Jason sat with Cecilia in the coffee shop around the corner from the school, waiting for Nicholas and Miranda. Looking up across the table, he smiled at Cecilia, giving him one of her ‘I-know-you’re-hiding-something’ looks. He smiled. Cecilia never probed. Unlike Miranda, she always lets things come as they please.

“Cecilia?”

“I’m listening,” she said, smiling, her eyes twinkling, taking a small sip from her coffee.

“I can confide in you, right?”

Her eyebrows scrunched up. “Of course.”

“All right.” He let out a breath. “Let’s say I met someone who at first thought I was someone else but turned out to be completely different. Let’s also say—”

“That you have a crush on her, however teeny weeny,” she winked. It always astonished him how perceptive she was. “Is this the girl Miranda has been complaining about? She said she looked a bit young.”

“Her name is Anita.”

“Uh huh, what an evasive answer. Given that lack of an answer, why are you still with Miranda? She knows that you’re hiding something, and it’s getting annoying. And I’m past being exhausted by it.”

“Sorry, it’s just things with Anita are complicated. She has this overbearingly protective brother and huge family, making it even more complicated.”

She eyed him suspiciously over the rim of her ceramic coffee mug. “You’re not telling me something.”

“Not my secret to tell Cecilia, I’m—”

“Jason, don’t worry about it,” she said, laughing. “I totally understand. Unlike someone else we know.”

“I wish Miranda would.”

“Miranda is Miranda,” she began shaking her head, “it’s just part of her personality and—oh hell, we’ll finish this later.”  Brushing her bangs out of her face, she forced a smile, standing up to wave over Nicholas and Miranda. As always, Nicholas punched Jason’s arm lightly before taking a chair, flipping it around, and sitting down backward, leaning his beefy body over it. He grabbed a piece of Cecilia’s blueberry muffin, inciting her to slap his hand away. Jason snickered, distracting himself from Miranda’s nimble body, inching its way close to his body while she kissed him on the cheek.

“So what were you guys talking about,” she asked, leaning on Jason. He tried to relax his body.

“I was asking him about Anita. You said so much with so little that I grew curious. I wanted to know more about her.”

“You know, I was thinking the same thing. I would like to know more about her, too.” Something in Miranda’s eyes sparked with something unfamiliar. “Jason, how does she know the whole  council?”

“Her mother wa—is a Reborn on the Council,” he lied.

“Oh. Jason, do you think you could invite her to dinner tonight? I would like to get to know her better.” Jason saw the look in Miranda’s eyes grow, turn bitter, into a manipulating and dangerously dark look. It upset him to know that she could be so petty. Jason scooted away from her, just an inch, so as not to make it noticeable.

“She might be busy.”

“But I thought she was here solely to see you?”

“She has other responsibilities than keeping track of me,” he said heatedly.

“Like what?”

“Miranda stop probing,” complained Cecilia. “You’re interrogating him like he’s a criminal.”

“Whatever.” Miranda pulled away from  Jason, crossing her arms and settling into her own chair.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” defended Nicholas.

“For heaven’s sake, all of you shut up! She’s a Vampyre liaison. She came here to also talk with the coven on the outskirts of town. Can we not argue about this?” He looked back and forth between Cecilia and Miranda. “Look, I’ll invite her to dinner, happy?”

“I’m not disappointed.” Miranda smiled smugly and laid her head on his chest. He stiffened, uncomfortable, and gave Cecilia a pleading look. She looked at him empathetically. What had he just stepped in?

***

Jason threw his bag on the floor and waved on his ResoScreen to catch the last bits of the news. He listened for anything interesting to come on while he poured himself a glass of spiked juice. What he heard almost made him drop his glass.

A young woman had been found dead, her throat gashed open, her blood gone. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a Vampyre attack. Biting down on his lip, he hoped that this attack was just a simple Blood Hunger attack and only the first of one, not many. No more people needed to die.

Sitting down, Jason propped his feet on the coffee table and thought about dinner, stifling a curse. How was he supposed to get in touch with her before nightfall? As he stared at his ceiling, he saw the shadows shift and change from the turning fan inspiring him. It was probably a foolish idea, but no other alternatives came to mind. He sat up and took a deep breath, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans.

“Um, hello,” he called out to the empty room, feeling incredibly stupid. “I really hope you’re there, or else this is one of my life’s stupidest, embarrassing moments.” Silence greeted him before a male laughter filled the room. Jason jumped up and watched a man clad in black with a big, heavy trench coat step forward. He sat across from him.

“That was one of the most hilarious things I have seen in centuries,” laughed the dangerous being. Grinning, he crossed his legs and leaned back into the chair comfortably. “I’m Ettore. Negal is currently busy, but I can send a message.”

Jason swallowed down his fear. “I need you to give a message to Selene.”

Ettore’s black eyes widened, his mouth twitching into a small, sly smile. “Oh? Do tell.”

“My friends would like to meet her, and, well, I was wondering if she would like to, um, you know, join us for dinner.”

“Are you insane?” Ettore’s face turned serious and dark, his eyes turning dark red, bright against his pale flesh and black hair. “You do know that you’re life is in danger, right? I mean, so is hers but she can handle herself. Trust me,” he continued with a wink, “I’ve seen her in action.”

Jason stood straight. “I can take care of myself too.”

Ettore laughed. “Yeah, sure you can, but not against Eris.” Scratching his chin, he looked at Jason up and down. “You do know we Shadowlings can’t be killed, right? Good,” he said, not letting Jason answer with his mouth agape. “Well, Eris can kill us. He already has. There’s a lot about himself that he doesn’t know about, including Selene. It’s complicated.”

“I can take care of myself,” said Jason assuredly. Ettore gave him a scrutinizing look, his eyes fading back into black.

“You may look like him, but you sure as hell aren’t him.” He chuckled under his breath. “Very well, I will pass on your message to Selene. You know, I like you more than Pietro. He was way too arrogant—even for my taste.” Ettore dispersed into shadows, his laughter echoing in the air.