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PREVIOUSLY: SETH and EVAN, two vampire-slaying Saints, team up with ESPY and BENI to unravel the secret behind mysterious "disappearances" in a small college town named ROSSBERG. Seth makes a blood donation with a pretty Black nurse named CAMI, knowing that his O-negative will attract vampires.

But the team has bigger problems than vampires. Seth captures IRA, a handsome vampire from the local college, to interrogate about the deaths. But a powerful sorceress named MRS. SONG, the matriarch of the town's Chinese American population, fears his actions could have deadly consequences.

She casts a powerful spell on the team, including a blood curse that leaves Seth coughing up his own blood. In the nick of time, Espy tells Seth how to perform one of his mother's anti-magic techniques. The spell is broken, but Seth falls unconscious...

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Warm light washed over my eyelids. The serene glow was completely at odds with the semi-truck failing its driving lesson in my skull. Despite the headache, I was strangely comfortable. It wasn’t hard to realize why.

I was in Evan’s room, in his bed. That comforting smell of him was all around me, instantly recognizable. I was reminded of waking up next to him, how cozy it had been for the split second before mind-numbing panic. All I wanted was to lie here. But I needed to know if everyone was okay.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, squinting against the light that wasn’t as bright as I thought. I’d been out for a while, judging from the colors through the window.

Evan was sitting next to the bed on one of the wooden chairs from the kitchen, face in his hands. He hadn’t realized I was awake yet, so I took a moment to just look at him. His hair was even darker than usual, slightly damp. He must have showered while I’d been passed out. The handle of his yatagan was just visible over his shoulder. I guess he wasn’t to be caught without it again.

“Hey.” My voice croaked out, throat a little sore. I guess coughing up your own blood will do that.

“Seth!” His head snapped up. He leaned in close, one hand hovering out. “Are you okay?”

“Been better,” I admitted. “Throat hurts. Head hurts.”

“But other than that?” he asked, anxious.

I gave a crooked smile. “Peachy keen.”

He sighed. “You scared--us. Wasn’t sure you would wake up. Didn’t even flinch when I laid you in the bath.”

Looking down at myself, I realized I was no longer covered in blood...and wearing a large t-shirt that must have been Evan’s.

“You cleaned me up?”

He nodded, dropping his hand to the bed.

Wasn’t sure how I felt about him bathing me. We had buried the hatchet about my crush, but it was still embarrassing to think about him seeing me naked. The sudden uptick in my heartrate wasn’t helping my headache any.

But he was obviously worried about me, so I said, “Thanks.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Without that fancy move, we’d be dead.”

“Thank Espy,” I said. “She’s the one that figured it out.”

“You sure you’re okay?” His eyes roamed over me, making me feel a little weird that I wasn’t wearing pants.

I tipped a shoulder. “I’ll live.”

“Thank Josh,” he whispered.

“Beni!” I suddenly remembered, sitting up. “Is she--?”

“She’s fine.” He held up his hands in placation. “She’s just fine.”

Laying back, I sighed. “Good.”

“Seth, I…” he stopped, looking down at his hands.

“What is it?” I watched him flex his fingers, like he was struggling against something.

“I thought I lost you,” he whispered.

Something in his face made me want to comfort him. “Hey, I told you. I’m fine.”

“No, you don’t understand.” He stopped, swallowed hard. “I have to tell you something, and can you just let me get it out? Please?”

I dipped my chin in a slow nod.

He took a long breath. Released it before speaking again. “When you collapsed...I really thought you weren’t gonna make it. You were covered in blood, and unresponsive and we--I was really scared, Seth. It made me realize some things. Or, more like face up to some things, I guess.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Okay, let me back up. When you went to meet Ira...I was...I was jealous.” His voice was very small by the time he got it out.

“I was jealous when you and Beni were talking about how hot he is. I was jealous when you put on that obscene outfit to go out with him. I was even jealous when you called him a beefcake on the phone.” Once he got started, it was like he couldn’t stop. The words started coming out faster. “I felt the way a man feels when another man moves in on his woman. Not that I’m saying you’re a woman! That’s just what it felt like, what I felt like, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know why I couldn’t tear my eyes off of you in those shorts, or why I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss in the parking lot.”

My cheeks burned.

