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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
MADS
Claude has said nothing since we left Orin’s.
Ender is being forced to give the cat kisses, and even though he told Rylee that he would absolutely never kiss the cat, he ends up kissing it.
Rylee is extremely pleased.
“So… say we… end up in a situation with Abel again…” Finn starts. “If we have the drug to kill him… would that be so bad?”
“You think we should have Mads make it?” Marcus asks. “Your antidote works with the drug… is it a drug? What exactly is it?”
“It’s a powder that kills instantly when inhaled or ingested by a vampire. The antidote works best for the ammunition since it’s slow acting. The powder is basically the raw form, whereas the bullets use a diluted version which Grady knows how to make. The diluted kind is only lethal when injected into the body because it’s not as potent. But with the powder I created, vampires end up breathing it in, getting it in their mouth or nose; even though they don’t have to breathe, it’s an automatic response. It’s extremely toxic to vampires and leaves no time for an antidote unless someone is with them who administers it, but even that isn’t a guarantee. The only guarantee is if the antidote is given beforehand.”
“You said that it can mess with the healing abilities of a vampire? If the powder is toxic enough to kill instantly, why does that part matter?”
“If they can heal, they can survive it. That’s what the antidote does. It doesn’t counteract the toxins, but instead the inability to heal,” I explain. “What I’m saying is that I can create the powder to kill them, but if it gets out in a roomful of vampires, pretty much everyone dies. The only one who’d be safe from it would be Finn. We could give the drug to Finn in case he’s ever in a situation to use it on a vampire, but any of the rest of us using it would either have to inject ourselves with the antidote and then immediately use the powder to kill the vampires or make sure there’s no way we’d possibly inhale or ingest it.”
“What does the antidote do to humans?” Marcus asks.
“I have no idea. I’ve never tested it. I don’t think it’d be good for them, but they wouldn’t need it since they wouldn’t be harmed,” I say. “Finn would be safe.”
Marcus’s hands tighten on the steering wheel as I think about his reaction.
“Is there a reason Finn might not be safe?” I ask curiously. “Oh wait. Is this because of the traces of vampire blood the council found out about?”
“It is. I guess we’re just… uncertain how my body would react to something like this poison and antidote.”
“But you don’t need to consume blood?”
“No.”
“You’re no faster or stronger?”
“Not really… I can… judge things quite quickly. Like I can pinpoint where to shoot a moving vampire, that type of thing. But I wouldn’t consider myself any faster. If you see me run, you’ll understand that I’m definitely not faster.”
I think about it for a long moment. “That’s fascinating. I would love to dissect you.”
“Stop trying to dissect people,” Ender chides.
“I would very much rather not be dissected, thank you,” Finn says.
Why does everyone want to ruin my fun? “I wouldn’t like murder you to do it. Just a mild dissection. Take some hair, blood, flesh, that kind of thing. Ender already let me cut him open and dig around and he didn’t whine too much.”
“I was half dead. I didn’t have the energy to whine.”
“See? He loved it.”
“Sounds like it,” Finn says as Marcus pulls up to the university. “I sure hope we’re not being followed so they figure out what we’re doing.”
“It’s hard to tell,” Marcus responds. “But I wouldn’t be surprised. I hope they have what you need.”
“Me too,” I say as I follow him inside.
He marches up to the office and flashes his badge. “We need your chemistry lab.”
“What for?” the older lady asks as she eyes his badge. She even puts her reading glasses on to check it over.
“Does it matter?” Marcus growls, and I can guarantee the growl gets him what he wants ninety-nine percent of the time. I have the odd idea that the only one it doesn’t scare off is Finn… and this woman sitting right here.
“Sure does,” she says as she gives him a “fight me” look. Like Marcus is going to have to brawl this elderly lady to get what he wants.
Before Marcus has to defend himself or beat her up, the door opens and a middle-aged woman comes out.
“Oh! You’re from the VRC, correct? I’m the university president; I just got off the phone with your superior. He filled me in on what’s going on, and I told him I would be happy to help. Right this way, right this way.”
