Jude takes hold of my shirt, giving it a gentle tug, and I let him draw me closer. The sparks turn into fireworks when his fingers graze my cheek, when he fits his hips to mine, moving with me. My thoughts fly into a million pieces, like the tiny lights spraying off the mirror-ball above the DJ’s platform. Something inside of me is starting to make noise I can’t ignore, and Jude’s touch is a magnet, pulling it to the surface.

“Auggie? There you are!” Gunnar’s voice breaks through the static in my thoughts, and my chin snaps up, our eyes meeting as he takes in the sight of me and Jude—together. I freeze, guilt heating my blood. Regardless of my motives tonight, no matter what I suspect about Gunnar, this was supposed to be a date.

“I—this isn’t…” But I don’t finish, because I don’t know what I’m doing—why I’ve let either vampire get this close.

The frosty look that hardens Gunnar’s face, however, isn’t directed at me. “Long time no see, Jude.”

Jude turns, his smirk blooming into a feline grin, bicep flexing as he pushes a hand through his hair. “Gunnar. I was wondering how long it would take for our paths to cross.”

“No, you weren’t.” Gunnar’s face darkens, mouth pulling down. “If I know you at all, you’ve been planning this moment for days. Possibly longer.”

The tension in the air is even thicker than the artificial smoke, but it’s somehow clearing my head. A bad feeling creeping over me, I step back. “You know each other?”

Jude’s grin widens even further, the sharp ends of his teeth radiant with black light. “Of course. Gunnar is my ex-boyfriend.”

Simultaneously, his scowl deepening, Gunnar snarls, “Jude is the one who Turned me.”

17

The side of the factory that faces the moonlight is lonely and deserted, people and vampires reluctant to congregate where they might be seen and recognized—but this is exactly where the three of us wind up to hash out this extremely awkward situation.

I came to an undead rave, hoping my date would reveal something about a cult that worships the monster I’m slowly turning into, and now I’m caught in the middle of vampire ex-boyfriend drama. I miss when I thought this town was boring.

“Wow, what a coincidence that you both ended up in Fulton Heights, trying to seduce me at the exact same time,” I remark flatly, hugging my arms across my chest. It’s fucking freezing out here.

“I have not been trying to seduce you!” Jude tosses his hands out, exasperated.

“Don’t listen to him,” Gunnar interrupts. “Of course he’s been trying to seduce you—that’s what he does. It’s his whole MO.”