Page 24 of The Human’s Heart

“I love him just as much.” My voice was quiet, my mind reeling from his words.

“I know. I can see that too.” He sent me a soft smile, and we were both quiet for a long moment before he began speaking again. “Back when I was human, when Jules and I first started coming up with our plan and decided we both needed to turn, I was scared—terrified, really. I never wanted to hurt people, and from what I hear, that’s part of what makes you nervous about being turned?”

I nodded and cleared my throat. “Y-yes. That’s… my main issue.”

He nodded. “I’m not trying to pressure you or anything, I just want you to have the facts right. Yes, some turnings are violent, some baby vampires don’t have the best experiences, some are very lonely, but all of those are from a lack of caring, a lack of love. And one thing this family has never been short of is love. No matter what you decide to do, we’ll all be there to support you. And if you ever decide to turn, I promise you, we’ll be there to help you, okay? I promise you it won’t only be blood and violence. Jules, Em, and I will be right there by your side, helping you, teaching you, keeping you safe, keeping you from hurting anyone, and making sure you know you’re loved. Your viramore will be right there too, and so will the rest of our family. You won’t be alone in this—ever. Never, ever alone, Hugo.”

I still had no words. Honestly, what the hell was I supposed to say to all of that?

He sent me another soft smile. “I just wanted you to know that, just in case you’re thinking about it. If you ever have any questions or anything—about becoming a vampire or anything else—feel free to ask me. It doesn’t matter if it’s tomorrow, a year from now, or fifty years from now, we’re all here for you, but I wanted to make sure you know I’m here too. I know we don’t know each other very well yet, but I mean that. Anytime.”

I sucked in a breath and gave a short nod. “I… I… thank you. That… that means a lot.”

He sent me that same smile again. “Anytime, Hugo.” And then, not to my surprise, he pushed off the counter, walked over, and pulled me into a long hug.

His dad hug was just as good as Sebastian’s.

I’d had a lot of time to think about everything Toby had said to me the other day, and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was putting too much into the whole I hate blood thing. But then again, maybe I wasn’t.

Toby was definitely right about one thing. I had Zaos, and I knew his family would help out.

That much was evident from the construction site outside.

But still, was I seriously considering becoming a vampire? It wasn’t a decision I could take lightly, and it definitely wasn’t a decision I could take back once it was made. Once a vampire, always a vampire.

But the thought of it was so foreign, and if I was being honest with myself, scary.

Shaking those thoughts away, I stared at my open fridge for a very long time before I sighed.

My nose wrinkled without my consent as I reached into the fridge for a vial of vampire blood. It still amazed me that this was my life now and that having literal blood in my fridge was considered normal. I lifted the vial up to the light to examine it for a few seconds.

It looked like… like blood.

There was nothing special about it from the outside. It didn’t shine or glitter or anything like that. It just… sat there, looking red and gross and unappetizing.

Yet, when I tasted it, it didn’t taste like normal blood. It tasted almost chocolaty, kind of smooth, and maybe even a little yummy.

Which made me want to vomit.

How in the hell did I think blood tasted good?

Why?

Was it because I’d been drinking this stuff for a few weeks now?

Was I getting vampire traits from it? Was I going to start thinking all blood tasted good?

With quick motions, I set the vial down, picked up the sharp knife I’d grabbed from the knife block, and sliced the end of my finger before I could think better of it. The sting was sharp but not too bad at all. With my other hand, I squeezed out a good bubble of blood, then shoved my finger in my mouth to taste it.

The second the blood hit my tongue, I started to gag.

“Oh my god,” I mumbled around my finger, horrified and disgusted all at once.

My blood still tasted like blood, gross and metallicy. I hated it. So freaking much.

“This is so gross.” I sucked on my finger, wrinkling my nose again, until it stopped bleeding. Pulling my finger out, I checked on the cut and blinked. “Holy shit.”

My finger was half healed already. Holy crap on a cracker.