“You saved me,” I whispered against his neck.

My heart clanged against my ribs. I had only meant to pretend to fall.

“I told you I would protect you,” he said. His hand tipped my face. Then his pupil widened, the black swallowing the iris, and I was looking into the familiar obsidian of vampire eyes. “You only made it a few feet, and then you fell. I hadn’t started climbing yet, and I caught you.”

An itchiness, marching ants inside my skull, as his will tried to penetrate my memory.

“You caught me,” I echoed, easily faking the breathlessness of the enthralled like I’d done a thousand times on jobs.

The sensation ceased as the black receded, and his puppy eyes returned. “Are you okay?”

“You saved me,” I whispered again, only this time a little more rueful and less shaky.

“I told you I would protect you,” he said, standing up. “I said this wasn’t very safe.”

“Good thing I wasn’t very high up,” I said.

“Good thing.”

“...Ira?”

“Yes?”

“You can put me down, now.”

“Oh!” He laughed, dropping my legs so I could find my footing. There was just a hint of flush on his cheeks, so he must have fed recently. Now that I knew for sure, I needed to start putting the details together.

Beni’s voice tickled my inner ear. Just act like a twink, and this’ll go great.

“How much do you work out?” I reached up and squeezed his bicep. “Not many guys could lift me like that, let alone catch my weight.”

He scoffed (though I noticed he flexed beneath my hand), “What weight? I could hold you all day.”

Most twinks probably wouldn’t notice how he’d dodged the question.

“I’m serious!” I pitched my voice higher on the last syllable. “I may not look like much, but I’m tall, too--and, I also work out. Muscle is heavy, you know. I’m heavier than I look.”

“Oh, yeah?” His eyes sparkled, and he swooped in before I realized what he was doing.

“Hey!” I forced myself to giggle despite my stomach dropping as he swung me back up into his arms. I couldn’t defend myself like this.

“See?” His rum-on-the-rocks voice sounded very pleased with himself. He actually lifted me up and down a couple times, literally using my body like a curling bar. “I told ya, I could do this all day.”

With his strength, he literally could. Not a comforting thought.

“Okay, tough guy,” I simpered, laying my hand against his chest. “You made your point.”

“Have I?” He asked, leaning over me.

Our faces were close together. It was a much less pleasant experience now that I knew that behind his plump lips even his dullest tooth could rend my skin.

Beneath my hand (still on his sternum) I finally felt a weak, abortive thump. His barely-beating heart was the slowest I’d ever counted, and he could walk in the sun despite being strong enough to hide his eyes. Ira wasn’t like most vampires I’ve come across. I needed to get back to the team so we could find out why.

“Can you put me down again?”

“Of course.” He pulled back, hiding his disappointment well.

Once safely back on the ground, I could breathe a little easier. At least I could form my techniques if he tried anything. “How much further did you plan on going?”

“Lost your sense of adventure already?” He teased.

“...Maybe,” I said.

His smile fell. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine.” I ducked my head. “Just a little embarrassed. You were right.” Guys loved being right, even Damned ones, so that should pump up his ego, and ego blinded reason. “I could have been really hurt. I mean, that’s an overreaction since I wasn’t very high up, but…” I peaked up at him. “I think I’m ready to call it a day. I know you wanted to eat after the hike, but I just don’t think I’m up to it.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he soothed. No doubt he thought himself highly magnanimous. “I totally get it. We can head back right now, if you want.”

Still playing my role, I toed the dirt. “You’re not mad?”

“Of course not.” His face was so earnest, like he really was just a hot college boy. “It’s entirely up to you.”

Voice soft, I asked, “Will you walk me back?”

With a flourish, he held out on arm. “It would be my pleasure.”

Giggling again, I hooked my elbow through his and we started back across the bridge.

“Sorry for ruining our date.” I made sure my voice was properly mournful.

“You didn’t ruin anything.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Besides, it’s not every day a hot blonde literally falls into my arms.”

Remembering his moratorium on denying I was hot, I didn’t say anything. He noticed

“You didn’t disagree this time.” His voice deepened. “That’s good.”

Like a bashful boy, I looked away. He didn’t know I was trying not to grind my teeth while he praised me like a dog.

In the center of the bridge, the falls once again misted over us. This time I found it chilling, rather than quenching. I knew I had seen something in the water. Growing up, we’d all heard scary stories of vampires in the Old World who could achieve inbetween states, neither vapor nor fully solid. Did Ira have an accomplice, one even stronger than he?

