uh, no way. I am not tell you this.”
“Party pooper.”
“No, I’m smart. I don’t want to give you any ideas.”
“Tess, I’m over eight hundred years old – I think I’ve pretty much seen it all.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not taking any chances,” Tess said. Suddenly she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Colton said.
“It’s not over is it? I did search the house with Hansen, right? We never found Shane’s body, so it’s not over. He’s going to come after us again, isn’t he?”
Colton’s face grew serious as he drew her tighter into his arms, “Not if I find and kill him first – that’s my plan.”
Tess grew quiet as she snuggled into Colton’s chest – too quiet, Colton thought. He waited for her to say what was on her mind. Her silence finally was too much for him, “Tess? What’s wrong?”
Apparently Colton asking the question was just what she needed. She took a deep breath and sat up, looking him in the eye as she spoke, “When you find Shane, it’s going to be another battle. It could be worse than last time and you almost died last time. Worse than almost dead is dead, Colton.”
“It’ll be tough, Tess, I won’t deny that. But I’ve got some connections and so does Hansen. We’ll have others there to help us.”
“But what if Shane gets to you before they get here? What then?”
“Tess, where is this going? What are you holding back?”
Tess stared at her palm and began tracing the lines on it. “What if, what if you turned me?” she whispered. Tess felt Colton’s tension beneath her.
“Tess,” he mumbled.
“No, Colton, just listen to me for a second. Shane’s trying to turn me into some sort of witch-werewolf hybrid, right? Well, he can’t do that if I’m already a witch-vampire hybrid, can he. It would catch him off guard when he does find us, he won’t be expecting it that soon, and it would make me stronger and better able to defend myself too.”
“I’m just not so sure that that’s a good idea, Tess,” Colton whispered.
“Why not? I’ll be able to protect myself, I’ll be able to protect you, I’ll be able to protect Hansen. Why wouldn’t it be a good…..oh, I get it. You don’t want to turn me because you’re afraid I’m going to want to be with you permanently. Look, Colton. Just because you turn me doesn’t mean that we have to be together as a couple. I get that we just met not too long ago. Yes, we’ve had an amazing connection since we met, yes the sex, at least for me, is mind-blowing and yes, I like you, a lot. But that doesn’t mean I’m asking you to turn me so that I can be your girlfriend. I’d love it if we had months, years even, to get to know each other and see where this goes, but circumstances make it too dangerous for us to wait on turning me. But once you do turn me and we take care of Shane, then we can afford the time to get to know each other and see where this goes….that is, if you want to.”
“Tess, please don’t think that my hesitation is because I don’t want to turn you or because I don’t want you with me. My hesitation is because this is something that you really need to think about. You have to think about what you have to give up if you do this.”
“What? Death? I think I’m okay with that.”
Colton smiled, “Vampires can die, Tess, just not from natural causes. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Your family, Tess, and all of your friends – you will have to distance yourself from them or they will eventually catch onto the fact that you’re not aging. Are you sure you’re prepared for that?”
Tess sat back and looked at her hands, “Oh,” she whispered then she grew silent for a few seconds then she looked back up at Colton, “That really isn’t a problem for me Colt. You’ve got to remember who I am – I come from a long line of witches, very strong, powerful witches. Supernatural beings are normal in my family. And if my sister is a hybrid witch-werewolf now, as I suspect she is, I need to be strong enough so that when I do find her I can confront her and try to save her from Shane and herself. Despite the horrible thing she did to me, she’s still my sister and I don’t want