But how would she feel about waking up a vampire? Ray had been horrified, waking up with fangs, and still hated some aspects of being a vampire. I guess we’d find out what Sienna thought about this deal when—oh, God, if—she woke up. I fought back a wave of nausea and tried to remember I was the old pro here. Ray and Sienna were counting on me.
“Stand by, Ray. Watch what I do. You never know when you might need to know this.” I said a quick prayer, then set about making my second vampire. Saving Sienna’s life or not, this was so permanent. There would be no going back.
First, I bit into her wrist, sucking on her vein. There was pitifully little blood, a sign that we really didn’t have a choice. No reaction, not even a moan, as I drained her. Ray? He was beside himself, cursing and pacing around the bed.
Once I was satisfied that she was empty, I sat up and bit into my own wrist. It hurt like hell, but I didn’t have a choice. This next step was important.
“Hold up her head, Ray. I’ve got to get her to drink from me.” I ran my bleeding wrist across her lips which were now almost blue. No reaction, of course. Mortals don’t have a natural hunger for our blood. A vampire would have gone for it instantly. Even Ray’s fangs were down and the idiot had already drunk his fill tonight. He sat behind Sienna and settled her head in his lap, tenderly stroking her short hair back from her forehead.
I had already noticed that he wore nothing but his trademark black silk boxers and had to remind myself that I wasn’t here to appreciate his beautiful body or remember . . .
“How will you get her to drink?” Ray didn’t spare me a glance. He couldn’t look away from Sienna’s pale face.
“Open her mouth, force it open if you have to. I’m going to drip it down her throat and make her swallow. Once we get enough in her, she’ll come alive, vampire style, and begin to drink on her own. Or at least that’s what happened with Lucky, when I turned her.” I watched while Ray jammed a finger into her mouth and pried open her teeth. It was like working on a doll. Sienna was still lifeless.
“That’s right, you did turn that skank. At least it gave you the experience to help Sienna.” He kept brushing Sienna’s hair back from her face. Rock star. Sienna had gone for platinum with pink stripes this year. “We’ve got to save her.”
“I know, Ray. Just keep her mouth open.” I squeezed my wrist to increase the amount of blood that dripped into her mouth. Then I rubbed her throat until I saw her swallow. She coughed and gagged.
“Hold her mouth closed now, we can’t let her lose that.” I watched her carefully. She settled down but was still unconscious. “Okay, open it again, I’m giving her some more.” I couldn’t remember how much blood I’d had to give Lucky back then. I’d been crazy with fear, caught off guard and forced by circumstances to turn a human I didn’t even know into a vampire. This was different.
I felt almost clinical, like a doctor myself, detached, watching for signs, waiting to see if this worked. It was a freaky feeling and I didn’t like it. I should be more upset, like Ray was, shaking and calling Sienna’s name as he cradled her head between his thighs.
“Are you feeling woozy? You don’t look so hot, Glory.” Ray finally spared me a glance. “Will, get in here!” he shouted as I swayed over Sienna. “Bring Glory a bottle of the premium synthetic. Quick!”
“Yeah. Good idea. I can’t keep giving her blood and not get some to replace it.” I’d been standing, leaning over Sienna. Now I sat down on the bed, hard. No wonder I hadn’t felt much about this. It had been almost like an out-of-body experience.
Will showed up on the run, a bottle of AB negative in his hand. He twisted off the top and handed it to me. “How’s it going?”
“She’s still not coming around.” Ray glanced from me to Will. “Maybe Will should take over. Give her his blood.”
“No, I think that might confuse her. I’m going to be her sire.” I wasn’t sure about that. Frankly I wasn’t thinking straight. But it seemed like the sire blood bond was kind of important. More important than any of us vampires wanted to admit. Switching donors in mid-transition didn’t seem like a good idea.
“I’m okay.” I drained the bottle. It really helped and gave me the energy to continue.
“She looks better to me. You guys probably don’t see it, but I think there’s a tinge of pink in her cheeks already.” Will stayed near the foot of the bed. “A little more should take care of it, Glory.”
“I hope you’re right.” I bit into my other wrist this time and pressed it to Sienna’s lips. Ray held her mouth open enough to allow another few ounces to dribble in. We all watched and waited as I rubbed her throat until she swallowed. Sienna should begin to drink on her own soon. If this was working. If she didn’t, then we’d been too late and it was time to admit she was dead, Will’s pink cheeks wishful thinking.I felt a tickle against my wrist then pressure as her lips pressed against my wrist. Suction! “She’s drinking!” I blinked, startled to realize I was actually crying with relief.
Sure enough, Sienna suddenly grabbed my wrist with both hands and latched on, a growl of pleasure rumbling up from her chest. She took a deep pull, starving. It was the same reaction I’d gotten from Lucky. I remembered it now. I had to be careful. Too much and I’d end up a victim and she’d be more vampire than she needed to be at first. Wild, out of control.
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.