CHAPTER 21 #2
“We’ve been monitoring Damien’s movements for three days,” he pulls out earbud-looking things out of the briefcase.
“Facial recognition, movement tracking, threat assessment—all running through the resort’s security systems. These are open channel communication devices,” he says as he hands them out.
“The difference with ours is that I’ll be the only one getting all channels, at all times.
If you want to talk to an individual in this group, the moment you say their name you’ll be patched directly into their earpiece.
Say ‘Damien’ or ‘everyone’ and you’ll be patched through to the whole group. ”
The earpiece is shaped to fit right in the ear, and I can barely see it on Julian once he puts his in. I place mine in after I saw what he did.
“Now I see the perks of being billionaire,” Elena turns the earpiece in her hand and places it in her ear. “Private jets. Nice tech. Poppy.” Elena’s voice goes to a whisper, but I can hear her clearly on my earpiece. “Good catch.” She goes back to her normal, louder self. “Can I get?”
“Elena. Yes,” Julian smiles at her. “You’ll have earned it on this job. I’ll have Rebecca send you a set.”
“How it know when done talking?” Elena points to her ear.
“After a seven second pause,” Marcus closes the briefcase. “Then you’ll have to repeat one of the trigger words.” He picks it up. “With that, I’ll leave you all to it.”
“Thank you, Marcus,” Julian says as Marcus leaves.
Elena claps her hands once. “’Nough formalities. We have war to plan. But first—” she turns to me with an expression that’s almost maternal “—you need to eat. You look pale. Humans need sustenance.”
“I had food poisoning last night.”
“Then you especially need to eat.”
“A vampire called you pale,” Nathaniel laughs as he slaps his hand on his knee. “That’s a new one.”
“Da, da,’nough funny business,” Elena swats at Nathaniel before turning to Julian. “Take us somewhere with food. The girl is wasting away.”
Julian looks at me. I shrug.
“I could eat,” I admit.
“Then it settled.” Elena sweeps toward the door. “Breakfast first. Murder plan second.”
The resort restaurant has a private corner that Julian secures with a single look at the host. We settle into a curved booth—me on one end, Julian beside me, the three vampires arranged in a semicircle that would look casual if you didn’t notice how they’d positioned themselves with clear sightlines to every entrance.
I order eggs, toast, and a truly excessive amount of coffee. The vampires also order breakfast. Full plates of food that I already know they won’t touch. Okay, they touch the food, but they won’t eat it.
“You don’t have to pretend on my account,” I say.
Elena waves dismissively. “It maintains appearances. Humans get nervous when their dining companions don’t eat.”
“I’m already nervous. The not-eating is honestly the least of my concerns.”
“She’s got a point,” Nathaniel clears his throat. “The pretense does seem unnecessary given the circumstances.”
“I like the pretense.” Sofia speaks for the first time since we sat down. She’s pushing a strawberry around her plate with the intensity of someone planning a military campaign. “It keeps us sharp.”
“You’re all so weird,” I blurt out.
Silence.
Then Elena laughs. Actually laughs—a bright, startled sound that transforms her face.
“I really do like her,” she tells Julian. “She says what she’s thinking.”
“It’s a problem,” I admit. “My filter is basically non-existent.”
“Filters are overrated.” Nathaniel abandons his omelet sculpture. “After a few centuries, you learn that honesty is more efficient. Less to remember.”
“Speaking of honesty.” I look around the table. “Am I allowed to ask questions?”
Julian tenses beside me. “Poppy—”
“Let her ask.” Elena leans forward, interested. “I want to see what she wants to know.”
I take a breath. “Why did you all come? Really. Julian said you have history with Damien, that there are debts involved. But flying to the Bahamas to fight another vampire seems like a lot. What’s in it for you?”
The three of them exchange glances. Some kind of silent communication I’m not privy to.
Finally, Sofia speaks. Her voice is flat. Controlled.
“Damien killed my progeny. Left her ashes in a box on my doorstep with a note that said ‘regards.’” She meets my eyes for the first time. “I’ve been waiting for a chance to end him. Julian is providing that chance.”
“I owe Julian my life,” Nathaniel adds. “Shipping container incident in 1998. Don’t ask. The point is, debts matter in our world. He called this one in.”
