“Lizzy.” She felt Alice’s hand on her arm. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a vampire.” She shifted in her seat but kept her eyes closed.
“Really?” Willis’s voice was giddy.
“No, you overgrown man-child.” She huffed. “How the hell should I know how it feels to be a vampire? I mean, seriously, what do you think being a vampire feels like?”
“Thirsty?”
“Okay, in that case, yes. I am thirsty.”
“Do you think it matters which blood type you drink?” She could hear Willis shuffling next to her.
Bloody hell, this guy can’t really be a scientist. Lizzy pressed her head back into the seat. “I’m thirsty for a cola, not B negative.”
“Smart ass.” The sulkiness in his tone made Lizzy smile. It brought her joy to annoy anyone who cared so little for hurting others.
Cain folded his arms across his chest and rested his chin on his fist. “You feel nothing different?”
“How exactly am I supposed to feel?”
“Well, irritated, grumpy, thirsty, and hungry.” He listed the things off like he was checking off items on a grocery list.
“Um, so like I always feel?”
Alice chuckled. “She’s not wrong. That’s pretty much any chick’s emotional checklist.”
Lizzy didn’t like agreeing with the woman. She didn’t want to feel any comradery with the female who, like the other scientist, was so easily willing to cause another person harm.
“Do you still feel like you’re not dying?” Finn interrupted her focus on the ridiculousness going on around her.
“I’m annoyed. I want to bite someone, but I can’t tell if it’s because I’m part wolf, possibly part vampire, or simply an irritated woman.”
She felt a flash of humor through the bond, which was a breath of fresh air from all the turmoil that had been coming down the line. But it faded quickly with worry.
“Lizzy, open your eyes,” Cain commanded.
Her jaw clenched when she felt the sudden urge to do as he told her. Oh, hell no. There is no way I am going to be controlled by this walking blood bag.
“Lizzy.” Cain said her name again, and she felt something that she could only describe as a compulsive push against her own will. It wasn’t the same thing she felt through the mate bond. This felt invasive and unwanted.
“I don’t want to… and you can’t make me.” Lizzy almost laughed at how childlike she sounded.
Cain chuckled, and Lizzy didn’t like that sound at all. “That’s where you’re wrong, Lizzy Fairchild. You have my blood running through your veins. I am the one who has sired you, and that makes you mine. You’ll have no choice but to do as you’re told.”
“And you, sir, have just underestimated my level of stubbornness.” Despite her words, a trickle of fear flooded her mind. She didn’t want to be controlled. Not by a mate bond, not a vampire bond, not by any kind of supernatural bond. Lizzy had fought her whole life to keep from being controlled by anyone, though there had been many times that she’d had no choice. One of the wonderful perks of being an orphan child is not having a choice in who controls you. “I will not be controlled, commanded, or otherwise bossed by an egotistical, self-serving, arrogant, entitled person of any race—supernatural or otherwise.”
“I don’t want to control you.” Finn sounded horrified that she would think such a thing.
Lizzy didn’t have time to address him. Her body was suddenly on fire. It felt as if a flame licked all over her flesh causing her blood to heat inside her veins. “Okay, that is not cool… literally,” she bit out through clenched teeth. “You didn’t mention being set on fire.”
“What are you feeling?” Cain asked, as if he didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t.
Lizzy leaned forward. She fought the roll of nausea that grew even stronger. She hated vomiting. “Like I’m being burned, and my blood is boiling. When you were turned into a blood-sucking parasite, did you feel this way? I’m pretty sure it’s cooking my organs.” She groaned and gagged but managed to swallow a mouthful of bile before it could spew from her lips. Ugh, that was disgusting. Stomach bile was not designed to be introduced to the taste buds. If it was, it would taste like chocolate. “Do you smell burning flesh?” She coughed. “Because I’m pretty sure I smell burning flesh.”
“No to both.” Lizzy thought she detected worry in Cain’s tone. “It shouldn’t hurt at all.”
Alice's face was etched with worry as she spoke. “I'm sure it's a little more uncomfortable for her. You're mashing together our genetic material, three distinct and separate sources of DNA, and forcing them to adapt. It must be agony.”
