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Auris raised one eyebrow. “Oh, that would help, would it? A nice little waterfall braid? You know what I think? I think you should finish your food and come back here so I can hold you while you watch the snow fall and dream of winter and the holidays.”

“Tempting.” I considered the last muffin. Three of those weren’t exactly a balanced meal, but it had been a day. I broke it apart and slowly ate one piece, then another. “When I get my cult, you’ll have to show some braids.”

“My sweet, we talked about the things you are not allowed. A cult is one of those things. You must give up on it. You must move on. Find something else to live for.”

“Something else to live for? Like a hobby? Like tennis?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t like tennis. Comes with smelly gym shoes.”

“I believe you can air those out.”

I made a thoughtful face. “Nah. Tennis is no good. It’s not very nice of you to ruin my vampire cult hobby for me, Auris. It’s the one thing I ask—one itty bitty cult.”

“You must learn to live with not getting all the things you want, my sweet. Planning your future as a cult leader is one of those.”

I finished the last bit of muffin. “I think you’re just mad I thought of it first, and now the idea is all mine.” I put the plate aside and lay down next to him again.

He pulled me close, kissed me, gathered a blanket over me, and made sure I had a comfortable pillow in the shape of his arm. “No, that’s not it. You can’t be the leader of a cult. It would mean I’d have to share you, and you’re all mine.”

The words spread through me like fuzzy warmth, settling in my limbs. After a while, when my eyes were growing heavy, I turned to him and said, “I love you.”

Perhaps he had doubted that or feared his story would damage what he felt keenly, what was new to me, this shared thing between us. Either way, a tension went out of him. I watched the snow for a little while longer, but the melody of the crackling fire drew me under eventually.

18

December came quickly, and with it a cold white winter. Prague turned into an icy jewel under the light gray sky, the Vltava half-frozen and glistening with ice, the buildings and people wrapped in warm coats and walking through a city that looked luminous under the cool winter sun.

Festive Christmas markets sprang up in most of the squares, and they were decidedly touristy. Eva forced me and Auris to join her for a drink, and her goal was to make me try mulled beer, which came heated, spiced, and in fancy tankards. We stood next to the stall that sold it, the smell of warm spices in the air, the wind somewhat kept at bay by the stalls.

“I think this is Eva’s revenge for Charlie,” I mumbled to Auris. Eva had been distracted by a group of friends passing by, and she’d headed over to them to chat in rapid Czech.

He gave the tankard in my gloved hands a speculative look. “You could accidentally drop it.”

“She’d get me another.”

“If you wait until nightfall, I’ll entrance her so she doesn’t notice you’re not drinking it.”

“Auris. Nightfall is an hour away.”

He nodded and cupped my hands with his. “In that case, your sacrifice will not be forgotten, my sweet. Bottoms up.”

I snorted. “At least in fiction, there’s a rule that all vampires have to be tortured and not funny. How come no one told you about that rule?”

“I’m a maverick. Rules are naught but flies I feel the need to swat. Enjoy your beer, Ethan.”

Eva came back then. “Sorry, sorry. Everyone is out today.” She pulled the glove off her right hand and raised her own tankard. “Cheers!”

I mirrored her. “Let’s give this a go, then.” I sipped some of the brew. Then I sipped some more. “Okay, this is weird, but surprisingly not bad.”

“See? I said to you, it’s good. It’s good!” She pulled her cherry red cap farther over her forehead and rubbed her hands together. It was snowing again. “You have to try more. Be curious. And everyone loves beer.”

Another one of Eva’s friends hollered at her and she turned to give them a wave.

“Eva, if you want to go and hang out with your friends, that’s perfectly fine,” Auris said. “Ethan brought his camera, and when he gets into the artistic headspace, I suspect it’ll be a lot of standing around in the cold for us normal people.”

She pursed his lips. “You sure? I haven’t stayed out together with my friends since the pandemic.”