We raced back to Santa Carla, the bike's engine roaring. Edgar rested against my back, arms tight around me. His weight increased as he leaned on me more. He was slipping away already, and I rode one-handed when I could, gripping his wrists instead to keep him safe behind me. When I pulled up outside the house, the sky was too light for comfort and the orange glow of the sun was well above the horizon.

I climbed off the bike, my movements becoming sluggish. The sun wouldn't hurt Edgar, but it was his first day as a half vampire, and exhaustion would have hit him like it never had before. He could barely keep his eyes open as he shuffled into the house. We dragged ourselves up the stairs, clinging to the rail, almost on our knees by the time we reached the top.

"Come with me." I tugged Edgar into my room, not wanting him to spend his first night alone. He'd wake hungry and in pain, and probably panic. I had, and the others all had too.

"You want me to sleep with you?"

"Sleep is all we'll be doing."

He followed me without another word. I just made it to the bed before I collapsed and passed out, still fully dressed including my coat and boots.

When I opened my eyes, I was flat on my back, arms outstretched. Edgar lay at my side, his head on my bicep, one arm draped across my chest. I lifted my hand and stroked his hair off his face. I lay still, listening to his heartbeat, slow and steady, and his soft breathing as I waited for him to wake.

A gentle tap came on my door and Dwayne peered through the hole left by my fist. I still hadn't got that fixed.

"David? You okay?"

"Yeah."

He opened the door and I put a finger to my lips. He glanced at Edgar and his eyebrows lifted. "We were worried about you. Didn't know where you were. I was here from about three and passed out in my room before you got back," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah, we went out on the bike. Lost track of time."

"Is he all right?"

"Yes."

Edgar grunted and moved his arm. His eyes opened slowly, yellow and hungry. His mouth opened in a snarl, fangs extended. He jerked away from me, snatching his hand from my chest.

"It's all right," I said softly.

He looked down at himself, then at me, and I guessed what he was thinking as if I could read his mind—we both had all our clothes on, including our boots—nothing happened.

"My chest hurts," he growled. "And my throat. Feels like I ate razor blades."

"Where's the bottle?" Dwayne asked.

I thought back to yesterday. I took it to Edgar's room, and he drained it. "It's empty."

"You want me to—?" Dwayne offered.

I shook my head. I'd never been in this position before. I'd created Dwayne, Paul, and Marko. They were all mine, but I wasn't possessive over them. With Edgar, I was. I didn't want him to have anyone's blood other than mine, unless he got it from humans at some point. "Stay here with him," I instructed.

I flew from the bed in the blink of an eye, collected the bottle from Edgar's room, raced downstairs for the funnel, and slashed my wrist with a kitchen knife. Within a couple of minutes, I was back upstairs with a full bottle and an oozing wound wrapped in a towel. I felt light-headed and realised I would have to hunt soon. This was the second time I'd done this in a short space of time, and it had weakened me.

"Edgar, take this." I held out the bottle, cap off, for him to catch the scent.

His nostrils flared and his gaze fixed on it, but he shook his head. "I can't. I don't want to. I don't want to be this."

"I know, but you are, and it can't be reversed. Well, it can, but only if I die."

His yellow eyes switched to my face and met mine. "I read that somewhere. Is that the only way?" He rubbed his throat and groaned. "It fucking hurts."

"It's the only way," I confirmed. "All half vampires return to normal if the head vampire dies. That would have been Max, but he's already gone, so it's me. You, Michael, Star, and Laddie would all be human again if I died. I'm hoping that's not going to happen any time soon, though."

Edgar gulped and shook his head. I sat beside him and surreptitiously moved the bottle closer to his nose. His nostrils fluttered and he licked his lips. "You bastard," he gritted out, well aware what I was doing.

"Maybe. I know it's hard to get used to. But it's just mine. You're not hurting anyone. It'll always just be mine, if that's what you want. Come on, take it. I know how uncomfortable you are right now. The minute you drink, it'll go away."

A full minute passed before he took the bottle from me. Grimacing, he took one small sip, then lowered it. Another minute passed, where his jaw clicked, his chest heaved with every breath, and he moaned in discomfort. Then he lifted the bottle again and rapidly drained it. He gave it back to me and folded his arms around himself. "Do the others know about me yet?"

"I told them," Dwayne said.

"Is Michael gonna tell Sam?"

"He said he wouldn't for now. He doesn't want you to see Sam alone though."

"Shit." Edgar hung his head. "When Sam was there for me, I kept pushing him away. I was a dick to him, and now I can't be his friend anymore."

"You can, when you get used to this," I told him. "You shouldn't be alone around humans for a while, but it gets easier. Look at me. I've had you with me for nearly two years, and yes, it's hard, but I do it, don't I? When you want someone, it's more difficult than if they're just a friend or an acquaintance."

Edgar looked up, eyes narrowed. "How long have you wanted me?"

"Um, a while. I suppressed it because you're too young and because of what happened to you," I admitted.

He stared at me, eyes wide, then he relaxed. "Okay." He nodded. "It doesn't matter. You could have done anything you wanted, and I wouldn't have been able to stop you, but you did nothing other than take care of me."

"I think I'll just, um—" Desperate to be somewhere else, Dwayne slipped away.

"What you were saying yesterday, about my future," Edgar went on. "I want to do my exams. I don't know what I want to do after that—study more, or work or whatever. But I won't live off you. I'll pay my own way."

