He stared into my eyes, then reached to me, took the bacon out of my hand, and tugged more out, placing the strips in the pan, all while talking. “Right. Quick education. I day walk. Got no problem with the sun. Sleep at night, though I’m a night person, not a morning person, but that only means I like to sleep in and stay up late, not that I need the night. And when I sleep, I don’t do it in a coffin.”

“Okay,” I said when he stopped, thinking all that was good news, the coffin part especially, because, well…euw.

He tossed the package on the counter and reached for the drawer by my hip. I slid out of the way as he opened it.

He grabbed a fork, closed the drawer, and looked at me.

“No problem with silver. No problem with holy water. No problem with garlic. Ditto crosses. Don’t need to be invited into anyone’s house. In fact, outside of needing blood to survive, nothin’ you think you might know about vampires or werewolves is true. This includes me not transformin’ to wolf at the full moon. I can do it whenever I want and never do it unless I want to. I also can’t turn people. Not that I’ve tried, but as far as I know, I was born this way.”

“As far as you know?” I asked as he started moving bacon around in the skillet, which was now sizzling.

“Was found in an alley. I was a pup. Had transformed, did it then whenever because I hadn’t learned control. Woman who found me took me in, thinking I was a stray puppy or dumped. Told me later I freaked her shit when I turned into a toddler, though she didn’t use those words.”

At this exceedingly sad story, I felt my insides freeze even as my lips whispered, “Oh my God.”

He stopped scooting bacon around and looked at me. “Yeah.”

“What did she do?” I asked.

He shrugged. “She tried to find my folks, and when that failed, she raised me.”

“Just like that?” I pressed.

“Don’t know her thought process. She didn’t share that with me. All I know is all I knew was her. Her love. Her kindness. Her understanding. Her protection. I have no memories of before her. She figured out all I was before I could form a coherent thought, seeing as I’d catch rats and suck them dry and try to latch on to her whenever I got the chance, baring my fangs. She brought me animals to keep me alive until I learned to do what I needed to do, and only then did she let me go out and find humans.”

I could not believe I was hearing this.

But I was hearing it, and I had to admit, it was utterly fascinating and extraordinary even if it was tremendously sad.