Chapter 40

I felt like a stray animal that had been left in the rain as I stepped into Sophie's apartment, clutching my backpack to my chest. I'd braided my hair loosely, splashed water on my face, and brushed my teeth. Otherwise, I wore the same wrinkly clothes I'd been wearing all day.

Willa lounged on the couch beneath a fleece blanket decorated with sunflowers. Her hair was tied up in space buns and she wore a satin tank top. She swung her legs off the couch and sat up when the door opened, revealing hot pink leggings.

"Hey," she blurted, almost spilling the bowl of popcorn in her lap. "I didn't know we were going to have company, or I might have vacuumed."

Sophie looked between me and Willa. "I thought Indy could use a break."

Willa's bewilderment faded; her smile was soft. To my relief, she did not ask any questions and she didn't look at me like I was pathetic. She simply nodded and stood. "I'll make some more popcorn."

Sophie closed the door behind us and locked it. I set my bag on the ground beside it, glancing around awkwardly like I'd never been here before.

"I'm going to shower real quick," Sophie announced. "Willa, you've got her, right?"

Willa gave her a thumbs-up as she skipped into the kitchen. I watched Sophie leave, her room door clicking shut behind her.

"So, give it to me straight," Willa said as she pulled a bottle of wine from the cabinet. "How are you feeling?"

I was too tired to bother lying to her. "I've never felt worse."

Willa hummed. "I died in August last year, after coming to Paris at the same time as Addie. I know what you're going through better than anyone, except maybe Addie, but she's-"

"She hates me," I breathed.

"She's scared for you," Willa corrected me sternly.

My shoulders slumped. "It feels like hate."

Willa slid a glass of wine across the kitchen island. "Let's talk through things you can control right now."

I nodded, walking forward to pick it up and take a sip. "I'm starving," I said. "Like this all-consuming hunger that makes my veins burn and my head spin. And I can hear the couple six doors down having sex—bad sex, from the sound of it. I can smell Sophie's orange shampoo. Who the hell uses orange shampoo? And my fangs keep showing up when I don't want them to. I feel like I could climb Mount Everest and be home in time for dinner, but my mind is tired so all I've been doing is sleeping and drinking blood. Oh, and I'm horny."

Willa snorted. "I think that last part is more the hot vampire you're staying with and less becoming a vampire."

"You're not helping," I whined miserably, watching her put a new bag of popcorn in the microwave. "How do you know he's hot, anyway?"

"Sophie texted me." Willa pulled her phone from her leggings pocket to show a text from Sophie around the time I'd been getting ready to leave Simon's apartment.

Oh, lord, this man looks like he'd be on the cover of French Vogue.

I snorted.

"Is it true?" Willa pressed.

"Willa," I whined. "We're not talking about him."

"Right, okay, I'll ask again later." Willa motioned for me to follow her. I did, walking across the room and sitting on the couch. "The fangs thing takes a while. I still struggle with it sometimes, and I know Addie does too. The unbelievable hunger will go away in about a week, the exhaustion will go with it. Everything else is a matter of adapting." She grimaced, listening to the terrible sex at the same moment I noticed it again. "I've never heard a more fake orgasm."

I laughed weakly, shaking my head. I took another sip of my wine, swirling it around in the glass. "Oh." I remembered. "My mom called and basically labeled Addie and me as failures, so that was cool."

Willa nodded. "I remember those conversations when Addie got here. Brutal."

"I don't understand. My mom has never talked to me like that before."

Willa hummed. "From what I understand, that's how she's talked to Addie for her whole life."

I swore. "I was worried about that."

Willa licked her lips. "Yeah, well, you're the younger sibling."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I huffed.

"It means you're the baby of the family. Your parents treated you differently than they treated Addie," Willa said. "I'm not saying it's your fault. Hell, I was the baby of the family. But while you got everything you wanted and special attention from both your parents, Addie's pain went unnoticed."

"It sounds like you're saying she hates me," I said.

"Quite the opposite. I think you should talk to her," Willa replied. "Not tonight, though. Tonight, we're going to watch shitty reality TV."

I lifted my wine glass in silent cheers.

A couple hours later, a text dinged on my phone.

I picked it up to see Simon's name on the screen. He'd put his number in before I left with Sophie.

Are you doing alright?

I hummed happily, the buzz of four glasses of wine dulling my senses and making my head swim. I'm wine drunk. I sent an immediate follow-up text. I asked Willa why I feel so horny all the time, and she said it's not because I'm a vampire, it's because you're sexy .

Simon's response came a couple minutes later. I'll take that as a compliment.

I blushed, my fingers hovering over the screen before typing out my reply. I want you, Simon. I need you.

Three dots appeared on the screen, then disappeared. That happened twice more before his reply finally came through. My darling, I think you already have me.

"Hey!" I yelled into Sophie's living room, startling the two vampires on the couch with me. "What does this mean?"

I pointed at my screen and handed my phone to Sophie. Willa crawled across the couch and peered over the top of my phone, reading my texts upside down.

"Oh, this means you're getting dicked down when you see him again," Willa announced.

"Willa!" Sophie squealed. "Don't be so crude."

"It's true." Willa shrugged and sipped her wine pointedly.

"I think it means more than that," Sophie pointed at the last message. "I think he likes you."

"He likes me?" My eyes bulged out of my head.

"Do you like him?" Sophie asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"You frolicked around the most romantic city in the world with him," Willa said.

"Good point," Sophie piped up.

I sank into the couch cushions. "I think he healed a part of me he didn't break in the first place."