He hesitated and then admitted, "One in three do."
"So, one in three die, and one in three come out all right." She paused and raised her eyebrows. "What happens to the other one in three?"
"They come out a no-fanger, crazy like Leonius," Etienne answered when Decker remained tight-lipped.
Decker found himself swallowing back the fear suddenly lodged in his throat as they all turned to peer at Dani. He'd rather have Dani die during the turn itself than see her become like Leonius. If that happened, she would either have to be put down like a rabid dog, or be kept locked up and restrained for the rest of her life, which could very well be eternity. Decker didn't want to see Dani locked up, but didn't know if he had it in him to take her life if she was one of the one in three who went mad. She was his life mate. She was also someone he'd come to care for and even love during the short period they'd been together. There was so much to admire in Dani, he hadn't been able to help himself... and now he was faced with the possibility of losing her.
There was a horrible taste in her mouth. That was Dani's first awareness as she began to wake up. That and the fact that her mouth was so dry, her tongue felt like a roll of used-up sandpaper. Moving it around in her mouth, she tried to work up some saliva, but what little she did manage to draw out merely made the taste in her mouth worsen. Grimacing, Dani opened her eyes and peered around the bedroom she'd used the first night at the enforcer house, and then she recalled everything and sat up abruptly. Something brushed against her arm and she glanced down, a scowl claiming her lips as she saw the ropes fastened to her wrists and trailing away across the mattress. Dani tugged at them, a little surprised when the frayed ends came snapping up and nearly hit her in the face.
She had a vague recollection of waking to find herself tied down, but-judging by the frayed ends-it looked as if the rope had been worn away. Her eyes slid to her feet to find that there were two more pieces of rope attached to her ankles. She was also still wearing the clothes she'd worn when taken from the mall.
Ignoring the rope for now, she peered around. The room was as empty as it had been the first day she'd woken here... except that the bags of clothes from their shopping trip sat neatly stacked against the wall.
She could change into clean clothes, Dani thought, and then grimaced at the idea of pulling nice clean clothes on her less than clean body. She felt greasy, as if she'd just worked an eight-hour shift over a fryer.
Dani grimaced and started to crawl to the edge of the mattress. She then braced one hand on the wall and forced herself to her feet. She was as unsteady as a newborn foal when she finally straightened. She closed her eyes briefly and leaned against the wall until the trembling this little bit of activity had caused eased slightly. She then walked carefully to the bathroom door, her hand sliding along the wall as she went, ready to press against it and keep her upright should her legs buckle.
When she made it to the bathroom door, it raised her confidence a little. She went straight to the bathtub, turned the taps to start the water running, and then manipulated the button to switch it to shower mode. Water immediately began to surge down, catching her head and shoulders, but Dani merely closed her eyes, turned her head, and opened her mouth to let it gush in.
A memory from the night before immediately flashed across her mind, and Dani stiffened as she recalled Decker pouring the blood into her mouth. Groaning, she turned her head down again and forced the memory away, unready to contend with what had happened yet. She then straightened and started to pull off her shirt, but saw the ropes on her wrists and paused to remove those. One came off easily, but the knots on the other were tight and resisted her efforts. Leaving it on, she turned her attention to the ropes at her ankles and quickly removed those, then tried the last rope on her right wrist again.
Dani fumbled with it briefly, but finally gave it up and simply stripped off her clothes, stepped under the shower, and tugged the glass door closed. The water was colder than she normally liked, but it was bracing as well and she stood under it, allowing it to pound down over her head briefly before adjusting the temperature. She then reached for the soap and began to clean herself, washing away the film of greasy waste that had apparently been forced out of her body by the nanos. It was the only explanation she could think of for it, but since thinking about it forced her to think about last night, Dani pushed these thoughts away and simply concentrated on soaping herself clean.
It wasn't until she was washing her hair that Dani began to consider her situation. She was now one of the dreaded no-fangers. At least she presumed she was, though in truth, other than the weakness still plaguing her, she didn't feel any different. She didn't now have a mad urge to cut up people to get their blood, or leap on them to lick open wounds.
Dani grimaced at the memory of assaulting poor John Parker. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be doing that were he to walk into the bathroom right now. In fact, the idea of lapping up blood from his forehead, or even drinking it from a glass just seemed gross to her... much as it would have before Leonius had forced his blood on her. It made Dani wonder if perhaps the nanos hadn't taken. Perhaps she hadn't gotten enough to bring about the turn, or perhaps her body had fought off the nanos somehow.
The thought had barely entered her mind before Dani's more sensible side slapped it down. It wasn't very likely that her body had fought off the nanos. It was more probable that she was just full of blood right now and not craving madly for it as she had last night. But even that gave her hope. She seemed to be thinking clearly, her thoughts didn't strike her as insane or unusual. Perhaps if she kept herself full of blood, she might still be able to live a relatively normal life.
Dani considered that as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, and had almost convinced herself that it would work, that she could get blood from the Argeneau Blood Bank as Decker claimed immortals did, keep herself well-fed, and continue working at her practice... perhaps even continue her relationship with Decker. That fantasy melted away as she recalled Leonius's claim that immortals hated no-fangers, that they hunted them down and killed them, and that Decker would want to kill both Leonius and her when he found out.
