August watched her weave through the tables towards him. She attracted a moderate amount of attention, and more than one smile was thrown her way. Paige smiled in return, a polite and warm flicker before her gaze fixed elsewhere. She'd been a barista before he and Spencer had taken their parts in turning her, and it was clear that she had the right temperament for it. She exuded warmth and caring.

Instead of taking the seat beside him on the couch, Paige handed him his beer and sat on the armrest, turning and propping her feet on the cushions. August's gaze trailed from her knees and down to the maroon pixie boots, heels making indents in the cushion. His lips pursed, and Paige huffed, sliding down from the arm to sit beside him.

"I still don't see why Thomas couldn't come," she said. She sipped her own beer and crossed one leg over the other, angling her body away from him.

"I wanted to spend some time with my sired, is that a crime?"

Glancing at him, she rolled her eyes.

"No, but it's a first."

Twisting his body towards her, August spread his arm across the back of the couch. The ends of her hair, tied up in a ponytail, swept across the back of his hand as she shook her head, lifting the beer to her lips and tipping her head back to take a sip. She rested the bottle on her knee and looked around the bar, anywhere but at him. August leaned a little closer to her.

"How are you finding your new life, Paige?"

Though he had told William that he would eat and keep his agitation at bay, he had no intention of ending the night early. William had been right in one regard, Paige needed him, and he needed her. Of course, he doubted that her needs reflected his own, she had Thomas after all. She had a host of new friends, and he'd already learned that his sired had quickly become popular within their group.

"Why do you care?" she asked, still not looking at him. "You've not asked Thomas how he's doing."

August huffed out a breath through his nose and drank a mouthful of his beer. He held the liquid on his tongue, letting the tastes dance through his mouth. Even if he'd felt the real inclination to feed, he'd not had any hints that there would be someone worth making the effort for in this bar. He'd known from the moment he'd walked in. Perhaps Paige took longer to figure it out.

"I have not turned another person in almost a century. The connection I feel to you is very different to any other in that house, surely you understand why I would want to ensure you are doing well."

"Because you've tried so hard."

"I would like you to be happy, my dear," he said. "And if seeing to Thomas' wellbeing will do that, then, of course, he may come along next time."

Paige looked at him, her eyes narrowed but surprise lurking behind her dark lashes. She uncrossed her legs, turning towards him.

"Really? You'll help him?"

"If you wish it, yes."

Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled, and the frosty reception she had given him began to thaw, the smallest curve of a smile coming to her. She drank a little of her beer and rested the bottle between them, fingers dancing against the neck.

"So, how have you been finding things?" he asked again.

"I don't know," she said, gazing down at the mouth of the bottle. "I mean, everyone is nice to me, and they've been helping me adjust. Heather even asked me to help with her social media stuff for her books, like an assistant, I guess. It's nice having something to do again."

"But..."

She looked up at him and leaned further back into the cushions.

"But I feel like a piece is missing. Thomas said that it's to do with Spencer."

"Did he now?" August asked, smirking. "And what else did Thomas say?"

Her glare was back and she gestured at him with the bottle.

"Don't be snide."

August's smirk only broadened and he held his hands up in surrender.

"William has been really helpful to Thomas, and he explained some things about sire connections."

"Well, William is the one who would know the best," he said. "Aside from myself. You should have come to me."

"You've not been around."

Leaning towards her, August's smile faded as he laid his hand on her thigh.

"Should you wish it, I will be."

She nodded.

"I guess I feel a... I don't know, like half lost. But it doesn't make sense, does it? Thomas doesn't have his sire, and he's not like this."

August moved closer to her. He draped the arm previously on the back of the couch around her shoulders and pulled her in against her side.

"Thomas' sire is dead," he said. "The connection is broken, and while he may feel its loss in a small way, since he never really knew her, he will not experience it the same way as you. An absent sire is more distressing because the connection is still present though they are not. You feel echoes of their moods and states of mind."

"So I'll always feel this way?"

"Should it go on for an extended period, the connection will fade, but can come back suddenly," August said. He pulled her in a little tighter and took a drink. He took his time in swallowing before continued. "How has it been the last few days? Have you felt better or worse?"

Paige glanced up at him and shifted in his grip, her lips pursing. She stared past his profile, towards the bar, and hummed under her breath.

"I don't think either," she said. "I mean, I've been agitated, but maybe it's just vampire PMS."

Chuckling, she took another drink and leaned forwards out of his grasp to place her half-drunk beer on the low table before them.

"God, I thought being a vampire I'd get away from the periods, but nope, mood swings still here."

August grimaced at her back, the expression vanishing the moment she leaned back onto his arm. As little as he wanted to hear about her periods and the mood swings that apparently came along with it, he knew that it was impossible that she would still be having them. No, maybe the wolf was right, and the agitation was because Spencer had come closer and she was feeling him more. She wasn't tuned to her sire connection, she probably didn't know how to pick it out from the rest of her emotions. But the question became, was Spencer agitated, or was it something else he was feeling that she'd not had experience with.

"Anyway, that's not really the point," she said, shrugging.

Paige turned more to him, tucking one leg up beneath her as she did. The skirt she was wearing rode up more on her thighs. She smiled hopefully at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, this whole sired thing..."

"What about it?"

"Does it mean you'll tell me more than you'll tell other people?"

August laughed and shook his head at her manipulation. It was so simple, and yet he didn't want to deny her.

"What is it you want to know?"

"Whether it's true about the gifted ones and the wolf turning."

"Which part?"

"That they could kick start the transformations."

"We have no evidence of that. Though, we also have nothing concrete to the contrary."

Paige licked her bottom lip, her breath coming a little quicker. She lurched forwards like something was in the couch, grabbed her beer, and took a hasty swig, holding the liquid in her mouth for a few moments, swilling it around until she finally swallowed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, good smell."

He grinned.

"You should go after it."

Shaking her head, she cradled the beer bottle between her hands and moved back against him.

"We're talking."

"Okay then," he said. "Please, carry on."

She nodded and took another sip.

"I was wondering because, well, Thomas was theorising about it, about the blood."

"A vampire with an interest in blood," he chuckled. "How strange."

Paige's hand smacked into his stomach with a strength she clearly hadn't mastered. August coughed, covering his mouth with his hand until his breath came back to him. She seemed more amused than concerned.

"What theory?" he asked.

"Well, his theory is more about that girl's gift, the mind-reading, right? That werewolf guy said that it only worked for a short time, and that was why Spencer wanted to keep her around."

"So he could keep drinking and getting her gift, yes," August said. "What of it?"

"I'm not sure of the biology, that's more Thomas's field," she said. "But he thinks that it may be the key to that kid, Vince, turning."

"The blood?"

"Yes. I don't know, he explains it better."

August took a deep breath and pondered it. Thomas was certainly more equipped to discuss the biology than any of them were. He didn't know the last time they'd had anyone remotely close to having medical training before, and Thomas had almost completed his. He had to admit that he knew very little about the boy before his life as a vampire.

"Anyway, we were talking about it, and we figured it would be a way to fix this, right?"

He looked at her.

"What would?"

She looked shy as her finger drifted around the mouth of her bottle, down the neck and began picking at the label. She swallowed twice and chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Well, if Thomas is right, and the blood is the answer, maybe it would be a way to turn him away from Spencer. And if... if it works, maybe he would tell us how to get Spencer back."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And there it is. Please remember to vote and comment.