Marked

dorm?" he asked.
    "Nope," I said, trying to be nonchalant.
    Stevie Rae, Damien, and the Twins would totally die if they saw me with Erik.
    We didn't say anything as we started walking, but it wasn't an awkward, uncomfortable silence. Actually, it was nice. Once in a while our arms would brush against each other and I thought about how tall and cute he was and how much I'd like him to hold my hand.
    "Oh," he said after a while, "I didn't finish answering your question before. The first time I tasted blood at one of the Dark Daughters' rituals I hated it, but it got better and better each time. I can't say I think it's delicious, but it's grown on me. And I definitely like the way it makes me feel.”
    I looked sharply at him. "Dizzy and kinda weak-kneed? Like you're drunk, only you're not.”
    "Yeah. Hey, did you know it's impossible for a vamp to get drunk?" I shook my head. "It's something about what the Change does to our metabolism. It's even tough for fledglings to get wasted.”
    "So drinking blood is the way vamps get wasted?”
    He shrugged. "I suppose. Anyway, drinking human blood is forbidden for fledglings.”
    "Well then why hasn't anyone clued the teachers in on what Aphrodite's up to?”
    "She's not drinking human blood.”
    "Uh, Erik, I was there. Blood was definitely in the wine and it came from that Elliott kid.” I shuddered. "And what a gross choice he was, too.”
    "But he's not human," Erik said.
    "Wait―it's forbidden to drink human blood," I said slowly. (Oh, hell! That's what I'd just done.) "But it's okay to drink another fledgling's blood?”
    "Only if it's consensual.”
    "That makes no sense.”
    "Sure it does. It's normal for our bloodlust to develop as our bodies Change, so we need an outlet. Fledglings heal quickly, so there's no real chance of someone getting hurt. And there aren't any aftereffects, like when a vamp feeds off a living human.”
    What he was saying was banging through my head like the annoying, too-loud music that blared in Wet Seal, and I grasped the first thing I could think clearly about. "Living human?" I squeaked. "Tell me you don't mean versus feeding off a corpse." I was feeling a little nauseous again.
    He laughed. "No, I mean versus drinking blood harvested from the vamps' blood donors.”
    "Never heard of such a thing.”
    "Most humans haven't. You won't learn about it until you're a fifth former.”
    Then some more of what he'd said broke through the confusion that was my mind. "What did you mean by aftereffects?”
    "We just started learning about it in Vamp Sociology 312. Seems that when an adult vampyre feeds from a living human, there can be a very strong bond formed. It's not always on the part of the vamp, but humans become infatuated pretty easily. It's dangerous for the human. I mean, think about it. The blood loss alone isn't a good thing. Then add that to the fact that we outlive humans by decades, sometimes even centuries. Look at it from a human's point of view; it would really suck to be totally in love with someone who never seems to age while you get old and wrinkled and then die.”
    Again I thought about the dazed but intense way Heath had looked at me, and I knew that, no matter how hard it might be, I'd have to tell Neferet everything.
    "Yep, that would suck," I said faintly.
    "Here we are.”
    I was surprised to see that we'd stopped in front of the girl's dorm. I looked up at him.
    "Well, thanks for following me―I think," I said, with a wry smile.
    "Hey, any time you want someone to butt in when he's not invited, I'm the guy for you.”
    "I'll keep that in mind," I said. "Thanks." I hefted Nala up on my hip and started to open the door.
    "Hey, Z," he called.
    I turned back.
    "Don't give back the dress to Aphrodite. By her including you in the circle tonight she formally offered you a position in the Dark Daughters, and it's tradition that the High Priestess in training gives a gift to the new member on her first night. I don't imagine you'll want to join, but you still have the right to keep the dress. Especially because you look so much better in it than she ever did." He reached forward and took my hand (the one that wasn't clutching my cat), and turned it over so that my wrist faced up. Then he took his finger and traced the vein that was close to the surface there, making my pulse jump crazily.
    "And you should also know that I'm the guy for you if you decide you might like to try another sip of blood. Keep that in mind,