He could tell Lissianna didn't think her uncle was behind the attack, and Mirabeau didn't either, but Lucian Argeneau was on the council, the same council that had staked out and then set one of their kind on fire for turning more than one person. The council had also killed babies before abortions were legal. It wasn't much of a leap for him to imagine the man might have his niece punished for daring to defy him by taking Greg away, and since the staking itself couldn't kill her, all the attack could have been was a punishment of sorts.
Greg had no idea why they hadn't then taken him and Lissianna back to her mother's house to face her uncle, and he could understand why that would make everyone doubt it was Lucian, but he also couldn't imagine anyone else having a reason to stake her. From what he'd heard, she didn't seem to socialize with mortals much. The only thing she did was work at the shelter.
"Greg?"
He leaned closer. "Yes?"
"What did you decide?"
He didn't bother to ask what she meant. Lissianna was asking if he wanted to be turned or not. Greg reached out a hand and softly caressed her arm.
What had he decided? He'd decided she was beautiful, intelligent, and courageous. She was a woman who had risked everything to get him away and keep him safe. Including her family, he knew, for even if they didn't yet side with Lucian and the council, he suspected that when it came right down to it, they would have to as a matter of survival. He was equally sure that to protect them, Lis-sianna would somehow see to it that they did.
So far she had paid for her courageous efforts with blood and pain... and if he refused to turn, he knew she would willingly pay with more.
He had decided that she was a woman worth giving up his family to spend eternity with. All he had to do was convince her she should spend it with him, and he hoped, once he was turned, he might be able to do that.
Greg glanced toward Lissianna as she began to speak again.
"The way things stand, I can't protect you if they're determined to hold a council of three. I proved tonight that 1 can't even protect myself. I didn't even wake up until he was plunging the stake into me," she said with self-disgust.
"Lissianna," he chided.
"No. It's true, but there is one way I can protect you." Lifting her wrist to her mouth, she bit down into her own vein, then closed her eyes and pulled free of her teeth to hold her arm blindly out as blood bubbled to the surface. "The choice is yours."
Chapter 18
"Well that tears it. I haven't got enough blood here for one of them let alone them both."
Greg lifted his head from Lissianna's wrist at Thomas's words and glanced toward the door to find that he and Mirabeau had both returned. When his gaze found the three bags of blood Thomas carried, Greg started to warn Lissianna not to open her eyes, but it was too late.
With a muttered "Oh damn," she sagged into the mattress in a dead faint.
Mirabeau shifted on her feet and clucked with irritation, then said, "Why didn't you warn me you were going to do this? It would have saved me waking up three neighbors in search of juice."
Greg's gaze slid to the pretty young blond woman at Mirabeau's side. Orange juice wasn't all she'd brought back. He was guessing the blonde was one of the neighbors she'd promised to bring back for Lissianna to feed on.
Mirabeau followed his gaze and sighed wearily. "Sit, Mary," she ordered, then set the glass of juice she'd fetched on the dresser and crossed the room as her neighbor settled blank-faced on the chair by the door.
"How much did you have?" she asked.
Greg shook his head and opened his mouth to admit that he wasn't sure, but moving his head set the room spinning. Closing his mouth, he sank weakly back onto the bed next to Lissianna without responding.
"Enough obviously," Thomas answered for him. He joined her at the bedside and peered down at the pair of them, then glanced at Mirabeau to ask, "Have you ever overseen a turning?"
"No." She arched an eyebrow. "You?"
He shook his head.
"This is going to get messy," Mirabeau commented.
"Hmm." Thomas nodded. "I'm thinking you don't have enough neighbors for this situation."
Mirabeau snorted, and the pair glanced at each other.
"Aunt Marguerite's?" he asked.
Mirabeau nodded solemnly. "There's no reason not to now, Lissianna's seen to that." She turned to glance back at the girl she'd left seated by the door. "So? Do we use Mary here?"