Page 101 of Thorn Evermore

“Have you turned other people?”

Thorn scrunches his nose. “Ugh. Yes. I’m ashamed of my earlier recklessness.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I was newly turned, I overindulged and brought many people to death.” He shrugs. “Which is fine, but a few people I couldn’t allow to die. They were too good. So I turned them, but then I just took off. Yves finally figured it out when we had clueless vampires roaming around attacking mortals left and right. He set me straight.”

I find myself laughing. “I’m sorry. That’s kind of hilarious.”

He grins. “Yeah. Yves didn’t think so. He had to take them in for a time to teach them how to be.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Not really. It was self-preservation. Random vampire attacks attract attention, and back then, that was the last thing we needed. I cleaned up my act, and I haven’t turned anyone since. Not until you.”

Thorn pauses, then tears off running down a street. I follow, slightly aware that I’m in a full on sprint without any effort at all. When I reach him, he’s talking to a small female.

“Have you seen Greer?” Thorn asks the girl.

She nods. “I have. We got a little room to rent together. I’m sorry I worried everyone.”

“It’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get into the wrong hands.”

She hugs Thorn, and I watch as he presses a bunch of cash in her hand. “Take care, Moxie.”

“I will.” She waves as she walks off.

Thorns turns to me, smiling. “Sorry, love. I was keeping an eye out for her.”

“Who is she?”

“Her name is Moxie. One of the street kids. She was missing for a few weeks, and I was worried she got trafficked, but turns out, she tried to go see her sister.”

“You know all the kids downtown?”

“Most of them. We do a lot of our work down there. I do what I can to keep them safe.”

“You’re like a guardian angel.”

He scoffs. “Not as much as I wish I could be. I’m no savior but I do what I can. They all have my number just in case.”

I hook my arm through his. “You’re a softie. Admit it.”

Thorn laughs. “Maybe a little.”

I look ahead just as we turn onto the street where his building is. How the heck did we get here so fast?

He twists around so he’s in front of me, a cute grin on his lips.

“What?” I laugh.

“Are you ready for your surprise?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t wait to show you.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and hands me a thin rectangular box.

I open it to find my old pair of glasses. “What are these?”