Rachel ignored him and began to search the vanity. What she wanted was pliers, but of course, she had no expectations of finding any. The best she could do was a pair of nail clippers. She found a small one and a large one. Rachel chose the larger pair and leaned into the mirror.
"What are you doing?" her host shrieked. He snatched the clippers from her when she tried to catch the end of one of her new teeth and pull it out.
"I don't want to be a vampire," she snapped. She would have grabbed the clippers back, but he was holding them out of reach.
Turning away, Rachel searched the drawer again, this time coming up with a nail file. She turned back to the mirror and began trying to file down one of the teeth.
"It will just repair itself," Etienne said with irritation. "And it isn't so bad being a vampire."
"Ha!" Rachel grunted and continued to file.
"You'll never age," he pointed out hopefully. "You'll never get sick, never--"
"Never see the light of day," she interrupted sharply. Turning to glare at him, she asked, "Do you know how long I've been trying to get off the night shift? Three years. Three years I've been working through the night and not able to sleep during the day, and just when I get promoted to a day position, you turn me into a night walker!" Her voice rose with each word until
Rachel was shrieking. "You have doomed me to an eternal night shift! I hate you!"
"You can go out in daylight," Etienne said. But he didn't sound very sure about it, and Rachel concluded that he was just trying to calm her down. She didn't bother to call him on the lie. Her mind had already moved on to other vampire do's and don'ts.
"Garlic!" Her eyes widened incredulously. "I absolutely love garlic, and now I can't--"
"You can eat garlic," he interrupted. "Really, that's just another myth."
She couldn't tell if he was lying or not and so she eyed him consideringly. "What about church?"
"Church?" He looked blank.
"Can I go to church?" she asked slowly, as if he were an idiot. "My family has attended mass together every week for my whole life, but vampires--"
"You can attend church," he assured her, seemingly relieved. "That's another myth. Religious articles and places have no ill effects on us."
He had obviously expected this news would please her. It didn't. Rachel's shoulders slumped again. "Great," she said. "I was hoping to have a good excuse to miss mass from now on. Father Antonelli is way long-winded, but even Mom wouldn't have insisted on my going if I was going to burst into flames or something equally embarrassing the minute I walked through the doors." Rachel heaved out a dejected breath. "I guess there are just no positives to this deal."
Etienne frowned. She suspected he had preferred her anger. "Of course there are positives," he said. "You're alive. And you'll live for... well, a long time. And you won't age, and--"
"You already said that," she pointed out dryly. Pushing past him, she walked back into the bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Etienne sounded anxious, and he followed her.
"Finding something to wear." Rachel paused halfway across the room. "Unless my clothes happen to be around here somewhere?"
He shook his head. "They were blood-soaked. Ruined, I'm afraid."
"Hmm." Rachel turned back to the closet. "Then I'll just have to borrow clothes of yours. I'll replace them."
Etienne frowned but remained silent as Rachel ransacked his wardrobe. Apparently forgetting she had already chosen one, she snatched another long-sleeved white dress shirt and a pair of pants, then marched back to the bathroom. Out of pure instinct, Etienne started to follow, only to nearly get his nose broken when the door slammed in his face.
"I'll wait out here," he muttered.
"Good thinking," she responded through the barrier.
Etienne scowled at his bathroom door and listened to the rustle of clothing. He supposed she was stripping. A quick image flashed in his mind of her untying the sheet and letting the material drop down over her pale round br**sts, her belly, her hips, her... He shook himself.
Etienne knew exactly what she looked like na**d. He hadn't been strong enough to help when they returned home with her from the hospital, but neither had he been strong enough not to watch as Bastien and his mother undressed her, tended her wounds and cleaned her up, then put her in his bed. He had a very good idea of what she would look like now beyond that door. Her pale skin and red hair would be complemented by the blues of the bathroom. Her muscles would stiffen and tense as she tossed the sheet aside and began to don the overlarge shirt, his favorite...
Etienne was really getting into the vision when the door suddenly opened. Rachel stopped abruptly and scowled when she found him standing there.
He cleared his throat and offered a crooked smile. "That was fast."