“Then it is a good thing I learned about the internet and thecloud. It turns out that as there is no connection here, that video is saved locally to your phone. I could simply crush the device, and it will be gone.”
Edging closer, he stares at the vein in her neck. He can almost feel her soft warmth and taste her blood.
“Except…” she whispers.
His lips are a sliver away from her skin. “Except?”he asks through gritted teeth.
“I took my phone to Harvard, and it automatically syncs to my cloud.” Her breath tickles his ear. “Which means the video is very much accessible to anyone who comes poking around about my death or disappearance.”
He already considered this, of course. It is why he has kept to her eight-week blood embargo.
“Hey… Lorena?”
The two of them look up at the sound of the new voice. Trevor freezes upon seeing them. “Oh—shit. Sorry, I didn’t know you were hooking up—”
“We’re not,” says Lorena hurriedly. She jumps to her feet and stuffs her hands into the pockets of her zip-up sweater. “What’s up?”
She looks beyond him toward the others. “Wait, where is everyone?”
“They left,” says Trevor. “We wanted to give you two some privacy if you were talking about the dance.”
“Then why are you still here?” asks William from his spot on the floor.
“I wanted to talk to you alone for a second,” Trevor says to Lorena, ignoring the vampire.
“Sure,” she says, leaning down to stuff her book back in her bag. “Walk me out?” she asks Trevor, and the two of them head toward the tunnel.
Even though William could easily eavesdrop from here, irritation is still drilling a hole in his head. So he hastens to their side, eager to pick a fight and release his anger.
“Whoa—that was fucking fast,” says Trevor, jumping at the sight of William. “Can you back off? I want to talk to Lorena alone.”
“Why?” asks the vampire, relishing Lorena’s hard exhale of frustration.
“I’m not stepping on your toes, man.”
William looks down at his feet. He has no idea what Trevor is talking about.
“Just give us some space,” says Lorena, glowering at him.
Yet when she and Trevor start walking again, William follows. Trevor spins around and spits out, “Fine! Stay if you want.” Then he turns his back to William, blocking him from the conversation. “I want to ask Salma to be my date, but I know she doesn’t want anything serious. So what do you think? Should I ask her?”
A wide grin overtakes Lorena’s face. “I think—”
“No,” says William, and Trevor grunts in annoyance. “You are not right for her.”
“Forget it,” says Trevor.
“Don’t listen to him!” calls Lorena as the boy storms down the tunnel.
When she spins around to look at him, William takes great pleasure in having dislodged the smile from her face. “What’s wrong with you?You don’t even care about them. What does it matter to you what they do?” Her pulse is as loud as her voice. “Just because you’re forced to be a monster doesn’t mean you have to choose to be an asshole!”
Lorena begins her own indignant march down the tunnel. Yet William is done letting her think she is in charge.
He yanks her out by the arm and pins her against the wall. She breathes in sharply, and her eyes grow unfocused, like her head is spinning. But he does not care.
He kept his word. He waited eight weeks minus a day, and that is good enough.
The girl agreed to be his Familiar. He is only taking from her what is owed to him. His fangs drop, and now her vision seems to focus because her eyes grow wide with fear.
