I safely drink from a mortal and not kill him?" She ran to her dining room table and snatched up a notebook and pencil.
"What? You're taking notes?" I sighed. I guess I should have expected this from a brainy scientist. And it sure beat tears. But if I hadn't followed her and been on the scene, she could have killed Josh, no doubt about it. Fledglings made those kinds of mistakes.
"Josh here might have been okay after three minutes, but two to be on the safe side. Trust me, you weren't in control enough to watch a clock, Penny." I gave her a fierce look and waited until she stopped writing and glanced at me. "I don't care how smart you are in your old world. In this new world, you're dumb as dirt. When bloodlust takes over, you can't just stop on a dime. At least not until you've learned to get a handle on it. Tonight, if I hadn't been here to get you off of Josh, you would have drained him dry. Then you'd have had to figure out how to dispose of his body."
Penny swayed, dropped her notebook and pencil, then sank down on the floor. "Oh, God. Oh, God."
"I'm sorry, but that's the truth." I sat beside her and put my arm around her. "You see why I'm trying to stay close to you when you're around mortals? You can't think your way through this. It's an instinct. Primitive and not easily controlled. Until you can convince me you're managing your thirst like an adult vampire, you're going to be stuck with me."
Penny leaned against me. "Thanks, Glory. I had no idea." She took a watery breath. "Just, uh, thanks."
"No problem, kiddo. I had Jerry do it for me." I smiled, remembering. "Now let's handle this situation, okay?"
"How? Here's Josh, looking pale and probably weak and now I've got Jenny. Obviously I don't want to tell her about my new status until I can look at her and not want to bite her." Penny stood and picked cat hair off her jeans. "Guess I've finally come down to earth."
"Josh's okay. He's a big dude. He can handle losing the little bit you took. But if you attacked someone small like your sister, a minute or two too much could do her some serious harm." I stood too. "It's all about percentages."
"I get that." Penny grabbed her notebook again and scribbled, then ran to the kitchen. She came out with something clutched in her hand and dropped it into her purse.
"What's that?" I was suspicious of everything Penny did now and, looking at Josh's pale face, rightly so.
"A kitchen timer." She grimaced. "Okay, so I'm thinking ahead. But maybe I'll get another chance to - "
"Bite Josh?" I really wanted to scream. But what good would it do? Penny was used to being the smartest kid on the playground and in her new world she still thought she could beat the system. Who was I to doubt her? I just shook my head.
She'd pulled the timer out and stared down at it. "Mom gave me this timer. I used it to b-b-bake brownies." Tears. Now these I could understand. My mad evaporated and I patted her shoulder.
"Brownies. Little squares of chocolate heaven. I've never even tasted one. Just smelled them." I took the timer and dropped it back in her purse. "Now let's finish with Josh and get this" - I looked over at Jenny, still out, but showing signs of coming back to life - "mess cleaned up."
"What do you want me to do?" Penny stared at her sister too. "I can't believe Jenny just showed up here. This late. Guess I didn't do a very good job of putting her off."
"Well, we'll handle it. Now lean in and lick away the evidence that you were ever at Josh's wrist. Got it?"
"Got it." She took a steadying breath and did what I told her. "God, his blood still smells so . . . delicious. What blood type is he? I like it a lot."
"Josh's is one of the rare ones and my personal favorite if you must know. AB negative. The synthetic of this type is expensive. It's like a fine wine. To be sipped and savored, not gulped." I kept my hand on Penny's shoulder. Good intentions or not, I was relieved when she dropped his wrist and ran her fingers through her cat's fur.
"Look at this, Booger likes Josh. I take that as