I had two, maybe three weeks, to find some information about half-vampire children. It wasn't much at all; I had no time to waste if I didn't want to go to my first scan appointment unprepared, completely ignorant of what I should expect.

Who could know something about vampires and half-vampires here, in London? It's not a question I could ask Google, expecting to get a true and reliable answer... I mused as I moved some clothes along a tall, metal rack in one of the boutiques Lia kept dragging me around for nearly an hour now.

The hangers were making an unpleasant, scraping sound, making me wince. Apparently, I was in for another migraine; they have become as often and annoying as the nausea had been before. But there were some long skirts I needed to reach, hidden away at the far end of the rack, buried deeply among clothes that were not considered the most fashionable items of this season...

Suddenly, I tensed, feeling watched. I paused, then looked around, the short hair on the back of my neck standing to attention. I had had this feeling a few times since coming back from my other world, but until now it had been so weak and indistinct that every time it happened I managed to persuade myself that it hadn't been there at all.

Yesterday morning, for instance, when I walked outside alone, and the day before, too... Then last night at Luigi's, when I saw that strange man by the pond and...

As I turned around in a near complete circle, I almost bumped into Lucas, who materialized from among the tall clothes racks crowding the small shop.

"Hi girls!" he called cheerily as I tried to calm down my crazily beating heart.

"You mustn't scare her like that!" Lia scolded him, rushing to my side. "Are you all right, Sam?"

"I'm good, don't worry," I said, looking at her meaningfully, trying to suggest she shouldn't start talking about my condition in front of Lucas.

She nodded, then turned back to him. "What are you doing in this shop? It's for women only."

"I saw you from outside and wanted to say hello. Since your friend Anne practically moved into my flat, I thought we were friends." He grinned.

"You are right, Lucas," I said, feeling sorry for him. Anne wasn't the easiest person to get along with until you grew to love her and accepted her just the way she was. "I think we owe you at least a coffee. We are going for lunch now, do you want to join us?"

"But what about the other shop we were supposed to go to?" Lia asked, sounding disappointed while looking at my handbag, from which the baby shoes were sticking out slightly. The bag was so full of books and papers that it wouldn't close properly.

"We can do that next time. There's no rush," I told her, pushing the small package deeper inside my bag before Lucas noticed it. "It's getting late, anyway, I must go to work soon. Come on, you two." I made my way to the counter, two new long skirts in my arms, making Lia and Lucas follow.

We decided to dine in Paris. It was a decent place to eat and so close to the book shop that I wouldn't have to rush after.

As I was removing my coat before sitting down in a booth facing the fountain, I spotted William walking across the square towards the theatre. They must be rehearsing something, otherwise he wouldn't be out and about this early, I thought, hiding quickly behind Lia even as I realised that he couldn't possibly see me, unless he knew that I was inside the café, and looked for me purposely.

I pretended not to see Lucas' enquiring look as he took my coat, to hang it by the door together with his and Lia's.

The accidental touch of his hand against mine startled me. He was freezing. He is as cold as...

I looked in his eyes, feeling confused and intrigued, millions of thoughts and questions springing to my mind at the same time. He looked paler than the last time I had met him, and... different somehow.

He held my look for the shortest moment before walking away quickly with the coats, then disappearing towards the bathrooms. Only now did I realise how careful he had been not to touch me before. There was definitely something about Lucas. Maybe I should talk to him.

When he came back, a waiter was with us at the table, and I was too busy thinking about food to worry about Lucas. I was starving. Following Lia's advice, I ordered a tuna baguette and a salad. I finished my lunch long before Lia had eaten her tiny cheese sandwich, and Lucas, who was just picking at his hamburger and fries without interest.

I was about to start questioning Lucas' eating habits, not caring about Lia's presence or about what he would think about me in case I was completely wrong, when Lia reminded me how late it was.

So we said our goodbyes to Lucas, who held my look challengingly this time, and left him at the table to finish his lunch alone. Walking to the counter, we paid the receipt together, and I stuffed a small box of brownies Lia insisted I bought for later, in my handbag. It was so full now that it looked as if it would burst at any moment.

Lia hugged me in front of the café, reminding me to eat and keep calm. Then she walked across the square towards the theatre and the bus stop situated on the street running behind it, to wait for a bus heading for the hospital. She spent most of her free time there, around her mum and other doctors, learning all the secrets of her future job at first hand, as she said.

