Of course it was important that we watch her for the next night or two. The transition wasn’t easy. And she didn’t have a clue that vampires even existed. Or did she?
“Ray, does Sienna know you’re a vampire?” I nodded toward Will and he helped me break Sienna’s hold on my wrist. She opened her eyes and stared into mine. I caught her gaze and talked to her calmly. “Sleep now, Sienna. It’s almost dawn.” I relaxed when I saw her blink, close her eyes with a sigh then settle into sleep. “Ray? I asked you a question.”
“No. Hell, no. I told you I mesmerized her to drink. I was working up to tell her, even hinted at it, but she always laughed off that stuff. She likes to read fantasy stuff, you know, books about vamps and shifters. But she never bought into it for real. I finally decided it wasn’t a good idea. Not like how it went with Nate.” Ray eased out from under Sienna and covered her with a sheet. No one had commented on the fact that the woman had been wearing nothing at all. Will was smart enough to look everywhere but at his boss’s lady friend.
“Well, I guess that means I stay here tonight and help you tomorrow night. Because we’re going to have to explain our life to her. And it’s not a laughing matter.” I sat on the foot of the bed. “I could use another bottle of that premium.”
“You got it.” Will raced out of the room, obviously eager to get out of the way.
“She’s going to take it badly. Like I did.” Ray collapsed next to me. “Shit. I can’t believe I did this.”
“It’s done. No good will come from beating yourself up about it. We’ll do the best we can to help her with the transition. She’ll probably be mad at you, not want to be with you at first.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “I may have to take her home with me.”
“You’d do that?” Ray kissed my cheek. “Damn, girl, there’s just no end to your generosity, is there?”
“Oh, yes, there’s an end. You do this again and I’m going to make you sorry you ever got that pair of fangs, Israel Caine.” I gave him a hard look. “I can turn you to a statue and leave you there until the sun comes up. Make you fry.”
“Tough talk, Glory.” He grinned and ran a finger down my arm. “But you know you love me, sweet thing. And this has taught me a hard lesson.” He lost his smile. “I’m done with mortals. I like Sienna. But I’m not in love with her, not like I was with you. Now I’ve ruined her life. And it was just so I could enjoy a drink at her fountain.” He jumped up and stared at the night sky, visible through the glass doors that led out to his terrace.
“I don’t know if you
ruined
it, Ray.” I didn’t like where this was going. Ray was volatile at the best of times. As an alcoholic, recovering now, he was always close to falling off the wagon again.
He faced the bed once more. “I know what I am. A selfish bastard. I’ve got to stop using people. I
will
stop. Helping Sienna . . . Well, maybe that’s something I have to do to learn what’s important in my life.” He watched me, obviously hoping for approval.
“I wish you meant that, Ray. But instead I feel like I’m listening to one of your song lyrics.” I was tired, drained, and I’d heard his vows of change before. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”
I left him standing there with his mouth hanging open, for once realizing his charm had deserted him. Good. I met Will in the hall, where he handed me another bottle of the good stuff.
“It’s almost dawn. There’s a guest room right here.” He led me to it. “Anything you need?”
“To call Jerry. I won’t tell him about this yet. It will just reinforce his poor opinion of Ray. But he had been expecting me to come back to his house.” I opened the door to a neat bedroom with a queen-size bed. It must be nice to be rich enough to hire paranormals to clean your house while you slept.
“Do you think we should notify the vampire council about this?” Will stood in the doorway as I kicked off my shoes.
“It was an emergency. I know they have rules about making new vampires, but this was life or death. Of course Ray made a mistake, no getting around that. Dumbass.” I sat on the foot of the bed and drank my synthetic. “I’ll call Damian myself tomorrow night and explain things. First, let’s see how Sienna takes the news that she now has fangs.”
“Odds are she won’t be thrilled. Only those of us who grew up in families of vampires knew what we were getting into.” Will was from a Highland clan, neighbor to Jerry’s Clan Campbell. Their parents were “made” vampires, who then turned their adult children when they chose to become vampire.
“You’re probably right, Will. I’m not looking forward to it.” I sighed and pulled out my cell phone.
“You did a fine job tonight, Glory. Saved her life. Now we’ll see whether she’s going to thank you for it.” He smiled and closed the door, leaving me to my bed and death sleep as dawn drew closer.
