“And all this is purely to bring David back?”

“And to prevent more cases like yours.”

“So, if the law hasn’t passed yet, why aren’t you allowed to kill me?”

“While he’s running them through the Council, we’re obliged not to knowingly kill a human who belongs or belonged to another vampire. So, technically, I could kill you, if I wanted to bad enough.”

“Oh. So—” I touched my neck. “Do you—want to, I mean, bad enough?”

Eric grinned and touched his fingertip to my shoulder. “I’d planned to kill you, yes. Right after Emily and Spence went to bed. Even asked Spence to give us some ‘time alone’.”

My heart raced with a sudden rush of tension. “Does Spence know what you are?”

Eric shook his head. “He just thought I wanted to bone you.”

“That’s so creepy.”

“Bird’s gotta fly, vampires gotta eat.”

“Well, you won’t be eating me.”

“Imagine how disappointed I was when I realised who you were.”

“But you knew I had contact with vampires. Didn’t you figure I belonged to someone already?”

He shook his head. “You’re not Marked. If you belonged to someone, you’d be Marked.”

“I belonged to David.”

Eric shrugged. “Too bad. He didn’t Mark you. Fair game.”

“Then why didn’t you kill me.”

He shifted awkwardly. “Not because you belonged to someone once, but more because of who you belonged to.”

“You scared of David?” Two imaginary hooks pulled my lips into a wide, sharp grin.

“I’d be a fool if I wasn’t.”

I shut my mouth tightly, trapping a throaty laugh. “So, you only have to stay away from those who are Marked?”

“At this point, yeah. It’s a courtesy to avoid ones that aren’t.”

“How civil of you.” I rolled my eyes. “And...what the hell is Marking anyway?”

“I guess it looks like what humans call a tattoo. It’s a tiny black dot just at the side of the neck.” He ran his fingertip down the curve of my shoulder. “It appears there, so when a vampire goes in for the kill—he sees it.”

“How—” I breathed, steadying my embarrassingly loud heart, thumping for the feel of my body being touched again. “How does he know just by seeing a dot?”

“For you, the Mark will be pale, almost green-black, but for us, when your blood runs warm and your body’s calling for the kill, it glows blue.”

“Wow.”

“Yes, it’s magical.”

“Yeah,” I said distractedly.

“Hey, Amara?”

“Mm.” The tickly sensation of his finger twirling a strand of my hair made it impossible to concentrate.

“If they pass this law, I’ll Mark you, okay? That way you’ll always be safe.”

“Okay... But, how do you place a Mark on someone?”

Eric smiled, his eyes becoming smaller. “You bone them.”

My breath came only on my lips—silky and short, not reaching my lungs. “Just by bon...I mean, making love?”

He leaned in and pressed his lips close to my ear. “Just by making love.”

I cleared my throat. “So, does every person who’s made love to a vampire have a Mark?”

“Yes.”

“Why? How?”

“We carry a life force in our veins—” he leaned down slightly until my averted gaze met his, “—all of our veins.”

My eyelids fluttered with the thought of Eric being that close to me; his lips on my neck, his hands around my waist, not one bare shred of skin unaffected, our bodies completely touching, his life force...inside of me. “So, your...seed leaves a Mark?”

“No, not that, but—” He laughed, covering his smile with the back of his hand. “Well, we don’t really know. Some have theorised that when we orgasm—males and females—we share our life force with our partner. I guess it’s like, well, when a human has intercourse, they exchange fluids; you can get diseases, get pregnant, but if you mate with a vampire, you get Marked.”

“Gross.”

“No, it’s not. It’s beautiful. You absorb that force, that energy, and for some reason, it shows—like a birthmark on your neck—right over your carotid artery.”

I shook my head and took a deep breath. I need to bring the conversation down a notch. “So, no one knows where David is?”

“Nope.” Eric sighed and leaned back, squinting against the hot sun that before now, I hadn’t noticed. “But now they know where you are, they’ll just watch you. After all, it’s bound to be only a matter of time before he comes by to check if you’re still breathing.”

“They didn’t know where I was? You told them?”

“Of course—it’s intriguing news. We all thought you’d moved to Perth. We’ve had scouts out there hunting for David.”

“Hunting? Why hunting?”

“Like I said—” Eric’s eyes narrowed and he looked away. “Arthur wants him back.”

“Well, it’s silly of them to think he’ll come back here. You said it yourself, David won’t come back to see me.”

“What’s this, then?” He lifted my face and looked at my pout, half leaning away. “I thought you were so sure he would.”

“I never said that. But I just didn’t need you diminishing my already shattered hopes.”

Eric blinked a few times, as if it helped him to think. “So, you actually still love him?”

“I always will,” I said tugging away from him.

“Even after he nearly got you killed?”

“That wasn’t his fault.”

“Yes, it was. He riled Jason up.” Eric’s voice became an octave higher.

“No. Jason got himself riled up. Jason attacked me. It was not David’s fault.”

“But...he left you, told you he’d never come back, left you to die at the hands of a brother he knew was out to hurt him.”

“He didn’t know Jason would do that.”

“Didn’t he?”

I looked at Eric and said “I don’t think he did” then looked away, biting my teeth together in my mouth.