The secretary tsks, like she was looking forward to kicking Marcus back into place. The president seems a bit confused about the child and the cat, but the expression on Marcus’s face sure works on her.
She hurries into a lab that’s full of students who look very confused by us. “Professor, can we have a minute?” she asks.
He gets up and walks out to speak with her as I rush over and begin scrutinizing what supplies he has.
“You going to blow this place up like you blew the last one up?” Ender asks.
The students’ attention snaps over to him.
“I’m not blowing anything up. Ha ha ha…” I say as the president comes in right at that moment. She looks concerned, but Finn just smiles like his smile will fix it all.
“We are with the VRC,” Finn announces loud enough to hopefully appease everyone and reassure them that nothing will be blown up.
The professor enters then claps his hands to get attention back on him. “Class is dismissed. Please clean up your materials and put everything back. We will see you on Monday.”
“Professor, did you start a meth lab? Is that why the police are here?” one of the students asks.
“I did not start a meth lab.”
“I heard you can get rich that way,” a young woman says.
“You heard it? Or you just watched Breaking Bad?”
“They’re with the vampire police. What would vampires need with meth?” a guy asks.
“Can vampires do drugs?”
“No, but we can eat humans who waste our time,” Ender says. “It’s a rule that we’re allowed to.”
“We’re not allowed to,” Finn assures them.
“You’re human, what do you know? What are you going to do? Just suck the marrow out of their bones?” Ender asks.
Rylee tugs on his shirt. “En, what’s marrow?”
“It’s the stuff inside the bones.”
“Why would Finn eat that? That sounds gross, Finn,” Rylee announces as the students reluctantly leave the classroom. It’s apparent that being nosy would be significantly better than leaving.
“I don’t⁠—”
Rylee cuts him off before he can assure her that he’s never done such a thing. “I bet Marcus eats WHOLE skeletons! Like chomp chomp the whole thing. He looks like he does. He also looks evil.”
“He does look evil,” I say as Marcus glowers at me even though I was just agreeing. I lean down a bit so I’m more eye-to-eye with Rylee. “Did you see the way he almost had to brawl the secretary?”
“I DID!” Rylee responds.
Finn waves at us. “Guys, come on. Let’s be nice to Marcus. He’s only had to take three classes on how to interact with people to get to this level of social skills.”
“It was one, Finn. And I told you that in secrecy,” Marcus snarls as Claude and Alexei snicker.
Before the professor can leave, I catch him. “One second,” I say as I jot down the two things I didn’t see while perusing. “Would you happen to have these items?”
His eyebrows quirk. “Uhh… yeah. You…” He looks at the president and then over at Marcus. “I’ll get them.”
“Thank you,” I say as I hurry over to the protective gear and grab some safety glasses for everyone.
“I’m a vampire, why would I wear this?” Alexei asks.
“So you’ll keep two eyeballs.”
Alexei scrutinizes me. “I’m not making anything, so why would I need them? I’m just here to make sure you stay alive.”
Claude takes a pair from me. “Honey, put them on. Do you remember what happened to my eyebrow? You never know what might happen,” he says as he smiles at Alexei before sliding them on the unimpressed man. “Aww, you look so cute.”
Alexei is scowling quite hard about this whole thing.
I hand Claude his but he shakes his head.
“Sorry, it clashes with my outfit,” he says.
I stare at the plastic safety glasses, then at his lime green outfit with a pink floral design, and question how exactly the safety glasses could make that clash any harder. And are his shoes orange?
I glance at the safety glasses. “You know what would clash even more? An eyepatch. Put them on.”
“Honey, he’s being mean to me,” Claude whines as Alexei grabs the glasses and puts them on with enough force that I’m surprised Claude didn’t lose an eye from it.
“Thank you!” Finn says. And when I hand some to Ender, he takes a pair and fits them on Rylee. Then Rylee insists on a pair for Señor Fluffybottom, which Ender gives up his for.
I cock my head and raise an eyebrow as I walk up and slide a spare pair of glasses onto his face. “You need to protect those pretty eyes of yours.”
“My eyes are going to be closed as I sleep in the corner. You shouldn’t have to fear for them at all,” Ender assures me.
