Warm hands roamed over the fabric of Vlad's shirt. Vlad shivered, tangling his fingers deeper into Robin's hair.

Robin kissed his way up the stretch of Vlad's neck to his ear, whispering, "There's nothing stopping you, you know. I'm wearing the amulet."

Vlad's fangs descended at the thought. He shook his head. "I'm fine." He shot the other boy a suspicious look. "You get off on this whole vampire thing. Admit it."

"Okay, I admit it," Robin said cheekily. "What are you going to do about it?"

The vampire flipped their positions, pressing Robin against the wall. By way of answer, he kissed his Adam's apple, trailing down toward his collarbone. "I can't believe Chloe let you have the amulet," he muttered, before latching onto his favorite spot on Robin's neck.

Robin sucked in a breath, eyes closing. "Who said… ungh… anything about 'let'…?"

Vlad pulled away, giving him a disbelieving look.

"No, don't stop," Robin whimpered.

"She's gonna kill you when she finds out."

Robin pulled Vlad back to him by his collar. "Talk later," he mumbled, leaning his head to one side in invitation, and Vlad was all too happy to oblige.

He kissed Robin's jaw, and the taller teen wrapped his arms around him.

They both jumped as a very loud, very insistent knock sounded at the door. Vlad bared his fangs. "God, not again," he groaned. "Let's burn the damned thing."

"Don't answer it," Robin grumbled, tugging at the buttons of Vlad's shirt.

"What if it's the Count?" Vlad said nervously, glancing at the door. But Robin ignored him, brushing his stubbly chin against Vlad's cheek. "Hey, stop that."

"The Count doesn't knock," Robin pointed out.

"Shit; you're right." They grimaced at each other.

The knock came again. "Vlad? Are you in there? I need to speak with you. It's urgent."

Robin let his head fall back against the wall. "She really needs to get a life."

"She cares about you," Vlad said. "Besides, you wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for her." He bit his lip. "Er—how do I look?"

Robin opened one eye, looking up and down the length of him with exaggerated slowness. He sighed at Vlad's expression. He combed his fingers through Vlad's hair, tucking a few strands behind his ear. "There."

The vampire returned the favor, before glancing between their bodies with an embarrassed smile. "I'll try to stall for time."

"What—?" Robin looked down and blushed. "Oh."

"Just… think about Renfield. That's what I do."


Vlad crossed to the door and opened it a crack. "Chloe; hi."

"Are you okay? What took you so long?" She made as if to squeeze by, but Vlad shifted, blocking her view of the room. "Can I come in?"

Vlad did his best to keep his voice level. "Yes; in a second."

"You're acting rather shifty." Chloe eyed him with irritation. She tried to peer around his arm. "Is Robin with you?"

"He's a bit indisposed at the moment." Vlad managed.

Chloe glared at him. "You'd better not be doing what I think you're doing, or so help me God…."

"Shh!" He panicked. "Come inside."

He locked the door behind them. The fourteen-year-old wasted no time, promptly marching over to her brother, who was still leaning against the wall. Spotting the amulet around his neck, she growled.

"So you're the one!" She accused. "I can't believe you. You promised me you wouldn't come back here on your own."

"Lower your voice," Vlad tried to remain calm. "My family has super sensitive hearing, remember?"

Chloe shot him a disappointed look. "And you! I expected better of you. Addict or no, I thought you of all people would take Robin's safety more seriously."

"I…."

"Chloe, he didn't bite me," Robin cut in. "Honest." He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Of course not," Chloe rolled her eyes. "Then I'm sure you have a perfectly good reason for being all secretive, locked up together in Vlad's bedroom alone—oh." She looked between the two of them with sudden understanding. Her jaw dropped.

Chloe covered her mouth. After a moment of stunned silence, she squealed. "Finally!" Her face split into a huge smile behind her fingers. "God, I thought you'd never stop dancing around each other like love-sick idiots…"

Vlad caught Robin's gaze; the taller boy was giving him a mutinous look, as if this was all his fault.

