Nos tried not to think about the fact that he’d basically gone through puberty twice. "H-how do you know for sure?" he asked, his nose twitching. Was it just him, or did his dad smell a little like lavender?

"Your eyes are orange now, just like your mother’s," Luc said, gripping Nos’s chin for a second. Nos caught that lavender scent again. "Hungry?" Luc asked, acting too casual for the situation.

Right then, Nos’s throat started to burn.

"Now that you mention it," Nos said, rubbing his throat, "I’m way more thirsty than hungry."

"I’ll get Sven," Luc said, already moving.

Sven was their human chef, and Nos had a bad feeling about what was coming next. Up until now, he’d eaten and drank like a regular human. He’d seen his purebred peers feeding on blood, always picking a different hypnotized human every night. Nos didn’t know how the school managed that, or how they kept track of which humans had already been drawn from. The whole system seemed spooky to him.

When his dhampir classmates Changed, they all had a rough adjustment period. Blake said he had to avoid his human nanny for a few days so he wouldn’t go full vampire on her. Nos just hoped he’d adjust fast so he could get back to normal food.

Nos could smell Sven coming before the chef even reached the door: salty, strong, and human, but not nearly as overwhelming as expected. Had Orion’s group been messing with him about how bad humans smelled? Nos tried sniffing his own armpit out of curiosity and got nothing. His new senses were going to take some getting used to.

The blond man before him didn't appear frightened, and Nos wondered if Sven had donated blood before, likely to his mother.

"I'll be here to monitor you," Luc said, and the words helped calm Nos's nerves.

Nos meant to go slow, but next thing he knew, he had a hand on Sven’s shoulder and was right over his neck. The second he bit down, he lost control. He felt just like a full vampire, nothing mattered except drinking, gulp after gulp. All he could think about was killing that thirst.

Nos faintly heard his dad’s voice, then suddenly realized he was on the floor, pinned down and thrashing.

"Nostriano Antonio Neroli!"

Nos snapped out of it, looking around and gasping for air. He licked the leftover blood from his lips and realized his canines felt way longer than before.

Shit on a stick.

His dad’s worried face swam into focus, his lavender scent hitting Nos again. Then he remembered Sven.

Nos glanced over and saw Sven holding gauze to his neck. Luc finally let Nos go, and they both sat up on the floor.

"What the f- uh, stars, was that?" Nos muttered. He tried not to swear around Luc out of respect. But right now, he was just glad Luc had the strength to hold him down, even after his Change.

"The stars themselves, my son," Luc said with a sigh, helping Nos up. "Bloodlust is something old, a leftover trait from the primal plane, Origo."

The human idea of hell was nothing compared to what Nos learned in night classes about the primal plane. Origo was where all vampires and supernaturals came from, according to their astrology. Any place filled with vamps and other supernatural types was way scarier than anything humans could dream up. Nos shuddered, thinking about a place full of people like Orion.

"Sven, you okay?" Nos asked, suddenly way more worried about the chef than himself. Luc and Sven had always been there for him, and he couldn’t remember a time without them. 

Sven’s face showed every year in the lines on his forehead and the white streaks in his ponytail. "Your mother’s done way worse to me," Sven said, trying to joke.

"She has?" Nos asked, genuinely surprised. He’d never seen her feed from Sven. Sven just waved it off and gave Nos a warm look, as if to say he was fine.

Just earlier that day, they’d had the same eye color.

Suddenly, it hit Nos that he couldn’t pretend to look like either of his chosen dads anymore. He frowned, wishing (not for the first time) that Luc or Sven were his real dad. He’d known his looks would be altered with the Change, but getting his mother’s exact eye color? That threw him.

"How are you feeling?" Sven asked.

Nos did a quick mental and physical check. He still looked mostly the same from the neck down; same olive skin, maybe a little more muscle. The only real difference was the itchy marking above his hip.

"Honestly, I feel better than I probably should," Nos said, pointing at the mark. "Dad, is this what I think it is?"

"The mark of your fated match," Luc confirmed.

"A marking already? Holy shit," Sven said.

"I thought it would be more obvious," Nos admitted.

"It’ll turn dark red after you and your match finalize your bond," Luc explained. "If it’s showing up now, your match is somewhere nearby."

"Where’s your marking?" Nos asked. As soon as he said it, Sven crossed his arms in an X, clearly warning Nos that it was a touchy subject.

"Mine hasn’t appeared yet," Luc said quietly, looking away.

Nos felt a flicker of suspicion but let it drop. No point making things awkward for Sven, too.

He pressed his hand to the marking. Whoever his match was, they’d have the same one in the same spot. All other beings got them when their match was close, even humans with supernatural ties.

But that’s all he knew. Other species learned everything about their markings, but vampires treated it like some awkward secret. At least Luc, being an incubus, was pretty open with answers… except for details about his own marking.

So Nos asked, "Is there any way to tell who my match is besides looking for the mark?"

"The closer you get to your match, the more the mark burns," Luc said. "You’ll feel a pull, like magnets."

"You say that like you’ve experienced it," Nos said as he poked the marking, which was cool to the touch, but then saw Luc’s face shut down. Oops. Shouldn’t have pried.

Luc didn’t answer, just stood and nudged Sven toward the door. Before leaving, Luc shot him a look. "Fate can lead you to your match, but it can’t make you choose them."

As Nos watched him go, he wondered who had turned Luc down, or if it was the other way around. HIs dad was awesome. Nos couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting him. In class, everyone acted like finding your match was the best thing ever.

Nos didn’t want to think about it, so he focused on something else. He glanced at the mirror on his wall and remembered: no more reflections. Great.

This adjustment period was going to suck. But he’d get through it. He always did.

