“We have discussed the matter at length and reached a decision. Charlotte and Reginald, should you still wish to return to your immortal lives, House Drake and the Clan of Bone are ready to welcome you home.”

Our jaws dropped in unison.

“You’ll give us—you’ll make us—” I stuttered. “We can be vampire again?”

“You’re serious,” Reg said.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Adante answered. “Against my better judgment, this offer is valid. Though it expires at dawn, which by my calculations is only a few moments away, so I suggest you decide quickly.”

It was everything—everything—I wanted. A return to our immortal lives, without harm to Nowhere. I should have been flying toward Adante.

But I was struck by a sudden paralysis.

An image of the sun setting on the hills behind the cottage crossed my vision, and my stomach did a little flip. The taste of coffee glided over my tongue, my mouth salivating even at the memory, and the turning in my stomach rose like acid up into my throat, as I pictured the faces of my friends, of Dex, of Lina and Sal.

While sunsets were spectacular and coffee even better than blood, I could still let them go for the promise of eternity.

But the people.

My people.

“Will our memories . . . will we . . .” I cleared my throat. “Will we remember? Nowhere, the humans—will we remember all of this?”

“Your memories will be gone.” Adante said it with an air of assurance, as though this was yet another gift he was giving us. “It will be as though none of this happened.”

“What if I want to remember? Can I choose to keep these memories?”

Adante eyed me with a mix of confusion and distrust. “Absolutely not. As you well know, human memories are complex and can interfere with the immortal mind. You might lose the will to hunt, to feed. Lesser immortals have wasted away, driven mad by the human poisons of morality and memory.”

He recited from a script, one I had heard before and once deeply believed.

“Are there no exceptions?” I pleaded.

Adante’s answer was cold. And final.

“It is nonnegotiable.”

And so were my memories—my humans.

“For me, as well,” I said, the words coming out slow and broken. “I’m afraid . . . I must decline the council’s generous offer.”

I reached for my brother’s hand, clutching it in my own. This offer would not be repeated and turning it down was gut-wrenching, but at least I knew Reg and I would be together in this mortal life.

Reg’s hand slid from mine.

“And I accept,” he said.

His voice was soft, but it echoed down the road.

Adante leaned back a bit, his mouth bent in a cruel smile, amused by this unexpected conflict.

Reg moved to stand in front of me, his back shutting Adante out so it was just the two of us.