I folded one arm behind my head and played with my nipple ring with the fingers of the other hand. Pursing up my lips, I blew out a long breath. I was bored. And I was tired of half vampires. Neither one thing nor another, and they wouldn't take that final step. Star slept on my right side and Michael on my left, exhausted from our session earlier. I knew well enough they only had sex with me so I'd let them have each other, but as much as I enjoyed having both a girl and a guy at the same time, it was no longer enough, especially when they both disliked me. But now I wanted something more—something just for me. Someone just for me; someone who really wanted me.

I rose from the bed and pulled on my pants. It was barely midnight and although I didn't feel like hunting, I wanted to do something. I grabbed a shirt and walked out into the main part of the cavern, where Dwayne and Laddie were playing a handheld video game, and Paul and Marko were munching some Chinese food.

"Hey, squirt, it's past your bedtime," I told Laddie.

The cheeky boy gave me the finger, but grinned and got up to go to his bed. Dwayne put the game away. "Thought you were busy?"

I shrugged. "Was. Fucking half vamps have no stamina. Anyway, I'm bored."

"Thought you liked having one of each." Paul smirked.

"Yeah, well, I want something new. I'm fed up of having to coerce people into it. I'm going out. Any of you joining me?"

"Sure." Marko got up. "I'm still hungry."

"You're always hungry." Dwayne pulled on his boots. "I'm with you."

All four of us left the cavern, leaving the three half vampires to sleep. We took our bikes and rode to the boardwalk, which was now quiet and in darkness. The comic book store and the video store were closed and locked up, and only a handful of people lingered, slowly making their way back to their cars or homes. We headed for the beach and ambled along the sand. I doubted we'd find any source of entertainment, but you never could tell.

Paul and Marko strode on ahead, kicking at the dunes, while I wandered aimlessly, talking to Dwayne. It turned out he was bored, like me, and wanted to find a girl for himself—maybe one who'd change for him and stick around.

"What about you?" he asked. "If you've had enough of Michael and Star, what are you looking for?"

"I don't know. I'm starting to think I prefer dick to pussy."

Dwayne snorted. "Really? I always thought you'd go for a girl, man. You did before those two."

"What can I say? Dicks are fun. You ever sucked on one?"

"Hell, no. Don't even go there." Dwayne glanced at me warily.

"I didn't mean that, you jerk." I shoved him sideways. "I know you don't swing that way. It was just a comment."

Dwayne laughed. "So, do you have anyone in mind?"

"No. Someone will turn up, I'm sure. Just gotta wait. If I find someone I like, maybe I'll change him."

Marko and Paul's voices drifted to us from some distance ahead, and it sounded like they'd found someone to torment.

"Hey, hey, hey, wanna play?" Paul cackled evilly.

"All on your own now, not even armed," Marko added.

"Fuck off!" a gravelly voice responded. I instantly recognised it—Edgar Frog.

"Is that one of the Frogs?" Dwayne voiced my thoughts.

"Yeah, it's Edgar."

"Don't you know it's a bad idea to tell a vampire to fuck off?" Paul taunted.

"You smell awfully good." Marko giggled. "Always wondered what your blood would taste like, and here it is, all on display."

"Shit," Dwayne muttered. "What are they doing?"

I covered the last few yards in a second, finding the guys standing over Edgar Frog. He sat on the ground with blood oozing from his nose and mouth. He was alone, and come to think of it, I hadn't seen his elder brother Alan for quite a while.

"What's going on?" I demanded. "Did you two do this?"

"Seriously?" Marko rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, okay." I shook my head. They wouldn't hit a human, not even a vampire killer unless he was attacking. Their fists would break his face. "So, what happened?"

"We just found him. Smelled him, actually." Paul sniffed the air, then stooped and licked Edgar's face, catching some of the blood. "Yum."

Edgar flinched and shuffled backwards. "Go to hell where you belong!" he growled, but his voice shook, and his eyes glinted with building tears.

"Come on, guys, leave him alone," Dwayne said. "He's not armed."

"We like to play with our food." Marko laughed and prodded Edgar with the toe of his boot. "The little Frog actually looks scared. Not much of a killer, are you, kid?"

"That's enough." I spoke quietly, but the pair of them turned away from Edgar immediately and moved to my side. "Let's go."

"Should I—?" Dwayne gestured at Edgar. Dwayne loved kids. He was great with Laddie, like a cross between an elder brother and a father figure, even though he was only my age—twenty-one. I nodded and turned away. Paul and Marko followed reluctantly.

"It was only a bit of fun," Paul said. "We wouldn't really have hurt him."

"Yeah, who'd run the comic book store if we did? I like my comics." Marko sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "What's Dwayne doing with him?"

"Checking he's okay," I replied.

