BONUS POST: Complications

To say Sebastian worried over his current path was an understatement, while Constance had him clenched in her grip. In his quest to become human again, she was his best chance of completing his goal. Her experience in life across the centuries alone for the years she had lived as a vampire was proof she had accumulated the knowledge he needed from her. Or so he was told, by every vampire he had spoken to, while trying to find her. Even though he had sworn to protect her, it was his love for Sophie that meant he would do anything for her. Starting with becoming human, so they could be together. He only hoped that playing this dangerous game with her wouldn’t lead to an ugly outcome for Sophie, now that she was on Constance’s radar.

He let out a deep-weighted sigh as, for the past hour, he’d been at the club, pretending to listen to Constance drone on. Instead, he’d been mulling over thoughts of his own. Had he made the right choices? There were many reasons he wished to be human, but the most pressing was his love for Sophie. She was almost eighteen. What if it took him years, decades, to become human once again? Sophie would keep aging. What if she died before he had the chance to live a life with her?

Unfortunately, he was certain Constance understood he was using her. Wasn’t that why her price was always so high?

“Darling, are you listening to me?”

Stepping closer, his brow knitted together, he asked, “When will you tell me the secret to becoming human again?”

She threw her head back and laughed, her hair swishing around her face. “I should have known that’s where your mind was. Patience, my love. What you seek is one of the darkest secrets of our kind. I cannot give it as freely as that. You can have the information once you retrieve something for me.”

His eyes narrowed, his mouth twisting into a lopsided frown. “What is it?”

“I’m working on it,” she said, waving at the bartender to bring her a drink.

“This sounds suspiciously like you will never tell me.”

The touch of her icy cold palm on his cheek made his skin crawl, but somehow, he managed not to show his distaste.

“Don’t be silly. Honestly, I don’t understand why you would want to return to your immortal life. We are apex predators, the top of the pack.”

“Not everyone cares about such things,” he said.

“You’re such a romantic at heart. The world does not deserve you,” she said with a soft smile.

With that, she took her leave of him.

What could she possibly have seen in him that sounded so innocent? For he was anything but. He’d murdered for blood, although he’d never turned anyone before. He’d manipulated Everett’s mind, even though he knew Sophie would be furious if she ever found out.

Maybe he didn’t deserve to be human or to know what it felt like to be loved by Sophie.

“Hello there, Seb.”

He turned to the sound of his name.

To his great dismay, it was Tilly. He’d been looking for ways to remove her from their lives since he’d met her. Yet no matter how he tried, he couldn’t control her. He was sure this was the work of a witch.

“What do you want?”

She smiled. “I want you to turn me.”

Sebastian recoiled from her immediately, steadying himself with a hand on the wall. Then, he growled, “Absolutely not! I can think of nothing I want less.”

“Hmm, well, I think you don’t want Sophie to find out why Everett wouldn’t even dance with her at her own prom.”

How could she know this?

Her smile widened. “Think about your options.”

And then she waved, without a care, leaving him to stand alone in his emotional misery.

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