Maybe that’s why I felt so drawn to Devon. He and I both had baggage and a past, but it was of more equal time. Neither of us lived through the Black Plague, for one.
"How do you do it?” I ask, tearing my eyes away from Xavier’s gorgeous face and looking at Devon. He’s so helpless and defenseless right now. “How do you turn someone into a vampire?”
“The sire drains all the blood from their progeny. Then, right before their heart takes its final beat, the sire feeds them their blood. What actually happens after that…” He shrugs. “The black magic takes over. Everything inside is frozen. Not functional but not rotting. Blood still circulates our systems, but it’s powered by magic, not by a beating muscle inside our chests.”
“It sounds like you’ve looked into this.”
“I have. I’ve always been fascinated by it, much to my maker’s chagrin.”
“She didn’t want you to look into it?”
“No,” he tells me and takes my hand. “Some things can’t be understood. Some thingsshouldn’tbe understood. Just accepted.”
“Easier said than done.”
“You’re telling me.”
I look up at him again. I don’t know much about his past, but I do know enough about him now. “Okay. Do it. Turn him.”
“We’re going to take him home. Waking up after the transformation can be confusing for some, especially after a traumatic injury,” Xavier explains.
“Theo said something about Mabel,” I start and then shake my head. “Is he…um…going to be like her, too?”
“You mean slightly insane and out of touch with reality?” he says so bluntly I laugh.
“If that’s how you put it, then yes. But those are your words and not mine.” My smile grows. “I think it’s part of Mabel’s charm.”
“Mabel tried to take her own life,” Xavier says, and his words cut through me. “After she found out that one of her children was killed by a hunter. She was never meant to be turned or part of our family in that way. Ezekiel attempted to turn her himself.”
“Attempted?”
“He didn’t completely drain her blood. He was worried about killing her.”
My mouth falls open but I don’t know what to say. “You turned her.”
“I did, but before I could, she had to regain enough human strength to get Ezekiel’s blood out of her system so she could accept mine.”
“Wait,” I say, shaking my head and actually leaning back. “If I drank your blood and then Theo tried to turn me, it wouldn’t work?”
“It wouldn’t. You would die.”
Blinking, I just shake my head again. I had no idea. I don’t think many humans had any idea. That must be why some vampires force their human lovers to drink their blood. We Order members laughed about it as if it was some sort of kink, but really, it was a way of staking even more of a claim to the humans involved with vampire affairs.
“That is why Mabel is the way she is,” Xavier continues. “She was quite whimsical in her human life, though.”
The ICU doors open and a nurse comes in, pushing a gurney. By the glazed over look on her face, I’m sure she’s been held spellbound.
“Is he going to be the same when he wakes up?”
“He’ll be who he truly is,” Xavier tells me. “Most vampires I’ve turned resembled exactly who they were in their human life. But becoming undead awakens the part of you that you were told to bury. You can live without the same consequences, and that is what changes people.”
All I can do is blink and nod again. The nurse comes into the room and I step back, hugging my arms around my torso. It makes the letter poke against my stomach, reminding me that the Order is here and that they’re watching.
“Can I meet you at home later?” I ask Xavier, and he turns, studying me with quiet surprise. “I don’t want to be there when it happens.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“There’s a Starbucks across from the hospital.” I look at the clock on the wall above the door. “It opens soon.” I inhale and find my composure. “And it’s not like you won’t know where I am.” I hold up my wrist, reminding him of the stupid tracker. “You can watch me like you would watch an outdoor cat, seeing where I go and what I do in a day.”