“And I have known Julian for two hundred years,” Elena says. “He’s saved me more times than I can count. When he called and said he’d found someone worth fighting for—” she glances at Julian, something soft in her expression “—I wanted to see for myself.”
“Someone worth fighting for.” I turn to Julian. “That’s what you said?”
“I may have phrased it differently, but yes.”
“He said you made him feel human again,” Elena corrects. “That you looked at him like he wasn’t a monster. In two centuries, I’ve never heard him talk about anyone that way.”
The table goes quiet.
Julian is staring at his untouched coffee like it holds the secrets of the universe. I can see the tension in his shoulders.
“You really said that?” I ask softly.
“I told her the truth.” He meets my eyes. “You do make me feel human again. You always have.”
I reach under the table and find his hand. His fingers curl around mine.
“Okay,” I say. “So we’re fighting a vampire because of debts and vengeance and—” I squeeze Julian’s hand “—love. What’s the plan?”
“First, we assess the threat.” Elena shifts into what I’m starting to recognize as her tactical mode. “Damien has been planning this for over a century. He’s patient. Methodical. He won’t make obvious mistakes.”
“He wants Julian to suffer,” Sofia adds. “Not just die. Suffer. That means he’ll try to destroy what Julian cares about before he destroys Julian himself.”
“Which means me.”
“You and your family.” Nathaniel’s voice is gentle but serious. “He’ll target anyone Julian might try to protect.”
My stomach tightens. Violet. Mom. Even Preston—as much as I’d like to pretend otherwise, I don’t want him to die.
“So the reception?” I say. “So you really think he’ll wait until then? Not the wedding, or even earlier? Are you sure he won’t hurt me or any of my family until then?”
“Yes, I don’t think he will.” Julian’s hand tightens on mine. “He’s very patient. I think you are all safe for now. The reception is the likely flashpoint. Cameras everywhere. Family gathered. The perfect stage for whatever he’s planning.”
“So what do we do?”
“We watch. We wait. We position ourselves to respond the moment he makes a move.” Elena’s eyes are sharp. “The Council has strict rules about vampire-on-vampire violence. We can’t strike first. But if Damien attacks, we have every right to defend.”
“You’re using him against himself,” I realize. “Letting him come to us so we have legal coverage.”
“Smart girl.” Sofia almost sounds approving. “Julian, you chose well.”
My phone buzzes. I check it automatically.
SAGE: Just checking you’re still alive
SAGE: I know you said you’d call tonight but I’m ANXIOUS
SAGE: Is everything actually okay?
I type back one-handed:
ME: Still alive. Currently having breakfast.
SAGE: Breakfast with who?
ME: Julian and some of his friends.
SAGE: FRIENDS??? He has FRIENDS??? Tell me EVERYTHING.
ME: Later. I promise. It’s a lot to explain.
SAGE: That sentence has never once been reassuring.
ME: Trust me. Please.
SAGE: I do. But I’m still worried.
SAGE: Call me TONIGHT. No excuses.
ME: I will. Love you.
SAGE: Love you too. Now go be mysterious with your mysterious boyfriend and his mysterious friends.
Elena is watching me with an expression I can’t quite read.
“The friend,” she says. “The one who texts constantly.”
“Sage. My best friend.”
“She’s worried about you.”
“She’s always worried about me.” I pause. “She actually guessed the vampire thing. As a joke.”
“Humans are perceptive when they want to be.” Elena tilts her head. “Does she know?”
“No. And she won’t.” I look at Julian. “Right? She can’t know.”
“It’s safer if she doesn’t,” he agrees. “For her and for us.”
“So I have to lie to my best friend forever?”
“You protect her by keeping her ignorant.” Sofia’s voice is cold but not in an unkind way. “The truth is a burden. You’ve chosen to carry it. Don’t force it on others.”
It’s the most she’s said directly to me. I nod slowly.
“Okay. I can do that.”
The server brings out our food, and I snap a pic of my breakfast.
The photo is good—the kind of image that usually writes its own caption. Normally I’d have three options drafted by now, tested against my mental database of what performs well.
But my brain keeps short-circuiting.
