by Bree Younger
She didn’t know how long the agony lasted. It seemed an eternity before the cramps and seizures slowed bit by bit to a trembling exhaustion. She thought she recognized Ty’s voice as he said her name over and over. She tried to answer him. Wanted to let him know she was all right. She could hear the pain in his voice, but her teeth were chattering together so hard she couldn’t get a word out.
Someone wrapped her in a blanket. The wool was rough against her skin, but warm, and the shivers also began to fade away. At last she had enough control to separate the voices that she heard into something recognizable.
“But she had only four bites, Doc. Surely that wasn’t enough to turn her.” That was Ty.
“You’re forgetting something. You bit her yourself. There was still some venom in her system from that earlier bite. Combined with the additional bites tonight, obviously it was enough. She’s definitely turning.” She recognized that voice as the doctor who had tended her at the casino.
“Damn it. I never meant for this to happen. God, it’s all my fault.” She heard the guilt in Ty’s voice and wanted to reassure him, but she was just too weak.
“Ty, don’t do this to yourself.” Quinn’s voice of reason interrupted Ty’s self-condemning rant. “If you hadn’t bitten her earlier, she would have died tonight. Would you have preferred that?”
“God, no, of course not.”
“Then quit acting like an idiot. It’s done. She’s alive. Be grateful for that.”
“She’s alive, but she’s a vampire. How is she going to feel when she finds that out? She’ll hate me.”
A vampire? She was a vampire? Then she remembered the vampiress with the French accent ordering the other vampires to bite her and kill her with their venom. They must have turned her instead.
“She won’t hate you.”
“Why not? I love her, but look what I allowed to happen to her. I promised her I’d keep her safe, and instead I allowed her to be kidnapped and turned by those—”
She couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t bear the anguish in Ty’s voice. Exerting great effort, she forced her eyes open. With a trembling hand she reached over to touch Ty’s fingers where they lay on her stomach. Immediately his gaze shot to hers. “Libby? God, Libby, you scared me.”
“You love me?” The words were whisper-soft, but she knew he heard them because of the look on his face as he bent to her.
“So much, Lib. So damn much it scares me. If you had died…”
“Good. Love you too.” She managed to get the words out.
She saw him close his eyes and then his lips touched hers in a delicately sweet kiss that, though void of passion, still managed to convey to her just how much she meant to him. She let her eyes drift closed again.
Fading in and out of consciousness, she was dimly aware that Ty lifted her up and carried out into the cool night air, which helped to revive her a bit, but she still felt incredibly weak.
The whole ride back to the casino, Ty held her snuggled close against him, not saying anything, just occasionally brushing a soft kiss against her head and moving his hands over her as if to reassure himself that she was really alive. When they finally stopped, he scooped her up again, ignoring everyone and everything else, and carried her back up to the penthouse apartment. He didn’t stop until he’d laid her down on his bed. He efficiently stripped her and himself, and then she felt him follow her down and pull her back against him, enveloping her in a soothing warm embrace.
“I don’t really feel much like a vampire,” she said to him after they’d been lying there a while.
She felt his jerk of surprise. “You know—”
Nodding her head, she snuggled closer against him. “I heard you and Quinn and Doc talking about it.”
“How…how do you feel about it?”
She rolled over so that she was facing him. “Surprisingly okay.” Her hand came up to smooth his hair back from his face, and he caught it in his own, holding it against his cheek.
“I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
“It’s my fault—”
She shook her head, pulling her hand from under his to place a finger over his lips, stopping him from saying another word. “Don’t. It’s not your fault that some crazy vampires tried to kill me. You saved me. I don’t want to hear another word about you blaming yourself for this. If you do, I’ll be really pissed. A really pissed-off vampiress. I don’t think you’re going to want to go there, do you?”
He chuckled and then kissed her fingers as they rested on his lips. “No. I guess I don’t.”
“So when am I going to get really strong and fast? Because right now I just feel awful.”
“When you take your first drink, your vampire powers begin to kick in.”
“My first drink of—” She swallowed. How had she forgotten about the—
“Blood? Yeah.”
“It takes a while for your body to adjust to the change, but a few hours after the conversion, you’ll start craving blood.”
She nodded, draping her arm around his neck. “You’ll have to help me with all the…rules and stuff.”
“It will be my pleasure, sweetheart.” He pulled her so that her head lay against his chest. “But right now, I want you to close your eyes. It’s almost dawn. Can you feel it? And when you wake up, well—you’ll see.”
She closed her eyes. It surprised her how calm she was about the whole vampire thing, but for some reason it didn’t bother her as much as it probably should. She felt amazingly accepting of her new circumstances. With that as her last thought, she fell asleep.
* * * *
Ty woke first. Easing himself from the bed, he stood staring down at Libby, who was still soundly asleep. He wondered what her reaction was going to be when she awoke. She’d been calm last night, but he knew that the newly turned frequently experienced an initial euphoric serenity before the turning was complete.
Stifling a regretful sigh, he went to take a quick shower before dressing casually in jeans and a T-shirt. Then he went to find Quinn so that he could take care of some necessary tasks before Libby awoke.
