I can think of only two reasons you join a secret magic society of vampire hunters: you love magic or you hate vampires. I do both.

And I can guess which category Xander belongs in.

“You lost someone.”

His smile crashes in an instant. “My brother. I was seventeen, and he was only fifteen.” A ghost of a smile crosses his lips, and it’s so different from his usual too-easy grin that I hardly recognize him. “He begged me to take him to this party. It was just supposed to be your regular old high school party… a bunch of teens and too much alcohol. It was getting late—we’d already missed curfew, so I went searching for him. I saw him in the woods behind the house.” He lets out a harsh chuckle that sounds more like choking. “I thought he was getting lucky. A girl had her face buried in his neck. I almost left him alone, but our parents liked to ground me one hour for every minute I broke curfew, so I called his name. The girl ran, and he just… dropped. I thought he was drunk, but I ran to him and tried to pull his face up to me, and his neck…” Xander pauses and runs his hand over his face.

“You don’t have to keep going,” I tell him. I know the moment he’s in. For me, it was the last little pull of life leaving my mom’s body. For him, it’s this.

His breathing now is tight and heavy, but he shakes his head and keeps going. “There was a lot of blood. It wasn’t like those dainty little pinprick bites.” He swallows. “Some vamps are more vicious than others. She ripped him open. He was already gone… I tried to put him back together for a moment. It was the first time I used my power. I’d been doing some little cup-and-ball tricks at the party, experiencing that little buzz of power that we can feel even if we don’t know how to use it. Aristelle said the shock probably made me shove the power from my body and try to heal him. Didn’t work, of course. The police came. Everyone called it an animal attack. You know how people are. Bloodsuckers have literally shown their faces to us, but most don’t believe in them. But Aristelle felt my power being used and found me, and she believed me, and they needed an apprentice.” He shrugs.

“Aristelle felt your power? Was she there?”

“No. The more power that’s used, the greater the distance that other magicians can feel it. Think of it like a bomb going off. There’s an initial burst that draws everyone’s attention, and then you’re smoldering for a bit afterward.”

“You felt that vampire. Earlier, you both acted like you heard something.”