Robin found Chloe lying in bed, propped up on her elbows, her face silhouetted by the ghostly blue light of her laptop. She must not have heard him knock over the sound of the rain.

He cleared his throat, and Chloe jumped. "I couldn't sleep either."

Chloe exhaled slowly. "Robin, it's gone 3 o'clock. What are you doing awake?"

Robin shifted, leaning heavily on the doorframe. "I could ask you the same question."

In response, Chloe closed her laptop, sitting up and patting the space beside her. "Come in and close the door, will you?" she whispered. "No need to wake the whole house."

Robin sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. "What are you working on? I hate to stand in the way of genius…."

"It's fine." Chloe twisted round to face him. "Look—I know you're worried about Vlad, but I'm still not entirely sure what to do about the amulet. In the meantime, you need to play it safe. Promise me you won't see Vlad until we figure something out?"

Robin fidgeted.

Chloe grabbed him by his collar. "I won't have you risking your life again. I don't care how in love with him you are, it isn't worth your eternal soul."

Robin pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck where the shirt had cut into his skin. "What soul?" he complained testily. "And for the last time, I'm not in love with him. Give it a rest, already."

Chloe tutted. "You're fooling yourselves. Both of you. Can't you see he's mad about you?"

Robin grabbed a pillow and threw it at her, annoyed when Chloe caught it effortlessly. "We both know you're the one who's hot for him," Robin countered, irritated.

Chloe laughed out loud. "What we have here is a classic case of projection."

"Spare me the psychoanalysis. And yes, I know what that word means." Robin crossed his arms. "I should go back to bed."

Chloe sobered at his expression. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push. What did you really want to talk about?"

Robin sighed, leaning back against the footboard. "Every time I close my eyes, all I see is Vlad jumping into the sunlight, or onto a pile of stakes." He groaned. "I know he didn't end up going through with it, but—how could he even consider killing himself?"

"It was pretty selfish of him," Chloe agreed solemnly.

"Thing is, he was only doing it in the first place because he thought it would protect me. If anything, I wish he would be a little more selfish, sometimes." He chuckled, the sound hollow. "You know, more like me." Chloe just stared at him sadly.

Robin ran his fingers through his hair. "He's such an idiot. I just wish I could be there to stop him every time he gets that stupid, self-sacrificial shit in his head. But I can't be there twenty-four seven."

Chloe snorted. "Welcome to my world."

Robin shot her a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I know you worry, too."

"It's all part of being related to you—it comes with the package." They traded grins; a comfortable silence fell between them.

"Is there anything I can do to help with the amulet?" Robin asked, eventually.

Chloe bit her lip, considering. "Actually, yes. There is."

Robin started. "Wait; really?"

Chloe leaned over her bed, ducking under and grabbing the heavy tome of metallurgic rituals. "I've narrowed the possibilities down to three. They aren't the best, which is why I didn't want to say anything…."

Robin crawled closer. "What are they? I'll do anything."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." It was difficult, but somehow she managed not to comment on her brother's transparent adoration for the vampire. "At first I thought maybe a ring, but that's not much of an improvement because it can be taken off. So…" She flipped through the book, index finger landing on a dog-eared page. "Number one, we can perform a complicated spell and have the magic of the stone imprinted permanently on your skin."

"What, like a tattoo?"

Chloe winced. "Sort of? But that option isn't my favorite, because there's only one source I could find to suggest it would even work. Plus, it relies on Vlad's magic being more… how should I put it?"

"Reliable?"

Chloe nodded. "He's still a new vampire, you know? He doesn't know what he's doing, yet. Maybe in a year, or two…" she shook her head. "The other two methods don't depend on Vlad directly, but they're more risky."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Risky how?"

"Well, the second option involves invoking an ancient blood rite." For some reason, Chloe's cheeks were pink as she said it, and she stumbled slightly over the words. "And the third would require invasive surgery."

Robin shrugged. "Okay, what's the blood rite, then?"

"The… Well, we'll get to that in a minute. But one upside for the surgery idea is that the amulet has inherent healing powers, so there would very likely not be any complications. At least, biologically speaking. It would involve inserting the stone of the amulet beneath your skin, so the amulet should heal all outward signs of entry."

"Wicked." Robin grinned.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Figures you'd get excited about that. But the problem with that plan is we don't know whether your body would reject the stone."

"Right—so what's wrong with option number two, again?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. I personally prefer it, in fact." Chloe hedged, looking uncomfortable. "I just don't think you're going to like it."

"Go on, then, out with it."