I walked in the opposite direction, around the corner, and towards the traffic lights. I couldn't resist looking inside the café as I passed by, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lucas, but he was already gone, his meal left unfinished on the table...

Is it possible that he is... a vampire? I mused as I crossed the road on the next green light. He always appeared so fast when I least expected him. He was strange, and cold, and apparently not keen on eating... solid food, at least. What a shame I didn't watch him more closely on the previous occasions! I must talk to him, I resolved, entering the book shop.

Jessica must have left early, I realised when I found Mr. Turner alone. As soon as I greeted him, a very loud and excited Anne rushed in through the door, causing our boss to raise his eyebrows in a sort of mute, appalled surprise.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Turner," she called, out of breath and giggling, her unkempt, pinkish-brown hair floating around her face in a wild disarray. "Can we have a minute, please? Come on, Sam, quick!" she called, pulling me behind her across the shop, towards our little kitchen.

"Sorry, Mr. Turner, we won't be long," I mumbled, confused by my friend's behaviour.

"I hope so, Miss Marlowe, you are here to work, not to gossip with your friend," he replied, turning back to his bookshelves.

"Oh Sam, I'm in love!" Anne started as soon as the door closed behind us. "Mark asked me to move over to his place, and I think I will."

I watched her in stunned silence as she removed her jacket, then took a hairbrush from her bag and brushed her hair quickly. She must have just gotten up, her clothes looked mismatched and her eyeliner was definitely the wrong colour to match the rest of her.

"Hmm... I think you should think this through, take your time, you two have only just met..." And your boyfriend's flatmate might be a vampire... I started to say, as she walked past me again, on her way back to the shop.

I put my bag on one of the chairs quickly, then took my coat off and followed her. On second thought, I turned around and went back for my Romanian history book and brownies. It was Sunday afternoon, and I knew from experience that the shop won't be busy until later, when the first theatre lovers would start gathering in the square for tonight's play. I will have time to read a few more pages.

"There's no need for you to move to his place; you live five minutes from each other, think!" I whispered to Anne as I walked past her, where she positioned herself by one of the bookshelves, on my way to the counter.

The early afternoon dragged on. Anne was organizing books and dusting the tall shelves while Mr. Turner entertained our few customers. Only two of them decided to actually buy something, so I busied myself reading while trying hard not to make Mr. Turner notice.

After the few first boring pages I had read before, the book got interesting fast. There were pages and pages about Petru Rareş, or Peter IV, the illegitimate child born to Stephen the Great, becoming twice voievod of Moldavia.

So Petru Rareş had been a prince, too. Wow. Who would have said that? Maybe that's the reason why Petru was so jealous, even invidious of Vlad. Because unlike him, Vlad got to keep his title, at least in their world, for centuries.

There was a lot about Jusztyna, too. And Vlad and Justyna, and their three sons. I skipped that part, looking at a portrait of Justyna filling the following page instead. Whoever painted it, got her hair colour all wrong. Her long, wavy hair was dark brown in the book, not the platinum blonde I remembered from our encounter. I shivered involuntarily at the memory.

If the historians got her hair colour wrong, who knows what else they confused... I mused, eating my second brownie carefully, trying to avoid any crumbs falling on the book.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I jumped when Anne approached me suddenly.

"Here's your prince!" she whisper-yelled in my ear, causing the last piece of my brownie to land on Justyna's face.

I brushed it off fast, making the crumbs fall on the floor, my hand trembling. I found myself hoping against all hope that when I'll raise my eyes, I'll see Vlad entering the shop, coming to take me home.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I looked toward the door longingly and saw... my ex-boyfriend, resembling more Petru Rareş than Prince William, just walking in through the doorway.

What did you expect?! I screamed at myself, my heart beating wildly while I felt my face flush with angry disappointment.

William entered, let go of the door so it shut behind him on its own, then closed the distance separating us in a few graceful strides. I just managed to hide the book in its nook under the counter when he walked around it, then grabbed my hand, pulling me up to my feet and in a tight embrace.

As I tried to push him away, I looked around, feeling embarrassed. I noticed Anne's gape and Mr. Turner's frown, not sure which of the two was making me feel worse.

"William, let go of me!" I hissed when I couldn't disentangle myself from his arms. "Keep your... histrionics for your girlfriend or your audience. I don't care."

