Sarah.
She was lying on a folded up blanket in the middle of the concrete floor, her body curved into the position of a sleeping child. Her golden brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. The telling bite mark on her neck still looked raw, but Alex knew the blood he was about to give her would make that disappear quickly.
The small knife he held against his left wrist would be used several times before the deed was done. His wounds healed so quickly that there was hardly time to give Sarah enough blood to change. He thought of all this as he watched her for any sign of resistance.
“Are you ready?” he asked her in the still, damp darkness of the basement gloom. “I know I’ve already said this a hundred times today, but you can still change your mind.”
She rolled over onto her back and looked at him, kneeling there beside her like some golden-haired prince in a fairytale. A tentative smile briefly moved her lips. “A thousand times is more like it. I’m not going to back out.”
“This changes everything, Sarah,” he said quietly. “You will never be the same again. Even if you become human again with magic, the things you go through as a vampire will stick with you.”
“Alex, I know.”
She touched his arm with two of her fingers.
“I’m ready to be one of you. It’s what I need.”
“It’s going to hurt like hell.”
“ I know .”
When he looked into her eyes and saw the lack of fear, the anticipation of it all—he knew. She was ready. He held his wrist above her with the little knife poised to make the cut that would alter her forever.
Chapter 11
“It’s been over a year, Marco. I’m ready for the test.”
Katherine Wood, sister to Sarah and daughter of Robert Wood, was sitting with her recovery mentor, Marco DeBlaine in a little local bar on the south side of Paraty. It was a tourist town about 125 miles south of Rio. Kate and Marco had been there for two weeks.
Unlike the first month of rehab, Kate was not locked up. She had been given a travel pass on the condition that Marco would constantly be next to her. He was good at sensing her moods, which could fluctuate wildly depending on her hunger level.
Across the table from her, he shook his head with a bright smile, displaying his perfectly white teeth.
“No way. You know the rules.”
Kate tried to give him her best impression of a sad face, which wasn’t as easy as it had been a year before. Learning to control her urges had brought a shade of peace to her life. The dimples in her cheeks grew deeper. The sarcasm that fell so freely from her every word when she first arrived at the clinic in Rio had altered into a mild attempt at humor. From the tips of her pink-painted toenails to the calm sea of her ebony eyes, Kate had changed.
There was no Katie anymore. The bitchy Indiana farm girl turned murdering vicious vampire was no longer present. Marco would have preferred that she hold onto some of that previous attitude, but she no longer found it necessary.
“I’ve been on the wagon for a long time. Strictly sangue de porco .”
Marco’s dark eyebrows rose.
“Pig blood is different everywhere. What if you get a batch in the states that doesn’t take your fancy?”
She grinned at him slyly .
“Then I’ll have Norma send me some from down here.”
“Wrong answer, Kate,” Marco said quietly. “Once you leave these shores, you will be wholly independent. You will never return to Brazil. If you lose your way, if you get into any further trouble, the clinic will not host you a second time.”
It was enough to put a damper on her lighthearted mood. He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. The moment she’d arrived in Brazil, the damned rules started.
No blood of any kind for a month . That first one was the hardest. They put her in a cell made of stone, furnished with only a simple uncomfortable cot with no pillow or blanket. The door was constructed of steel five inches thick with
She was lying on a folded up blanket in the middle of the concrete floor, her body curved into the position of a sleeping child. Her golden brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. The telling bite mark on her neck still looked raw, but Alex knew the blood he was about to give her would make that disappear quickly.
The small knife he held against his left wrist would be used several times before the deed was done. His wounds healed so quickly that there was hardly time to give Sarah enough blood to change. He thought of all this as he watched her for any sign of resistance.
“Are you ready?” he asked her in the still, damp darkness of the basement gloom. “I know I’ve already said this a hundred times today, but you can still change your mind.”
She rolled over onto her back and looked at him, kneeling there beside her like some golden-haired prince in a fairytale. A tentative smile briefly moved her lips. “A thousand times is more like it. I’m not going to back out.”
“This changes everything, Sarah,” he said quietly. “You will never be the same again. Even if you become human again with magic, the things you go through as a vampire will stick with you.”
“Alex, I know.”
She touched his arm with two of her fingers.
“I’m ready to be one of you. It’s what I need.”
“It’s going to hurt like hell.”
“ I know .”
When he looked into her eyes and saw the lack of fear, the anticipation of it all—he knew. She was ready. He held his wrist above her with the little knife poised to make the cut that would alter her forever.
Chapter 11
“It’s been over a year, Marco. I’m ready for the test.”
Katherine Wood, sister to Sarah and daughter of Robert Wood, was sitting with her recovery mentor, Marco DeBlaine in a little local bar on the south side of Paraty. It was a tourist town about 125 miles south of Rio. Kate and Marco had been there for two weeks.
Unlike the first month of rehab, Kate was not locked up. She had been given a travel pass on the condition that Marco would constantly be next to her. He was good at sensing her moods, which could fluctuate wildly depending on her hunger level.
Across the table from her, he shook his head with a bright smile, displaying his perfectly white teeth.
“No way. You know the rules.”
Kate tried to give him her best impression of a sad face, which wasn’t as easy as it had been a year before. Learning to control her urges had brought a shade of peace to her life. The dimples in her cheeks grew deeper. The sarcasm that fell so freely from her every word when she first arrived at the clinic in Rio had altered into a mild attempt at humor. From the tips of her pink-painted toenails to the calm sea of her ebony eyes, Kate had changed.
There was no Katie anymore. The bitchy Indiana farm girl turned murdering vicious vampire was no longer present. Marco would have preferred that she hold onto some of that previous attitude, but she no longer found it necessary.
“I’ve been on the wagon for a long time. Strictly sangue de porco .”
Marco’s dark eyebrows rose.
“Pig blood is different everywhere. What if you get a batch in the states that doesn’t take your fancy?”
She grinned at him slyly .
“Then I’ll have Norma send me some from down here.”
“Wrong answer, Kate,” Marco said quietly. “Once you leave these shores, you will be wholly independent. You will never return to Brazil. If you lose your way, if you get into any further trouble, the clinic will not host you a second time.”
It was enough to put a damper on her lighthearted mood. He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. The moment she’d arrived in Brazil, the damned rules started.
No blood of any kind for a month . That first one was the hardest. They put her in a cell made of stone, furnished with only a simple uncomfortable cot with no pillow or blanket. The door was constructed of steel five inches thick with
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