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.After a few minutes, I reluctantly joined the others in the living room.Carl smiled innocently at me, but all I wanted to do was hit him hard.Peter stared at me, his expression unreadable.“Carl, go take a shower,” he ordered.I nodded my agreement and moved across the room to get out of Carl’s path to the bathroom.“You feeling alright yet?” Peter asked when Carl left the room.“Of course.”“That was pretty intense back there,” he continued.“I heard you screaming; I didn’t know what to make of it.Then I saw.well, it wasn’t what I expected.”“Yeah, so are you ready to go?”He walked over to me, didn’t back off even though I did.He touched my chin lightly and studied my face.“What are you, Ava?”My skin felt like it was burning.I didn’t want to drink from him, but I wanted something.That’s why I had to push him away, before I made a mistake.“What happened you, Peter?” I said as coolly as I could manage.His face hardened.“Yeah, I’m ready to go.I’ll wait by the car until you get Carl sorted,” he said.Leaving me with Carl was his petty punishment for my words.As soon as he left, my pulse raced with fear.I didn’t want to be alone with Carl again.But Carl acted like nothing had happened.I tried not to look at the bandage on his neck as I ordered him downstairs to Peter’s car.I headed for the passenger seat of the dark green Cordoba, surprised by how much my hands were still shaking.“You’re in the back,” Peter said.“Carl, up front.”I was just happy he was letting me forget what had happened in my apartment with Carl, so I got into the backseat without any fuss.Maybe it was nerves, but I couldn’t help giggling to myself, especially when the radio came on playing show tunes.Peter growled something incoherent and switched the station.Within minutes, Carl had fallen asleep again, so I was left alone with my thoughts.The streets became familiar as we drove.More memories.I kept flashing back to my grandmother crying about the devil inside me.Of me standing awkwardly beside her, not knowing what to do and accused of being a heartless demon.I was nine.That time, the man she turned to for help had been true evil—the source of many nightmares.I had bitten him and told him my vampire father would kill him.That was after he made me eat salt for an hour one day.He laughed out loud and told me there were no such things as vampires.Granny refused to believe he wasn’t helping, but he was just another in a long line of conmen who inevitably disappointed her.That was when I went through a stage of wanting to be a real vampire.Stupid kid.Big contrast to how I felt as we drove to the vampire bar.My whole body twitched with nerves.There was too much going on—my thirst for Carl, my attraction to Peter, and the fact I was going to willingly show myself to true vampires.Even counting Peter’s steady heartbeat wasn’t enough to calm me down.“Maybe we should leave Carl somewhere.It might be too dangerous for him,” I said.“Nah,” Peter said.“He’d do himself more damage looking for you.”“We could go back and lock him in at my place.”Peter shook his head.“He’d probably knock himself out trying to head-butt his way through the door.” He glanced at Carl’s sleeping form.“Poor bloke won’t last much longer, you know.”I knew.Carl wasn’t doing well.An offhand comment from me could bring him a lot of harm.I had no idea how to mind control someone properly.Thinking of his bandaged neck, I wondered if some part of me was telling him to offer himself on a plate.I fidgeted with the cross around my neck.If I hadn’t been wearing it, Carl would be dead, of that I was certain.I owed it.And Eddie, I realised grimly.I had a strong feeling Eddie didn’t help anyone unless there was something in it for him.I couldn’t help remembering what he said about the vampires expecting me.“What’s a seer?” I asked.“Something like a psychic, I suppose.”“So, they should already know all about me, then?”Peter shook his head.“Not necessarily.They can’t pick and choose what they see
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