The funeral was three days later, and three days was not enough time to ready himself. In fact, by the time dusk fell on the day of the funeral, Mark was just barely getting out of bed for long periods of time.

“I’ll be with you the whole time,” Henry promised him, rubbing his shoulders, bringing him warm, fresh blood, and acting like an absolute pillar of strength.

Mark let Henry dress him. He’d lost all his belongings in the fire, though certainly not even a fraction of the money tied to his parents, and that included clothing. But before he had time to worry over the matter, Henry was helping him slide into a dashing black, freshly purchased suit that looked too much like the one his father had worn the last time Mark had seen him alive.

“Should I ask where you got this from at a time like this?” Mark asked, taking another sip from the glass of blood that was quickly going cold. The problem with fresh blood was that it never held its temperature. Though neither was Mark overly familiar with the taste of fresh blood. Mostly he and his siblings had been raised on the iron based supplements that most vampires consumed to sate the lust for blood. On special occasions fresh blood was brought in, and Mark had drunk form an actual person once in his life, but for the most part he found liquid blood to be too rich.

Right now, however, it rallied him a bit. It made him feel invincible, for the hardest moment of his life to date.

“Amber,” Henry said easily. “She called up one of her girls. It was all consensual, don’t worry, and the girl was paid well. All parties are satisfied.”

Mark felt the blood coat his teeth and slide across his tongue. “I don’t want to go.”

“I know,” Henry sighed behind him, running a brush through his hair. “And I’d rather be anywhere else in the world, too. If we were a little more cowardly, we could run away together. But you have to be there, and I’ll be damned if I let you go alone.”

“It should be a small affair,” Mark grumbled, the blood making him feel a little sleepy even though the moon was rising. “Family only. Not these other people.”

“These other people,” Henry said patiently, not pausing as Amber pushed open the door, “are your parent’s friends, their business partners, their contacts, and their subjects. That last part is especially important, Mark. They’ll be yours now.”

He didn’t want any subjects. He only wanted to crawl back in bed and block out the world.

“Ready?” Amber asked, a little anxious in her tone.

Henry nodded. “We are. Can you call for the car?”

They rode for a short while, Amber, Henry and Mark squished together on one seat, feet touching, thighs pressed to thighs, fingers brushing.

The funeral, much to Mark’s distain, was far too big. Hundred of vampires packed the ceremonial space, all dressed in their respective family colors, Mark standing out as the mourning party in his colorless suit.

He stood at the front, head down, feeling all eyes on himself. There were five ceremonial caskets, all empty, and pictures of each family member above them respectively. Mark could hardly bring himself to identify the order they’d been placed in, symbolizing each piece of Mark that was now missing. Five pieces.

All the while Henry and Amber each stood on a side, sometimes keeping him upright as the traditional rites of passing were demonstrated.

An hour later, with candles burning low and Mark fighting the urge to scream, the ceremony was over.

And he was being hugged by a long line of distant, but blood tied members of the family.

“My dear, Mark,” his Aunt Yuna eased out. She was his father’s sister and he rarely saw much of her, usually only at Christmas time every other year. She had in tow with her two of his many cousins from his father’s side of the family. They were both much younger than him and obviously struggling to understand the importance of the funeral rites. “How are you holding up?”

He wanted to snap at her .What kind of stupid question was that? His mother and father and sisters and brother were all dead. They were ash now, and he would never see them or hug them or even talk to them again. How could he be anything but distraught?

“I’m fine,” he said, simply hoping she’d leave him alone eventually.

“We’re taking care of him, Aunt Yuna,” Henry cut in, almost protectively, taking control of the conversation. “Lady Amber and I are caring for him with the utmost delicacy, as the situation calls for.”

As if sensing her cue, Amber cut in, “Lord Henry is correct. You should place your faith in us concerning Lord Mark’s heath and welfare.”

This seemed to be more than enough for his Aunt who shuffled off to accept condolences from other funeral attendees.

“Can I leave yet?” Mark asked, already feeling worn so thin.

“Mark,” Amber eased out, her hand rubbing across his shoulder blades. “You still have to accept your family’s urn.”