“I thought you were going to watch so he makes the right thing!” Finn says.
“The man is over here trying to protect vampires’ eyeballs, and you think he’s going to murder you all?” Ender asks.
“Let’s go through our safety steps!” I announce. “This device here is to flush out your eyes if something gets in them.”
“Can I use it to drown a man?” Alexei asks. “If not, I’m not interested in hearing more.”
“Good question but no. And if you pull this little handle here, water will drop down on you from above. Cool, huh?”
“That’s super cool,” Rylee says.
“Thank you. Now do you want to see a flame?”
“I DO!” she exclaims as she rushes over.
“You have to be super careful, though. Let’s put on the rest of our gear first! And we don’t want to light anyone on fire, even if they’re grumpy and mean to us! So let’s hand the kitty to Orin and you can come watch until I get things started, but then you’ll have to sit with the kitty, okay?”
“Okay! Orin, you better protect Señor Fluffybottom with your life.”
“Oh yes, I very much will,” Orin says as he takes the cat and goes to sit down. The lab part is split from the classroom by a door, leaving Orin just on the other side of the door.
“I’m going to watch you so closely,” Finn tells me. “Like I even remotely know what I’m looking at.”
I grin at him. “I can teach you.”
“No, I think I’m okay. I’d rather not be bestowed with that knowledge, thank you.”
“Good point.”
The professor comes back with the materials, and when I assure him I don’t need anything else, he leaves while looking confused. Claude is up close, though, making me wonder if he knows some of what I’m doing.
Once everyone nearby is geared up, I set them to work helping me prep the station.
“I know I’m supposed to be making sure he’s not creating a weapon of mass destruction, but he could be making a bomb for all I know,” Ender says. “Mads, are you making a bomb?”
“I can make you one if you’d like.”
“You say that as though it’s something romantic.”
“Depends on what you find romantic,” I tease before hesitating.
“What’s that look for?” Ender asks as he walks over.
“Just… thinking.” I smile at Ender. “Come be my assistant.”
“I’d rather not. Finn would love to. He loves butting into things,” Ender says.
“Yeah, only things that won’t get me killed,” Finn comments. “And I know you’re over here like ‘I need this much of this’ and like… I’m used to measuring flour for cookies, not… this.”
“Says the man who coerced his way into a vampire unit,” Alexei grumbles.
“While we work, what if we all say something fun about each other so we can become friends? That sounds fun,” I say as I hunt for a scale.
“That does sound delightful,” Claude agrees.
“I can’t deal with more than one happy person in my life at a time,” Marcus says.
“What category do I fall in, then?” Finn asks.
“You’re normal happy. Claude is happy, happy. And I’m afraid Mads is too.”
“I apologize that the ‘happy, happy’ role has already been taken. What role should I fill instead?” I ask as I snag the scale and hurry back.
“Ooh, when I met you, I just thought you were suspicious. You should fill the suspicious role,” Finn decides.
“I can do that. I will be suspiciously standing over here and creating fun little bits!” I declare.
“I thought you were the suspicious one, Finn?” Alexei asks.
“I’m not suspicious!”
Marcus shrugs. “You’re pretty suspicious.”
“You too? I thought we were like… bros for life,” Finn says.
Marcus grins. “Doesn’t mean I can’t be suspicious of you.”
Finn laughs. “If anyone is suspicious, it’s you. Come now, my bitey crew. Let’s see what we can figure out about Grady since we’re evidently not much help here. Marcus is just over there glowering at the measuring thingy and Alexei is using what looks like a very expensive beaker as a fidget toy,” Finn says as he shepherds everyone but Ender toward the classroom area where Orin and Señor Fluffybottom are.
“Does that mean I can finally take these glasses off? I clash so badly,” Claude whines as he trails after him.
“You definitely clash but I don’t think it’s the glasses,” Alexei mutters.
“What was that, my one true love?”
Alexei sighs.
“I said, ‘You are a beautiful being. And I wish I had even a quarter of the fashion expertise you do,’” Finn says while trying his hand at a Russian accent in a poor attempt to sound like Alexei.
