“I know,” I smiled. “But thank you anyway.”

I went upstairs, and Ezra stood in the bedroom doorway, blocking Jack from making an escape. He sat on the bed in his boxers. Most of his cuts had healed, but some were still raised and red. A bad one his stomach still bled.

“Mattie’s gotta be terrified without me!” Jack said.

“Milo and Bobby are with her.” Ezra sighed and looked back at me. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

“I’ll try,” I said.

He left us alone, and I walked over to Jack. I could see him working up some argument about how he needed to leave, but I climbed on his lap, straddling him. I kissed him on the mouth, so deeply I could feel his blood pulsing through his lips. His arms went around me, pressing me close to him.

Maybe I had never been meant for Jack or Peter. Maybe I had only been meant to be a vampire. That thought had terrified me before, but I realized it was better this way. When I held Jack to me, feeling how much he loved me and how much I loved him, I knew it was real.

I loved Jack because of every little thing about him. The way he laughed, the way he made me smile, the way he’d stay up until nine in the morning watching zombie movies he’d seen a hundred times, and the way he could never hold a grudge.

I loved him because I loved him, not because it was fate or destiny or in my blood. We had chosen each other, and that felt more powerful and more magical.

Matilda came back home with three broken ribs and a broken back leg, but she was slated to make a full recovery. Jack babied her like crazy since she’d been injured protecting him, but I didn’t blame him.

After things had settled down a bit, I sat down with Jack and told him exactly what I wanted to do. After everything that happened with the vampire hunters, I felt like I had to do it.

People and vampires were being hurt and tortured, and I wouldn’t stand by and let that happen.

Jack wasn’t thrilled about it, but he was supportive. I drove to Olivia’s with his blessing, and that was all that mattered.

I arrived at V in the early morning hours when the club was empty. That’s the time they received deliveries of alcohol for the drinks for the human bar. The club always looked bizarre and cavernous when it was empty, but I supposed that was true with all clubs.

Olivia sat at the bar next to the dance floor, going over her inventory checklist. Violet was behind the bar, helping the delivery guy stock up. They were at the opposite end, far enough away where they couldn’t hear me talk to Olivia.

“If you’re looking for Rebekah, she left last night, since you didn’t need her anymore,” Olivia said, and I got up on the stool next to her. “Though, lord knows why anybody would willingly spend time with her.”

“No, I’m not looking for her,” I shook my head.

“Then what can I do for you, doll?” She lifted her head and smiled at me.

“Those vampire hunters that were here, they were bad people,” I said, and she nodded. “They didn’t do what was best for vampires or humans. They only cared about money, and they were monsters. We never did anything to them, and they tortured us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Olivia said, and I knew she meant it. “That’s not how they should be. That’s not how I was, and I’ve always hoped that hunters could live on the side that benefits both humans and vampires.”

“Ezra told me that because we’re vampires, there are no good guys. But I don’t think that’s true. I want to be one of the good guys,” I said. “I want you to train me to be a vampire hunter.”

“Honey, it would be my pleasure,” she smiled.