“Well…” Kristy looked over her shoulder again. “He’s totally nuts about you, that much is obvious. And I’m glad I know his real name now. Baojia is not that strange. Trust me, I knew a guy named Tam. And you know why he was named Tam? Because his real name had so many syllables you needed a weekend to say it…”

She had to smile. She’d told Kristy as much as she could, but not everything. And to Natalie’s surprise, she felt okay about that. She’d come to realize that while knowledge was power, that power wasn’t always necessary for everyone to have. And if spreading the truth about vampires would hurt Baojia… Well, the public didn’t really need to know everything, did they? Besides, keeping secrets was part of her job, too. If it meant protecting a source, her lips were sealed. And if it meant protecting the vampire she loved?

“You’re not telling me everything, Natalie,” Kristy said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not dumb. Spill.”

Spill the truth about immortal beings who lived in a shadow society? Spill the truth about a dangerous drug that seemed to be spreading, no matter what they did to combat it? Spill the truth about the girls who had died? The ones still in danger from ingesting Elixir? Would speaking the truth help or hurt more?

“He saved my life, Kristy. That’s the truth. And I think… I think I might have saved his, too. In a way.” She grabbed her friend’s hand. “I love him like crazy, but there’s nothing crazy about it. He’s the best man I’ve ever known.”

She saw Kristy’s eyes well up with unshed tears. “Where will you go? Why can’t you guys stay here? If you went and apologized to the Tribune, they might—”

“I think we’re going north,” she said. “Not sure yet. We’re both kind of… unemployed right now. But we’re good. We’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She saw him coming down the hall, scanning the surroundings in that cautious way he had, carrying three sodas because he probably couldn’t decide which one she would like best. Constantly watching. Constantly guarding. Always aware. Her bodyguard. Her lover. And maybe… her eternity. She still didn’t know. But as he entered the room and bent down to kiss her cheek, she turned to Kristy and said, “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“She wants to meet with both of us,” Baojia said again, wheeling her toward the downstairs living room in Giovanni and Beatrice’s house. They had been staying there, at Giovanni and Beatrice’s insistence, since she’d left the hospital. Caspar and Isadora—the whole household, in fact—had spent most of her recovery fussing over her and hovering. She loved it. She kind of hated it, too. “Katya didn’t say why she wanted to meet us together, but I’m assuming it’s to be polite. For a human, you have quite a high profile in our world now. You’re friends with Beatrice De Novo and Carwyn ap Bryn. Tenzin saved your life. According to rumors, I left my sire’s aegis so that we could be together. I’m sure she’s curious.”

“She’s a really, really powerful vampire who rules Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.” She swatted at his hand in annoyance. “I’m an “I’unemployed writer. What on earth are we going to talk about?”

“I don’t know. But you are also my mate and she has been in talks with Carwyn and Brigid about something for weeks now. Something to do with both of us, I suspect. So just be pleasant and try not to interrogate her if you get curious.”

“I wouldn’t interrogate her!”

He laughed. “Yes, you would.”

“Questioning is not interrogating.”

“So you say, my love.”

“Don’t…” She held up a finger. He’d been doing that—calling her “my love” and something in Chinese she didn’t understand, which probably meant “my perpetual headache” or something equally endearing. It didn’t matter. When he said it in that low, sexy voice she melted every time. “Don’t call me ‘my love’ just so you can—What are you doing?”

He had stopped a few feet down the hall from the living room, before kneeling in front of her and framing her face with his hands. “I’m proposing to you.”

Despite her annoyance, she blushed. “W…what? Here?”

“Yes.” He reached in his pocket.

Her voice squeaked. “Now?”

“Whatever happens in that room,” he said, pulling out a ring from his pocket, “I do not want anyone to question my commitment to you. You are not just a human under my aegis. Vampire or not, I consider you my mate. And I am asking you to be my wife. Officially.”

They’d talked about it. Natalie had even assumed it, but seeing him down on one knee, ring in hand, made her fall in love with him all over again. This startling creature, this inhuman marvel, wanted her to spend the rest of her life with him. And more. She knew he wanted more, but he was patient. As different as they were, they were perfect together.

“Yes,” she said simply. “Of course yes. I would be honored to be your wife.”

She knew she’d said the right thing when his face lit with a joy she’d never seen from him, spilling out of his eyes, his smile. He lit up from within as he slid a simple solitaire over her finger. Not a diamond, a light blue stone. Blue, like the water he commanded.

“It’s the color of your eyes,” he said quietly. “Is it—”