I held up my hands. ‘No, I couldn’t.’

‘Surely you must,’ Lydia said.

‘I…’ Say no. The image of Callie’s green eyes rose before me, and I thought of my vow to live apart from humans. But the comforts of this beautiful house reminded me so much of the human life I’d left behind in Mystic Falls, I found it difficult to do what I knew I should.

‘I insist, boy.’ Winfield put a meaty hand on my shoulder, forcing me out of the room. ‘It’s the least we can offer as a thank you. A good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast.’

‘That’s very kind, but…’

‘Please,’ Lydia said, a little smile on her face. ‘We are ever so grateful.’

‘I should really—’

‘Excellent!’ Winfield clapped. ‘It’s settled. We’ll even have your clothes cleaned and pressed.’

Like a horse being steered through a series of groomers before a race, the Sutherlands’ housekeeper ushered me up several flights of steps to a back wing of the house that overlooked an east-facing alleyway. Instead of my usual hollow in the rocks by the desecrated gravestones, I would sleep on a giant four-poster feather bed in a room with a roaring fire, in a house of humans who welcomed me happily and quickly as one of their own.

The vampire in me remained hungry and nervous. But that didn’t prevent the human in me from savouring a taste of the life I had lost.

CHAPTER 4

November 5, 1864

It feels like so long ago, but in reality little time has passed since my transformation, since my father killed me. It was barely a month past that Damon and I tried to save Katherine’s life, and her blood saved ours. Barely a month since I was a living, warm-blooded human, who sustained himself on meals of meat and vegetables, cheese and wine – and who slept in a feather bed, with clean linen sheets.