“Oh honey, Alexei, my love whose voice weirdly got a bit squeaky, why didn’t you say so sooner?” Claude asks.
“NO! Don’t listen to him,” Alexei protests.
But of course Finn’s not done. “There is nothing I’ve ever desired more in my life than to have you teach me the ‘wonders of the wardrobe.’”
Alexei slaps his hand over Finn’s mouth. “Do not listen to him.”
“Oh honey… my heart! My fragile heart! I’d love to teach you my ways. Oh. My. Goodness. Would everyone else like to know? Maybe we could stop all of this life-threatening stuff and become models! That sounds delightful. Marcus?”
“I would rather walk around naked than become a model,” Marcus says.
“Honey… I feel like my brother is being awfully mean. I’m so glad you love me and are willing to embrace my clothes.”
“I embrace every part of you,” Alexei says, sounding a bit like he’s not quite so sure he wants to join the model life either.
“Then does that mean you’ll let me dress you for our next date? Nothing would make me happier.” It’s obvious Claude knows what he’s doing as he cons Alexei into what looks like a scarring experience.
“Nothing would make me happier as well,” Alexei replies with much dread. Claude doesn’t care. It’s become clear he’d feast on that dread if it meant dressing his partner up.
“Alright, you two colorful lovebirds, let’s get started and stop screwing around,” Finn says.
Marcus looks at Finn in disbelief. “Weren’t… weren’t you the one who started… never mind, honey.”
“Never mind is right,” Finn says, looking quite proud of himself.
They disappear through the door, leaving only Ender. He slides onto a stool and stares at what I’m doing. “Do I really have to watch? I can already tell that you’re doing something different than what you did before.”
“Oh? You think so? That’s weird. Very weird. Maybe it’s just because the items are in a different form.”
“Or maybe because you’re making something else. Whatever you made before, you had to move quickly. Here, you’re letting it rise in temperature before cooling it.”
“I had very little time before.”
“What are you making?” he asks.
“Magic.”
“Oh wow. And what does this magic do?”
“Like magicky stuff. Like… whoosh and wham and pow.”
“Oh wow, I’m totally convinced you’re not doing something nefarious,” Ender says.
I smile at him. “You’re cute, you know that?”
Ender looks skeptical. “You apparently have a thing for half-dead, half-asleep men who haven’t had the chance to bathe or sleep or really just… exist in days. I’m supposed to watch you,” he says as he slips off his chair onto the floor. “But I will watch you from down here.”
“I don’t think it’s safe to sleep on the floor next to someone making… antidote.”
“Why’d you hesitate?”
“That’s what it’s called: …Antidote. It’s like a pregnant pause to build up the anticipation.”
“Just don’t blow everything up. Rylee is here.”
“Oh, the only reason I can’t blow things up is because Rylee is here?” I tease.
“Correct. Give me something for a pillow.”
I look around then decide that my shirt is the only thing suitable and pull it off. At least it’s the clean one Katherine gave me and not the bloody one I left behind in the car. He raises an eyebrow. “There are like five aprons right there that you could have given me. I thought you were all about safety.”
“When I see an opportunity to flirt with you, I will do anything, even say ‘fuck safety,’ to accomplish it.”
“It’s not my fault when you burn your chest hair off.”
“Joke’s on you, I have very little to burn off,” I inform him. “Would it help if I tucked you in?”
“It would help if you finished quickly so I can get to murdering.”
I stop what I’m doing and walk over to him so I’m standing over him. “You adore Rylee, don’t you?”
He stares at me like he’s not planning on answering because he knows where I’m going with this.
“If you adored her so much, why would you risk your life, and in turn, risk hers? I may be wrong, but I believe you might be our best bet at stopping him. If you die, what then? Who protects her then? Fighting isn’t always the only way to get answers.”
“You think I should have a heart-to-heart with him?” Ender asks.
“Oh… no… I was thinking more like…” I eye my concoction. “Things that explode.”
“So you really are making a bomb.”
