Gerry Bartlett - Real Vampires Know Size Matters

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.

“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.

Iwoke 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.