Leaning against the tiled wall, Dani closed her eyes and tried to think over the sudden howling in her mind at the very thought of Decker despising and wanting to kill her. She tried to tell herself that he wouldn't, that he could have killed her last night, and hadn't, but her stupid mind immediately pointed out that while he hadn't killed her, he'd tied her down like an animal and had been grim-faced and cold as he'd poured bag after bag of blood into her mouth.
As those memories assaulted her, Dani feared Decker might very well loathe her now, and while he hadn't killed her yet, it might only be because he thought they might use her. Maybe they thought she had some information about Leonius and his son that they could use to hunt them down if they hadn't caught and killed Leonius already.
She had to get out of there, Dani realized. She had to get out of that house before someone realized she was awake and tried to tie her down again. Pushing away from the wall, she turned the water off and pulled the door open. The towels she'd used after her bath the first morning hung over the towel rack. Dani grabbed one and quickly dried herself, ignoring the way the now-wet piece of rope still attached to her wrist slapped against her. She then swiftly rubbed her hair to get the worst of the water out before tossing the towel aside and heading for the door. Finding the bedroom still empty, she rushed to the bags against the wall and tipped up the first one to empty its contents on the floor.
Several silk panties and a summery blue halter dress tumbled to the floor. Deciding that would do, she grabbed the nearest pair of panties and pulled them on, then tugged the halter dress on over her head, yanked it into place, and tied the halter around her neck as she headed for the door. Once there, she paused to listen, but when she couldn't hear sounds coming from the hall, Dani eased the door open and peered out, relieved to find it empty. She wasted no time, but tiptoed out and to the stairs. When no sounds of movement reached her from the main floor, Dani headed silently down to the entry. It was when she saw the bright sunny day outside that she slowed.
The fact that it was daylight explained why the house appeared empty. Dani supposed that meant Sam would be at work, and everyone else would be asleep in their beds, completely unaware that she'd broken free at some point during her turn and was now awake and escaping. That was a good thing. However, it caused other problems, she realized, recalling Decker saying that immortals avoided going out in sunlight because it caused damage and increased the need for blood.
That was a definite problem, Dani acknowledged. She felt fine right now, but feared she might not be after an hour or so walking along a dusty country road under a baking sun. She shifted on her feet, unsure what to do, and then thought of the vehicles in the garage. Perhaps she could take one of those. It would be stealing, of course, but she could leave it somewhere and call later to tell them where it was. Besides, better a thief than ending up attacking someone in a frenzy for blood.
Dani turned and was about to head for the kitchen when she heard the soft click of a door closing upstairs. When footsteps followed, moving quickly toward the stairs, she ducked into the empty living room and pressed herself to the wall, eyes locked on the archway to the hall. Her heart beat rapidly with the fear of discovery as she listened to someone jogging lightly down the stairs. She held her breath then, but the footsteps merely moved away toward the kitchen. She let her breath out with relief and glanced around, looking for a proper hiding spot.
That was when Dani saw John and Hazel Parker. The couple were seated on the lush carpet, upper bodies slumped against each other on the far wall, both apparently asleep, she realized as John let out a loud, snuffling snore. The sight of the couple answered one question for Dani. Leonius hadn't been caught. If he had, the couple would have been returned to their home with their memories altered.
John Parker let loose with another loud snore, and Dani began to worry that it might draw whoever had come downstairs into the room to check on the couple. She would definitely be discovered then. It was time to move. Easing up to the archway leading to the hall, she started into the entry, planning to check out the room across the hall for a possible haven where she might think. But she was only halfway across when the person in the kitchen started out and up the hall once more.
Panic yanking on her, Dani changed direction and slid into the empty coat closet next to the front door, easing the door carefully shut in an effort not to make a sound.
Chapter Sixteen
Decker moved quickly out of the kitchen, a cold bag of blood in each hand; one for him, and one for Dani. He wasn't sure how long she would be knocked out, but he planned to feed her another bag whether she was awake or not. He'd done that intermittently through the night as she went through her ordeal. Sometimes it hadn't gone too well and his clothes had suffered for it. When he'd seen the bloodstains covering his shirt and jeans as he'd stood to head for the kitchen, Decker had decided it might be better to change first. He didn't want the first thing Dani saw on opening her eyes to be him covered in blood.
Decker had headed to his room, just planning to change, but several yawns and a weary scrub at his eyes along the way had made him think a swift shower might be good too. He'd intended to be quick about it, but thoughts of Dani had slowed him somewhat and he'd found himself simply standing under the beating water as his mind crowded with worry for her. Decker thought the worst of the turn was over and was pretty sure Dani was going to survive it. Now there was just the question of whether she would come out of it sane or not... and what he would do if she didn't.
It was concern that she might wake up alone and afraid that had forced him to get out of the shower. Decker had dried himself, dressed in clean clothes, and headed for her room, only to recall that his original intention had been to fetch some blood from the kitchen. He'd come down to the kitchen then, grabbed two bags, and was walking up the hall intending to head back upstairs when he caught sight of the coat closet door closing ahead.