“I would never,” I say. “Get some sleep. If it’ll help, you can hug my ankle. I shouldn’t have to move too much, but I might drop something on your head, so it’s kind of an ‘at your own risk’ type of situation.”
“I’m not touching you.”
“You slept so soundly when I held you on my back.”
“Because I was in the process of dying.”
“You squeezed me close and whispered, ‘Mads, I think this might be love.’”
“Are you sure I didn’t say, ‘Mads, I think I might be dying’?”
“You know… it could have been, but I’m sure it was the love one.”
“Finish working and stop fucking around.”
“I’m not fucking around. It needs to simmer for a bit.”
“Simmer? You making fucking soup?”
“Sure. That’s what we’ll call it,” I say. “Soup.”
Ender sighs and keeps watching me for about two more minutes before he just falls asleep. And I’m left to make whatever the fuck I want. I mean… really… would any of them even realize what I was doing?
I smile, pleased with myself.

“Ennnnder,” I call as I stand over him. “It’s time to wake up. That sounds fun, right? I’ve finished making ‘Soup’ and ‘…Antidote.’”
“Hmm…” he grumbles, evidently not impressed with Soup but that’s because he doesn’t realize what Soup does.
“I think we should tell the others we’re done so we can get going,” I say as I drop down to my knees and straddle his waist.
He probably had been planning on ignoring me and continuing to sleep until that point. The second he feels me sit down on him, he opens his eyes and looks up at me.
“I’m also quite tired and have stood for a very long time so I really would love to sit… even if just for a minute,” I say, planting my ass right on his thighs.
“You normally sit on people?”
“I didn’t want to get my trousers dirty by sitting on the floor.”
Ender’s eyebrow arches. Obviously, he’s loving my lie and fully believing it. “Oh yes, I would definitely worry about the pants you got from some stranger and pulled on your bloody and dirty body. What if the outside got as dirty as the inside?”
“You can make the inside real dirty,” I say with a smirk.
We’re behind the lab table, so even if someone from the VRC opened the door to the lab, they wouldn’t see us.
He seems to be at a loss for words for a moment before saying, “You should probably get up.”
“Probably?” I ask as I slide my hands up his arms before pinning his wrists to the ground.
“Careful, my arms might get dirty from touching the ground,” he says dryly.
“It’s not the only thing that I could make dirty,” I murmur as I lean down, my eyes hooked on his. He’s watching me so damn closely, and while he probably just wants to eat me some more, I really hope that look is asking for something more from me.
I rock forward as I lean down, cock brushing against his as Ender watches me. His dark hair is splayed out on my shirt that he’s using as a pillow, and I find myself so damn hypnotized by his stare. I want him so fucking badly. I want to taste him… touch him…
I’m supposed to stay focused, stop Grady, fix my fuckups and go on my way. And instead, I’m wanting to play with fire as I pin the very vampire who instills fear in others to the ground. When Vivian made me aware that I was supposed to make contact with Ender, she warned me that he was a monster and that I was to be extremely cautious when dealing with him because a simple fuckup would result in me dead. She didn’t say could; she specifically said would.
I was fed tales of the death he left in his wake, but now that I know the man, it makes me wonder what truly happened. He’s strong, smart, and ruthless, but he can be reasoned with easily. And most of what he says or does is clearly done to drive a wedge between him and whoever else he’s dealing with. He’s obviously afraid of Abel and what Abel might do to those he cares about, and I honestly don’t blame him.
As soon as I saw him interact with Rylee, I questioned everything they said. It doesn’t mean he’s a good person, and it doesn’t mean he’s never done anything wrong, but the more I listen, the more I wonder what really happened.
He’s not telling me to get up, and I’m pretty sure if he wanted me off, he would either bitch at me or push me off without a struggle. Instead, his eyes aren’t leaving mine. And when his lips part, my eyes are drawn down to them.
“Are you just going to sit here all day staring at me?” he asks, voice slightly teasing.
“Well… I was thinking.”
“I thought you were smart. It really shouldn’t take you this long to think.”
“I’m smart about like sciencey stuff. I never claimed to be smart about anything else. Everything else I just wing and smile at and assume that it’ll be alright. So maybe if I give you a smile… eh?”