When he got back to the bedroom several minutes later, Libby was no longer in the bed. After a quick glance around the room, he headed toward the bathroom. Libby was there. She was standing in front of the vanity. Her face was pale. When her eyes met his in the mirror, he could see a look of panic there.
“Libby, are you okay?”
He could see her throat move as she swallowed. “I—I have f—fangs.” Ty caught a glimpse of the long canines as she spoke. Her hand drifted down to cover her stomach. “And I—I’m very—hungry.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and he reached out to pull her back against him, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror.
“It’s okay, baby. I promise, it will all be okay.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I can do this, Ty. I really don’t think I can do it.”
“You can, Libby. You’re one tough customer. You can handle this. It’ll just take some time. Some adjustment. But I will help you. And Quinn. And everyone here. I swear to you that you will not have to deal with anything alone. I love you.”
She let out a little cry and turned to press her face into his chest, her arms going around to clasp his waist tightly. “Oh, Ty. I love you, too, but I’m so scared. My body doesn’t feel like mine any more. I could hear you coming from all the way down the hall. And I think I broke the door handle on the medicine cabinet when I was going to open it.”
He shot a glance toward the cabinet, and sure enough, the handle hung crookedly. “It will take a little time to adjust, babe. Luckily we all know what you’re going through. We’ve all had to deal with the same things ourselves, so you’re not going to shock or surprise us.”
“What about my friends? My family? My job?”
He leaned back and put a hand beneath her chin, tilting her head up so that her gaze met his. “I’m not going to lie to you and say that there are
n’t going to be some difficult adjustments, baby. What I’m telling you is that you’re a strong and determined woman, and together we can get through this. I swear to you.”
Lips trembling, she managed a smile and he could see the edge of her fangs. He knew she was hungry. Luckily he had planned for that.
“Who are the people in the hallway?”
Her hearing was definitely working just fine. “Come with me. I’ll introduce you.”
After leading her back into the bedroom, he opened the door and ushered in the man and woman who’d been waiting outside in the hall. “Libby, this is Gerard and Maggie. They’re employees of the casino, and they’re also blood donors.”
Her eyes widened, and she met his gaze before turning back to the couple. “Donors?”
“Hi, Libby. Yes. We help to supply the blood needed by Quinn and Ty as well as their friends and employees.” Gerard smiled at her.
“I don’t understand.” Her confused eyes met Ty’s.
“There are several men and women—humans—who help supply us with blood, Libby. In return they are generously compensated for their time and support. These donors are loyal employees and are aware of the fact that we are vampires. Some of them are the sons and grandsons of other donors. It is a mutually beneficial arrangement that we have with them.”
She licked her lips, and he could tell from the way her eyes focused on the pulse beating in Gerard’s neck that her need to feed was becoming stronger.
“And why are they here?” she asked, but he knew from the expression on her face that she was already aware of the answer to that question.
He took her hand in his. “You need blood, sweetheart.”
“Can’t I just drink from a bottle like I’ve seen you do?”
He turned her to face him. “Not this time. At first, you’ll need to drink straight from the source. You need the nutrients. Plus, I need to help you learn to feed, baby. To teach you how. Gerard and Maggie are both quite willing. They’ve helped several new turns learn to feed properly. Okay?”
It took a minute or two but finally he saw a hint of that pure determination he knew she possessed in spades. “Okay. Let’s do it then. Teach me.”
Gerard stepped forward first.
“Okay. There are several good places to feed. The neck, of course. Also the wrist and the bend in the arm. That’s where most people give blood from. Okay?”
He saw her nod.
“You’ll need to blur the pain of the bite. Remember, I told you that before? It’s easier the first few times if you’re looking into the donor’s eyes, so that rules out the neck until you’re more comfortable with it. The wrist will probably be easiest for now.” He took Gerard’s hand and turned it so that the veins in his wrist were facing up. “When your fangs are down, you should be able to feel the venom in tiny swellings right behind the teeth. Use your tongue and gently brush it over the gums. Do you feel it?”
“Yes.” Her voice quivered a little, signaling her nervousness, but he knew that she could handle this.
“Good. When you bite, you have to use your tongue to press against those sacs to release the venom. So it’s something you deliberately have to do. There are only two times you want to release your venom. One is to kill. The other is to turn. Tonight be very careful not to press on the sacs. You’re just feeding. About three or four swallows and then use your saliva to close the wounds. Are you ready?”
“I guess so.”
He could hear the trepidation in her voice but smiled encouragingly. He lifted Gerard’s wrist to her mouth. “Remember, meet his eyes and give him a little mental push to blur the pain. It should come pretty naturally.”
She hesitated a moment before bending down. After she caught Gerard’s gaze with her own, she struck quickly. Ty watched as Gerard’s lids dropped slowly, obviously in no pain. He counted out her pulls on the human’s vein. “One. Two. Three. Four. Good, now close the wounds, Lib.”