Of course. The Urn. Mark had spent at least forty minute staring at it, willing it to burst into flames and be gone from sight. He’d be expected to take it with him and stick it up on a shelf, pointing it out to company he entertained in the future. It seemed a ridiculous ritual that Mark hated. But it made think of the urns that had been in his house before it had … burned to the ground. Generations of family member’s last ashes had been lost in the fire as well.

“I’ll get it for you,” Amber said. “And then we can go. No one will expect you to stick around. Not with Henry’s father still in such a delicate condition and the magnitude of your loss.”

Henry’s hand pressed to Mark’s forehead and he said, “I don’t like how clammy you look. I’m going to go call for the car. Amber should be back by then. Stay here, okay?” Henry gave his hand a quick squeeze and then disappeared into the crowd.

Mark looked back to the empty caskets. Even if their tradition had been burial, like many humans preferred, there would have only been three bodies to fill the caskets. No matter what, there’d have only been ash.

“You have my condolences, Lord Mark.”

Mark turned at the new voice, readying to wave off the newcomer. He couldn’t take any more sympathy or he was simply going to explode .Mark was sure of it.

“I …” he paused, head cocked a little at the man standing in front of him. “Thank you?”

The man, brown hair curling across his forehead, offered, “I’m certain you have had your fill of condolences, but all the same, gentlemanly conduct requires it.” Then the man tipped forward, bowing a bit to Mark. “You have suffered a terrible loss, but I have a feeling you’ll be stronger for it in the end. I look forward to that end.”

There was something absolutely mesmerizing about the vampire in front of him. All vampires had a pull of some sort, but this one was exceptional. He was overly attractive, his stance exuding confidence and something refined. Mark was usually pretty good at picking out the older vampires, even the ones that still looked like they were teens, but there was no guessing with the one in front of him. He could have been twenty or a hundred.

“I’m sorry,” Mark said, remembering his manners. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced properly.” And this vampire certainly seemed important. Not just because he was being flanked by two exceptionally imposing vampires who were no doubt bodyguards.

“Of course not,” the vampire said, a half smile pulling at his mouth. “We wouldn’t have. Not yet. Though I was familiar with your sister Grace. Her loss is a personal grief for me. One I daresay even you might not understand.”

“Excuse me?” Mark demanded. Who was this man to say that Grace’s death was any more terrible for him that it was for Mark?

“Mark!”

Mark turned away from the vampire to see Henry threading his way crowd.

“I didn’t move,” Mark said, feeling as if he needed to remind his cousin that he wasn’t quite the child he was apparently being treated like. “I was just talking to …” When Mark turned back the vampire was gone, as were the two with him.

Henry looked around. “Talking to who? Was someone bothering you?”

“No,” Mark said right away. “At least I don’t think so.” He scanned the crowd again, searching almost frantically for the face he’d memorized in only a few short seconds. “I was talking to him there.”

Mark pointed and Henry paled. “You were speaking to Lord Kyuhyun?”

Mark startled. “That was Lord Kyuhyun?”

Henry eased out a chuckle. “You were speaking to him and you didn’t even know who he was?”

“He didn’t exactly introducing himself,” Mark said, feeling guilty. He wanted to go find Kyuhyun and apologize profusely. He’d never met Kyuhyun in person but he was very aware of who he was. If Grace had lived, he and Kyuhyun would have been brothers eventually.

“Back,” Amber announced, coming to them with the god awful urn in her hands. She handed it delicately to Mark and didn’t release her grip on it until she seemed confident that he wasn’t going to let it smash to the floor.

Mark was half tempted, just to see the faces of the people around him.

“Let’s go home,” Henry said, prodding Mark. “You should rest.”

For the next two weeks all Mark did was lay around, shuffling about in a depressed state, begging off Henry and Amber at every turn. He put the urn on the shelf across from his bed so it was the first thing he saw when he woke up in the morning and the last thing before he went to sleep at night. It was ugly and he hated it, but he couldn’t live without it. He had to keep his family as close as possible.

On the third week Amber had to return to her family. Mark watched from his bedroom window as she and Henry kissed in the driveway, hands everywhere. They’d be seeing each other in a very short while, but Mark thought it had to be difficult to be separated from the person you were in love with, for even a second. So Mark let the issue ride, and said nothing to Henry.

Then, finally, on the fourth week since the death of his family, Mark’s uncle was recovered enough to sit with them at dinner for the first time.