Ender’s eyes lazily drift down to my smiling lips before flicking back up. I suddenly feel like I’ve been caught in a mating ritual, and I haven’t quite flaunted my stuff enough to gain my possible mate’s attention.
“Is that all I get?” It’s said with such a teasing tone that I find myself loving.
“Oh, that hurts! Ender, please.”
“Please what?”
“Let me kiss you so I can feel better about that jab.”
“You’re just going to sit here and wait for permission?”
“I’m a weak man, my dear Ender. The possibility of me recovering after being shot down twice is quite low.”
“I’m positive you’d survive.”
“So are you claiming you’re going to shoot me down?”
“I can’t even tell you what I plan on doing five seconds from now.”
Apparently, if I want to kiss him, I have to make the first move and either get my heart shattered or get to kiss the very man I’ve been warned to avoid.
I’m a simple man, after all.
Leaning down, I press my lips against his, and when he doesn’t immediately kiss me back, I decide that this man really is making a fool out of me. He wants to see me fail twice then lead me on for a third time, and I’m gullible enough to try for round three if he lets me. But as I pull back, he follows me, his lips crashing against mine.
Ender’s hand slides into my hair, guiding me back down to him as his lips part. His rushed movements tell me he’s not overly sure about any of this, but he’s kissing me and that’s all I care about at the moment. My tongue brushes against his as he brings me in for a deeper kiss that makes euphoria explode inside of me. I reach for his face, but before I can, his fingers tighten in my hair. With what seems like a lot of reluctance, he pulls me back, like he can’t trust himself to draw away from the kiss, he has to physically pull me away to keep himself from kissing me again. He sits up, still holding me prisoner, like he thinks if I get anywhere close to him again, he’ll lose control.
“Do you realize you’re like this baby vampire who is getting mixed up with shit you really shouldn’t get mixed up with?”
“Hmm… I’m struggling to care,” I say with a grin.
His dark eyes tell me that he isn’t teasing me right now, so I drop the grin.
“Can you talk about it? Can you talk about what you’re afraid of?”
He raises an eyebrow as if to tell me that I really am confused if I don’t know the answer to that.
“I know that Abel is obviously an issue, but… realistically, if we fail, we’re all going to die anyway. We might as well die happy. If he dies, then there’s no issue at all.”
“You don’t understand.”
“You say that, but how do you expect me to when you refuse to tell me what I should be understanding?”
Ender is quiet, telling me he’s done with this conversation. But maybe there’s hope that once Abel is dead… if we can kill him, that is… we’ll make it through this, and maybe he’ll choose to kiss me next time.
Finally, Ender says, “You saw me lose control.”
“You were affected by the bullet and lack of blood, so it’s completely understandable. And I know you feel bad about it. I promise I’m not holding it against you. If I were, would I be here right now?”
“It’s not… Yes, the bullet set it off, but Abel used this state to control me. I don’t know if it’s part of why I’m different. I don’t know what it is, but he managed to find a way to fuck with my mind enough that I’d do what he asked. I don’t know if it’s because those who are turned by someone are often more inclined to follow their maker’s wishes… but he didn’t turn me the traditional way… I don’t even know how he turned me. I remember very little of it. I just remember thinking that I was dying, that these two monsters were killing me. But I can’t always control myself. And just like last time, when I can’t, I have no idea what I could do. I could kill you.”
“You adore Rylee, but you keep her with you.”
“Because I’m selfish,” he says, looking guilty. “Because she has no one and nothing and… I… needed something. Because she reminded me of my niece. Because I wanted to do something right for all of the wrongs I did. Yet how the fuck did it still end up so wrong?”
I reach out and ruffle his hair before pulling him in and hugging him to me. He immediately stiffens and acts like he wants to pull away, but I’m not going to let him go anywhere just yet. “I’m sorry. I hope someday you can live without having to worry that something will happen to her.”
“But that’s just it. Even after Abel is long gone, what happens if I lose control one day?”