"I'm surprised you care."

"I don't," I said shortly. "But he's useful. He and his brother keep our population down, saves us doing it. Not that I've seen his brother lately."

Dwayne caught us up minutes later. Paul and Marko wandered off and left us. "So?" I raised an eyebrow.

"He won't talk." Dwayne shook his head. "But he's scared of something—shit scared."

"We'll check into the store tomorrow. See how things are," I told him.

We returned to the cavern later and when dawn came, we went to our perches. I didn't return to the bed. I'd decided I wouldn't touch Michael and Star again and that meant not sleeping with them either. I'd find myself someone just for me, the same way Dwayne wanted to.

The next day all of us went to the boardwalk together, Laddie riding on the back of Dwayne's bike and Star on Michael's. Star and Michael took Laddie on the roller coaster, while Paul and Marko went to the video store to irritate Michael's mother who worked there. Dwayne and I headed for the comic book store. As usual, Edgar was there alone, warily watching for potential shoplifters.

I wondered about the Frog parents. I'd seen the mother a couple of times, but never a father. Perhaps there wasn't one. The mother never seemed to do anything in the store, or at least not in the evening. Edgar and Alan couldn't have been more than young teenagers when they started working there. There had been no sign of Alan for at least a couple of months.

Edgar's eyes narrowed when he saw us, and he backed into the corner near the cash register. He plucked a stake from a ledge beside it and gripped it tightly in his right hand. He clenched the other hand into a fist to stop the tremble. His split lip was healing, but the corners of his eyes were black from the blow to his nose the day before.

"I'll talk to him," I said.

"Right. You think you'll get more out of him than I did?" Dwayne's lips twitched.

"Maybe not."

"I don't know why you care. Unless—" His eyebrows lifted. "I doubt he's more than fifteen, David, don't go there."

"Fuck off. That wasn't what I was thinking." I scowled at him and advanced on Edgar, slowing my steps as I got nearer. He was scared, which wasn't like him. When Alan had been around, the pair of them had been full of aggression and bravado, threatening us with stakes and holy water if we didn't stay out of the store. Now he looked like he wanted to crawl into a corner and hide. Dwayne left me to it and went to find the others.

"Hey," I greeted. I even smiled, to show him my fangs were retracted.

"What do you want?" His jaw twitched.

"Passing the time of day. Where's your brother?"

Edgar sucked in a breath and his eyes darkened. His lips trembled and he bit hard into the lower one. The hand holding the stake fell to his side and he hung his head. Shit.

"Did something happen to him?" I asked.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Edgar jerked his head up. "One down, one to go, right?"

"None of us have ever done anything to you, have we?" I pointed out. "We joke around, sure. But we wouldn't do anything for real. You're useful, keeping the rest of the bloodsucking population down. So, what happened to your brother?"

"He's gone." Edgar gritted his teeth and fought back tears. I could smell the salt.

"Gone? As in dead?"

"Yes! He's dead! Are you happy now?" He hurled the stake at me wildly, making no attempt to take aim, and I caught it easily, then placed it back beside the till.

"What happened?" I asked, horrified. Had one of our kind killed Alan?

"Like I'd tell you." Edgar's voice shook. "Leave me alone."

"I'm not your enemy," I said softly. "None of us are. We won't kill you or try to make you one of us."

"You're still fucking bloodsuckers," Edgar growled.

"Yeah, we are. We can't help that, but we can choose who we kill."

Suddenly, the anger went out of Edgar and he sank onto the chair in front of the cash register. "Go away. Please."

"Fine. I'll go. When you tell me who hit you yesterday."

"Why do you care?"

"Maybe he or she needs teaching a lesson."

Edgar shivered. "It's none of your business."

"Damn, you're not easy to have a conversation with, are you?" I sighed and leaned against the counter. "You know how many times stronger than a human a vampire is? Maybe you want someone like me, or Dwayne or the others on your side."

"I'll never be on the same side as a killer. Now get out." Edgar stood up, then finding himself too close to me, he jumped away so fast he stumbled.

I backed away. "I'm going. But we'll be around. Remember that. You'll always find us on the boardwalk around this time."

"I'm aware of that."

"It wasn't a threat. It was a promise, in case you ever need us for anything."

I walked away, stealing myself not to look back over my shoulder. I barely recognised the strange knot in my stomach as anxiety. I hadn't felt that emotion since I'd been human, but I felt it now. Something or someone was scaring Edgar and I didn't like it. His brother was dead, he was alone, and apparently with no one to turn to. He was nothing to me, and yet suddenly I wanted to step in and fix whatever was going on, only I didn't know how. I didn't even know what there was to fix and it didn't seem as if he was going to tell me. I would find out sooner or later, I told myself. Whatever Edgar's problem was, I would make it go away.