My heart wouldn’t believe my ears. My skin tightened with goosebumps, and tears stopped in the corners of my eyes. “David. Are you saying that—?”

“I’m saying I want to start over, Ara—someplace else—somewhere we can be together. Where none of the past matters, where you and I are all that exists in the world.”

“You want to run away together?”

He smiled as he wiped a tear from my cheek. “Would you want that—to run away, with me, even though we could never truly live in peace?”

My watery eyes flicked over his, my mouth hanging open in disbelief. “How can you ask me that? You know the answer already.”

“Then…” he hesitated, “that’s a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes, dummy.” I flung my arms around his neck, standing on my toes to hug him tighter.

“Oh, thank God. I was so afraid you…” He placed me on the ground and shook his head. “Never mind. It’s not important. What’s important now is discussing our next move.”

“Where will we go?”

“I have a friend—she will help us. We’ll go to Paris, under the protection of the Lilithians in the Ninth Order, and—”

“They can change me,” I stated, my eyes wide. “The Lilithians. Eric told me about th—”

“Uh. Stop right there.” He held his finger up; “I’ve already thought of it, and I don’t want that for you.”

“Why?” My brow tightened with the slap of rejection.

“Do you really want to thirst my blood? If you become one of them—you won’t be the same.”

“It’s no different to how it is now. I crave you now—except that I could be immortal—be with you forever.”

“Ara—” He shook his head.

“Don’t you want me for eternity? I don’t understand.” I took a step back, laying my feet down flat on the slippery ice so as not to slide.

“It’s not that, Ara.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s because they want my head on a stake—the vampires. I left them. They need to make an example of me.” He walked humanly slow to stand in front of me again. “If you’re immortal, and they catch us, they won’t just kill you. I can’t let you get hurt like that, mon amour. The tortures a human can live through are far less than what a vampire will be subjected to—for eternity.”

“Then I won’t get caught.” I brushed his hand away from my face.

“I thought you didn’t want to be immortal? I thought you wanted death one day?”

“David?” I looked him in the eye. “You know I changed my mind. I told you that.”

“No, you were just saying that—” his neck jutted forward, his eyes wide, “—because it was no longer a possibility. You were just trying to make me happy.”

“No! I meant it when I said it. I want to be immortal—with you—forever. Not just for my forever.”

“But, your mum, and Harry?”

“They’re dead, David.” I dropped my arms. “And there’s no guarantee I’ll even see them in the afterlife. But I can guarantee that I’ll have you. If I become immortal, I can guarantee that we’ll always be together.”

David closed his eyes and lowered his head. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“You were never around for me to say it.”

“And for that, I am eternally sorry.” We stood, surrounded by the chill of the afternoon, staring at each other, frozen by the anticipation of the future. David broke the breathless silence first. “You would really change—for me?”

I placed my hand on my chest and shook my head as I spoke. “With all of my heart—I’ll promise you eternity.”

“That’s all I ever wanted.” He smiled and lifted me into his arms, spinning me around in the middle of the ice bridge over our secret lake.

“So, when do you leave?” Mike’s breath came across the dining table, warmed with the smell of coffee. He set his cup down by his other hand and looked at David.

“Early spring,” I said. “David’s Set won’t return ‘til then.”

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to leave now, then?” Emily said. “Get out while you can?”

I shook my head. “I need time to say goodbye to Dad and Vicki.”

“Will you ever come back?” Mike asked hesitantly.

Emily slid Mike’s coffee cup aside and weaved her fingers through his.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’ll be dangerous for us—they’ll always be after David, now.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Mike leaned forward a little. “What if you don’t change and you go into a coma again?”

“A Lilithian transformation differs to a vampire,” David advised. “Genetics don’t come into play.”

“So, you will be immortal. There’s no question?” Mike looked at me.

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure I like it, Ara.” His serious face slipped on like a mask.

“But—”

“But it’s what you want.” He held up his index finger, then grinned at David. “So, I know you don’t need it, but you have my blessing to kidnap my best friend and turn her into the living dead.”

“They’re not dead, Mike.” I rolled my eyes.

“I know.” Mike winked at me.

“There’s something else.” I sat taller; David stiffened beside me. “Em?”

Her face mimicked my inward concern. “Ara? What is it?”

“David didn’t want to tell you this—”

“Ara.” David, with his hands clasped on the table in front of him, turned his head an inch and shook it.

“I’m sorry, David. She needs to know.” I looked back at Mike and then, especially, at Emily. “You have to join a Set. It’s against—”

“Ara.” She squirmed in her seat, smiling. “I’m not joining a Set—that’s crazy. I’m not one of them.”

Mike rested his elbow on the table and rubbed his brow. “I forgot about that.”

“About what?” Em looked at David. “What are you saying—that I have no choice?”