Movements still slow, though he was miraculously recovered even for a vampire who’d had his throat ripped out, his uncle said, “I’ve come to a decision about your future, Mark.”

Mark looked up from his steak. It was exceptionally rare and delicious. He wondered if his uncle had requested the meal specifically. “Yes?”

Gently, his uncle said, “There are too many difficult memories for you here at the moment. Time will dull the pain, but for now you’ve been enrolled with Henry at Hawthorne Academy for the new semester.”

Mark blinked in surprise. “In California?”

His uncle gave a nod. “You’ll both begin next week. Henry will take care of you, Mark. He’s familiar with the curriculum and you’re a very smart boy.”

Henry waved at Mark with a grand smile. “Don’t look so worried. It’s basically like a giant daycare for vampire teens and young adults. Or like a preserve. Think of it like a protected area.”

Was that what they were? And endangered species in need of protection? Before the death of his family at the hands of humans, Mark had never thought of his species as endangered, though it probably was. There were fewer and fewer vampires each year, some violating the treaty and having to be put down, others going mad with age, and some simply dying off in other instances. They were passing faster than being born. And unlike the superstitious myths the humans liked the spread around, they couldn’t go making more of themselves through any kind of conversion process. Vampires most certainly were born, and produced no other way.

“It is protected land,” his uncle cut in, reassurance in his voice. “The Academy is located away from the human population and under strict protection from both the council and the humans themselves. Regardless of the fact that we will very well live to see the grandchildren of the humans being born today, you yourselves are still children, currently vulnerable, and you will be protected at the Academy.”

Mark inquired, “There are no humans at all?”

“Not on campus,” Henry said. “But they throw some wicked parties in town and we always get invited. We’re the life of the party, ironically enough.”

“Henry,” his uncle said, a terrible look on his face. “What have I told you about consorting with humans? It’s bad enough you’re forced to mingle with those half breeds at the academy, but humans?”

Mark made sure to keep his eyes to the plate in front of him and say nothing about the humans. Humans were absolutely the only topic Mark had never been able to bring up in the company of his uncle. And part of Mark wondered how Henry could.

Though … weren’t they in the same situation now? Four weeks ago Mark’s family had been murdered by humans, and ten years ago Henry’s mother had met the same fate.

“I’m not consorting with them,” Henry bit out. “They throw parties. That’s all.”

“Stay away from humans,” his uncle snapped. “As if recent events haven’t given you cause enough!”

Mark wondered if he’d even be able to look at a human again and not think of his sister and brother burning, or his parents and Grace bleeding out.

“Mark?”

“I won’t,” Mark squeaked out, mentally berating himself. “I won’t go near the humans.”

“I know you won’t,” his uncle said, looking less severe and more tired. “But we need to speak about something equally as important.”

“Okay,” he said uneasily.

The topic, however, waited until their meal was finished and Henry had slunk off to his room to likely call Amber. Meanwhile his uncle led him to his nearby study and said carefully, “You must realize at this point that your status has changed.”

“Status,” he echoed.

His uncle arched an eyebrow. “You were third in line, Mark, before this terrible event. Your sister had been bred since birth to inherit her position, and Tammy was equally aware that such responsibility could fall to her in the worst case scenario. You lived a carefree existence because they were born before you, but that’s no longer the case. You are your mother’s heir now.”

It felt like an insult to be called the heir. He was absolutely no heir. He knew nothing about vampire politics, hadn’t even been introduced yet, and had no interest in representing his bloodline.

“But I--”

“There’s no debating it,” his uncle said snappishly. “And you are no longer just a lord. You’re a prince now, Mark, and people will treat you accordingly. You aren’t at your maturity yet, but the second you are, you will be the head of this family. Are you understanding what I’m saying?”

“No,” Mark said, sliding down a little in his chair. “Why not you?”

There was no mistaking the way his uncle was gritting his teeth as he said, “Because Your mother was our father’s heir. She was born first, which placed her into the line of succession before myself. Your sister was your mother’s heir until she passed, and now it falls to you. The line of succession continues through children.”

“I’m not a prince,” Mark ground out, even if he knew technically now, being able to trace his blood back to the first vampire, and being the only child left of his parents, he was.

“The others withheld calling you that at the funeral out of respect for your sister who had been the princess, but they won’t now. And people will flock to you because of your title. Few of them will be authentic in their attentions towards you.”

