Nadaria listened to Sorin’s footsteps until she could hear nothing but the soft night air and the bugs playing their night songs and going about their business. Some small animals and birds. Compared to the first night she was here with Sorin, the forest was teeming with life.
She stood, balancing on the branch, and then walked as fast as she could down it until it started to bend. Then she pivoted and started back towards the trunk. With ease, she paced the narrow tree branch, back and forth.
“Okay, Roux,” she said, petting his head. “So I’m a vampire. That happened. It’s over. Nothing to be done. No use crying over spilled blood, am I right?”
Roux rubbed his head across her cheek and wrapped around her neck like a choker, squeezing with his cute little snake muscles. She smiled and p
