Kerrelyn Sparks: Be Still My Vampire Heart

"Oh, Emma." He pulled off his T-shirt and pressed it against her bleeding neck. His eyes

welled with tears.

Tree branches and bushes rustled as more people rushed into the clearing.

"How is she?" Austin demanded.

Darcy gasped. "Oh my God. Are we too late?"

Robby squatted beside Angus. "I'm so sorry."

Angus gritted his teeth. "She's no' dead yet. We can give her a transfusion." He looked at Ian and Robby. "Doona ye have some bottles of blood in yer sporrans?"

Robby looked at him sadly. "We doona have the equipment for a transfusion."

"Then we'll teleport her," Angus said. "Roman can fix her."

Jean-Luc knelt on the other side of Emma. "It's still daylight in New York. There's only

one way to save her, Angus, and you know what that is."

"Nay!" Angus blinked back tears. "I canna transform her. She couldna stomach being a vampire. They killed her parents."

"But she can be changed back," Darcy suggested. "I'm living proof of that."

Angus blinked. Of course! He'd been too panicked to realize there was another option. Did Emma still have the scrap of stained cloth? If not, he could leave her his T-shirt. It was soaked with her mortal blood.

"She's going fast," Jean-Luc warned him. "If she bleeds out, it will be too late to transform her."

Angus rubbed his brow. What choice did he have? And Roman could change her back.

"This is all my fault. She's going to hate me."

"She'll understand." Ian touched his shoulder. "I always understood."

Angus looked up. "I trapped ye in the body of a fifteen-year-old for all eternity."

Ian smiled. "Ye saved my life."

Angus took a deep breath, then unwrapped the shirt from Emma's neck. He'd have to drain the last drop of blood from her. It had to be done by a vampire in order for her to slip into a vampire coma. Then he'd have to feed her his own blood. If she accepted it and drank, she'd become one of the Undead. If she rejected his blood, she would die.

"Can I borrow asgian dubh?" He'd have to slice his arm to feed her.

Ian handed him a knife.

Angus glanced at all his friends. "Could ye leave us alone?"

Emma remembered pain and darkness. Fear and terror. Katya's fangs ripping into her neck. A last cry for survival and the desperate use of her stake. More darkness. Murmuring voices. More fangs. How could Katya be back? Hadn't she killed that bitch?

More darkness as Emma slipped deeper into a black pit.

Then a strange dream. Her mouth tasted of blood. She choked on the metallic bitterness.

"Swallow," a voice urged her. "Ye must swallow."

More blood drizzled into her mouth. She was drowning in blood. Katya was killing her. She turned her head and coughed.

"Emma," the voice pleaded. "Drink it, please."

Angus? She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. She couldn't even open her eyes.

More blood poured into her mouth. She swallowed, and a comforting warmth spread through her body. She swallowed again, and it tasted sweet. What a silly dream. This couldn't be blood. It tasted too good. She drank and drank.

"That's it, sweetheart. Ye're doing fine."

Angus was happy with her. Angus loved her. Emma smiled. Angus was with her, and Katya was gone. This time when the darkness descended, she wasn't afraid.

With a jolt, Emma woke up. Her heart pounded in her chest so loud, she could hear it. A moment of panic seized her. She must be having a heart attack. She felt so strange, and she didn't know where she was.

"She's awake, Darcy! Get a bottle ready."

Emma saw Austin standing by an open door. He had found her? Then she and Angus must have been rescued.

"I just popped it into the microwave," a woman's voice yelled from a distance.

Emma sat up. Black dots swirled around her head.

"Easy."Austin stepped toward her with a worried expression.

"I–I guess I'm still weak." Emma blinked and focused on Austin. He seemed sharper than usual. She could see the stubble on his chin and every individual strand of hair on his head. And his heart was beating so loud. How could she hear that? How could she hear her own heart? She pressed a hand to her chest and noticed she was wearing flannel pajamas. "How did I get these?"

"Those are Darcy's," Austin answered. "She tried to clean you up a bit."

Right. Katya had attacked her. Emma suspected her old clothes were covered with blood. Her stomach rumbled. "I feel so hungry."

"I'm sure you are."Austin eyed her warily.

She looked around the room. It was a nice bedroom. Blue comforter. Full-sized bed. No windows. Only a night light in a wall socket. How could she see so well? Her stomach rumbled louder, then cramped. She pressed a hand to her belly. "Ouch!"

Austin strode toward the door. "Hurry, Darcy!"

Emma inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "Where am I?"

"Zoltan Czakvar's house in Budapest."

"Who?" Another hunger pang rocked Emma. She grimaced. Austin's heart seemed to pound in her ears. She could hardly hear. Hardly think.

"Zoltan Czakvar. He's the coven master of Eastern Europe."

"I'm in a vampire's house?" Emma noticed the vein in Austin's neck. It was pulsing.

And it smelled so good. Like food. "What's happening to me?" A hunger pain struck her hard. With a cry, she fell back on the bed and curled into a ball.

"Is she all right?" Darcy rushed into the room with a tray and set it down on the bedside table.

Darcy was so close, and she smelled so good, Emma fought an urge to grab her.

"I have your breakfast." Darcy offered her a glass. "Type O. A little bland, but you should start off with a simple diet."

Emma's eyes widened. The glass was filled with blood. "No!" A sudden jab of pain pierced her mouth. She cried out.

Darcy set the glass down. "You poor thing. The same thing happened to me. They always come out the first night."

Emma covered her mouth and whimpered. Her gums were ripping in two. With a scream, she felt them rip. She lowered her hand and saw blood splattered on her palm. It was horrible! And it smelled delicious. The pain in her mouth subsided as another hunger pang struck her.

Darcy plopped a straw into the glass and handed it to Emma. "Here. It's hard to use a glass when the fangs are out."

Fangs? Emma touched her mouth. Her canine teeth were long, pointed, and sharp. "No!"

She shook her head. This was another bad dream. It couldn't be true.

"I know it's upsetting." Darcy perched on the bed beside her and pressed the glass into her hand. "You'll feel better once you eat."

Emma's hand shook as she took the glass. She had a terrible desire to throw it away and sink her teeth into Darcy. Oh God, it was true. She was a vampire.

She stared at the glass, stunned. The blood actually smelled good. Was this the sort of agony Angus had endured all night when he'd refused to bite her? She closed her mouth around the straw and sucked. The blood was sweet and warm. It flowed into her, filling her with an energizing sense of strength and power. Too soon, she reached the bottom of the glass.

"I need more." Her gums tingled, and she realized her fangs were retracting.

"I'll be right back." Darcy stood, taking the glass. "It's normal to be very hungry the first night."

"You were a vampire," Emma whispered.

"Yes, for four years. But you needn't stay this way for long. Roman can change you back. You'll be all right."

Emma nodded. She watched Darcy leave the room. Austin smiled at his wife as she passed by. A gentle, loving smile. And Emma knew exactly what she needed. "Where is Angus?"

Austin's smile faded. "He's, uh, not here right now."

Emma looked around the room. She still felt strange. Sort of numb. Maybe this was all a dream. She'd had a lot of them lately. Or were they memories? She'd made love with Angus. Katya had dragged her away and attacked her. Good heavens, Katya had killed her.