It didn't take long to get there. Traffic was light at that time, and after ten minutes or so, the van turned left, and Nikki sat up straight and gasped.

"Is that Jones & Waldon? You're taking me to Jones & Waldon?" she squeaked.

The high-end steakhouse was one of only three in the whole country, the other two being in London, and though they'd only been open for a couple of years, they'd quickly gained a reputation for their food, along with two Michelin stars.

It was the kind of place that Nikki could only have dreamed of visiting.

Jason grinned down at her. "Surprise."

"But this place is booked up months in advance."

"You think that matters to someone like Ysanne? If she wants something, she'll get it," Jason said.

"Is she coming?" Nikki asked.

Jason's smile faded a little. "I'm sorry, but she couldn't make it tonight. She's got a lot on. I'm not sure what any of it is, but I'm sure she'll tell us when she's ready."

"But this was her idea?"

"Taking you out to dinner was my idea. Ysanne improved on it by covering the costs of taking you to Jones & Waldon."

"I should have dressed up," Nikki said, looking uneasily at her trainers.

"We can go back so you can change, if you want," Jason offered.

Nikki chewed her lip. "I don't really have anything to change into." If she'd still lived in Winchester, maybe they could have made a quick detour to Belle Morte, so she could borrow something, but Diane's home was in Guildford. They were at least an hour away from Belle Morte.

"Oh." Jason looked stricken. "I should have asked Renie or Roux to bring something. I'm sorry, Nikki."

Nikki didn't point out what Renie and Roux already knew – that nothing they owned would fit her. She was an inch taller than Renie now, but Renie had curves in places that Nikki didn't. Nikki was leaner, like Roux, but her dream of working security at a vampire house meant that she trained six days a week – running, weight-lifting, martial arts. Where Roux was willowy and waiflike, Nikki was compact muscle. And several inches shorter.

"It's fine," she said, squeezing Jason's hand. "I'm not into dresses anyway."

They parked outside the restaurant, and Mandy climbed out so she could open the door for Nikki and Jason, and then the back door for the vampires. Any of them could easily have opened the doors themselves, but the little gesture made Nikki feel special.

Nikki hopped out of the van, and pushed her curls off her face.

The brick façade of Jones & Waldon had been painted white, and there was only one window which was partially obscured by the huge flowerpots on the sill. Nikki wondered if that was to protect the privacy of the people inside. The two London steakhouses were known hotspots for various celebrities.

Edmond climbed out of the van, and held out his hand to help Renie. Nikki watched them from the corner of her eye.

Renie looked especially beautiful tonight, dressed in tight jeans that hugged the curves of her hips, and a shirt of cream silk, knotted at the waist, with her auburn hair gathered into a loose knot that was probably Jason's work. Unsurprisingly, Edmond gazed down at her as if she was the only woman in the world.

A small lump lodged in Nikki's throat.

Just as she'd struggled to make friends at school, dating hadn't been easy for her.

She'd had plenty of crushes, but most of the boys she liked didn't understand why she got up at 6:30 a.m. every morning to go running, or why she generally avoided burgers and fries and opted for lean meat and fresh veggies. What was worse was when the boys she liked were just using her. 

The last guy Nikki had been on a date with had gushed over Renie all night, culminating in him asking if Nikki could arrange for him to meet Renie sometime. The fact that Renie was married and too old for a fifteen-year-old anyway, hadn't seemed to matter to him. Nor had Nikki's feelings, the hurt and humiliation of realising that someone she liked had only asked her out in an attempt to get closer to one of her friends.

And yet, on some level, she understood why her date had done that. Nikki herself was no stranger to unrequited crushes.

Her eyes drifted back to Edmond.

A tendril of hair had come loose from Renie's knot, and Edmond was carefully tucking it back into place for her.

If he looked at her like she was the only woman in the world, then she looked at him like he was the sun at the centre of her universe.

It wasn't hard to see why. Tall and muscled without being bulky, with hair like a spill of ink tumbling around cheekbones like knives, Edmond was the most beautiful man that Nikki had ever seen, and even though he was married to one of her best friends, Nikki couldn't help having feelings for him.

