“I don’t know,” Toby said. “That might be a bit dangerous for you.”

“I love danger,” I said.

Like an idiot.

I could have signed up for chess club. I could have signed up for capoeira or found out that I was really great at student government. But when I started flirting with my Lit TA, I didn’t expect him to flirt back--and when he invited me to his club meeting, I thought it was a sign. A sign that my freshman year was going to be perfect.

Spoiler alert: I misread that sign.

But Daybreakers Club sounded pretty safe. More theoretical than practical. Huge nerds, all of them--history and sociology majors convinced the bloodthirsty Averus Clan had survived the battle after the Human-Vampire Accord of seventeen-hundred-whatever.

And my lit TA, Toby, presided over them like a god of hot librarians.

He jumped to his feet as the meeting began, a brilliant grin on his face, glowing with enthusiasm. He joked with members as they settled in, and entertained the ones who took it all a little too seriously. It was cute, the way he played along to make them more comfortable.

That’s when Corey, the sophomore manning the Daybreakers’ membership list, looked up from his phone.

“A body was just found off campus,” he said, and the table fell silent.

“Holy shit.” Miguel, a wiry senior, looked around the room. “Is it…”

“Exsanguinated,” Corey said. Drained of blood.

“This is it,” Toby said. “This is proof.” He raised an eyebrow at me, like we had some kind of inside joke. Jump on in, the water’s fine.

“We need evidence that’s undeniable,” Miguel countered.

“We need to find the Averus who did this,” Toby said.

“Are you going to hunt down a vampire?” Corey asked Toby. A challenge.

“We can’t miss this chance,” Toby said. “This is what we’ve been preparing for.”

And this is where my fit of hormonal insanity really started.

“I’ll go with you,” I said.

Toby looked at me, impressed.

“I don’t know,” Toby said, teasing. “That might be a bit dangerous for you.”

“I love danger,” I said.

Like. An. Idiot.

We met up that night after sunset. My first date. I felt so brave. The thought of entering potentially vampire-infested woods didn’t even cross my danger radar.

Because, and I cannot stress this enough: the Averus Clan was dead. Vampires hadn’t hunted humans in hundreds of years. They didn’t need to! Blood banks existed for a reason. I’d been donating blood once a month since I was sixteen, just like anyone, so that vampires and humans could live in harmony.

But there Toby was, on the front steps of the library, holding a crossbow.

“Come on,” he said, with that sweet grin. “I’ll show you how to shoot this.”

I shook my head and couldn’t help but laugh as he took my hand. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a nerd who commits to the bit. Toby was leaning into the vampire hunter roleplay with confidence and joy. It was too easy to get sucked in.

We headed for the woods. My heart beat like mad.

We had to slow down once we started weaving through the trees, creeping over roots and jumping at every snapped twig. Beams of moonlight cut through the darkness here and there, barely illuminating our path.

“Is that a riverbed?” I asked, pointing through a gap in the trees. It looked secluded and shadowy. “Looks like there are plenty of quiet places for a vampire to hide.”

We scrambled down the slope and clambered across the creek bed at the bottom, giggling quietly every time we slipped on the large, smooth stones. The full moon washed the creek bed in a silvery light that made shadows longer and lit up anything pale so that it almost glowed in the dark.

My foot slid on wet leaves, and he pulled me in to catch me against his warm chest. I looked up at him, breathless, and he met my eyes.

“Got you,” he murmured. His head bent towards mine--

One such shadow caught my eye, long in the dark.

“Toby,” I whispered, and he turned to look where I pointed just as the shadow stepped into the light.

It was a man, maybe our age, slight and sad-looking. He shone in the dark forest, the moonlight illuminating his old-fashioned white tailcoat and breeches.

The moonlight also threw into sharp relief the dark stains spattered across his chest, and down his arms. Stains that looked an awful lot like blood.

“Averus,” Toby hissed, and raised his crossbow.

“Please,” the vampire said. Toby hesitated. “Please.”

This couldn’t be happening.

“Wait,” I said, reaching my hand towards Toby to hold him back.

“He’s going to kill us,” Toby asserted.

“Please,” the vampire begged. “I haven’t touched a human in three hundred years.”

“You’re covered in blood,” Toby growled.

“My brother has been hunting me--trying to force me to feed--” the vampire put his hands in the air. “I won’t hurt you. I swear it.”

My jaw dropped, but Toby’s hand didn’t waver.

“My name is Nico,” the vampire continued. “I just want to register, to legally join society, but my brother Draven will kill me if I leave the Averus--”

Toby pulled the crossbow’s trigger.

Nico darted across the creek with impossible speed, reaching for the crossbow as though to rip it from his hands--but before he reached Toby, the crossbow made a horrible crack.

Blood began to drip from Toby’s hand, still outstretched--and then he doubled over, and I saw the silhouette of his arrow sticking out of his side.

Toby stumbled to the side and fell, and I scrambled across the leaves to reach him.

“Toby? Toby--”

I felt dark blood cover my hands the moment I touched him, and he screamed, twisting on the ground.

“Stop--stop--you’re making it worse--” I tried to catch his hands, tried to hold him still, but he was too large for me. He coughed up blood--the arrow must have pierced his lung.

I looked up at Nico, who just stood over us, an odd frozen look on his face. “Help me,” I begged, but Nico only took a step back. “Help me!”

“I can smell his blood,” Nico hissed. “I can’t. I--”

Toby flailed one more time, then went limp, his breathing ragged. His fingers found mine, struggling to hold fast.

I looked at Nico, and I made a choice.

“You have to change him,” I said.

“What?”

“If you care that much about humans, you have to change him,” I said. Nico took another step backwards. “Now,” I growled.

“I can’t--”

“I’ll hide you from your brother,” I said. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but in that moment there was no end to the things I would promise to save Toby’s life. “I’ll help you. Whatever it takes.”

“I’ll never escape my family.”

A thought came into my mind, and I didn’t stop to consider it before I opened my mouth:

“You can feed on me.”

“What?”

“I’ll be your donor. Until you’re registered. Until you’re safe. You can feed on me.”

Nico hesitated. I could see his resolve weakening, but whether it was my demands or the smell of blood I couldn’t say.

He was silent for what felt like an age. I felt Toby’s heart beat, slowly, once… twice...

“I’ll do my best,” Nico said. “Stand back.”

I scrambled away from Toby as Nico burst forward. I saw the flash of moonlight off his fangs as he tilted his head back, then bit down into Toby’s neck.

I gasped for breath, staring at the trees until I couldn’t ignore it any longer--I glanced over at them. Nico looked ravenous, and I thought about what he’d said about avoiding human blood. How had he survived?

He wasn’t stopping. He wasn’t even slowing down.

“Nico,” I said. “Nico, is that--”

I took a step towards him, and he finally lifted his head, blood dripping from his mouth. His gaze locked on mine, and he snarled at me. I staggered backwards--

Had I just killed Toby?

Was I next?