Chloe cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, in that case, I'm sorry to have interrupted your… you know." She waved her hands, and Vlad noticed her cheeks were slightly pinker than normal. "But so long as we're all here, I really think we ought to talk about what happens next."

Vlad nodded solemnly. "I completely agree, we've got to start thinking more long-term."

"Suck-up," Robin muttered under his breath, knowing Vlad would still be able to hear him. He smiled when Chloe glanced at him curiously. Louder, he said, "My vote is for the surgery idea."

Vlad's nose wrinkled. "The only person around here who's even remotely qualified to pull off something like that is Renfield…. I dunno, Robin. I don't like it."

Robin gave him a weird look. "It's my body. I can do what I want with it."

"You really want Renfield gutting you with one of his 'instruments'?" Vlad asked, incredulous.

Chloe looked uncomfortable. "Alternatively, we could always visit a priest."

"A thousand times, no," Robin said matter-of-factly. "I'm not getting my blood anointed. End of story."

"The third option involves complicated magic." Chloe shot Vlad an apologetic look. "I'm not saying you're not up to it."

"What's the third option again?" Vlad asked.

Robin grinned at him. "You'd have to give me a tattoo."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "There's more to it than that, but; essentially, yes."

"What do I have to do?"

She listed on her fingers. "In order to pull it off, you'd have to learn an entirely new branch of magic; find a place to practice in secret, so that nobody in your family found out—and of course, there's no guarantee it would even work..." She hesitated.

"And? I can tell there's an 'and'," Vlad said flatly.

"And, it could be dangerous; the last part of the ritual would have to be carried out in the dream world. You couldn't stop once you started, otherwise, Robin could die. And remember, if you're attacked in the dream world while you're defenseless, then…."

"Then, I could die," Vlad finished.

"Oh, is that all?" Robin asked sarcastically. "Sounds boring, really."

Vlad began to pace. "I need to think."

"You know, there is another option," Robin said. The others looked at him. "Vlad could turn me."

"No." Vlad and Chloe said, at the same time.

"Right," Robin said moodily. "I don't know why I even open my mouth. Nobody ever wants to know what I think."

"That's not true." Vlad reached out to take Robin's hand, but, eyeing Chloe, thought better of it. "I want to know what you think."

"Yeah? Well, I think you should do it. I think you should turn me."

Vlad closed his eyes and counted to three. "I know how much you want to be a vampire," he began slowly. "I don't want to belittle that." He glanced at Chloe again out of the corner of his eye. "Um... sorry, but do you think you could give us a moment?"

Chloe nodded vigorously. "Of course, yes! I'll... er, be outside if you need me."


Vlad turned back to Robin when they were alone.

Robin was glaring at the floor. "I don't want to hear another lecture about how much it sucks to be a vampire."

Vlad took Robin's hands, relieved when the other boy let him. "I know. I'm not going to lecture you, I'm just going to listen."

Robin looked him in the eye. "As long as I'm still human, you'll always have to protect me. And then who's going to protect you?"

"Robin…."

"I want us to be equals. I want to be with you, Vlad. I don't want to be your, your…." Robin rambled, searching for the right word. "Fragile breather boyfriend."

Vlad's stomach leapt. "So what you're saying is, you don't want to be my boyfriend," he joked.

Robin made a choking sound. His face looked hot enough to cook an egg. "I... don't see why we have to give it a label."

"I'm just kidding," Vlad said hastily, letting go of Robin's hand. "We don't have to."

Robin sputtered. "I'm not saying we shouldn't, or anything; if you want to, we can…."

"Only if you want to!"

They looked at each other for a long, strange moment.

"I think... I do," Robin said, still looking a bit like a deer in the headlights. The feeling was mutual.

"Me too." Vlad stared at his shoes. It all just felt so... surreal. Too good to be true. The bats were back, setting off fireworks in his belly.

Play it cool, Vlad.

Robin darted forward; Vlad looked up in surprise, the sudden motion causing Robin's lips to miss and land on Vlad's nose instead.