He watched as she followed his directions and then moved back. Gerard’s arousal was obvious, but Ty had warned both donors that there would be no sexual contact. That was one reason why he had chosen this couple. Already in a relationship with one another, they could relieve the tension of the sexual arousal caused by the vampire bite with one another.
“Okay, baby?” Wide-eyed, she just nodded, licking her lips, and he indicated for Maggie to step forward. He watched carefully as Libby repeated the same process. When it was over, he thanked the couple and they left quickly, obviously eager to be alone. He pulled Libby into his arms. “You did so well, sweetheart. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“I’m not sure. It was weird. No. No, it was okay, I guess. I didn’t think I would like the taste, but I did. Isn’t that strange?”
He grinned. “No. Not strange that a vampire would enjoy the taste of blood.”
She tentatively smiled back. “I’m babbling, aren’t I? I guess it’s gonna take me a little while to get used to all this.”
“We’ve got all the time you’ll ever need, babe.”
“Yeah, I guess we do.”
“Centuries, in fact.”
She shook her head. “I can’t even wrap my mind around the idea.”
“Do you hate me for getting you into this, Libby?” He studied her face, trying to detect the truth in her expression.
“No. I don’t hate you at all. I love you. And I want to be with you—forever.”
He bent down and caught her mouth in a lingering kiss, full of all his love and lust and dreams for their future together. When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily. “Forever, Lib.”
He kissed her again and knew that the long years ahead would now be shared with the woman that he loved more than he loved life itself.
Chapter Twenty
A few hours later, a self-conscious Libby joined Ty, Quinn, Hawk, and RJ, and the werewolf alpha Ricardo Diaz in the living room to discuss everything that had happened the previous night. She took her seat on the sofa next to Ty and tried to relax, but it was obvious that the others were curious about how she was handling the change. She could feel their eyes on her, but whenever she would look at them, they would quickly look away.
“Okay, guys, enough, please,” she said when she’d reached the end of her patience. “I’m fine. I’m not freaking out or having some sort of meltdown or anything. I’m doing as well as can be expected. Now can we get on with this. Please?”
Quinn laughed. “Sorry. I guess we are a little curious how things are going. It’s been a while since we had a newly turned vampire with us, and especially not one who was family.”
She flushed with pleasure at that. That he and the others thought of her as family made her feel as though she belonged. “I understand. But honestly, Ty says I seem to be handling things pretty well, all things considered.”
She looked at Ty who rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she’s still having a little trouble adjusting to her new body, but I told her if she just gave herself a few days, things would be better.”
“What’s the problem, Libby?” RJ wanted to know.
“Well…” She didn’t really want to tell them the about the stupid accidents she was having. “You know, vampires are really strong.”
She saw them exchanged puzzled glances.
“Yeah. So?”
“So I might have accidentally—I mean, it could have happened to anyone.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, she broke the remote to the television in my room. Just smashed that sucker into little pieces. Then she accidentally broke the corner off my dresser.”
She heard a chuckle. Then another. When she sent them all the evil eye, the chuckles stopped.
Quinn coughed and said, “Don’t worry about it, Libby. We all went through the same thing. It won’t take long for you to figure it all out.”
“Yeah, and we can always baby-proof the place until she gains a little more control.” RJ snickered.
She speared him with a look that shut him up.
/> “Seriously, Libby, we completely understand. Now, guys, let’s get serious for a second here.” Quinn turned to look at Libby. “I need you to tell us what you can about when you were taken.”
She shrugged. “All right.”
She proceeded to tell them everything she could remember. When she told them about finding the dead were, she looked at the Alpha. “I am so sorry about what happened to him. He didn’t deserve that. I really liked him.”
Diaz nodded. “I appreciate it, Miss Shaw. Enrique was a good soldier. It is not a bad thing to die protecting someone.”
She licked her lips and continued with her story. When she’d finished, Quinn stood and paced over to the window. “A vampiress with a French accent. It has to be Simone. There can be no doubt. Unfortunately, it’s still not enough for the Council to act on, and with McElroy and the others dead, we’re right back where we started.”
“At least we saved those bloodslaves. And they know we’re onto them now. Plus, we’ve taken out some of their top people.” Hawk reminded everyone of the night’s accomplishments.
“What about the bloodslaves? Do they know anything?” Diaz wanted to know.
Hawk stepped forward. “From what we can understand, they were kept pretty isolated. We’ve learned how they were brought in, and we’re going to follow up on that, see if we can find out who else might be involved.”
“One of the bloodslaves was a were-female. I’d like to take her back to my pack,” Diaz told Quinn.
She saw Quinn nod. “I hoped that you would say that. She doesn’t speak much English and is very uncomfortable with just a bunch of vampires for company.”
“Will you be able to return the humans to their homes?” Libby wanted to be sure that the kidnapping victims were taken care of.
“We’ll try, but it might not be possible. For some of them, they have nothing to go back to.”
“How many are there?”
RJ spoke up. “There were five humans and the one were-female.”
“I just feel so sorry for them.”
Ty pulled her closer. “We’ll make sure they’re taken care of, Lib.”