Page 76 of Vampires of Eden

His answer comes like a swift slap across my face. Taken aback, I stand straighter. “Right… Okay.”

“No, I mean—not like that! I, well, you…” Closing his eyes, he turns to the side and lifts both of his hands to plunge his fingers into his thick mane. “Just give me a second? One second.”

“Sure.”

He inhales and his square shoulders rise, then fall. “Yes, I like you, because I enjoy talking to you. But I know how you feel about purebreds and you’djusttold me about what happened with Josefina—which I really appreciated, by the way. You sharing that with me.”

“Yes, you said that already.”

“Right. So, it felt wrong to do that to you. I’m so sorry.” He drops his hands from his hair and sits on the edge of the deck’s railing. Cautiously, he meets my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you think I’m angry with you?” I ask. “Because your eyes alighted?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not,” I say plainly. “But I am annoyed that you ran away. And further, that you refused to answer my phone calls for two days and skipped your usual day here at the safe house in an obvious attempt to avoid me. I don’t like that you ignored me—as if I didn’t matter.”

“Nooo no no no,” he says, pleading yet again. “It wasn’t like that, I was… I was just so humiliated and it was gross and?—”

“Yes, you’ve said,” I cut in, not wanting to hear it a third time. “You say that you enjoy talking to me, so thentalkto me. Don’t ignore me or run away—because that solves nothing. Haven’t weconfided in each other? Have we not established a mutual trust within our private conversations?”

“We have,” he says, quietly.

“And I… I like you, too,” I tell him and myself honestly, registering the blatant rush of heat in my belly. God help me. “How I feel about purebreds is irrelevant. I’m learning to change and grow—just like you. Will you give me the grace to do that? Please stop calling me mean and evil.”

Alexander nods. “I’m sorry?—”

“No more apologizing.”

“I—okay…” He smiles and his face is thoroughly flushed in a warm rosy red. He runs his fingers through the top of his hair again and it’s the most endearing shit that I have ever seen.

“I apologize for pinching you and making you uncomfortable,” I say.

“Ah, that’s not such a big deal. Raph and Leoni pinch me all the time, but I don’t usually… Normally it’s… It won’t happen again.”

A vampire’s eyes alighting is an almost universal symbol for their deeper, inner affection toward someone. Especially a purebred. There are exceptions depending on the situation, but in our circumstance, the gist is pretty damn clear.

How can he call it a fluke? What’s happened to him that he would react this way when his eyes alight? These words he’s throwing around—gross, wrong and weird. It doesn’t feel right to me. It’s too extreme.

“If it does happen again,” I tell him, moving to sit on the top step of the deck so I can feel the sunlight directly. “Don’t run away, please? It’s alright. Just talk to me about it.”

“It won’t happen again,” he says, coming to sit beside me. “Don’t worry.”

It definitely will, but I don’t say as much. A purebred’s nature is a complex and passionate entity—at times, more intuitive and powerful than its vessel.

Josefina was well aware of her nature and whatit wanted. Older purebreds are like this. Perfectly attuned to their auras, to the point where some can exhibit extensive control. Wielding it or restricting it as needed, like a warrior fiercely skilled in using their sword.

These purebreds are guided by their natures and distinctly choose whether to listen to the supernatural pull inside of them or not.

Alexander is young. I know that, but… this spiel about him being humiliated and not understanding why his eyes alighted for me? It shows his lack of inner awareness. Or some undeniable trauma.

“God,” he says, exhaling as he makes himself comfortable. “I thought you’d be livid. I was preparing for you to rake me over the coals.”

“All you had to do was answer the phone. I would have set your mind at ease.”

“Yeah…” Alexander brings his knees up and folds his arms on top. He rests his head to the side so that he can see my face. He smiles. “That was dumb.”

I stretch my legs out and fold them at the ankles, then lean back on my palms. “Not dumb. A little immature, though?”