“Won’t that weaken your vampires too?” Sarah asked.
I took a deep breath. “There’s one favor I must ask of them. And you. There’s a spell, called a binding spell. Performed on a vampire, it binds them to a Shield’s chemistry, to their spirit. It can only be done once, and when completed, it makes the vampire resistant to all other types of magic, yet still retains their powers. It’s usually only done by force by vampires who wanted to enslave Shields. Obviously it is very rarely done willingly.”
“It’s now time to go,” I told Amy. “Soon it’ll be sunset and untempting or not, you don’t want to be down here with the rest when that happens. You too, Sarah.”
“But I can get stronger, right?” Sarah asked. “I can train.”
I nodded. “You can, of course, you can learn. It’s like a muscle. There are limits for everyone, but I don’t think we’ve come anywhere near reaching your full potential. Now, girls, I really need you to go.”
“I wish you could come with me,” Amy whispered, her breath hot in my ear.
I almost groaned, wishing we weren’t around so many people so I could respond the way I wanted to. Instead, I kissed her on the mouth, my tongue darting in and out.
“Me too,” I muttered, and then, with all the willpower I had left, pulled away. “Now go.”
Amy took Sarah’s hand, and the two turned to leave. I turned back to the vampires, knowing that the sun would set soon. It was time to get our night started.
Chapter 7: Amy
“Is it working?”
“No.” Liam gritted his teeth, glaring at both of us as if we did something wrong.
It was sunset, a few days after our group discussion, and we were down in the basement, with Sarah, trying to fight off his transformation. Her hand was wrapped around his left wrist, and my hand was wrapped around his right wrist, staving off temptation with the smell of my untempting blood. He had assured me that between my blood and his control, Sarah wouldn’t be in any danger. Still, watching him fight it, I didn’t believe that.
“Are you sure?” I looked at my watch, rubbing his back gently as he spasmed in pain. “You usually have fangs by now.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel like it’s working,” he grunted.
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“What happened when the other Shield touched you? Porsche?”
“Nothing,” Liam replied. “Literally, nothing. I stayed human.”
My cell phone rang then, and Liam gave me a look. He was snarly and angry, and I knew that he was trying not to show how much pain he was in. Pulling it out, I saw it was a number I didn’t recognize. Raising my own eyebrows, I pressed talk.
“Hello?”
“Hello, can I speak to Amy, please?”
“This is she.” I wanted to back away to hear better, but I knew I couldn’t leave them alone.
“Amy, my name is Aphrodite, I’m a producer at Sites TV.”
“Oh! Hi!” I said, surprised. I had seen Sites TV a few times, they visited all the hottest spots in various cities around the world. But why in the world would the producer be on the phone with me?
“We’ve been in talks for a while with Leopard Academy about doing a Site visit, and after we heard your story, we’d love it if you could be the host for this episode.”
“Me?” I really did back away then, grabbing Sarah and pulling her back as well, to keep her out of danger. This was really my life right now, talking about hosting a TV show while my boyfriend was turning into a vampire. God. “Really?”
“Sure, you’re a great performer, I caught you in Gatsby, and your story as the scholarship winner and as the girlfriend of Liam is quite interesting. I think you’d be perfect.”
“Does Liam know?” My eyes went to him as he sank against the wall, his fists balled up.
“Well, he’s surely aware that we will be filming there. I’ll probably have to call to…”
“You can talk to him right now!” the words flew out of my mouth before I even thought about it. From his place on the wall, Liam gave me a glare. I took the phone off my ear, placing my hand over the mouthpiece. “It’s Sites TV! They want me to host a segment!”
Liam rolled his eyes, and motioned for Sarah to come closer as well. The chains jangling, he took the phone, his eyes relatively clear, and put it to his ear. We placed our hands on him again.