A Fire in the Blood(54)

“So, what are we going to do tomorrow?” Jilly asked.

Tessa frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“If we’re going to work, I need to go home and get a change of clothes.”

“I’m not sure going to work is a good idea,” Tessa said. And yet she was anxious to get out of the house. She was tired of feeling trapped in her own home. Tired of being afraid of Katerina. And yet, only an idiot wouldn’t be afraid of the psycho vampire.

Tessa heaved a sigh of frustration. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “If she was just a run-of-the-mill vampire who could only go out at night, it wouldn’t be such a problem. But I keep asking myself what would happen if she showed up at the office and went on a rampage. A lot of innocent people could get hurt. Killed.”

“I know, but . . . Has Andrei said anything?”

“No.” At least nothing Tessa wanted to repeat. He had rested in bed beside her last night, his arm around her, his voice whispering love words in her ear, his nearness a constant temptation. When she’d finally drifted off to sleep, her dreams had been dark and erotic. Had he been in her bed this morning, she might have surrendered to the urges her dreams had aroused in her the night before. She told herself she was relieved he hadn’t been there when she woke, but she was afraid she was lying to herself.

“Do you really think she’d follow us to work?” Jilly asked.

“I wouldn’t put anything past that creature. She’s evil.”

“Maybe Andrei could go with us.”

“Maybe. I know I’d feel a lot safer if he was there.”

“Me too. Do you think there are other vampires like him? Vampires who don’t go around wreaking havoc and killing everything in sight?”

“I have no idea. I’d like to think so, but maybe he’s one of a kind.”

Jilly ran her finger around the rim of her coffee cup, her expression pensive. “How many vampires do you suppose there are in the world? Hundreds? Thousands?”

“Thousands?” Tessa shook her head. “Merciful heavens, I hope not!”

There was a shimmer in the room and Andrei appeared. “Is this what you girls do all day? Fret about how many vampires are running around?” He kissed Tessa’s cheek, then pulled another chair up to the table. “At best, there are a few hundred of us in the States, perhaps a thousand in the rest of the world. Tessa, can I talk to you alone?”

“Sure. We can go in my room.”

Andrei nodded at Bailey and Luke as he followed Tessa into her bedroom and closed the door.

“What is it?” she asked anxiously. “What’s wrong?”

Taking her by the hand, he led her to the bed. Sitting on the foot, he drew her down beside him. “I want to ask you something. Don’t freak out, don’t jump to conclusions,” he admonished as her heart began to beat faster. “Just think about it, okay?”

She nodded.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this. About Katerina. I’m not sure I can defeat her in an all-out test of power. I barely escaped with my life the last time we fought. And then there are the fledglings. I sensed three of them resting nearby on my way here. They’ll keep coming as long as they think your blood will strengthen them.” He squeezed her hand. “We don’t have many options. I can only protect you as best I can and hope that Katerina calls off her vendetta, or . . .”

Tessa went suddenly still. “Or?”

“I can bring you across, make you one of us.”

She had known, somehow, that he would suggest this sooner or later. It still came as a shock. “How would that solve anything?”

“Because your blood would undergo a drastic change once you’re one of us. Whatever it was that made me stronger would most likely be destroyed. Fledglings would no longer have any reason to come after you. And being turned by a master vampire will make you stronger than any fledgling, able to easily defeat any that come after you.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He shrugged. “Nothing in life is certain. As for Katerina, she wants you for the same reason the fledglings do. Your blood.”

Tessa stared at him. What if it was the only way? Would she rather be really dead? Or just undead? Feeling chilled to the bone, she wrapped her arms around her waist. “How do you make a vampire?”

“I would drain you to the point of death, then give you my blood, which would have mingled with yours.”

“You’d drain me? To the point of death?” She shuddered as horrific images of every vampire movie she had ever seen flashed across her mind. “What if you accidentally took too much? I’d be . . . dead.”