‘Almost always.’ She swallowed a lump in her throat, because the confidence in his voice had made her feel unexpectedly frightened. ‘Please, Shane – don’t get cocky, okay?’

‘Oh, now you want to do sexy talk?’

‘I’m serious! Please. Please.’ The image she most remembered right now was of him floating in a tank of murky water, bleeding … dying, at the hands of enemies of the vampires. And it terrified her. ‘I hate it that I’m safe here, and you’re …’

‘Swimming in an ocean of danger, with sharks? Hey, it’s what manly men do. That, and wrestle rabid badgers.’

He was being flippant, and it killed her. ‘Shane!’

He was quiet for a long moment, and then he said, ‘Are you okay, Claire?’

‘Yes – I – I—’ She took a deep breath. On the wall across from her was a poster promoting delicious bagels, and she focused in on the colours, the shapes, and tried to clear all the frantic noise from her mind. ‘I’m okay. Let me know when you get your new phone – can I call you on this one until then?’

‘If you want.’ He seemed pleased about that. ‘I know you’re getting settled and all, but maybe I can call around this time at night? Would that work?’

‘Yeah. That works.’

‘Because I don’t want to miss a day with you.’ She was silent, not because she disagreed, but because she was overcome with a wave of emotion so strong she couldn’t get the words out. He mistook it for something else, because he hurried on, tone turning more impersonal. ‘So, yeah, I’ve gotta hit it. Talk to you tomorrow, right?’

‘Right,’ she managed to choke out.

‘Is it pushing you to tell you I love you?’

‘No.’ It wasn’t a wave of emotion, it was a sea, and she was drowning in it. ‘Love you.’ That was all she could manage. She hung up the call, and burst into hot, hard tears. She struggled to keep them quiet, but she knew everybody could tell what was going on. Just another sad, homesick, lonely freshman having a breakdown. Great.

It felt good, though, in a weird way. Six coarse food court napkins later, the storm passed, and she was left with a weary, empty ache inside, but an equally empty brain. Her eyes felt swollen, and she knew she looked a mess, but sometimes … sometimes the emotions were just too big to hold.

She tossed her trash, avoided the glances of other students, and started the walk home. The row house she shared with Elizabeth wasn’t that far – about six blocks, about the same distance she’d walked from Texas Prairie University to her old home at the Glass House. She spotted some students walking, and most had earbuds in, rocking out as they strolled, but she couldn’t even think about that … Morganville had taught her to pay attention, or else.