We walked up the stairs and went to my front door, but when I put my key in the lock, it was already unlocked. I pushed the door open slowly and went inside while Rosemary charged ahead of me.

Ian, wearing a beautiful black suit, sat in a pink velvet chair by the windows that showed the glittering skyline beyond. He was holding a large book, and I saw that it was my annotated collection of Shakespeare’s tragedies. I felt as shocked as if I’d gripped a wire with a live current.

“Hello, Milagro.”

I couldn’t say anything about his unexpected visit because I’d given him a key and I’d always gone to his place unannounced. “Hello, Ian.”

His dark eyes gleamed below the hooded lids. “I stopped by on my way to Gigi’s. She told me you were coming to her little gathering tonight.”

“Gigi always thinks she’s invited me to things, but she forgets to actually invite me.” I sat on the fuchsia sofa.

“I heard that you were in London.”

“Yes, I had a business meeting there and got a big writing gig.”

“Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed your trip.”

“Very much.” I tried to sound calm as I said, “I met Wilcox Spiggott there and he acted as my host. Vampire society in London is much more advanced than the backward feudalism here or in other places. I’m going to see Wilcox again. He’s visiting soon.”

Ian gazed at me, making my every nerve alert.

“Milagro, I waited for you through your infatuation with Oswald, or, more accurately, your infatuation with his grandmother, because I know how important it is for you to have a maternal figure.”

“You waited for me by consoling yourself with an anorexic Eurotrash model.”

“That’s a very impolite way to speak of my friend,” he said. “I’ve made my feelings for you clear, and I’d hoped you returned them.”

I stared at Ian, thinking of how his touch made me forget who I was, how his taste made me delirious, and how he’d never told me he loved me. “I knew exactly how you felt about me when I saw Cricket freaking up against you and your marks all over her body.”

“You’re behaving like a petulant child. I’ve explained that …”

“You’ve explained that you were just using her and I don’t know what’s worse—if you’re fucking her, or if she’s just a meal to you and you’re playing with your food,” I said, my voice rising in anger and hurt. “I never had sex with anyone else when I was with you! I never even had sex with Oswald after that night when you and I …” I hesitated and then said, “And I never let him cut me after you gave me your blood. I lost Oswald because of you.”