“Oh, do you like…” She trailed off, and Brigid looked up to see Emily digging two fingers into her neck like fangs. “I mean, I never have, but I’ve always wondered. It’s supposed to be ama—”

“No!” Brigid could feel her face heat and her temper begin to rise. She looked back at the tea and carefully calmed herself. “I’m not into that, either. I may wear a lot of black, but that doesn’t mean I like to… you know.”

“Okay.” Emily leaned back against the couch and looked around again. “So, Brigid Connor, are you always like this?”

Brigid blinked and looked up. “Like what?”

Emily looked like she was about to laugh, but it didn’t seem mocking. “Prickly?”

Brigid let out a breath and set down the mug she was crushing in her hand. “Honestly? Yes.”

“Ah.”

“But I’m trying very hard not to be.”

“If you don’t want company—”

“No!” She squeezed her eyes closed and concentrated on breathing for a moment to cool her temper. “No, that’s part of why I came here, you know?”

“To school?”

“And to the city. To… meet new people. Get out of my comfort zone a bit. Try new things.”

A cautious look of understanding crossed Emily’s face, and Brigid relaxed. “Well, that’s good. I’d like for us to be friends.”

Brigid bit the inside of her lip again and nodded as the kettle started to whistle. She quickly poured the water and looked back up to Emily with a smile. “I’d like that, too.”

January 2005

“Come on, Brig! End of first week. We need to go out.”

“No, you go ahead. I’m just going to…”

“What?” Emily lounged on her sofa as Brigid grabbed two drinks from the fridge. An ale for her and a cider for Emily. “What are you going to do, Brigid Connor? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. Nothing. It’s Friday night, you’re a gorgeous twenty-year-old girl who’s just celebrated her birthday, and you’re going to hide in your cave, listen to depressing music, and read a book. Maybe write some bad poetry.”

Brigid rolled her eyes. “Why do I like you?”

“Because I make you go out for fun.”

“I just don’t feel like being around people right now.”

“You never feel like being around people. That’s the point of all this, right? Have a drink. Loosen up a bit, then we’ll go out to this new club I keep hearing about. It’ll be good craic and we need some fun. You’ll love it.”

Brigid sneered. “No I won’t.”

Emily paused. “Okay, you won’t. But it’ll be good for you. It’s a nice place. Not too crowded. Maybe we can dance a little. Meet some guys.”

“Emily…” Brigid tried to keep her temper. Her first week of second term had been brutal. She knew she was pushing herself, but she was finally taking some classes that challenged her. She was exhausted, but invigorated as well. Maybe…

“If I was as pretty as you, I’d have men eating out of my hand. I don’t care what crazy color you dye your hair, the hot guys always notice you.”

“Right, they just don’t touch. And at least you have breasts.”

“And a huge butt. And chubby thighs. And—”

“Piss off. You get plenty of attention, Em.”

Emily whined. “I won’t get any attention unless we go out!”

She sighed. The few occasions during first term that Emily had dragged her to the numerous pubs or clubs of the Temple Bar nearby hadn’t been all that bad. As long as she could keep some distance from the more crowded clubs where people pressed up against her, she could keep her anxiety from getting out of control. And with the right amount of alcohol, she could almost have fun. She looked at the bottle of beer in her hand and quickly drank it.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

Emily bolted up with a huge grin. “Really?”

“Really. I’ve conquered going to classes. Maybe this should be my project this term.”

“Yes!” Emily stood and did a little happy dance around the room, pulling her friend up into a quick hug. Brigid tensed instinctively, then deliberately tried to relax. She held her arms around her friend. One second. Two seconds. Three.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

“That was good! Have a few more beers and eventually you might get laid.”

“Shut the feck up, and let’s go before I change my mind.”

“Oh…” Brigid peered into the flashing lights of the club and began to back away. “Oh no.”

She felt Emily’s hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Inside.”

“Too loud. Too crowded.”

“It’s Friday night. Of course it’s crowded.”

She could feel her heart begin to pound. “Emily, this isn’t a good idea.”

“It is, it is. Let’s get you a drink and we’ll hang out for a while. It’s most crowded on the dance floor, see? We don’t have to dance; we’ll just get a booth.” Emily shoved her inside after giving a wink to the bouncer at the door. Brigid wondered if this was one of Murphy’s clubs. Seeing numerous people from Parliament House scattered around, along with a few trolling vampires, made her think it was.

To most people, the elegant immortals wouldn’t be obvious. But Brigid had spent the previous ten years of her life living among earth and water vampires, the two most common types. All of the elements, earth, water, wind, and fire—not that she’d ever met a rare fire vampire—shared recognizable characteristics to the eyes of a knowledgeable human. Brigid could spot their preternatural grace and carefully concealed speed. A crackle of energy, their amnis, always surrounded them, and they avoided modern technology that would short out if they got too close.