Sadie asked Jonathan to stay in her quarters for a moment to talk after they went to the Council and he agreed.

“I made some tea and rice for us both. As a half-human, you still should be able to eat, right?”

“Thank you, Sadie”, he said as he received the bowl and the cup.

Sadie had leant him a fresh shirt, so he wouldn’t have to stay in his blood-soaked one for the rest of the day.

“Is this really alright?”, he murmured into his teacup.

“What? You eating dinner with me?”

“No, the council allowing me to stay.”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Their decision was in your favor.”

“Favor or not. I am still a vampire now.”

“Jonathan, you- “

“No, Sadie”, he cut her off, “I am no longer a human, no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise.”

“If you are uncomfortable with me after what happened in the van, then- “

“It’s not about that!”

“What is it then?”

“When you … when you gave me your blood, I … I felt good. I liked it Sadie, I liked it. That is not human.”

“But you are still you. You have not lost your sense of self like normal vampires would.”

“Well, maybe not yet.”

“Don’t say that.”

Jonathan put his cup down and stared into the still steaming rice. “When the council placed that bowl in front of me, I wanted to drink it dry. It took all my willpower to not do it.”

Sadie shifted closer to him on the floor they were sitting on and placed a hand on his.

“If you’re still hungry- “

“No!”, Jonathan tried to get up, but caught his leg on the low table and was forced back down. “No, Sadie! Its like feeding a wild animal! If you tease it with food, it will always demand more, it’ll get insatiable!”

But she had already opened the first few buttons on her shirt, revealing her neck and collarbones. Sadie saw the way his eyes shifted, how the pupils dilated the same way they did in the Council’s room until only a small red rim remained. Like the eyes of a predator ready to strike.