Mark swallowed hard. “Will I have to join the council?”

Slowly his uncle nodded. “When you are of age, you will represent this family as the head of the fourth family in the eyes of the council. Each of the families must be represented within the council. But your birthday and subsequent introduction to vampire society is still months away, so I will act as your proxy until you’re of age.”

“What does that mean?” Mark asked carefully.

His uncle waved off, “I will attend council meetings in your name, observe the traditions and requirements for our family, and then relay back to you anything important. If a vote must be cast in any situation you’ll tell me which way to cast it. Clear?”

Mark gave a tired nod. This was the last thing he wanted. The last thing he needed. And for the first time he was absolutely angry that his family had died. He now had to be something he wasn’t, and navigate a minefield of trouble.

“Mark,” his uncle said, voice dropping, “Henry’s school is safe from a human presence, but not from a vampire one. None of the other students would dare attack you physically, but you will be a target to them. Some of them will try to use you, and others will try to trick you. Few of them will actually be worth your time and loyalty, and all of them will want something from you.”

“Then why send me?” Why couldn’t he just continue at his old school? Or study from home?

His uncle stood and moved to stand in front of him. With his hands on Mark’s shoulders, he leaned down, fangs peeking out. “Because as I said, you are a prince now. You are a prince among lords, and one day you may very well be a king. You will need support and friends you can trust. There are alliances to be made, connections to be forged, and even your future enemies will be at this school. Better that you know them now, than when they strike at you in the years to come.”

Mark slumped forward, rubbing his hands across his face. “I got a C in government last year. I’m not meant for this.”

“We manage the cards we’re dealt,” his uncle said, taking a step back. “No matter how little we like them.”

“I don’t like them at all,” he with a slight whine.

“Mark.” His uncle looked so much like his mother, so fair faced and beautiful, that Mark found it hard to concentrate on him. “There are so few of us left. So few vampires. Before the first human conflict we could have taken control and culled them down into manageable numbers. We could have been the superior race that we were meant to be. Now we are struggling to survive. Keep all the warnings I’ve given you in mind when you go to the Academy, but also remember that each and every vampire you meet is precious. Each is your brother or sister, and at least to some degree, worthy of your consideration.”

This, Mark understood emphatically, was where the rift had developed between his uncle and his father. His mother had always tried to straddle the growing divide between them, but there’d been no getting around their very significant differences of opinion. His uncle regarded humans as chattel. His father, on the other hand, considered them a species meant to coexist with their own.

“I will, uncle,” Mark said, because there was nothing else he could. There was so much to be thankful for towards his uncle. The man had taken him in, even with his own health so perilous and his own grief to consider, and made it clear that Mark would have a place with him as long as he wanted it. The least Mark thought he could do was not stir up any kind of philosophical trouble.

Then his uncle startled him by saying, “However, do not associate yourself with the mixed bloods, or rather, as little as possible. You are a lord turned prince, Mark. You have the blood of the first vampire in your veins. You are a pureblood and above others. In comparison, the mixed bloods are dirty. Dirt beneath your nails is the worst you should allow.”

Mark’s mouth went a little dry. “Uncle.”

“Never misunderstand,” his uncle continued. “A vampire, mixed blood or not, will always reign superior over a human. But a pure blood and a mixed blood are not the same. They are not ever within range of each other. Surround yourself with your fellow pure bloods and keep the mixed beneath your feet, where they belong.”

For the first time, Mark felt a spark of fear. His uncle actually sounded quite mad.

Six days later Mark was actually quite glad his uncle wasn’t well enough to make the journey with them to Hawthorne Academy in California.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” Henry promised him. “No one will give you any grief, and if anyone is stupid enough to even attempt it, you tell me right away.”

They were coming up on the school fairly fast, cutting through a dense forest that more than anything acted a barrier between the vampire and human population.

Henry surprised him by saying, “Don’t you remember Grace went to Hawthorne?”

Eyes widening, Mark shook his head.

“She did,” Henry insisted. “You were probably too young to remember, but she did, for high school. And she could have stayed on for the college classes that Hawthorne offers, but I think your parents wanted her closer to them. But the point is, she went to Hawthorne. She left her mark on the place, and you will too.”