Would she? Thank me? And did I want to take her home with me if she needed to get away from Ray? Too many questions for my tired brain. I stripped and crawled into bed, called Jerry and made up a story about shop complications, then cratered. Tomorrow was soon enough to worry about all of that.
• • •
I
woke up to peace and quiet. Okay, either Sienna still slept or Ray hadn’t told her the news. Was he waiting for me to do it? I wouldn’t be surprised. I glanced at the bedside clock and realized I’d slept past sunset. Unusual for me, but then I’d lost a lot of blood last night. Not even two bottles of synthetic could make up for how exhausting the stress and blood loss had been.
My cell phone rang and I picked it up off the nightstand. I saw at a glance that this wasn’t the first call I’d received. Two voice mails waited for me. I just answered.
“Jerry? Sorry, I overslept.”
“Where are you? I’m at your apartment and Aggie says you didn’t sleep here last night.”
Aggie was my roommate. She didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. In more ways than one. More about that later. “I’m at Ray’s. He almost killed Sienna. Drank too much of her blood. I . . . I had to turn her vampire, Jerry.” I suddenly choked up, the reality of what I’d done hitting me.
“Are you all right? Gloriana, are you still there? At Caine’s?”
“Yes. I had to sleep in his guest room. So I’d be here when she woke up.” I sniffled, getting myself under control. “I’m her sire, Jerry. I have to check on her, help explain to her about vampires. She doesn’t even know we exist.”
“I’m coming out there. You sound like you need me.”
“I do. Thanks.” I ended the call. I’m usually strong but for some reason this was getting to me and I liked the idea of Jerry beside me. I pulled on my clothes, wishing desperately for some clean underwear, and washed my face in the adjoining bathroom. I hated to be seen without makeup. Maybe if Sienna still slept I could borrow some of hers. A hairbrush would be nice too. I did find a new toothbrush and toothpaste in a drawer though.
Feeling almost presentable, I opened the bedroom door and walked down the hall toward the master bedroom. At the last moment I changed my mind and headed to the kitchen instead. I needed some of Ray’s premium synthetic first. I still felt a little weak. Or was that fluttery feeling in my stomach dread? I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Good evening.” Will sat on a bar stool, sipping from a mug of synthetic. Obviously he’d heated his in the microwave. I liked mine cold.
“Nothing from the new vampire yet?” I opened the fridge and helped myself, twisting off the cap and taking a deep swallow.
“Not a peep. I figure Ray is up and just watching her.” He gestured with his mug. “I can nuke that for you.”
“No, I’m fine.” I drank some more. “Guess I’d better go see what’s happening.” I glanced up at a rap on the French doors that led to the deck outside. “It’s Jerry. That was fast.”
“And one of the guards.” Will grinned and walked over to unlock the door. He spoke to the guard who stood back but didn’t leave. “Are you here in peace or do I send you on your way again, Jeremiah?”
“I’m just here to see Gloriana.” Jerry frowned at Will. They were old friends but Will knew Jerry was not one of Ray’s fans. “I’ll not bother your boss as long as he doesn’t bother me.”
“He has much more on his mind tonight than you or your lady, Jeremiah.” Will nodded and the other guard took off. “Come in. I’d count it as a courtesy if you’d leave your knives here in the kitchen before you go with Glory back to see Caine.”
“You have to be kidding.” Jerry glanced at me. “Gloriana?”
“Humor him, Jer. He’s just doing his job. Surely you can respect that.” I walked up to him and put my arms around his waist, coming away with the knife he always kept at the small of his back. “Here’s one, Will.” I set it on the counter.
“Damn it, Gloriana.” Jerry scowled but leaned over and pulled a knife from his boot and set it beside the other one.
“Give me the one under your arm as well.” Will grinned. “Come on, you know Ray is going to say or do something that will make you go for his throat, it’s his way. I can’t have you tossing one of your knives into the mix.”
“You’re right about Caine. He’s an aggravating bastard.” Jerry pulled the knife from the sheath under his arm and set it on the counter. “There. Satisfied?”
“Good job, Will. I like to see Blade without his toys.” Ray strolled into the kitchen in jeans and a black T-shirt. He was barefoot of course. He stopped next to me and slung his arm over my shoulders. “Glory here saved Sienna last night. I hope you’re not going to cause a dustup over that.”
“No, I’m glad she could help.” Jerry shook his head. “Too bad you can’t control your urges though, Caine. What’s the woman going to say when she wakes up vampire?”