Option 1: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”
— too basic, I’ve used variations of this forty times
Option 2: “This vacation is tasty”
— really? Nope
Option 3: “Sometimes you have to get lost in a meal to find yourself”
— I’m not lost, I’m having an existential crisis because my fake boyfriend is a 257-year-old vampire
I close the app without posting.
This has never happened before. Throughout my years of influence, I’ve always known what to say. I’ve posted through breakups, family drama, a minor car accident, and one very unfortunately timed sickness that I somehow turned into a “wellness journey” narrative.
But how do you caption “Found out supernatural creatures are real, and I’m falling for one. Now I’m enjoying breakfast while we plan how to deal with an evil vampire dude who wants to hurt me.”?
You don’t. That’s how.
Before I can put my phone away, it buzzes again. This time it’s Violet.
VIOLET: Poolside bridesmaid hangout at 12! Bring sunscreen and gossip!
VIOLET: Girls only… No hot boyfriends watching us day drink
VIOLET: And I don’t want to be responsible for my bridesmaids drowning because they’re too busy staring
I show the message to Julian. “Duty calls.”
His expression closes off. “I don’t think that’s wise.”
“Julian, I can’t hide in this suite until the wedding. Violet needs me. I need to be normal for a few hours.”
“Define ‘normal.’”
“Champagne. Gossip. Pretending my life isn’t a supernatural thriller.”
He doesn’t respond. I can see him calculating—weighing the risk against my need for some semblance of a regular life.
“She won’t be alone,” Elena says. “Sofia and I will accompany her. Discreetly.”
“You’ll what!?!” I nearly do a spit-take.
“Blend in. Watch from a distance.” Elena examines her nails. “I’ve been meaning to catch up on my reading anyway.”
“And I could use a yoga session,” Sofia adds. “Flexibility is important.”
I stare at them. “Great, I’m going to have vampire bodyguards at my sister’s bachelorette pool party.”
“Is that a problem?” Julian asks.
“It’s the most 2026 sentence I’ve ever said out loud.”
Nathaniel laughs and looks at Julian. “I really do like her.”
An hour later, I’m gathering my sunscreen and flip-flops for the pool, while Julian watches me with an expression caught somewhere between protective and pained.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell him. “I’ll have two ancient killers watching my every move. What could go wrong?”
“Many things.”
“That was rhetorical.”
He walks and gently lifts my chin until our eyes meet.
“Be careful,” he says.
“I’m going to a pool party, not a war zone.”
“With you, I’m learning those aren’t mutually exclusive.”
I laugh. Rise up on my toes and kiss him—soft and brief and somehow more intimate than anything we’ve done before.
“I’ll text you,” I promise. “Constant updates. You’ll be so sick of hearing from me.”
“Impossible.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I grab my bag. Head for the door. Pause with my hand on the handle.
“Julian?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. For telling me the truth. For trusting me with all of this.” I meet his eyes. “I know it’s not easy for you. Letting people in. But I’m glad you let me in.”
Something shifts in his expression. Something old and vulnerable—and very human.
“So am I,” he says quietly. “So am I.”
I leave before I do something embarrassing, like cry.
In the hallway, Elena and Sofia are waiting. They’ve changed—Elena in a flowing caftan and sun hat, Sofia in a yoga outfit that leaves nothing to the imagination. They look like any other wealthy resort guests, not ancient vampires preparing for possible combat.
“Ready?” Elena asks.
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s go pretend to be normal.” She links her arm through mine like we’re old friends. “I do so enjoy pretending.”
We head toward the pool. The tropical sun beats down. Somewhere behind us, Julian is watching—I can feel it, that prickling awareness at the back of my neck that tells me I’m never really alone anymore.
There are so many reasons to be terrified.
But I’m oddly calm.
I have a vampire boyfriend. I have vampire bodyguards. I have a vampire enemy who wants to destroy everything I love.
But I also have Sage blowing up my phone, and Violet waiting with champagne, and a family that, despite the short notice, showed up for this wedding.
I have people. Living and otherwise.
That has to count for something.
And I walk toward the sunshine, ancient killers at my back, wondering when exactly my life became this absurd—and realizing I wouldn’t change it for anything.