low and soothing words to the giant, then Vincent was out of the kitchen and on his way upstairs.
Jackie was completely still in his arms as he carried her and he fretted over whether she really was turning or not. Aunt Marguerite could have made a mistake. She might not have got enough blood from the saboteur to facilitate the turn.
But then Vincent had barely laid Jackie in her bed before she began to moan. Soon after that she began to shift restlessly on the bed. Oddly enough, this reassured him. This is how Marguerite had described the turn to him. It was why Stephano's stillness had so disturbed her. The turning was a painful process, not something they slept through peacefully unless well drugged.
By the time his aunt joined him in the bedroom, Jackie was moaning continuously and loudly and writhing on the bed.
Marguerite frowned as she approached. "This is quick. I wonder if she got more blood from biting the attacker than we thought."
"What does that mean?" Vincent asked anxiously.
"Nothing," Marguerite reassured him, then glanced toward the door with a frown. "I hope Christian is quick."
"Did Christian go with Marcus?" Vincent asked.
"No. He felt it inadvisable to leave us here alone with the saboteur still out there and Jackie as she is. He's checking the garage for rope."
Vincent frowned, not at all comfortable with the idea of tying Jackie down. He changed his mind several moments later when she began to thrash, her body bending and twisting, arms and legs whipping viciously this way and that as she began to scream in pain. Vincent and Marguerite were struggling to try to hold her still and keep her from hurting herself when Tiny came rushing into the room.
"What's happening?! Why is she screaming?!" Tiny cried with alarm, rushing to the bed.
"It's the change," Marguerite said soothingly, then glanced toward the door with relief as Christian hurried in.
"I found some rope," he announced, which was unnecessary since they could see the rope dangling from his hand as he hurried to the bed.
It took all four of them twenty minutes to get Jackie tied down. Once it was done, Marguerite led Tiny out of the room, murmuring reassurances. Christian followed, silent and grim and Vincent had to wonder if the man had ever seen a turning before. He himself hadn't and hoped never to see it again. Jackie seemed to be in agony. He tried to reassure himself by repeating the mantra that when it finished, she would be immortal like him and they could be true life mates, but it didn't seem to help much. He hated to see her suffer so.
Suddenly weary, Vincent pulled the dressing table chair over to the side of the bed and sat down. There was nothing he could do to ease her way, but he would endure it with her. Jackie was his now. Forever. As long as she agreed to it, he added wryly. She was his true life mate. He just had to make her see it.
Vincent spent the rest of the night and all the next morning trying to figure out a way to do that as he watched over Jackie. Marguerite spent most of that time keeping him company, leaving the room every hour or so to retrieve another bag of blood from the kitchen. They took turns changing the bags until she retired to her own room to take a short nap at midmorning. Vincent was nodding off in the chair when she returned at noon with a fresh bag of blood in hand.
"How is she?" she asked, moving to the bedside to peer down at Jackie.
"Fine. Quiet now," Vincent said as Marguerite removed the empty blood bag in the IV stand beside the bed and replaced it with a fresh, full bag of the red liquid.
Vincent had no idea where Marcus had found the IV stand and didn't care enough to ask. It was enough that he'd found one while fetching the extra blood from the hotel he and Christian had planned to stay in. He supposed the man must have got it from the hospital, or a hospital supply store, but hadn't cared enough to ask.
Vincent hadn't spoken much to either man since Jackie had started to turn. He'd been told they were staying close in case the saboteur returned to finish what he'd started. They seemed to think everyone in the house might now be a target, at least Tiny, Marguerite, and Jackie. It seemed they'd