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Sienna wandered into the kitchen dressed in one of Ray’s black silk shirts and nothing else. She rubbed her eyes. “Ray? You let me sleep all day again.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, babe.” Ray shot Jerry a look that said
shut up
, then took her hand.
“What’s to eat? I’m hungry. Any of that pizza left?” She headed for the fridge and pulled open the door. “Yeah. I just love cold pizza for breakfast. Anyone else?” She pulled out the box and set it on the counter then looked around.
The four of us just stared at her then each other. I knew this was on me.
“Sienna, I don’t think you really want pizza.” I pulled a fresh bottle of synthetic out of the fridge and twisted off the cap. Hot or cold? I dumped it into a mug and Will grabbed it, setting it into the microwave.
“Sure I do. Look, it’s pepperoni and mushroom, my favorite.” She flipped open the top and pulled out a slice.
“Don’t put that in your mouth.” I grabbed it before she could take a bite. “I guarantee it will make you sick.”
“It didn’t yesterday. It was delicious.” She frowned at me.
“Tonight it will.” The microwave beeped and Will handed me the mug. “Here, try this. You’ll be surprised how good this tastes. It’s just what you need.”
“If that’s the shit Ray drinks all the time, I want no part of it. I’ve tasted it when he was in the shower. It’s gross.” She made a face and wouldn’t touch the mug.
“Trust me. You will have a whole new appreciation for it now.” I took her hand and wrapped it around the mug. “One sip. That’s all I’m asking you to take.”
“Why are you all staring at me?” Sienna looked around the room. “Okay, I know I’ve got great legs.” She glanced down. “And maybe I should have buttoned a few more buttons, but I’m getting a different vibe than male appreciation here.” She sniffed the mug. “It does smell pretty good.” She took a cautious sip. “Wow. It does taste good. This must be a different brand or something.” She took a deep swallow. “I could get used to this.”
“I hope so.” Ray slipped his arm around her waist. “Because you’ll have to.”
“What do you mean, Ray?” Sienna leaned against him. “You know, I’m feeling a little funny. Wobbly.”
“That’s natural. It’ll take a while to adjust to this.”
“Adjust to what?” She sipped some more. “I’d like some coffee too. Will? Did you make some?”
“No, no need now. I only made it for you, Sienna.”
“Well, I’m still here.” She smiled at him. “So?”
“So, he doesn’t need to make you coffee anymore. You’re on the wagon now.” Ray kissed her cheek. “Something happened last night. You don’t remember because I did something to make you forget.”
“What the hell, Ray?” She jerked away from him. “I told you from the get-go that I’m over drugs. I went through rehab and I’m not going there again. It was hell. I thought you understood. We have that in common. Right?”
“It wasn’t drugs.” Ray sighed and looked at me.
“Sienna, maybe you should sit down.” She looked pale, not surprising, considering. And I knew my news was going to knock her off her feet.
“Why, Glory? If Ray didn’t drug me, why can’t I remember something from last night? And why are you all here staring at me?” Sienna’s voice was rising and her mug was shaking. “Damn it, what’s going on?”
“We’re vampires, Sienna.” I glanced around the room and we all were suddenly showing her our fangs.
“Oh, God!” She dropped her mug and ran out of the room. “Get away from me!”
“No, you don’t understand, baby.” Ray ran after her. “We’re not going to drink from you. Not anymore.” He caught her in the hall. “Come back. Let Glory tell you what happened.”
“Not anymore?” Sienna hit Ray on his chest as he carried her into the kitchen and thrust her onto a bar stool. “What the hell? Did you drink my blood? Ray? Is that why you slept with me? So you could drink my blood?” She slapped his face, tears running down her cheeks. “How long has this been going on?”
“Baby, please. Listen to me. I never meant—” Ray didn’t defend himself, just let her keep hitting and slapping him. “I’m sorry. I was an asshole.”
“He sure was,” Jerry muttered.
I gave him a quelling look. Not helping.
“Sienna, what Ray did was wrong. And it had consequences.” Consequences I knew she’d hate. I struggled for the right words. “We can’t turn back the clock. If we could, he never would have used you like that. I’m sure.” I stared at him, his cue to apologize again.
“No, of course not.” Ray shook his head. “I lost control. Stupid of me. But you were so fine.”