Maybe if she hadn't known Renie, if Dexter hadn't been involved with Belle Morte, Nikki herself would have grown up a Vladdict, and maybe then she'd would have done whatever it took to get close to the object of her affections. Even if that meant using people. She had no way of knowing, so she'd tried not to judge her date too harshly, even though she'd been tempted to kick him in the kneecap.

Renie glanced her way, and Nikki quickly averted her eyes. She suspected that Renie was very aware of Nikki's crush on Edmond, but she'd never brought it up.

"Ready to go in?" Jason asked.

Next to him, Gideon quietly reached out and straightened Jason's collar.

Nikki nodded.

As soon as they went into the restaurant, they were greeted by a middle-aged man in an expensive suit, who showed them to their table.

The restaurant was a long room, with a floor of grey and white Victorian tiles, and recessed lights in the ceiling. A bar of gold-veined marble ran along one wall, while softly padded booths occupied the other.

The table that Ysanne had booked was large enough for all seven of them to sit comfortably, but also tucked away in a corner where no one could see them through the window. If the restaurant had hoped for some publicity from their vampire visitors, they'd be disappointed.

Nikki was relieved.

Her friends couldn't help being famous, she knew that, but it would be nice to have an evening out where no one had to worry about overeager fans or the greedy media.

They all slid into the booth, Nikki in the middle. There were only two menus, so the restaurant was clearly aware that the majority of the party were vampires and therefore unable to eat anything.

"What do you want to drink? Champagne? Cocktails?" Jason asked Nikki.

"Or both?" Renie added.

Nikki studied the menu. The prices were higher than she'd imagined, and she felt a stab of guilt at the thought of Ysanne footing the bill for all this. But Ysanne wouldn't have offered if she didn't truly mean it.

"Can we start with champagne?" Nikki asked.

"Sounds good to me." Jason signalled the waiter, relayed the order, and a couple of minutes later, a bottle was chilling in a bucket of ice next to the table. Two glasses were provided for Nikki and Jason, and Nikki wondered if, one day, restaurants or bars would serve blood for vampires the way they served drinks for humans.

Jason filled Nikki's glass with champagne. It looked like liquid sunshine, and when she took her first sip, it tasted even better.

"Happy birthday," Jason said, clinking his glass gently against Nikki's. "Do you want presents now, or food first?"

Right on cue, Nikki's stomach let out a little growl.

Jason laughed. "Food first, then."

The menu was small, a selection of steaks, side dishes, and salads, and the cost of even the cheapest steak made Nikki's eyes pop.

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Jason nudged her. "Get whatever you want."

"What are you having?"

Jason scanned the menu. "Prime sirloin with the truffle-oil fries."

Normally Nikki would have had salad in place of the fries, but this was her birthday. "Make that two," she said, putting the menu down.

Some people might have felt awkward being one of only two people in a group of seven who could actually eat anything, but even though Nikki didn't get to see her vampire friends that often, she was used to this.

While they waited for the food to arrive, Jason refilled both their glasses.

"Easy," Nikki said, laughing. "My aunt will kill you if you send me home drunk."

Jason mock-gasped. "Would I do a thing like that?"

"Yes," said Renie and Roux in unison.

"Maybe we shouldn't have got a whole bottle," Nikki said.

"You drink as much or as little as you want. I'm willing to bear the burden of finishing the bottle," Jason said.

"That's very noble of you," Roux said.

"I do my best."

"Am I going to end up carrying you to bed tonight?" Gideon asked.

"What do you think I am, some kind of amateur?" Jason said.

The steaks arrived then, which saved Gideon from having to answer. Jason promptly stole one of Nikki's fries.

"Hey," she said, smacking his hand. "You've got your own."

"Everyone knows that fries taste better when you steal them from someone else's plate," Jason said. "Although I don't think these fries could taste better."

Nikki tried one. "Oh my God, that's amazing."

