Fashionably Dead and Loving It (Hot Damned #14) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,55
face would become.
“Astrid,” Levi snapped in alarm. “Talk to me. NOW.”
“I know her,” I whispered, cupping her cheek in my hand. “She’s mine.”
“Explain,” Levi ground out, obviously thinking I’d lost my shit.
If what I was about to do didn’t work, I would lose my shit in a big way. “No time,” I said. “Tell me it will work.”
“I can’t,” he replied raggedly.
“Lie to me, Levi,” I begged. “Tell me I can turn her. Tell me I won’t kill her. Please.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s my Nana—Sarah. She’s been reincarnated. She’s come back to me.”
The words sounded like fiction. My life seemed like fiction. My normal wasn’t even remotely normal. I was undead. I was staring at my beloved Nana, who had been human and died right before I was turned. I’d visited her grave, and I’d visited her in Heaven. She promised me she would come back when the time was right. This could not be happening.
The timing was all wrong. A monster had destroyed her.
“You can turn her. You won’t kill her,” Levi told me. “You can do this. I believe in you.”
“Are you lying?” I asked.
“I sure as fuck hope not,” Levi said. “Do it, Astrid. The others are coming back.”
He was right. Lizard was doing his best, but it wasn’t going great.
Gently, tilting her head so her neck was exposed, I kissed her awful-smelling cheek. I didn’t even gag. “I love you, Nana. More than anything. It’s all going to be fine. You have my word.”
Extending my fangs, I bit into the soft skin of her neck with as much gentleness as I could. Her small frame went rigid in my brother’s arms. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t fight me. A tiny hand reached out and cupped my cheek. The sweetness and trust made me forget about the rancid taste of her blood in my mouth. I closed my eyes and waited for the click in my mind that would happen when the change had taken.
Dislodging my fangs, I took the priceless cargo from Levi’s arms and cuddled her filthy body close. Slicing my wrist with my fangs, I put it to her mouth. When enough blood had slid down her throat for me to feel confident that she’d had enough, I continued to hold her close. Placing my ear on her chest, I listened as her heartbeat slowed… and then stopped. If I had breath to hold, I would have been blue in the face. Waiting for the child version of my Nana to open her eyes felt like eternity.
“Did it work?” Levi asked, peering at the small pale girl in my arms.
“I don’t know.”
Minutes passed. It felt like years.
And then a miracle happened.
Like a big-budget movie produced by my Uncle God, rays of sunlight streamed into the building from the holes in the ramshackle roof of the warehouse. As the light bathed the dead child in my arms, her big blue eyes popped open and she stared at me with intense curiosity. Her broken and bloody body slowly mended. She trembled and convulsed with the effort it took to heal.
The stench was gone and in its place was the gorgeous scent I remembered so well—freesia and lilies with a hint of brown sugar. “Sarah,” I whispered as she lay exhausted in my arms. “Do you know me?”
She touched my nose and smiled. “I’m not sure. Maybe,” she said softly. “Should I?”
I didn’t know how to answer. I didn’t know the rules. Upsetting her after what she’d been through was the last thing I wanted to do. She was only five years old. I needed to call Uncle God and figure out how to handle the wondrous situation.
“It doesn’t matter,” I told her, kissing her forehead. “Do you have a family?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m an orphan.”
“Not anymore,” I told her. “Would you mind if I took you home with me?”
“Do you have any puppies?” she inquired.
“Umm… no, but we can fix that very easily,” I promised, then glanced up at Levi, who was watching me closely.
“Can you take her out to the parking lot?” I asked. “Nothing can happen to her. Guard her with your life and keep her out of the sun.”
Levi nodded and held his arms out to Sarah. “As you wish.”
They disappeared in a flash of jet-back glittering mist. I stared at my hands for a brief moment. The hands that had just held one of the most beloved people in my life.