had made the world’s tiniest pond.

Once again, he asked himself the question: Where would he have gone as a kid?

Unfortunately, the truth was he’d probably have run far, far away and never come back.

If the kid had been traumatized by some vampire and then saw two more of them stalking him in a park? He’d be wise to be long gone.

God, Eric had fucked it all up, hadn’t he? He’d ruined it. He should go back to the playground, let Wolfe take him home. Stop trying to be of use when he was inherently useless.

The telltale snap of a twig had Eric whirling around only to see more of nothing all around him. Definitely horror movie vibes.

When he turned back, the kid was there.

He was standing unbelievably still, across the tiny pond, maybe five feet back from the edge.

Eric had probably gauged his age about right, maybe somewhere around ten years old.

He was filthy up close. Had he been that filthy at the hospital?

He had dirt smudging his face, his clothes, his hands—one of which was holding the limp body of a squirrel.

Eric’s stomach churned. Jesus, had he drained the thing? Was it like Jay had said: the kid could eat animal and people blood? Some sort of vampire omnivore?

“Hi there.” Eric winced at the sound of his own voice. Was that really the best he could do?

He at least knew well enough not to step closer, not when the kid looked ready to bolt again at any second, his small, wiry frame tense as hell.

The kid pushed back a matted lock of dark hair with his free hand. “Smell like him.”

His small voice was surprisingly hoarse, like he hadn’t spoken for a very long time. And from the way he said the word “him,” it didn’t sound like a compliment.

Still, it was some sort of jumping off point, at least.

“What does, um, he smell like?” Eric asked.

“Old pennies.”

Of course. The coppery, metallic vampire scent.

“You mean the person who did this to you?” Eric clarified. At the kid’s small nod, he explained, “We all smell like that. All…vampires…do.”

The kid shook his head. “I don’t.”

So he wasn’t fazed by the vampire part. Either he’d put it together himself or the sick fucker who’d turned him had already told him.

The kid took a step closer to the pond. “Doctor.”

“Me?” Eric pointed to himself like an idiot. Another small nod. “Um, yeah. We can—we can be doctors.”

Was this going to be some sort of “we can still be all we can be” moment? You can be a doctor, a nurse, a psychopath with inherited wealth.

But then the kid said the worst possible thing, holding his mangy squirrel tight. “You can fix me.”

Oh. Oh shit. Eric stepped closer before he could stop himself, rubbing a hand over his face. “No, buddy, I can’t. I’m so sorry. It’s…permanent. The change.”

The disappointment on that young face was like a knife to the chest. Eric should have lied, right? Wolfe would have lied, would have reassured him with false promises to get him somewhere safe. But Eric couldn’t bear to give this poor, filthy kid fake hope.

The little guy’s eyes welled up like he was going to cry, but all he did was nod again. “That’s what he said too.”

“The one who did this to you?” Give me a name, kid. We’ll rip his head off for you.

“No.” The child cocked his head, studying Eric through his messy hair. “The voice. Do you have it too? My imaginary friend.”

Was he talking about his beast? He must have been, right?

Eric debated taking another step forward but in the end chose to stay where he was. “Yeah. Mine only talks sometimes though. Real limited vocabulary. But my—my partner talks to his a lot.”

“Hard to think sometimes. Hard to talk. Always growling.” The kid held his hands in claws like a cartoon monster, the squirrel swaying in his grasp. “Always hungry.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty…rough.”

Then they were staring at each other, and Eric had no fucking idea what to do next. Where did he go from here? Find out where he was from? Offer to help him get another squirrel? Offer to find and kill the fucker who’d done this to him?

The kid grasped the squirrel in both hands. “I hurt Mama.”

Jesus Christ. Eric was not equipped for this. He tried to keep his voice calm and level. “Did you—is your mama…is she still alive?”

“Yes. I—I stopped. Ran.” The kid was twisting the squirrel in his hands. The tiny head popped right off. “I’m really fast.”

“Yeah, you are. I couldn’t catch you; that’s for sure.” Eric tried his best not to look at the newly decapitated body in the kid’s hold. “How’d you know to go to blood banks? And the hospitals? You must be really smart, huh?”

“Mama was a…phlegmologist?”

Eric racked his brain for what that could be. “A phlebotomist? She drew blood from people?”

“Yeah.” The kid gave him the smallest, most hesitant smile. “Phlegmbolomist.”

“That’s great. That’s a really cool job.

” Jesus fuck, he sounded like an idiot. Eric had never been good with kids.

There was a reason he hadn’t gone into pediatrics.

“So do you, uh, wanna come back with me? I can help get you food, and you could have a bath?” At the kid’s frown, Eric tried again. “Or a shower?”

The kid looked down at his clothes, at his bloody hands. “Dirty.”

“Yeah, I bet you’ve been really roughing it, huh?”

The little guy seemed to be thinking about it, cocking his head and looking Eric over, as if to search for hidden motives. But then he started tensing again.

Shit, he was going to run for sure. Of course he was. He’d been turned by some random vampire who smelled just like Eric—like blood —and now here Eric had been stalking him in the woods, talking about bringing him home and bathing him?

Eric prepared himself for another chase, but faster than he could process—faster than the kid could process either—there was Wolfe, right behind the little vampire, one arm wrapped around his throat.

“Well, what do we have here?”