A Bite to Remember Page 0,79

He cared about Jackie.

"The bleeding has slowed to a trickle," Marguerite said, and Vincent turned to find her bent over Jackie, watching her throat as she moaned and shifted on the table.

"Move, Aunt Marguerite. I have to turn her." Vincent began to roll up his sleeve.

Marguerite ignored him, her gaze remained on Jackie's wound for a moment, then shifted to her face and she asked with bewilderment, "Why is her face covered with blood?"

Vincent peered down at Jackie's face, noting the blood around her mouth, but just repeated, "Move, Aunt Marguerite."

"You are not turning her, Vincent," she said harshly. "If anyone does, it will be me. Now... why is her mouth full of blood?"

Vincent shifted impatiently. "She tried to help me. She bit him."

Marguerite's gaze became sharp. "She bit him?"

Vincent frowned at being bothered with these questions at a time like this. "He had a knife. She bit into his wrist to keep him from using it on me when I first reached them."

They all turned to Jackie as she moaned again, more loudly this time, then she suddenly began to convulse on the table.

"What's happening?" Vincent asked in a panic. He stepped up to the table again, grabbing for Jackie's shoulders to keep her from convulsing right off the table top.

"Could she have got enough blood while biting the killer to be turning?" Christian asked.

"It's possible," Marguerite said slowly. "But I've never seen someone convulse like this during a turning. Not this early on." She frowned. "She's lost a lot of blood, though. That could be why."

"What do we do?" Tiny asked anxiously.

Marguerite hesitated, then ordered, "Grab a bag of blood, Tiny."

The giant rushed to the refrigerator at once, returning with the bag. Marguerite slit it open with a fingernail, then held it over Jackie's mouth. Vincent immediately moved to lift her head so that the liquid would slide down her throat and get to where it needed to be.

"Do you have enough bagged blood here to see her through the turning?"

Vincent frowned and glanced over his shoulder at the question from Christian. It was something he hadn't thought of and he already knew the answer before his aunt said, "No."

Much to his relief, Christian merely nodded and said, "We brought some with us. We had it sent on ahead to the hotel. I'll send Marcus for it when he gets back."

"I'll call Bastien and have him ship more blood out tomorrow to replace it," Marguerite murmured. She added, "We'll need an IV too, if we can find one."

"Why?" Christian asked with surprise.

"We've used it while turning others. It comes in quite handy," Aunt Marguerite explained.

"How many times have you overseen a turning?" Christian asked curiously.

"Four times over the last three years," she said with a shrug.

"Four?" he asked with surprise.

"My children's mates," she explained. "Then there were a couple others in the seven hundred years I've lived," Marguerite added with a shrug. "We can do this, but we need blood and an IV."

"We'll find an IV too," Christian assured her, then fell silent as Marguerite removed the now-empty bag and Vincent eased Jackie back onto the table. They all crowded closer around the table, watching her pale, still face.

"The convulsions have stopped," Tiny said with hope.

Vincent nodded slowly, then glanced from Jackie to his aunt as she moved to the head of the table and used her thumbs to pull Jackie's eyelids up to peer at her pupils. Vincent didn't see anything, but she must have, for she nodded with satisfaction and straightened. "It's beginning. You'd better move her upstairs, Vincent. Do you have any rope?"

"Rope?" he asked with confusion.

"She'll need to be tied down for a bit so she doesn't hurt herself," Marguerite explained.

"We'll get that too. I? Christian paused as the door leading out to the pool opened and the blond Marcus entered the kitchen, a grim expression on his face. When Christian raised an eyebrow in question, Marcus shook his head.

Vincent knew what that meant. The saboteur had got away. He felt a moment's bitter rage that the attacker had escaped, but then let it go, more concerned with Jackie.

"Take her upstairs, Argeneau," Christian said grimly. He gestured Marcus closer as he said, "I need you to go get a couple things, Marcus."

Vincent didn't listen to the rest. Instead, he scooped Jackie up into his arms and carried her out of the kitchen. Just before he left the room he saw Tiny try to follow and Marguerite stop him. He heard her begin to murmur