Even as I had the thought, my gut told me that wasn’t quite right. Ira had been so careful with his secret identity, never revealing himself until I forced his hand. Those dark eyes had been watching me intently, as if they had no care at all if I noticed them.

As if they wanted me to notice them.

A truly frightening hypothesis swept through me.

What if there were two cults of the Damned in Rossberg?

I shivered.

“I can stand closer to the falls,” Ira offered. “If you want.”

A vapid smile beamed up at him. “No, that’s not necessary.”

“I insist!”

I stifled a sigh as we shuffled around so Ira was getting most of the vapor. Though, it was only a fine mist to begin with.

“It’s not even that wet,” I said.

“A gentleman walks on the inside on a sidewalk,” he began, “and the outside on a street.”

“Oh, a gentleman are you?” My voice was playful, definitely not as mocking as I would have liked.

“I was raised right,” he said with a self-deprecating smile. “If my mother knew you were getting wet in my stead, she would not be pleased.”

“Well, you’ll have to tell your mother thanks from me,” I said. If you live to see her again. “By the way, how old are you?”

“Twenty-Two,” he said. “And you?”

More like a hundred and twenty-two. “Eighteen.”

“I figured,” he said. “That’s the age most froshies are.”

“Froshies?”

“Freshman.”

“Oh, right.” Then, “Why isn’t it freshies?”

“What?”

“Why is it froshie, with an O, when freshman has an E?” I clarified.

He laughed. “You know, I’m not sure. Language is weird like that.”

We reached the end of the bridge, beginning the curve around the cliff that would take us back to the diner. My hand strayed to my pocket, where my phone was stil half poking out. These damn shorts were so tight not even a plummet to the death had dislodged anything.

Handy.

“How busy does it get out here?” I asked. “Seems like kind of an odd place for a diner.”

“That’s kind of a long story,” Ira answered. “My mom got denied for a permit in town. The small-town bullshit is unreal around here. So she applied directly to the state, and got approved. By making it a truck-stop, and not just a restaurant, she gets all the semis and stuff like that. They appreciate it being out here so they don’t have to try and maneuver their big vehicles in town.”

“Makes sense,” I said.

He nodded. “Then she started getting the highway patrol on their lunch breaks, bikers coming through, travelers trying to find the interstate. It’s a little rougher in the winter, but the summer months pay the bills.”

“Is it busy right now?”

“Probably not,” he said. “We’re a little early for the lunch rush. Why?”

Nonchalant, I replied, “Oh, just curious.”

The woods thinned just a bit, and I knew we were close to the parking lot. Soon we could see it beyond the treeline. The light at the end of the tunnel, and all that. That big white Buick, or whatever, was still parked out back.

“Is this yours?” I asked.

“Yup.” He patted the hood. “It was my first car, actually. Restored it myself. Guzzles gas like a bitch.” He laughed. “But she’s been good to me. Couldn’t dream of replacing her until I absolutely had to.”

“Oh, are you a car person?” I looked confused. “I don’t really know anything about them.”

“I like knowing how things work,” he said. “It started as a hobby, but I actually got pretty good at it.”

I tipped my chin toward the far corner. “That’s mine over there.”

“Allow me to escort you?”

I don’t know why he asked (our arms were still linked), but I made myself titter again and nodded.

“Despite the death-defying leaps,” he said, “I really enjoyed myself today.”

“It wasn’t death-defying,” I protested. “I was barely off the ground.”

“Right,” he said. “Well, I still got scared for a second.”

“A big thing like you? Scared?” I pressed myself closer to his side as we walked. “I don’t know if I believe that.”

“Tops have feelings, too,” he said. “My heart was in my throat when you fell. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“I didn’t want to get hurt either.” I smiled. “So thanks for being my hero.”

I swear his chest visibly puffed up. “No problem.”

“Well, here we are,” I said, standing next to my vehicle. I disengaged, and turned to look up at him. “Thank for today. You’ve been more help than you know.”

That faint rouge tickled his cheeks again. “Oh, it really wasn’t anything.”

“It was.” I opened the backdoor, and he looked at me strangely. “You know, I’m not sure I’ve properly thanked you.”

“No thanks is necessary,” he began, but I cut him off.

“I insist.” Casually, I squeezed my phone out of my pocket. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” he said without thinking, automatically assuming I was no threat to him.

Batting my lashes, I purred, “Close your eyes.”

Just like that, his own lashes fluttered closed.

My finger found the heart on the back of my phone case, and it read my fingerprint with a quiet ping. A tiny arc of violet energy sparked between the devil horns as I jammed the taser into Ira’s chest directly above his black heart.