"There's a way of fighting the addiction at its source." Chloe didn't meet his eyes. "If your blood is ordained in a church, Vlad won't be able to drink it anymore. It will be like poison to him."

Robin's heart skipped a beat. "Chloe, I'm his only humane source of blood. If he doesn't feed from me there's always the danger he'll feed from someone else. He'd never forgive himself for that."

Chloe looked close to tears. She put a gentle hand on Robin's arm. "I'm aware of that. But you'd be safe, Robin. Vlad would never be able to turn you, accidentally or otherwise. No vampire would."

Her brother's arm was tense below her palm. "I don't want Vlad to find out about the blood rite."

Chloe bit her lip. "I know," she admitted. "How long do you plan on feeding him?" she asked, although she suspected she already knew the answer.

"As long as it takes," Robin said, his words measured and intense. "I'll happily donate my blood forever if it means sparing him from a life he hates."

"It's not a long term solution, Robin. What about when you grow old and die? Eventually, he's going to need to drink someone else's blood."

Robin clutched his knees. "I know that, okay? I'll think of something." He flashed a glare in her direction. "But don't tell him. He'll just try to hypnotize me again."

"Again?" Chloe asked, taken aback.

Robin nodded, seemingly bothered by the memory. "Earlier, when I was rescuing him from the castle, his eyes turned all yellow. He told me to leave, but it didn't work—I'm just glad I was wearing the amulet."

One of the trees outside Chloe's bedroom window rustled. A branch snapped.

Chloe looked at her brother for a long time. "I promise I won't tell him," she agreed, finally. "But you have to promise me that you won't do anything rash. We're in this together, now. I won't see you getting hurt out of well meaning…" she seemed to cut herself off. "Foolishness."

Robin nodded. "I promise."

They shook on it, and Chloe looked at her watch. "You can probably still get in another hour or two of sleep, if you try."

"It's not going to happen at this point. Can we go visit Vlad tomorrow evening? I promise I won't go alone, but I want to see him and tell him about what you found."

Chloe nodded. "Fine. I'm going to try to get some sleep, then. Talk to you later."

Robin got up and stretched, stifling a yawn. "Good luck."


As the door clicked shut, signaling that Chloe was alone, she put her head in her hands. Pull yourself together. You've got company.

She smiled sadly at the window. "You can come in," she called out softly.

The window opened, and Vlad's rain-soaked form landed silently on the sill. He looked appropriately shame-faced. "You knew I was here?"

Chloe sighed. "I heard you rustling about in the tree. I may be human but I'm not hard of hearing."

Vlad wiped some droplets off of his face. "Thanks for not saying anything to Robin."

"How much did you hear?"

Vlad face was an ashen grey. He rubbed his neck. "Everything, I'm afraid."

"Good." Standing to grab a towel off her chair, Chloe motioned for Vlad to step into the room and handed it to him. "I know you're in love with him."

Vlad, if possible, got even paler. "How…"

She rubbed at her temple. "Your hypnosis failed. Obviously. And," she continued, holding up a hand, "Now you know about the blood rite." Chloe leveled him with serious look. "Question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"All I know is that I want Robin to be happy. And… I want him to stay in my life."

"I'm proud of you for finally admitting it." Chloe smiled, hugging him over his towel.

Vlad returned the gesture with an intensity that surprised her. They stayed like that for a little while, Chloe patting his back awkwardly every now and then.

"I don't know what to tell him," Vlad whispered, finally. "I don't want him to hate me if he finds out."

Chloe wanted to say—trust me, there's no way he could ever hate you—but before she could get the words out, Vlad's body had gone rigid under her arm. She glanced at his face with concern. He was staring at a space over her shoulder.

Robin stood glaring at them from the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Vlad released Chloe immediately. "Robin, it's not what you think, I swear."

Robin steadfastly refused to meet his gaze. "It's fine. I'm very happy for the both of you. Just try to keep it down; you don't want to wake the twins."

With that, he stiffly turned, closing the door behind him.

Chloe hit Vlad on the shoulder. "Go get him. Idiot."

Vlad nodded, but before he could leave Chloe grabbed his shirt. "The only reason I'm trusting you to go in there right now is because I know you love him. But if you hurt him, I will end your very existence." She removed the stone from her pocket, and put it in his hand. "Make sure he's holding this at all times. You hear me?"

Vlad folded his fingers around the gem, eyes wide. "Yes, sir." And with that, he was gone.

Chloe sat on her bed, willing her hands to stop shaking. He's going to be fine. Vlad would literally kill himself before daring to hurt a hair on his head.

Still, she hoped she'd done the right thing.