Page 64 of Fangs with Benefits

I show her to the bathroom and leave her to it before sinking back on the couch. The book Molly held up excitedly is on top of the stack and I grab it, Gemma settling on my lap to keep me company while I try to distract myself from yellow curls and expressive, golden eyes.

The following evening, Jellie and I waltz about the city until we find a building with a nice tall roof, high above the ground, and compel someone to grant us access. I haven’t seen Jellie in years, and walking with her is reminiscent of the way I followed her everywhere as a child.

We stand with our elbows on the rail, looking down at the breathing city.

She looks like she always has, her face so familiar to me after so many years. Of all of us, she and Mother had the most to gain from being turned, and where Mother has gained social power among vampires, Evangeline has used her many years to better understand the world, to research life’s many mysteries, to help paranormals and humans alike. She’s brilliant, and I like her more than I like any vampire I’ve ever known.

She’s got hair the same colour as mine, wavy and shoulder length, but her eyes are green, like our father’s were. Gregory takes after our mother with his sharp features, where Evangeline and I always looked more like our father. He died before Mother was turned, but I don’t think he would’ve had a taste for vampirism anyway. Father loved nothing more than resting in the sun in the evening or after a meal. He loved being alive.

‘What have you been working on these days, anyway?’ I bump Jellie’s shoulder with mine and she tenses, face twisting into a grimace before she shakes her head. I stand straighter, turning my body to face hers. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s really bad, Elijah,’ Jellie whispers. ‘I would be severely punished.’

Jellie is always up to something, always trying to figure out what’s possible, and she’s so damn good at it that the council lets her do what she likes. They have a long leash for her, so the thought of her reaching the end of it astounds me.

‘Evangeline.’

‘I can’t talk about it, really. But I’ve been working with a witch, Samara. She’s fucking brilliant, Elijah, an extraordinarily talented sorceress with a keen and innate understanding of old magic.’

A light smile flicks over my sister’s lips, and I wonder if my care for Molly is so evident when I speak of her. My chest aches for Jellie for the ways in which her obvious love for this witch is doomed. Witches can’t become vampires, and though some live for a long time, preserved by their magic, their lifespan is typically no more than a couple of hundred years.

‘Can’t you tell me what it is?’

Jellie presses her lips into a tight line, then shakes her head. ‘Please, Elijah, trust that it’s better if I don’t.’

It’s in my nature to needle her until she tells me, press and pester until she relents–it’s the ancient sibling relationship; old habits never die, it seems–but I refrain. I know how it feels to want privacy, though I do wish she’d let me bear some of this burden.

‘You’re brilliant, Jellie,’ I tell her. ‘Whatever it is you’ve done, allow me to say congratulations.’ I put on my best impersonation of the pompous, self-important voices most council members seem to have. They follow a script when Jellie is recognised for another discovery. ‘Your contributions to the sciences do not go unnoticed.’

Jellie joins in, grinning. ‘And the worlds both natural and paranormal are grateful,’ we finish in unison, then burst into a fit of laughter.

I’ve heard one of the council members say those words to her at many recognition ceremonies, always the same, always met with the same polite applause from the other members, and boisterous whooping and cheers from our family.

‘I mean it, Jel. You’re one of a kind. The world is better with your brain in it.’

‘The world’s better with you in it, too,’ she says. ‘I’m thrilled you’ve re-entered it.’

‘Me too,’ I admit.

‘Are we going to talk about the human, or what?’

‘Or what,’ I decide and she snorts.

‘Elijah.’

‘Fine, fine.’ I shake my head and shrug. ‘When I was hired, Molly was assigned to train me so I could do my IT job better.’

‘Oh my God, Dylan mentioned your job is in IT. What the hell were you thinking?’

‘Job market is rough!’ I defend. ‘Dylan had a connection, and I took the opportunity that presented itself to me.’

‘All right, and how’d you convince Molly you’re supposed to be there? Same way you got the job?’

‘Funny story about that, actually. Have you ever heard of a human who isn’t affected by compulsion?’ I ask.

Evangeline’s eyes go wide. ‘How do you mean?’

‘I can’t get her to do anything.’ I shrug. ‘Either by compulsion or by asking very nicely for that matter.’