“Other than my feelings?” Lizzy batted her eyelashes at each of them. “I mean, I thought you guys were my friends. Friends don’t turn friends into mixed-blood supernatural guys. It’s in the handbook.”
Willis laughed. “Well, whatever their blood is doing to you, it didn’t cure you of your wicked sarcasm.”
Lizzy made a praying motion with her hands. “Thank heavens for that. Sarcasm makes the world a better place.” She looked back at Alice, who was studying her like she was a new species of bug. Lizzy noticed something strange, however. Colors seemed a bit more vibrant than before she’d passed out. “Nothing hurts.” She shrugged. “But things do seem a little … hyper-focused.” There was a knocking on the door, but it sounded to Lizzy like someone was attempting to beat it down. “And unless someone is using a battering ram on the door, my hearing has definitely improved.” She cringed. “Is someone going to answer that?”
Willis rubbed his chin. “Aren’t those all werewolf traits?” None of them acknowledged the knocking, and thankfully, it stopped a few seconds later.
“Yes.” Cain nodded. “But vampires have them, as well. It may be that our blood has awakened her dormant wolf.”
“Does that mean I’m going to get to turn into a wolf and howl at the moon and bite people? The biting people is the part I’m most interested in. I’ve seriously got an urge to tear into some flesh.”
“So you’re beginning to feel hunger pains?” Willis asked.
“No, captain wanna-be-vamp-boy,” she snapped. “I’m not hungry to suck someone’s blood. Can you get off that train for a moment? I’m hungry to bite the shite out of someone because I’m pissed. Be careful or you might be the first.” She tilted her head for a second and thought about how she was feeling. “Does being a vampire cause heightened emotions?”
Alice continued to scribble in her notepad as Lizzy spoke. “I would imagine that because the supernatural blood of both werewolves and vampires allows for heightened senses, it’s fair to consider that they could make your emotions more intense, as well.”
“It wouldn’t be the vampire blood causing those emotions,” Cain countered. “Vampires’ emotions don’t tend toward anything other than intense want or need. Typically, that has to do with blood. We aren’t wired for much else, though I am finding, as of late, that perhaps we can change.”
Lizzy looked over at the vampire king and saw his eyes were focused on Alice. When she looked at the female scientist, she noticed that the woman was completely ignoring Cain. Interesting. She almost smirked. The vamp king has a crush. At the tail end of that thought, her own romantic life came crashing into the forefront of her mind. Finn. As she said his name, she realized she didn’t feel his presence coming through the bond. She panicked momentarily, but breathed a sigh of relief when she realized the bond itself was still there, and she could sense Finn… somewhere. But there was something blocking the bond, like an invisible wall in her mind, that kept her from feeling Finn. It seemed as if he was just on the other side of it. She knew better than to broach that subject with her captors. Pushing that worry away for the moment, she looked back at Cain. “So, what now?”
Cain stepped back and leaned against the lab table behind him. He stared at her intently, as if he could see past her skin inside her at what the blood might be doing to her cells. “Now, we wait. We should know more with every passing day. Some things, like how intense your bloodlust will be, or the change in emotional state, might differ from that of a full-on vampire.”
“And where will this waiting be taking place?” Lizzy clasped her hands together in her lap and tried to look chill. “Will I return to my previous luxury accommodations?”
“Surely we can get her better digs than her former cell.” Alice’s voice was tight as she clasped the pad to her chest and narrowed her eyes on Cain. “Like an actual room with a bed and furniture. She is kind of the guest of honor.”
Cain stared back at the scientist for several heartbeats before finally answering. “I cannot put you in a regular room. Your previous room was reinforced to withstand supernatural tempers. Who knows what kind of strength you might have?” He held up his hand when Alice began to speak. “We have no idea how your change will progress. Do you want to be responsible for the deaths of dozens of people, if not more?”
Lizzy simply stared at him wide-eyed. What a dumbass question?
“I didn’t think so,” he said after several seconds of silence ticked by. “I will, however, endeavor to make your current room a little more comfortable. I think that is a fair trade.” He pulled out his phone, and his thumbs moved abnormally fast across the screen.
A wave of exhaustion suddenly overtook Lizzy, and she realized she frankly didn’t give a damn where she stayed. She just wanted out of the lab, away from the three amigos, and somehow to check on Finn. “Whatever.” She sighed. “Can I get a shower, some clean clothes, some human food, and a bit of peace and quiet?”
“Yes,” Cain studied her for a moment. “We can certainly accommodate that.”
“I’ll be sure to leave you at least a two-star review on Yelp.”
Willis snorted. “This chick is hilarious.” He glanced at Lizzy. “Are you sure you have a true mate? Because I’m totally—”
Lizzy held up a hand and shook her head. “You wouldn’t be able to handle me, beaker boy. Just give it up.”
It was Alice that laughed this time. Lizzy ignored her and simply looked at Cain, waiting for his next move.
Cain slipped his phone back in his pocket, pushed away from the table, and headed for the door. “Let’s get you back to your room,”
“Cell,” she corrected.
Alice’s eyes scanned over her. “Can you walk?”
Lizzy slid her feet over until her legs hung off the side of the gurney, then slipped down. Her feet hit the cold floor, but she didn’t collapse under her own weight. She stood there a minute, letting her body adjust to being upright, and then took a cautious step. “Looks like you won’t get to carry me, Willis.” She gave him a wink.
“Cheeky little hybrid,” Willis muttered under his breath, and Lizzy had no trouble hearing him.
She marched toward Cain. “Lead the way, your majesty. There’s a lovely square cell waiting for me, and I’ve got some aimless pacing to do until we know whether this whole hybrid thing is going to take or if I’m going to drop dead. Time’s a’ wasting.”
To her surprise, the king of vampires rolled his eyes. “Time isn’t wasting if you have to actually wait on something.” He opened the door, then stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. “You’re not going to run, are you? Because if you do, I’ll have to chase you. And if that happens, my hunting instinct will kick in.” His fangs flashed at her as he smiled. There was nothing nice about it. “That won’t be a good thing.”
