gain control of the blood lust.
Paul’s head lifts. He meets my eyes with a confused look. “Vivian? What happened?” His big brown eyes appear lost in his round lovable face. “I feel wrong.”
I can see the outline of Asa and Olivia rounding the last bend of the trail. We’re about to be alone no longer. I need to work fast.
“You were attacked by a rogue vampire. He drained your blood to kill you.” Some of my weariness seeps into my tone. “I arrived in time to give you my blood to turn you.”
“Turn me?” He raises a hand to his bloody lips. His fingertips smear a bit of red into the skin of his chin. In the dark moonlight, his hand comes away looking black.
“Oh no… oh no… oh God, no!” Panic replaces the confusion. “My children! Are they okay?”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Paul.” I grab both his cheeks, forcing his gaze to lock on to mine. “Your kids are okay. So is Bunny. You need to sleep.”
I push none too gently into his mind. It’s scattered and chaotic. Whirls of thoughts tumbling over one another, each vying for prominence within his brain. Energy vibrates from his core, pulsing with his new afterlife. I lay a calming touch over it all, to still the frantic swirls, imposing my more powerful will over his own.
Sleep.
Paul’s eyes drift close.
“He’ll be out for at least twenty-four hours. Then the hunger will bring him back.”
Rafe hands me a glove to wipe Paul’s chin and lips free of my blood. I place Paul’s limp form on the ground, easing myself out from under him. Rafe scoots back as well, helping both of us to stand. Asa and Olivia walk past the snowmobile, coming to stand near us.
Asa’a sharp eyes take in the scene in a glance. “He’s turned. Is the power I feel coming off him because of your blood or will he be a powerful fledgling?”
“It’s too soon to tell what he will be.” I brush snow off my legs, giving a little shudder at the state my favorite leather pants are in. Damn. “The energy you feel is all me.”
“Why is he sleeping?”
Asa is too sharp. Thankfully, he’s also young. I can spin some bull and he won’t know.
“I’m his maker. I willed him to sleep while we figure out what to do with him.”
Olivia chooses that moment to speak up. “What do you mean ‘figure out what to do with him’?”
“It’s not your concern,” I say with a firm tone. “I take care of my own.” She casts her eyes down and away in fear or acceptance, I’m not sure.
I step forward away from Paul’s body, effectively ending that topic with my advancement on her. The hunger roils in my belly like an angry snake. Her life blood pulsing beneath the surface of her skin smells enticing. Normally, when turning someone, the vampire would have gorged on the human’s blood prior to the exchange. Ivan took Paul’s blood, leaving me down several quarts when I let Paul feed from me. Good God, Olivia looks really good right now.
Olivia’s eyes go wide and her body tenses in fright. I can smell the delicious aroma of fear cascading off her body in waves. I stalk across the distance between us like a lioness after her prey. My canines lengthen again. Anticipation swells within me to subdue the hollow pit in my stomach. I haven’t felt like this in years. Not since I turned Cy.
I want her and I will have her.
She’s the only viable choice, having arrived only yesterday. Olivia’s awkwardness in the moment comes stumbling out in her next words.
“Normally, I’m in bed with the vampire.” She looks around at Asa and Rafe, realizing her choice of words must have come out odd based on the looks on their faces. “I mean…I’d know them pretty well and we’d be on intimate terms…” She appears flushed, trying to look everywhere but at me. “Can’t you use my wrist?”
She’s right, I could, but it would take longer. Not willing to waste anymore time on chit-chat, I ignore her. I reach out to brush her long hair back off her neck, flipping it over her shoulder. We’re almost the same height. I lean in, gently tilting her head to the side with my hand. The hunger overwhelms all else.
My lips settle firmly on her skin. Something trickles through the ache within me. Her smell. It feels off. The red haze in my mind clears enough for me