“Your eyes.”“What? What?” I scrubbed at them violently, horrified at the thought they might have those gross goopy things at the edges. Or were they even more bloodshot? I’d heard of that happening, where the whites ran with blood.“I think . . . the color’s changing.” He paused. “Is that even possible?”“Is that all? Now you’re the one scaring the crap out of me.”

“I’m here to take you on a date.”I blinked. “A date?” I repeated as if it was a foreign word I’d never heard before.“You know, where we go out, hold hands, cast longing glances at each other? It’s tradition. You might have heard of it.”“But I have class.”“Class?” Now he was looking at me as if I was speaking a different language. “But it’s ten o’clock at night.”“We have classes until midnight.” I smiled pointedly. “The thing about vampires is that they kind of like the night. It’s tradition. You might have heard of it?”“Oh, smart mouth.” He grinned back. “Sexy.”

“What got you through?" I whispered. "Do you remember?"He nodded but wouldn't look at me. When he didn't elaborate, I turned to face him. "What? Is it a secret? Don't I know all the Drake secrets by now?"He shifted uncomfortably. "I guess""What then?""You"I swallowed, stunned. "Me?""Yeah" He stood up and went to the door, where he paused for the barest second. "You got me through".”

“I closed my eyes, wondering why it was no effort at all to call up the exact shade of his dark eyes, hostile as they were. I should be thinking about the bounty on our heads, not whether or not I’d get to see him again. Because of course I’d get to see him again; he’d probably try and stake one of my brothers, if not me. Hardly a promising start to a relationship.Relationship?What the hell was I thinking?No doubt my impending birthday was making my head fuzzy. There was no other explanation. I just needed more sleep.”

“I bet it’s never happened to you."She was right. But that was only because I’d been five years old when Grandpa had started my training. When I’d thought there were monsters under the bed, he taught me how to do a proper sweep to get rid of them.”

“I’m just trying to do the right thing. I’m a vampire.”“Duh.”“And you’re not.”“Again: duh.”“I could hurt you. I could lose control.”“If you were anyone else, I’d have kneecapped you by now.”

“Hey.” He watched me back away as if he was dangerous. He looked entirely too pleased with himself. “Where are you going?”“To bed.” Double crap. What if he thought that was an invitation? Was it an invitation? And when, exactly, had I lost my mind? “Uh, I meant to my room. Where my bed is. And—shit.” I forced myself to stop babbling.”