Eyes distant and unaware, he put the flat of his arm on the table. My face went cold and I choked, but it wasn’t because of what he had done. It was because of what he had said. “Holy crap!” I swore. “You’re a vamp’s scion!”

Trent’s eyes jerked to mine. “Excuse me?”

“The lyrics!” I sputtered. “He didn’t release those. It’s on the vamp track only undead vampires and their scions can hear. Oh my God! You’ve been bitten!”

Lips pressed together, Trent picked up his fork and cut a triangle of waffle, using it to sop up the last of the syrup on his plate. “I’m not a vampire’s scion. And I’ve never been bit.”

My heart pounded and I stared. “Then how do you know them? I heard you. I heard you say them. Straight off the vamp track.”

He arched his thin eyebrows at me. “How do you know about the vamp track?”

“Ivy.”

Trent rose. Wiping his fingers clean, he tightened his robe and crossed the room to the casual living-room pit with the wall-sized TV and stereo. I watched him pluck a CD from atop a shelf and drop it into a player. While it spun up, he punched in a track and “Red Ribbons” came from hidden speakers. Though it was soft, I could feel the base line thumping into me.

Trent showed a tired acceptance as he turned with a set of wireless headphones. They were professional looking, the type that fit over your ears instead of resting on them. “Listen,” he said, extending them to me. I drew back suspiciously, and he wedged them on my head.

My jaw dropped and my eyes flew to his. It was “Red Ribbons,” but it wasn’t the same song. It was incredibly rich, seeming to go right to my brain, skipping my ears. It echoed within me, swirling behind and through my thoughts. There were impossible highs, and rumbling lows that set my tongue tingling. It was the same song, but there was so much more.

I realized I was staring at my plate. What I had been missing was beautiful. Pulling in a breath of air, I drew my head up. Trent had sat again, watching. Stunned, I reached to touch the headphones, reassuring myself that they were really there. The vamp track was indescribable.

And then the woman started to sing. I looked at Trent, feeling panicked, it was so beautiful. He nodded with a Cheshire cat smile. Her voice was lyrical, both rough and tragic. It pulled emotion from me I wasn’t aware I could feel. A deep painful regret. Unrequited need. “I didn’t know,” I whispered.