"That's good. I'm not sure how we'll work it out, but maybe we can get your teacher to visit here early one evening. They know Michael, too, because of Sam. If me and him say we're looking after you since your mother left—" I blinked rapidly, my head a little fuzzy.

"Yeah, they already knew I was staying with Sam's family for a while." Edgar's brows suddenly drew together in a frown and he touched my face. "Are you all right? Your eyes are rolling. And yellow."

"Yeah, I need to, um, get a top up. You've had my reserves." I grinned, aware I was showing him my fangs.

"Fuck, I'm sorry. Is it always gonna be like this?"

"No. Like I said, you won't need it every day when you get used to it. It's been too long for me, that's all." I got up. "I won't be long."

"I'll stay here." Edgar stayed sitting on the bed as I left the room.

I made my way downstairs, deciding I would find a victim as close as possible. I was more desperate than I'd been in a long time and Edgar's description of swallowing razor blades applied to me. I opened the door and halted as the other vampires came up the path, Michael and Star leading the way.

"Is Edgar okay?" Star asked anxiously.

"He will be."

Before I had the chance to do or say anything else, Michael had me by the throat as he propelled me down the hall and slammed me into the wall at the end. "You fucking bastard!" he snarled. "Why'd you do that to him, hah?"

"It was an accident," I gasped. I tried to push myself away from the wall, but he easily pinned me there due to my weakened state.

"An accident! What did you do? Bite him? Force him to drink your blood when he was already drunk and didn't know any different?" He yanked me off the wall and hurled me onto the floor. The wood splintered under my back.

"Michael, stop!" Dwayne shouted, grabbing Michael from behind. Michael let go of me and turned, then punched Dwayne in the face.

I pushed myself up, shaking my head as my eyes refused to focus properly. As I looked up, I blinked in surprise. Edgar sprang over the rail at the side of the stairs and landed in a crouch, one foot either side of my head. He pulled himself up to his full height, which wasn't much compared to Michael, and snarled at him, fangs bared.

"Stay away from him!" he growled. "You want a fucking fight? Start with me!"

"Whoa, Edgar, calm down." Michael took a step back. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You are hurting me, if you hurt David." His voice dropped lower, and he stepped forward. "He didn't do anything to me. He wasn't even here. I found the fucking bottle when I was looking for alcohol. I thought it was wine. So, if you're looking for someone to blame for my change, you're looking at him." He jabbed a thumb into his chest. "David's done nothing but take care of me for two years. Back the fuck off, or you can bet your life I'll be coming for you with a stake the first chance I get."

"Jesus Christ," Michael muttered, holding up both hands as he backed away farther. "Is this true?"

"Yeah, it's true. I told you how it happened," Dwayne put in.

"Well, I didn't believe you. You all hero-worship David. I figured you'd say anything to make him look better."

"David made us," Marko said. "We're loyal to him, yeah, but Dwayne wouldn't lie."

"Fucking hell," Michael groaned. "Edgar, how do you feel about all this?"

"How the fuck do you think I feel? You didn't want it either, so you know. But I did this to myself, I didn't have any help. I've been fucked up since I came here. Not anymore. I know what I want, and I'm going to have it. None of you are gonna get in my way." He turned his back on Michael and reached down to take my hand, then pulled me to my feet with surprising strength. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised—he had my blood running through his veins. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arm around me. "Are you okay?"

"I will be, when I, um—"

"Let's go. I'm hungry, too." Marko grabbed my arm and led me to the door.

"I'll stay with Edgar," Dwayne called after me.

"I can take care of myself," Edgar growled.

"I don't doubt it, buddy." Dwayne chuckled. "I know not to mess with you."

Marko and I left the house and headed for the boardwalk on foot. We weren't as careful as usual, my weakness prompting me to find a victim in the parking lot. A lone male some distance from anyone else caught my attention, and I took him quickly, too fast for him to scream. I drained him, took his wallet, and dumped him in the sea while Marko looked for his own meal. When we were done, we returned to the house. Dwayne, Edgar, and Laddie played a video game together, while Star cooked something in the kitchen. Paul read a comic, but there was no sign of Michael.

"Where is he?" I asked Star.

"I don't know. He said he needed to get some air. I'm sorry about what happened before."

"It's not your fault. You're not responsible for his behaviour. What are we eating?" I sniffed at the pan she was stirring.

"Chilli."

"Nice. Thank you." I left her and went into the lounge room. Edgar shot me a quick grin, then turned his attention back to the TV screen just in time to ram a stake through Dwayne's character's chest. "What the hell are you playing?"

"Vampire Killer." Dwayne grinned. "Nice, huh?" He put his controller down. "Edgar's hunting Laddie and me."

"Too close for comfort?" Edgar glanced at me again and winked, much to my surprise. I smiled, distracting him. By the time he turned back to the screen, Laddie's character was on him, biting into his neck. "Shit! You killed me!" Edgar dropped his controller and collapsed back on the couch, playing dead. Laddie laughed in delight.

I sat down, wedging myself between Edgar and the arm of the couch. "You okay?"

"Actually, yeah. I can still have fun. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suddenly over it, but I'm okay. What about you?" He met my eyes. "Blue again. I guess you're fine."

I nodded and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Laddie screwed up his face in disgust. "Not you, too. Michael and Star are always smooching. Bleugh!"

Everybody laughed. I slid my arm around Edgar, and he leaned against me, smiling. He would still struggle, and he'd hate what he was, maybe hate me occasionally, but I felt like things were going to be all right.