Chapter 14

A ddie's hands flew up to cover her mouth. "What the hell are you talking about?"

I inclined my chin. "I'm serious."

She shook her head and reached for her glass of wine. I watched as she gulped down the rest, almost a full glass, before slamming it on the table. Then, she snatched mine and chugged it like it was water. When she turned back to me, there was red in her eyes, but not like the rim around her irises I'd seen before.

I jolted when I realized they were tears.

Vampires cried blood.

"I understand you're in shock." She tried to keep her voice even. "But you can't become a vampire. You have a life. A job. Mom and Dad need you."

I scoffed. "I don't have a job, first of all. Second, Mom and Dad don't want their twenty-three-year-old daughter sleeping in the room across from theirs. Third, do you actually think I'm going to let you live forever without me?"

Addie rested her hands on her table. "Indy," she started.

"You don't get to disappear." My voice cracked. "I want to see you on holidays. I want you to meet my kids and my husband. I want to video call you after every little inconvenience. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, however long that may be. You're my sister. You're my best friend."

Addie's face fell impossibly further. "Vampires can't have children."

"Right," I murmured. My chest felt heavy. "So I won't ever be an aunt?"

"I didn't want children when I was human. Nothing's changed there," Addie reminded me gently. "You have your whole life ahead of you. You can have kids. A husband. And, now that you know, we can still have holidays, birthdays, and trips together as long as you don't tell our parents what you know."

"And while I grow old and die, you'll stay the same," I finished bitterly.

"Yes."

I waved my hands. "Absolutely not. No. It's you and me. Till death do us part."

"That doesn't work when I'm already dead."

Sadness surged in my chest. I reached for Addie's hand, then thought better of it and pulled back. "Please."

My sister shook her head.

It hurt. The idea of losing Addie one day tore a hole in my chest deeper than any others. It was more painful than losing my job, or Jackson. I would have rather lost my baby a dozen times over before I ever lost my sister.

She was my whole world.

She was the quiet one—the one who always seemed to need me more than I needed her. It was easier for me to manage my emotions, and to hide how much I always wanted her around. When she moved to Paris, it tore me to shreds. I couldn't protect her when she was five thousand miles away in a city I didn't know.

As it turns out, she was in a city full of vampires. A city that destroyed her.

And I never knew. I couldn't protect her, and she ended up dead.

I thought about how it must feel for her to know she would have to give up her entire world. Everyone who ever knew her would die someday while she kept living. She would have to bury our parents, and me.

No, she wouldn't bury me.

I would never let my sister spend eternity alone.

"Please, Addie," I tried again.

"My answer is no." Her voice was harsher now, ice cold. She was serious.

I searched her eyes for any ounce of hesitation in her eyes. There was none. In fact, they were darker than I'd ever seen them.

"Fine," I said as an idea sparked in my mind. Addie inclined her chin. I nudged away my plate. "I'm going back to my hotel. Watch the damn tower glow without me."

"I feel like I've done nothing but ruin your trip."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's neither here nor there."

"Indy!"

I stood from the table, pulling out a few euros and dropping them on the table in front of her. "I have to go."

Addie reached for me. I skirted away from her grip, turning away from her before she could see me cry.

For the second time in two days, I left my sister behind.

On my way back to my hotel, I contemplated the pros and cons of becoming a vampire.

On a positive note, I would live forever. I would never get sick, never grow old, and Addie would never be alone. I could spend a thousand years charting the stars or helping the sick and wounded—whatever I wanted to do.

The downsides included the actual dying part, drinking human blood, and leaving my parents behind. Like Addie described, eventually I would have to stop calling, stop visiting, and fade from their lives entirely. I'd seen, firsthand, the aftermath of parents losing their children, and the thought of putting my parents through that—not once, but twice—made me want to be sick.

I would never have children.

I ran my hand over my stomach, missing those few, blissful days when everything was right—before I lost my baby and the world crumbled around me.

Shaking away the thoughts of what I'd lost, I continued with my list.

I could see Halley's Comet in 2061.

Realistically, I could have seen her anyway, but I would have been aged and wrinkled. As a vampire, I could see her always—every time she came back around.

I smiled at the thought as I ducked into the metro.

It was a few stops before I needed to get off again, so I sank into a seat and checked my phone. I deleted a dozen messages from Jackson without reading them, then deleted our entire text thread—and a year of my life.

I responded to a couple texts from my mom asking me to check in. I sent her a selfie for proof of life, and told her how much I loved her and Dad.

I opened the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. Today's photo was of the California Nebula, a bright orange molecular space cloud shaped a little like the state of California. I hummed in appreciation, then put my phone in my pocket and stood to get off the metro.

My decision was made.

I was spending eternity with my sister. I did not care what kind of monster it made me or what I would have to give up. Because I would give everything to ensure she did not spend her eternity alone.

If Addie would not make me a vampire, I would find a vampire that would.