My lips trembled when he gasped, my fingers quivered from the impact. It was eerie quiet.

“Do you feel better?” He asked as if it was no big deal.

“You dare risk my safety for an apology?” I argued.

“You risked your own safety. I simply delayed a little.”

“For an apology!” I hissed as tears fell from my eyes.

He scoffed. “That apology means nothing. You said it out of fear.”

“I did.” I agreed, then asked. “Why did you hesitate if not for an apology?”

His delayed response caused me to look up at him, after wiping my tears away. Yasu’s face twisted in disgust, as if he was thinking something unpleasant. Still, the effect of his troubled expression didn’t dull his beauty one bit.

“To teach you a lesson. You don’t run into a situation without a way to help yourself if needed. That’s careless. Don’t you value your life?” He demanded.

It surprised me how affected he was at my action.

“I do.” I stared at him.

“Then treat it as if it matters. Many people will get sad should it end.”

Yasu’s outstanding eyes stared in mines, deep in them, and I felt pulled in by them again. I sensed he was seeing in the deepest part of my soul, a place not even Uta could reach.

“Ji-Hye!” Uta’s voice broke the trance that had fallen over me.

“Yes,” I answered. My voice hoarse and hesitant.

“Yasu? When did you get down here?”

“I thought Feisty could use an extra pair of hand. Turned out I was right.” He only looked at me while answering.

“Did you see Alfred?”

“No. Why?”

“Then how did you know she was down here? I didn’t know until Alfred told me.” Uta looked at his friend, puzzled.

“I sensed her the moment she entered the house. When she didn’t come to the study, well… where else would she go other than the one place you informed her not to go?”

I couldn’t believe his response. And with that, Yasu silently left.

“I told you never to come down here! What were you thinking?!” Uta snapped.

I forced a smile. “I got curious.”

“What if Yasu hadn’t come when he did? You consider what might have happened?”

“I guess this means I owe him one.”

“Are you all right? Did Joe touch you?”

I shook my head, a bit dazed. “No. Yasu came in time.”

“Sounds like Yasu is the hero of the day.”

“Is that jealousy I detect?” I mocked.

Uta exhaled. “It’s what he said that bothers me. I didn’t notice. I didn’t know you are here. It just put certain things into perspective.”

“Like what?”

“Like I am not going to always be there to protect you.”

“You protect me.”

“Not when it matters.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

He sat on the floor, resting his back against the wall, and stared at the room his uncle was in. I sat next to Uta, and he put his arm around me.

“He looks bad, Uta.”

Joe was amazing. Hilarious, goofy and a total charmer, in a Johnny Depp kind of way. To see him look less than human broke my heart, and the thought of him dying if we couldn’t find the cure felt like a punch in the stomach.

“He needs blood. I know you worry what the blood might do, but without it he’ll—”

“I know. I’ll have Alfred give him a little later.”

“How is he doing? Alfred, I mean? I know he and Joe have a great relationship, butler or not.”

“Better than me, it seems. If he’s afraid he hasn’t shown it. I can’t let him die, Ji-Hye.”

I was suddenly cold and fighting back a shiver.

“He won’t. We’ll find what we seek.”

“I feel like I’m failing. I don’t know what I seek, and everything leads to a dead end.”

Joe was a teacher at the Institute. He and Uta weren’t relatives. However, they were quite close. Uta told me it was against policy for vampires to live outside the Institute because Governor Wade, who I come to learn was a vampire and their leader, declared it risky. Vampires in Forest Edge were his responsibility. Somehow, Joe had convinced Wade to allow Uta to live with him. Joe didn’t fancy living at the Institute according to Uta. Wade didn’t own Joe either. Joe was doing Wade favour by teaching his vampires. Joe had been around for quite some time. Uta rarely talked about his time at the Institute, though I had been curious about the place and what it was like.

“You look tired,” I told him.

His face was a study of pure exhaustion.

“I’ve not slept all night.”

His frustration showed, rippling his usual veneer of self-control. He looked too human now. Uta and I were quiet for a moment. The silence soon interrupted by a banging sound from Joe’s room.

“What’re you thinking?” He held me tighter.

I was thinking about so many things; it was hard to pick one.

“You should’ve been enjoying your last week at school. You and Tone doing something fun. You shouldn’t have to worry about this.”

“I want to worry about this. You’re a part of it. I worry about you. We’re in this together, to the end. You can’t get rid of me.”

“I don’t want to get rid of you.” He turned to face me. “I want to keep you safe, but I don’t know how to do that.”

Uta pulled me on to his lap. In his arms, I breathed heavily. I wrapped my hands around his neck.

“I will be careful.”