Beatrice growled low in her throat, feeling her fangs descend, even though she knew she wasn’t hungry. “Thtop it.”
“Oh!” Dez gasped in mock surprise. “Are those your fangs? How embarrassing. Is there anything you can do about that little situation?”
“You fink you’re tho funny.”
“I am funny.” Dez grinned. “Know what else is funny? Your lisp when you talk around your fangs.”
Beatrice swallowed the burn in her throat and willed her teeth to ascend. “One of these days, I’m going to bite you. Then you won’t think it’s so funny.”
“You better not. According to your accounts, I might like it a little too much.”
“Haha.”
Dez cackled. “It’s hilarious, you look like you should be blushing, but you can’t.”
“Why am I still friends with you?”
“Because I’m awesome. And you're going to be an auntie.”
Beatrice couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face and the tug at her heart. Though she had no desire for children, she was thrilled for her friend. “You’re going to be an amazing mom, Dez.”
“Oh…” Her face fell. “I’m going to get totally fat now. And you’ll never get fat. I kind of hate you for that. I wonder if Matt’s going to get totally grossed out.”
Beatrice shook her head. “Please. Matt adores you. He’s going to be thrilled—”
“B?”
She halted at the familiar voice of her ex-boyfriend.
“Beatrice?” She heard him again, but she didn’t turn around. Beatrice looked across at Dez, who just looked panicked. “Dez, is that you?”
She could hear Mano approaching the table. Before he could get a good look at her, Beatrice reached out and grabbed his hand, clasping his bare skin in her cool palm and letting her amnis crawl up his arm. She stood and faced him, never easing her grip.
“Hi, Mano,” she whispered. She looked over his shoulder, but he appeared to be alone. She looked back into the eyes of the man who had loved her. Who had seen her through one of the loneliest parts of her life with caring and self-sacrifice.
He blinked at her, his eyes already swimming with her influence. “You look different, baby.”
“I know.”
“You need some sun. Let’s go out on the boat tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “No, Mano. I’m fine.”
“Where have you been? I’ve missed you.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, searching his face, pained at the loneliness she found. The longing. “I’m fine. And so are you.”
“I am?”
“Yes. You saw me and you realized that you had moved on.”
“But I love you.”
Beatrice gripped his hand, stroking her thumb along the calluses on his palm “No, you’ve moved on. And you’re ready to meet someone new. Someone who will love you as much as you love her.”
“I am?” He blinked at her.
“Yep. You saw me, and we caught up. And you heard that Gio and I are married and really happy now, and you were happy, too. Because you realized that you don’t love me anymore.”
He shook his head, and she forced her influence further into his mind, pushing back the tears at his familiar scent. Mano still smelled like sunshine and the sea.
“Right,” he finally said with a small smile. “You look great. I don’t love you anymore.”
“Nope,” she choked out. “And you’re going to meet someone great. And you’re going to fall in love.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’ve missed you, baby.” He smiled at her again, the soft smile he wore when he was sleepy.
“I missed you, too.” It wasn’t a lie. She had missed Mano, even though she loved Giovanni with all her heart. She forced out a smile. “Bye, Mano. You’re going to go home now.”
He nodded and leaned down as if to kiss her, but she backed away. He still smiled.
“Bye, B.”
She finally let go of his warm hand, and he turned and walked away down the dark street. Beatrice turned back to Dez, pulled her wallet out of her pocket, and threw down some cash. Dez reached over and squeezed her hand. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I need to go.”
“That the first time?”
She nodded, forcing back the tears that threatened her eyes. “Yeah, it was just a surprise, you know? I was surprised.”
“Well, you did great. And you were really kind to do that. He, um, he called Matt for months. He was worried about you. Will he remember anything?”
Beatrice waved her hand as Dez stood. “Just... vague stuff. He should remember he saw me, but the exact memories will be kind of cloudy. Hopefully, I did it right.”
“Are you going to tell Gio you saw him?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t try to hide it. And he’ll smell him anyway.”
Dez just stared at her before she walked down the street, Beatrice following after. “Vampires are weird.”
“I’ll remind you of that when you have a giant human parasite sucking the life out of you and making you ill.”
“Shut up, bloodsucker.”
Beatrice walked into the kitchen behind Ben, who immediately ran upstairs to shower and call one of the girls who had been texting him during his practice.
“Ben,” she called, “it’s eleven o’clock, and you practiced hard. You better get some sleep.”