"Hello. I missed you," he murmured in my ear before finally releasing me.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Turner, he's leaving!" I called towards my boss, who only shook his head before turning away from us.

Anne giggled and disappeared somewhere into the dark shadows filling the back of the shop.

"What do you want from me, William?" I asked, turning back to him, my voice shaking with suppressed anger. He had no right to reappear in my life, my new life, now. Nothing was as it had been before. He didn't belong with me anymore.

"You don't respond to my messages. I'm here to see why," he said, his eyes scanning me from head to toe, considering my new look. I noticed his eyebrows lift with surprise at seeing my long, velvet skirt in the place of my usual tight jeans.

I crossed my arms across my chest defensively before replying, "I didn't respond because I had nothing to say to you. You shouldn't have come here."

I didn't realise I was frowning until he touched my forehead gently, trying to smooth away my wrinkles.

"Why are you so upset with me, Mara love?" he asked softly, using the pet name he invented for me during the two years we had spent together.

It made my anger boil even more, and I stepped away from him quickly, bumping into the counter.

"William, leave!" I called, a bit too loudly, my voice filling the silent void among the bookshelves towering around us. "You left me, remember? We are not together anymore. You have no right..."

A bout of fake cough and the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted me mid-sentence.

"Maybe you and your boyfriend would like to step outside for a while? Take a few minutes' break, Miss Marlowe. But make sure to tell him not to come back here when you are working."

"Thank you, Mr. Turner. But he is not my boyfriend," I told him, blushing again, then turned to William. "Come!"

I made for the front door, expecting him to follow, but he just stood there, rooted to the spot. That was so typical of William; I knew he was going to make my life a hell unless I did what he wanted. I walked back, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out of the shop, into the freezing mist of the late afternoon.

"You'll make me lose my job!" I exclaimed, my breath clouding around me shortly, before it dissolved into the surrounding fog. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my body, seeking warmth. But as William came closer and tried to pull me in his arms to warm me up, I stepped away from him again.

He only shook his head, starting to look frustrated by my behaviour. Bringing his right hand to his chin, he let his fingers travel over both sides of his closely shaved jaw. It was such a familiar gesture; I knew it too well. He was at a loss, considering what to do next.

"I never understood why you even bother working in this place. Your parents are rich," William said after a while.

"My parents, maybe. Not me. I'm moving out, I'll need my own money," I announced.

This conversation is absolutely useless. Why am I even talking to him? I thought. Why can't he just go away and leave me in peace...

"What? How many times did I ask you to move out with me, and you never agreed, Mara? You never wanted to move to my place, to take the next step... " Now he sounded really upset. He started pacing up and down the pavement, making the passers-by steer away from us. "Why?" he asked, suddenly stopping in front of me.

"Because it never felt like a good idea," I said simply and truthfully.

His blue eyes, filled with what seemed to be pain and hurt, were making me feel guilty, so I continued. "And I'm glad I didn't, William. You left me for Kate." Where is she? Why do I have to remind him about his new girlfriend?

He grabbed me by my trembling shoulders and shook me. "Did it ever occur to you that I told you I liked her just to make you feel a bit jealous? You didn't seem to care much about me lately, and I thought... well, I don't know what I was thinking, honestly. But then you simply left... I didn't want that. I really miss you, I'm not with Kate, not anymore. I want you back."

I gaped at him, too stunned even to struggle when he embraced me. I wasn't expecting this.

"Let me go," I whispered when I noticed as a few people, who most likely recognized William, stopped nearby. They were watching us, mobile phones ready in their hands. I didn't want to find my picture on some social network. Again.

As soon as he released me, I stepped back towards the shop.

"Let's start again. Come for a date with me."

"No," I said firmly. "It's over between us."

"Mara..."

"I'll... see you around," I said before I pushed the door open and escaped into the shop, shuddering as the heat coming from inside enveloped my freezing body.

I looked back at William through the glass panes of the closed door. He was just standing there, surrounded by the thickening fog and the growing darkness, looking at me sadly. I... didn't love him anymore, of course not, but I didn't hate him either. He had been a part of my life for such a long time. I felt sorry for him. But there was nothing I could do, apart from offering him my friendship. Somehow, I didn't think it would be enough for him, though.

"Miss Marlowe, is everything all right?" Mr. Turner asked from somewhere behind me.

"Yes. Thank you," I said, heading for the counter. "He won't be back." Hopefully.