“Will I?” She glances at my outfit. “What’s on your neck?”
“It’s a vampire bite. Obviously,” I gloat.
“No, babe, it isn’t,” she chastises. “Did Eggward bite you?”
“Maybe? Are you going to tell me, with all the weird crap I see in Ghostlight Falls, that vampires aren’t real?” The heat rising to my face is embarrassment this time.
“Vampires are definitely real. And there are definitely some in Ghostlight. But Eggward isn’t one of them.”
“Why are you so insistent?” I snap. “He could be!”
Lucy’s smile is almost apologetic. “You are seeing what you want to see. You really want him to be a vampire, so you are looking for the signs of that.”
I pause in the middle of the kitchen. “But it’s all been really clear. The signs.”
“Are they? Things about me are different, aren’t they? You’ve noticed changes?”
“Of course. We were kids.”
“It’s more than that though, isn’t it? Have you really thought about it? How I’m different? Why I’m different?” She pauses before continuing. “My liquid diet?”
“You’re watching your weight?” I swallow hard, but the lump remains in my throat.
“And all the odd things in my house? The late nights? The mirrors? The garlic?” She gestures to the house around her.
I laugh. She doesn’t.
“No,” I take a step back. “You can’t be—are you really claiming thatyou’rea vampire?”
She shrugs.
“But—we’ve been friends since—I saw you grow up—when would you have?”
“I was twenty-two.”
I try to do the math in my head but being flustered makes it impossible. “How long have you been twenty-two?”
“About three years now.” She thrusts her tumbler toward me. “You can look at my ‘smoothie’ if you like.”
“I’m late for work.” I shake my head, not sure what I’m denying. “I don’t have time for your weird jokes.”
Eggward has already been working for hours when I arrive. I have to pause when I see him across the field, his strong silhouette making a impression from afar. He’s already fed the chickens and completed all the morning chores. I want to talk to him about last night so badly. But he barely nods a greeting to acknowledge my arrival before he turns away and heads back into my father’s old house to work. The building I haven’t set foot into since I showed it to him the first time. Left with nothing but my own thoughts, I set to work on my own. I know what needs to be done. Until our meeting is unavoidable, he nearly runs into me as we both step toward the coop door. He doesn’t say a word, but I feel his eyes land on my neck. His chest rises and falls quickly. I try to smile, but feel myself falter. What if everything I thought I understood was incorrect? If he’s not a vampire, then what is he? And what else have I read wrong about our situation?
His hand moves to my shoulder, his warm fingers brushing softly against my skin.
“Did I hurt you?” he asks.
“No.” I lie a little. Of course it hurt, he left a mark. But I’d let him hurt me again.
“I got carried away. I shouldn’t have done that. I just saw you with—him.”
“Jace?” I ask. “What’s the deal with you two?”
“I don’t like him.” Eggward mutters.
The non-answer has me throwing my arms in the air. “Well, it’s not any of your business who I hang out with, is it?” I challenge.
“It is my business if you are going to walk around with this mark on your neck.” Eggward’s hand still doesn’t leave my skin.