“Then maybe I’ll be there to help you. I want to help you,” I say, even though I don’t quite know what that would look like. Could I stop him? I really don’t think I could. But I still say it because maybe I’m selfish as well. I yearn for comfort, family, someone… anyone. But how long has Ender been alone? Hell, I’ve been alone years and he could have been alone centuries. It’s no wonder he caved and took Rylee as his own.
He sighs and sets his head against my shoulder. “Fucking hell… we need to keep moving. This is getting us no closer to answers.”
“Right, right,” I say as I grudgingly get up, but the way he slowly releases me tells me that maybe he isn’t as eager to get rid of me as he acted.
Once up, I gather everything I made and toss it into a bag I’d found behind the professor’s desk. I sling it over my shoulder and hurry into the classroom to join the others.
“Good news, I am done. Bad news, I don’t have any syringes or needles, so currently the antidote is useless. Think you could get me some?” I ask.
Finn looks up and nods. “Of course. We’ve figured out where they’re holding Grady and plan to drop Rylee off at the department with River and Bentley. She is not pleased, which can be seen by the massive pout on her face.”
She lets out a whine and runs to Ender, wrapping her arms around him and wailing out, “I don’t want to leave you.”
“When did you get so dramatic?” he asks as he picks her up. Not to hug her but to shake her a little, like that’ll make the wailing stop. It does make her smile a bit. “And your face is so gross. Wipe your face off.” Ender grabs a handful of tissues and kind of just splats them against her face. “There. Now I don’t have to see it.”
“Nooooooo! My face is showing you how sad I am. I finally get to see you again but then I can’t see you because that guy is off doing science, and now, I can’t see you because they’re mean.”
“They are mean, that’s definitely why you can’t see me and not at all because we want to keep you safe and out of danger,” he says sarcastically.
“I’m a vampire. Look at my fangs!” She tries to show Ender her teeth. “I don’t need anyone to protect me. Look at ’em.”
“Oh wow, I might as well kick back and watch you take care of everything for me. You’re like a piranha.”
Rylee’s eyes narrow. “You’re making fun of me.”
“I would never,” he says. “They’re going to make a ballad about those fangs.”
Her eyes narrow even more. “You. Are. EVIL!”
“Thank you,” he says. “So then… why do you want to hang around me?”
She hugs his face while declaring everything she loves about him, which is how we head out of the university.
“Mads, you have everything you need?” Finn asks.
“I sure do! I made as much antidote as I could with limited resources. Each vampire will have one. Once we get the needles, we’ll be all set. Please remember that the antidote has to be injected immediately. Do not hesitate. You’d rather stab yourself and find out it was a regular bullet than die… I assume.”
“You assumed right,” Claude says.
“I’m just good like that.”
We head out to the SUV and file into it. Ender has to peel Rylee off to fasten her seat belt because she’s so reluctant to let go of him.
“What if, when we’re all done with this nonsense, we take you to a trampoline park?” I ask Rylee. “Wouldn’t that be fun to get to hop around with Ender?”
While Rylee’s face blossoms into a smile, Ender’s face gets cloudy.
“Do I look like I hop?” he asks.
“You’re going to hop so much!” she declares. “I can’t wait! I really can’t wait!”
Ender looks over at me as I smile at him. “We can all go!”
“I would love that,” Finn says. “Marcus is really good at rollerblading. I bet he’d take you to do that too.”
Rylee is looking more thrilled by the minute. “Ooh! That’d be so much fun!”
“It’ll be a belated birthday party!” Claude suggests.
“That I will be sick for,” Alexei says.
Marcus coughs. “Me too.”
“Vampires don’t get sick!” Rylee exclaims. “I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much fun. Ender, Marcus can show you how to rollerblade! He can like hold your hand so you don’t fall.” She finds the image of this ridiculously delightful, judging by the way she giggles manically.
“Oh joy,” Ender says quite dryly. “I’m so glad Mads thought of such a fun activity that he will be taking you to alone.”
Rylee’s happiness plummets. “You won’t go?”
“Of course I’ll go,” he says through gritted teeth, clearly unable to turn this girl down. I’m pretty sure she could ask for anything and Ender would give it to her… and that face tells me she knows it.