Thicker than Water

Collin didn't think vampires were real - until he met Talon. Talon's fangs are razor sharp, and his touch feels like destiny. He makes Collin's knees go weak and his brain go soft. When Talon bites him, Collin forgets everything - even that Talon's coven wants him dead. Him and his adopted siblings. It's something about those birth marks they share, something about a prophecy.

Other parents give their children toys and party games for their birthday. My dad gave me and my siblings wooden stakes and flash grenades. To protect us from vampires. From the moment he adopted us, he warned us about the dangers that lurk in the dark. Obviously, I thought he was crazy. Vampires aren’t real, and I was already enduring enough panic attacks without buying into dad’s insane ideas. But then I met Talon.

I used to think vampires were the stuff of fiction. Now my brother has a baby with fangs and there's bottles of blood in our fridge, so obviously, I was wrong about that. It's not the only thing I was wrong about, either. I'm a nerd, I'm supposed to be smart, but honestly? I'm starting to realize I can be pretty darn clueless. For one, I never realized that my best friend was in love with me. Not until after he died in a vampire attack. To protect me. His death shattered my whole world. Seeing him again is like a miracle. Even if he has fangs now.

Do vampires deserve love? I should have died, the night I got stabbed. Instead, I was reborn as a vampire. New name, new identity - new master. My sire treated me like his pet. It was rough, at first, but I learned to adapt, learned to please him. Learned to follow every one of my sire's commands. Now he's gone, killed by a pack of mortals. Mortals who seem to think they've rescued me. One of them, Jared, claims that he knew me back when I was mortal too. I'm not the person I used to be, though.

I've never been in love. Never wanted to be, either. Love was always for other people. This vampire doesn't seem to get that, though. No surprise, he's only thinking with his little brain, after all. Again and again, he keeps trying to get into my pants. Again and again, I shoot him down. It's almost like a dance, like a game we play. Until he risks his life to save me and things become too damn real. Until I find myself craving his bite, the feeling of his teeth on my skin. I don't know what to do about these foreign feelings, but I can't ignore them. I don't want to ignore them.