“But when you went down, I realized why.” Then he raised his head to look at me, those jadeite eyes stormy with emotion. “I...I have feelings for you, Seth.” (I stopped breathing for a second.) “Feelings that are more than friendship, and I think I knew that even when I denied it during our talk in the basement. I couldn’t face it then. I know that’s shitty, and I’m sorry.” He let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know why I feel this way. I’m not gay, not some closet case. I’m really not, and I think that’s why I tried to deny it for so long. I’ve never been into men, but you’ve never been like other men anyway.” He ran out of air, and after he breathed again, he said, “Please say something.”

“What--” I had to clear my throat and try again. “What are you telling me?”

His eyes dropped, a faint flush tickling his cheeks. “I...I think I want you to be my--obviously not my woman, like I said, but boyfriend doesn’t feel quite right either.”

“Hold on a minute,” I said.

“You don’t want to?” His face tightened.

“I...I just…” It was hard to find words for the swirl of emotions I was experiencing. “I’ve imagined you confessing your undying love for me so many times since I was a kid, and then we’d kiss in the chapel in the woods, our people would accept us, and the orchestral score would swell as the credits rolled like one of the gay movies I smuggled into Empyrean with Beni over the years.” It was mortifying telling him that, but he had been honest. So could I.

“I was just finally accepting that it was only ever a fantasy, the first harmless crush gay boys have on someone that will never love them back. I was making my peace with that, and now you’re telling me you do have feelings for me?” I shrugged, helplessly. “How can I just believe that?”

He nodded slowly, eyes working as he processed what I was saying. “You need some convincing?”

“I mean, maybe?” I said. “It’s a lot to take in.”

“Let me convince you, then.” Suddenly he sounded much more sure of himself. Staring me in the eye, he leaned in, closer and closer, and my breath caught as I realized he was leaning in to kiss me. Just before our lips met he stopped, watching me, giving me time to pull away, I realized.

Instead, my eyes fluttered closed.

His hands (wide and strong) palmed my face, just like I had done to him at the college, tipping my face up to the perfect angle.

And then he kissed me.

His lips were so soft, so gentle. Soft, but not hesitant. He did really want to kiss me, and that shot more tingles through my body than the kiss itself. I was disappointed when he pulled back.

“Convinced?”

“Nope!”

He chuckled, and kissed me again. This time it was a real kiss, not the Disney version, opening my mouth with his own. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, and I moaned. More low laughter.

“Don’t make fun of me,” I muttered against his lips.

“Wasn’t,” he promised, stroking my cheek with his thumbs. “I just like hearing that.”

My face flamed. I needed to deflect. “How did it feel to kiss a boy?”

He stared down at me, eyes solemn. Then his face cracked into a smile. “Annoyingly perfect.”

“Shut uuuuuuup.” I pushed his face away, but he just caught my hand with his own, holding them there against his cheek.

“Hmmm.” He kissed my palm. “Honestly? Just felt like a kiss. No different than kissing a girl. Believe me yet?”

“Maybe I do,” I whispered, an unfamiliar feeling beating in my ribs. Hope, I think. “You really wanna be together?”

“I mean, I’m not saying I’m ready for violins in the woods,” he said. The liar was making fun of me, and I huffed at him. He grinned. “I mean, I’ll need some time before I...before we tell...everyone. But yeah. I want you to be mine.”

Mine.

The heat spread from my cheeks over my whole body.

“Yours?” That quiet, unsure voice couldn’t possibly belong to me.

He held my chin with his fingers until I looked at him. There was no doubt in those gray-green eyes. “Mine.”

“Okay,” I said.

He laughed. “No more convincing?”

I held up two fingers about an inch apart. “Maybe a little more convincing.”

A smug grin turned up his mouth, and he started to lean in again. Then we heard the soft bump of Espy’s cane on the floor. She must be in sore shape if she needed it.

Evan straightened up, his hand falling from my face to grip my hand instead. I wasn’t disappointed. How could I be after that kiss? He had told me he needed time, and that was fair. I’d had years to sort my feelings out. I could give him more than a couple days.

Espy knocked on the door frame as she entered. “I see you’re alive.”

“Back from the dead by popular demand,” I said. Was my voice too high pitched? Did Espy notice?

“Glad to hear it,” she smiled, then turned a little serious. “I hate to interrupt, but I need to speak with Seth for a moment.”

He looked to me, and I nodded.

“Of course,” he said. Then, shocking me, he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers. “I’ll be downstairs.”

I was too surprised to say anything, but he was already getting up. Espy smiled at him, a little proud?, as he went by. Then she took his spot in the chair, sitting a bit heavy.

“Uh, what’s up?” I said, stupidly.

She sighed, and I could never have predicted what she was going to say.

“I need to apologize.”