“Do a lot of vampire families send their children to schools like Hawthorne?”

Henry shrugged. “Maybe the pureblood families. Most of them have duties to the council. Almost all the purebloods you’ll meet at Hawthorne will be from families directly connected to the council. I think everyone else sends their kids to private schools like Hawthorne because it’s the safest place for us before our introduction, and then before we grow into our powers.”

Sullenly, Mark couldn’t help voicing, “I haven’t gotten any of mine.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Henry patted him on the knee and laughed a little. “I had my introduction four years ago and I’m just starting to get mine. You’ll get there, Mark. But we don’t advertise this to the humans for a reason. We might be powerful as adults, but as children we’re easy marks. Hawthorne, more than anything else, is heavily protected because we’re easier to hurt at this age. No human has ever breached Hawthorne, for example, and I doubt they’ll start now. It just never hurts to be careful.”

It was true that Mark was feeling just a little better. But he still had to say, “I’ve never boarded away from home.” It was a scary thought, living in cold, sterile room that wasn’t his. Even if he’d lost everything in the fire, his uncle had spent the past month steadily building up a collection of possessions that were now his. Most of them were frivolous purchases, but Mark appreciated the sentiment.

“You’ll be right across from me in Hall A, Mark. Father already worked it out with Headmaster Kim. Your door will be directly adjacent to mine and if you have any problems or get scared for any reasons you can come get me right away. Got it?”

The school came into view and Mark’s answer to Henry absolutely fell away. Because the school was mammoth. It sprawled everywhere, with buildings of every size and shape, painted in a soft blue with while trim. And the more they drove the more Mark could see the tennis courts, soccer fields, several baseball diamonds, basketball courts, a swimming pool and endless amenities.

“Breathe,” Henry teased. “Breathe, Mark. I know it’s a little overwhelming.”

Their car stopped at what obviously was the front entrance to the school and there was an elderly man waiting for them. He looked a little anxious as Mark’s door was opened and he was escorted out by Henry.

“This is the headmaster,” Henry introduced, pulling Mark forward a little. “Headmaster Kim, this is my cousin, Prince Mark.”

Mark blushed furiously at the designation, and the way the headmaster bowed immediately and deeply, quickly vocalizing how happy he was to have them. Mark wondered how Grace had dealt with being called a princess at every turn, and how had their mother handled even more?

Soon enough he and Henry were following the headmaster through the school on the most boring tour Mark had ever experienced in his life. Henry looked equally as bored, hands behind his head, starting to fall behind after only a few seconds.

“Up ahead,” the headmaster droned on, leading them down a long hallway, “we’ll visit the dormitories first. You’ll be in Hall A, Prince Mark.” Mark sighed and was at least hopeful the prince title wouldn’t completely follow him around when he made friends. Outside of formal introductions, serious situations and council business, no one would call him such if he asked them not to. “This building has been completely refurbished within the past five years to include every amenity you could possibly wish for .However, if you find you are lacking in any way, I will personally make it my duty to see that--”

Mark blocked the headmaster out completely.

His room was the first thing he saw. He’d irrationally feared in the beginning that he’d be forced to share with someone but he was pleased to see that he had a single room, with a small kitchenette, lavishly decorated bedroom, bathroom, and even a sitting room to entertain.

“I’m right here,” Henry said, making sure Mark was following his line of sight to the door across the hall.

“It’s nice,” Mark finally replied, seeing the headmaster nearly desperate for his opinion. “It’ll be fine.”

The headmaster let out a low sigh. “I’m glad you’re pleased, Prince Mark.”

His anger was only growing with each passing second. He wanted his life from before. He wanted his old school where no one cared what kind of vampire he was, where he came from or even that his parents served on the council. He wanted to go to school during the night and then come home to sleep during the day in a house full of love and family. He wanted his old friends and his old bedroom and he hated everything he was being forced to endure now. He hated everything. All of it.

“We’ll move on to the classrooms,” the headmaster droned on.

“Hey,” Henry said lowly from his side. “I think I just spotted Amber.”

Mark looked sharply for the short haired girl and found her clustered around four other girls, all of them waving not so covertly in their direction.

“You can go,” Mark said, already sensing Henry’s desperation.

“I should--”

“You should go,” Mark said. “I have a feeling this tour is going to be long. Catch up with us later, and tell Amber I said hi.”

