The boardwalk burned with neon and noise, alive with music that bled into the crash of waves below the pier. Crowds drifted past in restless currents, laughter mixing with cigarette smoke and salt air while the night stretched endlessly over Santa Carla.

You moved through it all like you belonged to the dark itself.

Because you did.

Paul’s arm hung lazily across your shoulders as the group walked, his grin bright with whatever nonsense Marko had just said. Marko nearly stumbled laughing at his own joke, shoving Paul hard enough to earn an exaggerated curse in return. Dwayne walked close beside you, steady and watchful as always, while David lingered slightly ahead, pale eyes scanning the chaos of the boardwalk with quiet control.

To anyone watching, you looked untouchable.

And in many ways, you were.

The boys had known from the beginning there was something unusual about you.

Not just beauty.

Not just attraction.

Something deeper.

Vampires noticed you.

Felt you.

Your presence carried through the air like the sweetest scent imaginable to their kind—subtle to humans, intoxicating to vampires. Hunger sharpened around you. Instincts deepened. Attention lingered too long.

It had drawn the Lost Boys toward you years ago.

But it wasn’t why they stayed.

You had made sure of that.

You refused to be wanted for something you couldn’t control. Refused to become some obsession hollowed out by instinct alone. And over time, the boys proved themselves to you in ways pheromones never could. They learned you. Chose you. Loved you beyond the pull in their blood.

That mattered.

Which was why the feeling crawling up your spine now felt so wrong.

David slowed first.

Subtle.

But enough that the others noticed immediately.

Paul’s arm slipped from your shoulders.

Dwayne’s posture shifted.

Marko stopped laughing.

Across the boardwalk, standing near the entrance to an old nightclub drowned in crimson light, a group of strangers watched you.

Vampires.

You knew it instantly.

There were five of them, dressed too elegantly for Santa Carla, dark coats and silver jewelry catching the neon glow. They stood unnaturally still despite the crowds pushing around them, their attention fixed in one direction.

You.

One woman stood at the center of the group, severe beauty carved into sharp cheekbones and dark eyes. Beside her, a tall vampire with slicked-back hair tilted his head slowly, almost mesmerized.

The moment his gaze landed on you fully, something in his expression changed.

Recognition.

Hunger.

Reverence.

“Oh,” he murmured softly, the word nearly swallowed by the noise of the boardwalk. “There she is.”

Every muscle in Paul’s body tightened.

David went cold beside you.

The woman’s lips curved faintly as she studied you from across the crowd, eyes drifting briefly toward the boys around you before returning to your face.

“How strange,” she said calmly. “They kept her.”

Marko let out a quiet, dangerous laugh under his breath.

Dwayne stepped closer to your side.

The vampires across from you barely seemed to notice the warning in it.

They only kept staring.

Like they had finally found something they’d been searching for.

The tall vampire took one slow step forward, eyes never leaving yours.

“You don’t belong here,” he said smoothly.

Silence fell around your group.

Sharp.

Immediate.

And then David smiled.

It wasn’t friendly.

“Careful,” he said softly. “You’re talking about something that’s ours.”

The rival vampire’s expression didn’t change.

But his gaze flicked back to you with quiet fascination.

And when he spoke again, his voice sounded almost certain.

“We’ll see if she remembers that.”