“I like your flat! This is one of the biggest in the building, you know?”

She didn’t know, but she wasn’t surprised. Ioan and Deirdre never failed to give her whatever she asked for, and she’d wanted as much privacy as possible in the crowded apartment building. “I didn’t. But, I like my own space, so my—um, family indulges my weirdness.”

Emily cleared a pile of hangars from a chair and sat down. “It’s okay. Everyone here has their own vampires, so you don’t have to hide anything.”

Finally, a small smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “I’d heard.”

“The whole building. That’s why we’re all together. They say it’s for our own security as humans under vampire aegis, blah, blah, blah, but really”—Emily winked—“it’s so they can keep an eye on us. This floor is all students, and the one above us, too. The lower floors are mostly Murphy’s people. Very secure, which thrills Mum and Dad.”

As Emily chattered on, Brigid returned to unpacking. Emily mentioned Murphy again, with the fluttering awe that Brigid had come to expect from any of the girls who knew of him. Patrick Murphy was a water vampire and the unchallenged immortal leader of Dublin. Though he was fairly young, he had an excellent reputation and a healthy respect for Deirdre and Ioan’s power, which was the only reason they’d allowed Brigid to come to Dublin. Brigid had met Murphy on more than one occasion when he came to Wicklow to consult with her family on some matter. When Brigid was ready for school, Dublin was the only place any of them even considered.

Because of the city’s popularity with young people, Murphy had set up a safe house of sorts for humans in the city center. Human members of vampire clans came from all over the world to attend school or live there, safe in the knowledge that they could be among peers they wouldn’t have to hide from. The house on Parliament Street, though it looked like an old hotel from the outside, was centrally located to the city center, within easy walking distance of most public transport, and very, very secure.

Brigid cleared her throat. “So, are you… do you…?” Though all of Ioan and Deirdre’s clan drank animal blood as a habit, Brigid knew how it worked. Murphy would keep healthy, paid blood donors somewhere in the building to feed his staff and others whom he was responsible for. That was how civilized vampires all over the world ran their households. Or so she’d been taught. But how did one go about asking that question politely?

Emily smiled. “My mum and dad both work for Murphy—have my whole life—so this was the only option for me. But I think we’re to share a car for school.”

“Oh?”

“Most of the students here attend Trinity.” She rolled her eyes. “Tradition, tradition. But I’m for UCD like you. I love the campus there. It’s so new.”

University College Dublin had always been Brigid’s goal, but she knew it was more common for humans under aegis to go to Trinity. The handsome buildings and historic traditions of the oldest university in Ireland appealed to the age and character of most vampires, so their humans were encouraged to attend the school. There were even a few vampire professors, she had heard.

“So, how about you?”

“Hmm?” Brigid was standing in the middle of the room, holding a hangar in front of her like a shield. She had been pressing and hanging her wardrobe before she’d heard the knock. She carefully set the hangar down on the coffee table and sat across from Emily.

“Why are you going to UCD?” Emily asked. “Sports fan?”

“No, no. I… uh.” She smiled stiffly. “I want to study criminal justice and forensic science. I like the program there. That’s why I chose it. I’m not really one for much sport.”

Emily grinned and her eyes swept over the room. “Now, why don’t I find that a surprise?”

Brigid’s dark wardrobe and prized collection of vintage concert shirts was piled in one corner. The walls, per her demand, had been painted a comforting dark grey, and Deirdre and Sinead had helped her pick out a black chair and a grey sofa to go in the small sitting area.

Brigid couldn’t help but compare her cave with Emily’s bright summer clothes and pink-painted fingernails. Her room was probably baby blue or summer yellow.

“So…” Brigid wiped her hands on her knees. She was doing well, she thought. She had a complete stranger—a safe-looking one—in her room, and she was fine. “Do you want some tea? I was just about to grab some.”

“Sure! That’d be great.”

“Okay.” Brigid rose and walked to the small corner opposite where the bedroom door was. A small kitchen was open to the sitting room, and she plugged in the electric kettle she’d been about to start when she decided her shirts just had to be pressed. “So, are you from Dublin, then?”

“Born and raised. You?”

Brigid had been born and raised for the first ten years in Dublin, but she didn’t count that part. “Wicklow. My whole life.”

“Ah. Earth vampires?”

“Yes.” She focused on preparing two cups of tea. Two mugs. Two teabags from the box.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

Brigid was tempted to burst into laughter, but she didn’t. “Um… no. Definitely not.”

“Oh, do you have a girlfriend, then?” Emily gave her a mischievous wink, and Brigid blushed.

“Uh, no. I like… boys.” In theory.