Mark raced to catch up with the headmaster who was pulling ahead and made a point not to look back for Henry or Amber.

“At Hawthorne,” the headmaster said, leading them to the more academic focused area of the school, “you have the freedom to study whatever you so choose. Required classes will be mandatory, of course, but we offer a staggeringly wide selection of electives and club activities. Tomorrow we’ll see to setting up your schedule exactly the way you prefer it. We will accommodate you, Prince Mark. You are, of course, our most esteemed guest at the moment.”

Mark clenched down his anger again.

Instead of lashing out, Mark asked, “Where are all the students?” He’d seen a couple dozen of them outside when he and Henry had arrived, and there’d been a handful more in the student dorms, but far fewer than he’d expected to see. Especially since dusk had only just fallen and most vampire activities were just getting started.

“Classes don’t officially start until tomorrow,” he headmaster said, pushing through big double doors to take them outside. “You’d be surprised how few of our students aren’t on campus until mere hours before. By tomorrow this place will be filled to capacity, but you may take advantage of its emptiness at the moment. It won’t be this quiet again until the end of the semester.”

The sporting facilities were ahead, which the headmaster insisted could absolutely accommodate any type of extracurricular program he wanted.

“I used to take martial arts,” Mark volunteered, looking over the track and field area. “For self defense.”

For the most part his parents had let him live an ordinary life. There had been plenty of bodyguards everywhere, and his activities were always closely monitored, but otherwise, he was like everyone else. Until he’d been much older, Mark hadn’t even know what it meant to be a pureblood council family, or the reverence it demanded from other vampires. He hadn’t known his family was special in any way until someone had tried to kidnap his little brother as a kid. And then suddenly Mark had found himself in a martial arts class, not being able to leave home without an , and faced with increasingly overprotective parents.

He’d give anything to have their suffocating reach over him again.

Because they’d always known. They’d known the dangers that existed in the world. And everything they had done, all the precautions taken, had been just to keep them all alive for a little longer.

Speaking of …

“You’ve had men shadowing us?” Mark asked. From the corner of his eye he could see shadowed forms, just keeping back enough to not be in the way, but close enough to act if necessary.

“Actually,” the headmaster said, leading on, “they’re your men. And your uncle’s.
Your uncle was very clear that you’re to be protected from all potential threats.”

The men guarding his sister and brother at the house hadn’t been much use. So why would Mark feel different about the men now following him?

“Fine,” Mark said, too weary to fight the issue. He’d save it for another day, or the next time he talked to his uncle.

They were just passing by the basketball courts when Mark caught the sound of voices yelling. Brief panic jolted through him, but then he realized the yells were friendly, and they belonged to six boys caught up in a basketball game.

Mark found himself drifting over.

They looked so normal and carefree, tossing the basketball between them, bickering good naturedly. They were obviously friends and they touched each other carelessly, the way that Henry touched Mark.

“Hey! Kid!”

Something solid hit Mark’s ankle and he looked down. The basketball had rolled towards him and the six boys were waiting for him to toss it back.

“Got it,” he called out to them, rolling the ball back up into his hands. He bounced it experimentally in front of him a few times, then zeroed in on the basket at the far end of the court. He primed himself, drawing in a deep breath, then arced the ball up and watched it pass through the net with a soft whoosh.

“No cheating!” came the immediate reply. One of the boys was charging over to him in an instant, another one behind him. “You know the rules. The court is vampire ability free. Only actual skills allowed.”

Mark ventured a quick look to the headmaster who was almost out of sight and hadn’t noticed he wasn’t there, and then told the two boys, “I wasn’t cheating.” He didn’t know the rules, but he also hadn’t been using his enhanced sight or strength to calculate the exact force and angle to toss the ball. His hand eye coordination just came naturally to him. More naturally than being a vampire.

The first boy asked slowly, “You didn’t use your vampire abilities?”

Mark shook his head and the second barked out, “Total bull.”

He maybe should have been a little intimidated by the second boy, but instead he just felt challenged. And it was a good feeling. So he snapped back, “Get me the ball again and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll do it again. You can check for all the obvious signs, including pupil dilation.”

“Okay,” the first boy said, turning to dash for the ball.

