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feel alive. My heart beat, strong inside my chest, and I no longer felt even the slightest bit cold. I remembered the taste of the blood, and while my human memories cringed, my new vampire cravings reveled as though it was chocolate or mint chocolate chip ice cream.
    Reconciling the two would be a challenge.
    I stretched out, feeling each muscle in my body pull pleasantly. I wondered about the reflexes Rhys had demonstrated to me on that first day. Yesterday? It seemed so long ago. I had caught his hand before it could close around my throat, but what else could I do? He had said something about vampires having descent reflexes, even when they were young, which implied that as they got older they got better at things.
    I was ready to learn. Which figured, since he had finally left me alone.
    He’d been gone for a long time, though. Maybe he would be back soon. I opened my eyes, intending to roll over and get up. But instead of seeing my plain white door, a dainty white skirt paired with a bright yellow blouse greeted me, and even though I currently saw the world upside down, there was no mistaking the perfect blonde bob that topped it all off.
    Crap. I scrambled to get off my back and to my feet, making sure the bed was kept between us. Why was she here? I didn’t think Rhys would have sent her for me after the way he spoke to her outside. But the alternative was even worse. She had come on her own. And I didn’t trust her.
    Her expression remained calm. “That took you far too long.”
    It took me a moment longer to figure out what she meant. “You were watching me?”
    “For some time.”
    “Why?” And why had she changed her clothes to do so?
    “Rhys asked me to come check on you.”
    Traitor. Though what was to say he was even on my side to begin with? “I don’t need to be checked on. But in any case, I’m fine. You can report back to him now.”
    She laughed, and the sound was all bells and wind chimes, the dark undertone nowhere to be heard. That wasn’t right. Her face wasn’t right, either. Her eyes sparkled with nothing but amusement, and good-natured amusement, at that. When she spoke again, I realized her voice had a completely different quality. One that didn’t make me want to hide behind someone bigger and stronger.
    “I’m sorry, I’ve been rude. I should have introduced myself sooner. My name is Millie King, and I believe you’ve already had the somewhat skewed pleasure of meeting my sister.”
    Sister? Well, that explained it. I felt like a vice had been released from my chest. My shoulders slumped with relief. “Kassandra Thomas. I have met your sister,” I said.
    Millie smiled. It held none of the sinister traits her sister’s had. “And she was her usual shining self, I assume. I’m sorry about that. She’s really not as bad as she likes to make herself seem.”
    Not as bad? “She slit a girl’s wrist and forced me to drink from it.”
    “Oh,” she said, drawing it out as though in realization. “So that’s what Rhys is so angry at her about.”
    I shrugged.
    Millie looked thoughtful for a moment, then made a little contemplative sound before turning her attention back to me and smiling once again. “Well, please allow me to make up for her atrocious first impression. May I come in?”
    My thoughts immediately defaulted to all the movies I had seen. “Do you need an invitation?”
    “No,” she said with no sign of being insulted. “It’s simply good manners, don’t you agree?”
    “I guess.” I drew myself up onto my bed, crossing my legs together. “Come on in.”
    She did just that, gliding in with a grace my dance instructor would have killed for and sitting just as perfectly at the other edge of my bed after closing the door. “For privacy,” she said.
    “Did Rhys really send you here?”
    “Well, I volunteered.”
    “Why? To do what?”
    “He said he thought you might be more receptive to asking questions and listening now, but unfortunately he’s