“I know you used to think that vampires who pursued the Corrupter were fools, and now here you are, spying and doing Viviane Duclos’s dirty work.” Jude gestures at me, and I just about boil over.

“You’re both spying on me! You’re both doing someone else’s dirty work, so stop acting like only one of you is the bad guy!” I’m vibrating with fury, vampire blood like rocket fuel in my veins. “I’m the bone you’re playing tug-of-war over, telling me whatever you think will make me trust you—but no matter who wins, I lose. Neither one of you actually cares what happens to me so long as I die.”

Tears sting my eyes, the pressure too great to resist, and both vampires freeze in place. They exchange a mortified glance, and Jude begins, “August, that’s not—”

“I’m dying. I’m being … occupied by some thing I don’t understand, that I can’t begin to fight—I mean, does that sound familiar to you, Jude fucking Marlowe?” When I glare at him, the sadness in his eyes is a quicksand trap that almost pulls me in. “Tell me how it felt to be seventeen years old and dying of bubonic plague.”

“August…” But that seems to be all he’s got. His mouth opens and shuts a couple of times. “I … Okay, I understand what you’re going through, but—”

“No, you don’t,” I counter immediately, “because when you were dying, you weren’t surrounded by people rooting for the fucking plague!” With a gesture at Gunnar, I continue, “You didn’t have people preying on your loneliness, trying to make sure it was their arms you’d die in, just so they could have control over what you left behind!”

“Now, wait!” Gunnar puts his hands up, his expression horrified. “That’s not—”

Jude doesn’t let him finish. “Gunnar? What did you do?”

“Nothing! We just … we went on a date.”

“And he kissed me,” I add, sounding petulant.

“Of course I kissed him—he’s cute!” Gunnar is exasperated. “And I told him I was a vampire before it happened, by the way. I didn’t trick him, or hypnot—”

“Yes, you did! You never told me who you really were—you never said that the only reason you asked me out was so you could get closer to me!”

“That isn’t why I asked you out, Auggie. Fuck!” Gunnar’s voice is rough, and he drags his fingers through his hair. “All I was supposed to do here was observe you, okay? To protect you from threats, and see if you showed signs that the Corrupter was starting to Rise. That was it. I wasn’t supposed to involve myself in your life, and I don’t think you have any idea how much shit I’m going to be in when Viviane finds out I kissed you.”