"Right?" Jason said.

The steak was even better, seasoned and cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Jason speared a piece on his fork and held it up so everyone could see it.

"It really sucks that you guys can't taste this," he said.

"Don't rub it in," said Renie, looking mournfully at the steak.

Nikki noticed Jason give Gideon a slightly sad look that Gideon didn't seem to notice. This must be one of the downsides to being in a relationship with a vampire – you couldn't have dinner together, or share food. Still, Jason planned to become a vampire one day, so he'd be giving all this up for Gideon.

Nikki wondered how it felt to love someone that much.

When they'd finished their steaks, Jason talked Nikki into sharing a slice of cheesecake with him, until finally she dropped her fork onto the plate with a little groan.

"No more," she pleaded.

"Yeah, I'm done too." Jason leaned back in the padded seating, a blissful smile on his face. "I can see why this place is booked up so far in advance."

A waiter came to clear their plates.

"Are you ready for your presents now?" Renie asked, her voice eager.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Nikki said.

"Too late, we already did. Here." Renie thrust a square present at Nikki.

Nikki tore off the paper. Inside was a rose-gold trinket box, padded inside with red velvet; engraved on the lid were the words, Happy 16th Birthday, Nikki. Love from Renie and Edmond.

"It's beautiful, I love it," Nikki said.

"My turn," said Roux, beaming. She handed Nikki two presents. "Open the smaller one first."

Nikki did, revealing a box of small chocolate dumbbells.

"The second gift is so you can work off all that chocolate," Roux said.

Nikki unwrapped it, and found a mesh bag with something orange and black stuffed inside.

"It's a TRX suspension training kit," Roux explained. "You can get a full body workout without having to leave your house, and it's really easy to use."

"That's amazing, thank you," Nikki said.

"Last but not least," Jason said. He gave Nikki a tiny jewellery box, and she opened it to find a pair of gleaming pearls hanging from delicate silver hooks. She didn't usually wear jewellery, but somehow Jason and Gideon had found something that was exactly her taste, something special that she could keep forever.

"You really shouldn't have done all this," she said.

"You only turn sixteen once," Jason said.

The vampires around the table exchanged looks, something wordless passing between them.

"There's one more gift, from everyone at Belle Morte," Edmond said.

He reached across the table and gave Nikki a flat, heavy box. Nikki lifted the lid, and a little gasp escaped her lips. Inside the box was a wrought-iron plaque, with Dexter Flynn's name engraved on it, along with a message proclaiming that he'd died a hero, protecting the house.

"Ysanne wants to put it up in the grounds, but she thought you'd like to see it first," Renie said.

Nikki couldn't speak. Her throat was a tangle of raw emotion.

"Is it okay?" Renie sounded worried.

"It's perfect," Nikki whispered.

"We'll arrange a time for you to come and visit, so you can choose where you want it to go," Edmond said.

Diane didn't like Nikki going to Belle Morte, but Nikki was sixteen now. Was that old enough for Diane to start treating her like a young adult instead of a kid? Nikki supposed she'd find out. Even if Diane banned her from going, then it was only two more years until Nikki turned eighteen and then Diane couldn't do a damn thing to stop her.

Nikki could wait another two years, if necessary.

"I really don't know how to thank you guys for this. It's too much," she said.

"You deserve it," Jason said, and kissed the side of Nikki's head.

As the evening came to a close, Mandy returned with the van to pick them up. Nikki climbed into the front seats with Jason again, feeling full, tired, and happy. She was going back to a house she didn't like, to an aunt that she didn't get on with, and some days she struggled to cope with that. It would be years before she was free to carve her own way in the world, and it probably longer still before she was eligible to work at Belle Morte.

But tonight her friends had reminded her how much they cared about her, and that they'd always be there for her. That was more than some people had, and it was enough to buoy Nikki up. For the first time in a long time, going home didn't make her spirits sink, because she wouldn't be there forever.

Every day that passed was a day closer to a future that she could choose for herself. And no matter what happened, that future would involve Belle Morte. 

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