Bloodlust

"How can you say that?" I asked. "I could kill you in an instant."

"I know." She looked into my eyes as if searching for something. My soul, perhaps. "So why havent you? Why dont you now?"

"Because I like you," I said, surprising myself with the words.

A whisper of a smile flitted across her lips. "I like you too."

"Are you sure about that?" I took her wrists in mine and she pulled away a little. "Because when I touch you, I dont know whether I want to kiss you or or "

"Kiss me," she said breathlessly. "Dont think about the alternative."

"I cant. If I do, it wont stop there."

Callie moved closer to me. "But you saved me. When your brother lunged for me, you staked him. You staked your own brother. For me."

"Just in the stomach, not the heart," I pointed out.

"Still." She placed her hand on my chest, right over where my heart used to be. I stiffened, trying not to inhale the scent of her.

Before I could react, she pulled a needle out of her pocket and punctured her index finger. I froze.

Blood.

Just one drop of it, like a single ruby, balanced there on the tip of her finger.

God,Callie’sblood. It smelled like cedarwood and the sweetest wine. My face began to sweat, and my breathing became heavy. My senses sharpened, and my fangs throbbed. Fear flashed in Callies eyes and radiated off her body.

And just like that, my fangs retracted. I fell backward, panting.

"See, youre not a monster," she said firmly. "Not likeheis." The wind picked up, causing Callies hair to ripple out behind her like the waves in the lake. She shivered, and I stood up, pulling her close.

"Maybe," I whispered into her ear, drinking in the heady scent of her, my mouth inches from her neck. I couldnt bear to tell her about all the lives Id taken, how Damon thought thatIwas the monster. "But hes my brother. And its my fault hes in there."

"Do you want me to help you free him?" she said heavily, as if shed known all along that our conversation would come to this.

"Yes," I said simply.

Callie chewed on her lip as she played with a strand of her hair, wrapping it on her finger, over and over again.

"But you dont have to." I avoided her eyes, so I knew I wasnt compelling her.

She stared at me carefully, as if my face were a cipher she could decode.

"In two days," she said, "meet me at midnight. Thats when Damon will be moved to our attic."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Thank you." I cupped her cheeks with my hands and leaned forward, pressing my forehead to hers. And then I kissed her.

As we stood, palm to palm, chest to chest, I could have sworn I felt my heart come back to life, beating in perfect sync with hers.

Chapter 25

When I got back to the vampire house, the moon was hanging high in the sky. Lexi was sprawled on the sofa, her eyes closed as she listened to Hugo play the piano. The piano was so out of tune that the music he pounded out, which was supposed to be a rousing revolutionary march, sounded more like a funeral dirge. Still, I couldnt help but pull Lexi up, whirling her around in an impromptu dance.

"Youre late," Lexi said, ducking out of the twirl. "Or were you on anotherdate?"

"Or killing more humans?" Buxton asked, entering the room.

"Are you in love?" Percy asked, leaning his elbows on his knees and glancing up at me jealously from the corner table, where he was playing a game of solitaire. Percy clearly loved women, but his childlike face made him look like a boy of fifteen, and often the women he was most attracted to assumed Lexi was his mother. I was thankful Id been turned into a vampire at the age I had been.

I shook my head. "Imnotin love," I said, wondering if I was saying it to convince myself. "But Im settling into the routine at the freak show. I think Im learning to like New Orleans."

"Thats great news," Buxton breathed sarcastically.

"Buxton." Lexi glanced at him reproachfully before turning her attention back to me. "Did you forget our plans?"

I racked my brain, but finally shook my head. "Im sorry." Lexi sighed. "Remember–Im taking you shopping. I may be a vampire, but I still have a womans vanity, and it simply doesnt suit me to be surrounded by men in ill-fitting clothing. What would the neighbors think?" She laughed, amused by her own joke.

"Oh, right." I inched toward the stairway. "Maybe we could go tomorrow? Im exhausted."

"Im serious, Stefan," Lexi said, taking my arm. "You need clothes, and its a tradition of sorts. I took those two gentlemen in for fittings, and look at them now," she said, nodding toward Buxton and Hugo as if exceptionally pleased with her work. It was true. From Buxtons high-collared blue coat to Hugos well-tailored britches, theydidlook handsome. "Besides, you dont have a choice," she said mischievously.

"I dont?"

"No." Lexi opened the door with a flourish. "Boys, were off. When we come back, you wont even recognize Stefan, hell look so handsome!"

"Bye,handsome!" Buxton yelled sarcastically as the door clicked closed. Lexi shook her head, but I didnt mind. In an odd way, Id gotten used to Buxton. He was like a brother of sorts. A brother with a potentially fatal short temper, but one Id gotten used to managing.

Together, Lexi and I walked companionably into the cool night air. I saw Lexi looking at me out of the corner of her eye, and I wondered what she saw.

I felt I was living three distinct lives: In one, I was a loyal brother, in another I was a new member of a club I didnt quite understand, and in the third I was a young man placing my trust in a human woman–a woman whom I had staked my own flesh and blood to save. The trouble was, I wasnt sure how to seamlessly live all three lives.