Ruben would have drawn away from her, but the smell of flowers made him stop. The vampire's sensitive nose twitched like a rabbit's. A lifetime ago, his human mother had liked orchids. He looked down at the girl, and it was like meeting someone he knew and simultaneously had never seen before.

"Yer a warm-blood," he said, but he was smiling. His coat flapped open when he spread his arms out, as though he might try to take flight. He was wearing a white button down shirt underneath it. He leaned down farther, looked at her eyes.

"Thought you was a angel," he twanged, straightening up. "But none of them would come near me, for fear I'd clip their wings."