“You can’t fool me,” the second boy warned. “No one has that much natural skill.”

Mark found himself genuinely smiling for the first time since … probably the death of his family. “Then you’re about to have your pants blown off.”

The boy slowly returned his smile and said quietly, “It’s an experience I look forward, I assure you.”

Mark was fighting a blush by the time the first boy tossed the basketball back to him, and then it was on.

He made his next shot, but missed the one afterwards, and somehow, without Mark or the other boys asking, they were playing a full game.

“You’re good!” the smart mouthed boy shouted at Mark as Mark cut around him, dribbling furiously, easily bypassing the block set up by the other’s bigger body. “Really good!”

Mark jumped, launching the ball up towards the net. As it sailed through smoothly he said, “I was on my old school’s basketball team. No vampire powers allowed there, either.”

“Well,” the boy said, giving Mark a long once over, the kind that had Mark’s heart pumping a little faster and his knees threatening to turn to mush, “I’ve got to have you.”

“Enough talking!” one of the boys shouted, in possession of the ball. “More play of the actual game. Jackson! You’re a terrible flirt!”

The boy, Jackson, winked at Mark. “For the school team, of course! I’m captain!”

Four on three they played a quick, furious game, Mark leaning their names through them calling to each other and their actual game play style.

Jackson went big and bold. There were no fake outs from him or attempts to trick Mark during the game. Jaebum, who everyone called JB, was a power house of a defender who worked in perfect tandem with Jinyoung, who apparently got very mad when people didn’t call him JR. Those two, Mark had a suspicion, were closer than mere friends.

BamBam, the kid with the pink patch of color in his hair, was lightening fast and had stolen the ball from Mark three times before he caught on that it was YoungJae and his fancy footwork that was making it possible. Or maybe it was Yugyeom’s impressive dribbling and absolute style that was the distraction BamBam needed.

The game lasted less than five minutes, and by the end Mark had a huge smile splitting across his face, sweat gathering on his forehead and six new people he thought he could call friends.

“Good game,” JB said, reaching out to shake Mark’s hand. “And Jackson runs his mouth a lot, but he isn’t lying when he says he’s captain of the team. If you’re looking for something to join, come to tryouts.”

“Tryouts?” Jackson cut in, swinging an easy arm around Mark’s neck like they’d been friends forever. It was uncomfortable for a minute, then Mark relished in the feeling. “This kid is totally on the team.”

“Formalities,” JB pressed.

For a second, Mark thought he was flying. He was tugged away from Jackson so fast his feet left the ground and he was pulled against a solid form that turned out to be his cousin Henry. His seething, absolutely vicious looking cousin Henry.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he all but roared at the new friends Mark had made.

“Having a game with the new kid,” JB answered, but Mark could detect the slight fear creeping on his face.

“Kid?” Henry shouted, the headmaster jogging up behind them, absolutely radiating panic. “This is my cousin. This is Prince Mark and he is the new head of the fourth family. You have no right to touch him, let alone occupy the same space as him!”

Mark’s world felt smashed to pieces, like a hammer to a window, watching the faces of his new friends fall. And then their bodies were falling, dropping to their knees in submission, heads bowing, JB speaking for all of them, pleading for forgiveness.

“Henry,” Mark tried, but was startled into quietness as Henry rounded on the headmaster, shouting at him about Mark’s safety.

Mark wanted to plead with Jackson to look at him. To look up at him and see how sorry he was that Henry was making such a scene and embarrassing him more than he ever had been in his life.

“If anything happens to him,” Henry shouted at the headmaster, destroying Mark’s nerves, “it’ll be on your head. My father will be coming for you personally!”

“Henry.” Amber’s firm voice cut across the court, her appearance unexpected but welcomed.

She didn’t say any more and it seemed to be enough, Henry tugging Mark’s hand into his own. “We’re going now.”

Mark snapped angrily, Henry pulling him along strongly, “It was just a game of basketball! What’s wrong with you!”

“It’s not!” Henry responded, not slowing down in the least bit. “You just don’t understand yet. But you will.”

Mark tried desperately to strain for the sight of Jackson one last time, with his larger than life bravado, amazing confidence, and handsome face. But Henry pulled him around a sudden corner and Mark lost sight of the basketball court completely. And also maybe the only friends he’d ever made so easily in his life.