“I’m a vampire,” she murmured, her voice tinged with disbelief. How could it be true? Maybe she was having a very long, very realistic nightmare. And yet she knew it was true. She felt different. Strange. Oddly on edge.
Rising, she went to the window and looked outside. It was dark outside yet she could see everything clearly—the trees, the rocks, a bird in its nest. And stars. More stars than she had ever seen in her life.
She felt Stefan’s presence before he appeared in the room clutching an armful of her clothing, including a nightgown, her undergarments, and shoes.
He dumped the lot of it on the bed and turned his back while she dressed. She grinned when she saw the simple black dress. Black, of course, she thought as she pulled it on.
When she was ready, he took her in his arms.
“It’s cold outside,” she said.
“You will not feel it. Trust me.”
Trust him, she thought.As if she had any other choice. Anyone else to turn to.
Stefan transported them to a distant city. The night was still young and the streets were crowded. Bryony clung to his arm, her senses reeling. The lights were brighter, the conversations and the laughter, the rumble of carriage wheels, the music from a tavern, seemed overly loud. Every indrawn breath carried myriad scents and sounds—perspiration, human and animal waste, perfume, food and drink, earth and trees, lamp oil and candles, random thoughts, raucous laughter, a baby’s cry, a barking dog. How did Stefan stand it?
“You will grow accustomed to it,” he said. “In time, you will learn to shut out the unwanted noise and the smells.”
She certainly hoped she didn’t go insane first.
“Male or female?” Stefan asked as they approached a busy corner.
“What?”
“Most men prey on females,” he said matter-of-factly. “Most females prefer to prey on men.”
Prey on?She didn’t like the sound of that at all. She wasn’t a wild animal. But she was no longer human, either.
“Bryony?”
“A man, I guess.”
Stefan found a young chap standing alone on a street corner a short time later.
Bryony watched as Stefan spoke to him then led the man into the shadows between two buildings. Torn between revulsion and fascination, she watched Stefan bite the man’s neck and then stand back. She looked at Stefan askance, and then at the blood oozing from the punctures in the man’s neck. Hardly aware of what she was doing, she stepped forward and practically inhaled the man’s blood. The scent was tantalizing, the taste warm and sweet and better than the finest wine in her father’s cellar. She might have taken it all if Stefan hadn’t made her stop.
“You don’t want to kill him, do you?” he asked.
“Of course not!” she exclaimed, shocked that he would think she was capable of such a despicable thing. That he would even ask such a question.
“You must listen to the beat of his heart,” Stefan explained patiently. “You will know when it is time to stop.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Stefan nodded. “I will not let you take too much. Or hunt alone until you know you can control your hunger.”
Prey. Hunt. Hunger. Feed.
Vampire!
For the first time, she realized what it meant.
The next few days didn’t seem real. As soon as the sun cleared the horizon she fell into a dark, dreamless sleep. She tried to fight it, but it was useless. It happened no matter where she was. Stefan assured her that once she had been a vampire for a while, she would be able to make her way to herlair before the dark sleep overtook her. But, for now, she made sure to be in close proximity to her bed before dawn.
For the time being, she took her rest on Stefan’s bed in the dungeon in the old castle in Ireland. When she asked why he stayed there, he informed her that there were no hunters currently residing or hunting in the country. The location didn’t really matter, she thought, since he could transport himself anywhere he wished to go in moments. She rather liked lying beside him when she fell into the dark sleep and waking nestled against his side, her head pillowed on his shoulder.
He took her hunting every night. She wanted to feel revulsion, horror, disgust, embarrassment. But she didn’t. The blood was warm and satisfying. She told herself she wasn’t hurting the people she preyed on. She didn’t take much, just enough to quench her thirst. She had been afraid she might turn into some kind of ravening monster, but she still felt like her old self, only stronger, more confident. Stefan had told her that being turned by an ancient vampire not only made her transition easier, but it also made her stronger and more powerful than most fledglings.
