His breath isn’t clouding the air the way mine is, and he doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by the sharp chill in the air, in spite of his thin jacket. The sun dips lower, splashing the parking lot with honeyed light, but the overhang above the side entrance to the school creates a small pocket of lengthening shadow—and Jude hasn’t stepped out of it since we started talking. My hands shaking again, I make a show of searching my coat pockets.

“You know what? I just remembered, I do have a lighter. It’s—aha!” Quick as I can, I yank my crucifix free and thrust it out at him. “Get back, demon of the night!”

Gold light flickers in his eyes and he recoils, flinching at the sight of the cross. Then his features settle into an annoyed frown. “‘Demon of the night’? That’s very offensive.”

“I don’t care! You were going to eat me!”

“August, if I had any intention of harming you, I’d have done it the second the door opened—before you knew I was here. I certainly wouldn’t have waited for you to get safely into the sunlight before deliberately announcing myself.” He plucks the cigarette from behind his ear, tucking it into his mouth. Then he produces a book of matches—which he had all along—and lights up. “Believe it or not, vampires are not all brainless killing machines.”

“Exactly what a brainless killing machine would say,” I snap. “And what was all that … seduction stuff? You were trying to mesmerize me!”

“I wasn’t mesmerizing you, I was flirting with you.” Jude’s gaze travels over me again. “I happen to like flirting with cute boys.”

“Stop it!” I stammer, my throat flushing with heat again. “Stop playing vampire mind games with me, okay? We had paranormal safety train—”

I don’t finish, because his eyes shimmer this beautiful color, and my thoughts suddenly go all warm and gooey. Jude’s lips look really soft, I finally seem to notice, and his knees are even sexier than I first thought. There’s a clink of metal as the crucifix slips from my fingers and hits the pavement, and I start walking toward the expanding shadow of the overhang. He wants me. And I want him to take my—

He blinks, the trance breaking just like that, and I stumble back again with a sharp gasp. Scooping the crucifix up off the ground, I thrust it at him like a sword, my hands shaking. “What the hell was that?”

“That’s what it feels like to be mesmerized,” he answers coolly. “The only reason you’re still standing over there and I’m still standing over here is because I need you to understand that I don’t mean you any harm.”

“Oh, sure, because you’re one of the ‘good’ ones?” I scoff.