Humans used to think vampires had no reflections because they had no souls, or because of the silver in old mirrors. In reality, it was their eyes. They bounced light back, making reflective surfaces useless and bright lights annoying. Anyone else could see them in the mirrors just fine.

At the moment, Nos was glad of it, because he didn’t want to look at his own eyes. He absolutely hated that he’d gotten his mother’s eyes. Genetics were supposed to skip a generation sometimes, right? No such luck. He knew the orange would look scary with a slight change in his mood. As a kid, and even now, the idea of looking more like Andrea Neroli made his skin crawl.

Still, as he traced the dormant mark on his hip, Nos wondered if his match would care what he looked like. With his vampire side finally showing, he knew he was probably gorgeous now. If his looks helped him attract his person, maybe it wasn’t so bad looking like his mother.

The dream would be to have a dhampir match, maybe someone like Blake, or even a dhampir professor. Having a human or a full vampire match would be a lot tougher. He didn’t want bloodlust to ruin things, and he definitely didn’t want his match to be one of Orion’s crew. Or, even worse, Orion himself.

Sunlight crept across the window. Nos felt it more now, but he wasn’t as weak to it as the purebred vampires. He flopped onto his bed, arms crossed behind his head, replaying Luc’s words: fate can’t make someone accept their match.

But what if his own match wanted nothing to do with him?

**

The next night, Nos’s cell phone buzzed. He fumbled for it, smacking "dismiss" so hard he cracked the case.

Well, shit.

Typical. One more thing to deal with.

Yesterday, he'd struggled with his awkward limbs. Tonight, everything felt new again. He yawned, stretched, and reminded himself to be gentle. One careless hug could crack a rib.

Brushing his teeth was still pretty normal, but those longer canines made brushing his tongue a total pain.

A knock at Nos’s door made him call out, “I’m up!”

Luc entered with a tray: an extra-salty pretzel and lemonade. "Have a great night!" he said, setting it on Nos's bed.

Nos couldn’t tell if he should feel spoiled or suspicious. "Is this Sven’s revenge?" he asked as he began counting some of the particularly larger pieces of salt studding the pretzel.

"No, I asked him to prepare these on purpose," his dad insisted. "Unless you are eager to fall into bloodlust again during your school supper, salty and acidic food will help reset your taste buds."

Nos took a hesitant bite. The pretzel tasted normal; no overwhelming saltiness. He was glad Luc and Sven always seemed to know what he needed.

His mother, Andrea, never had.

Brushing that thought aside, Nos asked, "How's Sven doing?"

"You can go see for yourself," Luc stated. "It wasn't a jest that your mother's done worse. I was barely able to hold her back that day."

Nos felt an odd twist of guilt when he heard that. What day was Luc talking about? Maybe when Nos’s human father walked out. Nos tried to remember, but all he could see was the back of his father’s suit. He’d lost both parents that day, really.

"You cracked your phone screen!" Luc blurted, snapping Nos out of it.

"It's just the screen protector," Nos said after finishing the pretzel and basically inhaling the lemonade. "I'll swap it out later." He almost bit his tongue with his new canines as he wiped his mouth. "Ow…Is it too late to call out sick today?"

"Did your dhampir peers take the day off whenever they changed?"

"...no."

"Then you have your answer."

"You’re such a stickler about school."

"I skipped enough semesters to regret it," Luc said, clapping Nos on the shoulder. "Knowledge is more than just power. Remember that."

Nos grinned. "You’ve got to tell me some of your rebel stories one of these days."

"May that day never come."

"It can't have been that bad."

Luc lifted the tray and pointed his head towards the closet, telling Nos to mind his own business and get ready for class.

As Nos got dressed, he tried not to think about Orion and his crew. Luc probably guessed how rough school had been, but Nos didn’t know much about Luc’s past either. Maybe if he opened up more, Luc would too.

Nos pulled on gray jeans and a plain, wine-colored shirt, then forced his boots on standing up, too lazy and rushed to sit down and tug them on properly. He shrugged into his favorite dark red leather jacket, still not used to not needing glasses, and headed to the kitchen to check on Sven. The human chef nodded at Luc, arms crossed, while Luc explained the diet plan for a freshly changed dhampir.

"...and with plenty of lime," his dad concluded.

"I doubt I'll die if there's not enough lime," Nos commented with a grin as he entered their line of vision. "You alright, Sven? How're you feeling?"

"Compared to this ol' buzzard?" the chef responded as he nodded toward the incubus. Neither Nos nor Luc took offense, as both their supernatural appearances made the middle-aged human appear older than them. "I'm right as rain."

"I’d hug you goodbye, but I don’t totally trust myself around humans yet," Nos said, his grin fading. Sven just waved him off and signaled for Luc to do the hugging for him.

Luc didn't hesitate to give Nos a tight hug, a touch of lavender lingering in the air. "I know I said you shouldn't skip classes, but should anything happen during supper, you come right home. Understood?"

Nos gulped, his mind instantly spinning worst-case scenarios. What if he lost it around a human on the way to campus? Or what if his beloved bike got trashed in the chaos?

"No," Nos muttered, mostly to himself, as Sven handed him half a lime. He made a face but bit into it anyway. Huh. It wasn’t even as sour as he expected, so he finished it off. "It’s fine. I’m fine."

"You'll turn many heads today," his dad commented as he brushed off the top of Nos's shoulders and took the husk of the fruit with him.

"So I’m just keeping my helmet on till the first bell, huh?" Nos joked.

"No need to feel embarrassed-"

Nos put a hand up to stop Luc mid-speech. "Kidding! Seriously. I’m out!"

"Do be safe!" Luc called out

"And bring home a real cutie—ow!" Sven complained as Luc playfully thwacked the back of his head.

Nos faked a brave face for his family, but dread still bubbled under the surface.