Vlad didn't laugh, although the other teen's expression was priceless. Instead, he tentatively reached for the collar of Robin's jacket and, meeting no resistance, stretched up onto his toes to snog him properly. Robin's hand immediately burrowed into Vlad's hair.

When they finally parted, the vampire looked up at Robin, anxious. "We should talk about the... thing."

Robin sighed. "Spoil sport."

"I don't know what the right thing to do is, here," Vlad admitted. "All of the options are terrible."

Robin pursed his lips. "I wish you'd at least consider turning me."

Vlad looked away. "Why do you even want to be a vampire, anyway?" He fiddled with Robin's buttons. "There are other ways to protect me."

"One day," Robin whispered, "I'm going to grow old and die. And you'll still be here; alone."

Vlad swallowed. "We should live for today, and not worry about tomorrow."

"What if we don't have that long?" Robin said, his voice thick. "What if something happened to me? What would happen to you?"

"Nothing's going to happen to you. You have the amulet," Vlad pointed out. "You heal quickly—you can run fast. Who knows what else you can do?"

A cough came from behind them, and they whirled around. Chloe was holding a book. "About that. I found this in the Count's library."


"How long have you been standing there?" Robin said, affronted.

"Not long." Chloe blinked. "Anyway, I was thinking; what if the amulet's healing powers are stronger than we thought?"

Robin looked at her with renewed interest. "Stronger how?"

Chloe bit her lip. "Well, if you think about it, aging is just a form of cell damage, right? It was just a hunch, but... I went back to your father's library and found this book on old Kings from Eastern Europe. And; here, it's easier to show you." She held up the book, opening it to what looked to Vlad like an endless list of dates.

Robin squinted at it. "What are we supposed to be looking at, exactly?"

"According to these records, King Geoffrey ruled from 1236 to 1412."

Vlad's brow furrowed. "But that's…."

"One hundred and seventy-six years," Chloe nodded slowly.

"Who's King Geoffrey, again?" Vlad asked, looking between them. "I've never heard of him. Was he a vampire?"

"Hang on—is that the same King we found the other day?" Robin asked, with a sudden look of understanding.

Chloe nodded. "The name and date looked eerily familiar, so I looked him up." She pointed at another book. "It says here the King's reign ended violently; he was assassinated in his sleep."

"Would someone please explain to me what we're even talking about?" Vlad asked, frustrated.

"The King was a slayer; for years, he had been passing himself off as his own great-grandson, after using the amulet's power to overthrow the old king, a vampire named Isaac the terrible," Chloe said patiently. "When a local branch of the slayers' guild discovered the king's secret, they stole the amulet back, declaring it property of the Slayer's Guild. When his body was found, there was nothing left but a pile of bones."

"The amulet was keeping him alive all that time?" Vlad shook his head to clear it. "So, what; you're saying the gem's healing magic can extend a breather's lifespan? For how long?"

Robin gaped at his sister. "I could be immortal!"

"We don't know that," Chloe cautioned. "200 years is a long lifetime, but it's hardly eternity. Who knows how long he would have lived if he hadn't been murdered?"

"It's more of a guarantee than we had before," Robin said, a determined glint in his eye. "Vlad, you're right."

"I am?"

"We have to start thinking more long-term." Robin tossed the amulet up and down in his palm with a pensive expression. "I know it's risky, but—I think we should do the spell. Surgery might work. But then, what if I was captured by the Slayer's Guild? They could still take the gem from me by force. We need a more permanent solution."

Vlad was unconvinced. He tried to reason with him. "If I mess up the spell, both of us could die. You heard what Chloe said."

Chloe hugged the books to her chest. "Robin has a point, Vlad. For now, it's the best plan we've got." Vlad hesitated, before nodding. Chloe let out a puff of air. "If we do this, you realize you're going to have to learn about two years worth of advanced material in a matter of weeks? Every day we wait increases our chances of being discovered by the Guild."

"I understand," Vlad said slowly. "Where do we start?"