maybe twelve, and I’d finished with my classes for the day—the tutoring that served as my school. I’d been hungry, and I’d walked by my father’s office on the way to the Cadogan kitchen. The door had been open, which wasn’t unusual. The vampires were inside, their expressions cold. And when they’d seen me in the doorway, their eyes narrowed.
There’d been footsteps, and Dad had come to the doorway. He’d smiled at me. “We’ll eat as soon as we’re done in here,” he’d said kindly, and closed the door.
I looked at my parents. “You told them no, obviously.”
“We did,” my mother said.
“Vehemently,” Dad added.
“And they accepted that?”
“After the third or fourth time,” Dad said. “Each time they asked, we told them you owed them nothing and they would not question you, examine you, or test you without your consent.”
“He means he scared them,” my mother said with a smile. “And they didn’t ask again.”
“They never contacted me,” I said. I’d gone to college, made no waves, and had done nothing terribly interesting from a vampiric or magical standpoint. Maybe they’d decided I wasn’t a threat.
But I’d interested them again, and I’d handed them a reason to pursue formal Testing this time. Not just because they were curious or afraid, but because they believed it was justified.
“You should have told me,” I said, as kindly as I could manage. But even the monster was annoyed; I could feel the jagged edge of its betrayal. “I would have been better prepared for this.”
“We’re sorry,” Mom said. “We thought it was over, that they’d been satisfied you were just . . . a vampire.”
Oh, I was anything but that.
* * *
* * *
They promised their support, and to talk to Nicole again. I went back into the living room and found Connor on the couch, arms crossed and frowning as he stared at his screen.
“What now?”
He kicked down his legs and sat up, giving me his attention. “What?”
“You’re glowering at whatever you’re looking at there,” I said and gestured toward the screen. “More bad news?”
“Oh, no. I was reading.”
“Reading what?”
His expression was flat. “A book, brat.”
“Shifters can read?”
He grunted. “I was reviewing a manual about the care and feeding of vampires.”
I sat down beside him, put my head on his shoulder. “What did you learn?”
“Since I already knew they were high-maintenance, not much.”
“Ha ha ha,” I said, mimicking his flat tone.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“They want me to join a House. They’re baffled I won’t just join Cadogan. And that’s not the only thing.”
He drew me toward him, wrapped his arms around me. I let down the shields I hadn’t realized I’d drawn around me, around the monster, and curled into him. And felt a knife-sharp pain in my shoulder. I winced, adjusted.
“Still hurts?”
“Only if I use it. Or touch it. Or think about it. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.” I hoped. Because I was over the ache.
“What’s the other thing?” he asked.
“The AAM has apparently been curious about me for a long time. They came to Cadogan House when I was younger. They wanted to have me tested even then.”
He stilled, as if his body was braced against his own rising fury. “When you were still in the House? You didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t know, or not the whole of it. Only that vampires had visited. Apparently they’d been trying to get my parents to agree to their examination.”
He snorted, relaxed a little. “I imagine your dad had some choice words. And your mother showed them her sword. And it must have worked. The AAM hadn’t contacted you directly after that?”
“No. Not until this.”
Silence fell, and Connor stroked my back, up and down, up and down, and some of the tension I’d been holding melted away.
“You should think about telling your parents about the—your—monster,” Connor said. “Not because you owe them,” he added, noting my quick jerk, “but because there’s nothing wrong with what you are.”
“I’m not convinced they’d see it that way,” I said. “And I’m not ready yet. I want to have—control’s not the right word, but maybe more agreement with the monster before I do that.”
That I felt its shimmering irritation at the notion that I controlled it just proved my point.
“Okay,” he said. “But I want you to be prepared if they—if everyone—finds out before you’re ready.”
“Because of the AAM,” I said quietly.
“Yeah. Maybe inadvertently, but yeah.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “They’re going to keep pushing you, because they want to either pressure you