Danny glanced between Sully and Dominic when Sully’s mouth dropped open. Dominic’s chest began to rumble as he chuckled silently. Danny could see the amusement in the vampire’s blue eyes, which were surprisingly a more vivid blue than before.
“No, Danny,” Sully finally said as he wiped at his eyes. “You’re not going to turn into a vampire. That’s an old wives’ tale.”
“It is?”
“Vampires are born, Danny, not turned.”
Dominic grunted.
“Sorry,” Sully said. “Most vampires are born, not turned.”
Danny swallowed hard. “Most?” he squeaked.
“There is a small percentage that can be turned. There is a virus in the vampire bloodstream that can transform someone into a vampire, but only if they have the vampire gene.”
Danny swallowed hard. “That’s not the anomaly you were looking for in my blood, was it?”
“No.” Sully shook his head. At least he seemed to be serious as he talked this time. “Like I said before, Dominic has a rare genetic disorder that has poisoned his blood. Without a transfusion of pure blood, he will die.”
Danny frowned and glanced back, meeting Dominic’s eyes.
“What sort of genetic disorder?” He looked back at Sully. “Does it have to do with him being a vampire?”
“It’s more than that, Danny.” Sully suddenly seemed to grow serious, if not morose. “Dominic is very old. Because he has taken blood for so many years from so many different donors, his blood has become diluted. It can no longer sustain his system.”
Blood Contract
47
Danny wanted to know everything, but he felt like he was becoming more confused with every word Sully spoke. “How does my blood help him then?”
“You have pure blood.”
“Pure blood?” Danny cocked his head to one side. “Could you be more specific?”
The corner of Sully’s mouth lifted. “Now days, the blood of most humans has been diluted by family genetics, their environment, and even how they live their lives. Their blood is slightly tainted. That is one of the reasons that Dominic is so sick. He’s been drinking tainted blood for way too many years.”
“But my blood is pure?”
Sully nodded. “Remember that little test I did with your blood back at the university?”
Danny nodded.
“I was checking to see if your blood was pure or not.” Sully smiled. “It was.”
“And that means what?”
“That means you can save Dominic’s life.”
Danny swallowed again. This was just getting better and better.
“How?”
“He’s drunk from you twice now, and already I can see a difference in him.”
Danny glanced back at Dominic again. He had to admit, Sully was right. Dominic didn’t look quite so pale. In fact, there was a small rosy glow to his skin. His blue eyes were clearer, too, and more vivid.
And they didn’t look quite so sunken into his head.
Dominic was even smiling.
Danny sighed. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
“You’ll do it?” Sully sounded shocked.
Danny heard Dominic’s chuckle, as light as it was, when he rolled his eyes. He turned back to Sully. “Yes, I’ll do it, whatever it is.”
“Dominic needs to ingest your blood a couple of times a day.”
48
Stormy Glenn
“How?”
Sully’s eyebrow arched. “How?”
“Yes, how? Does he drink from me directly, or do you draw blood or what?”
“Well, I guess that’s up to you. I know drinking directly from the source can be painful to the donor, but we have ways to—”
“I wouldn’t call it painful exactly,” he murmured as he ducked his head.
Mind-blowing was more like it. Even now, Danny could remember the pleasure he had felt when Dominic took his blood. And it scared him to death that he wanted to feel it again, even if it meant letting Dominic take his blood the old-fashioned way.
“It didn’t hurt when Dominic drank from you?”
Danny felt his face flush fiercely. “No.”
Sully glanced over at Dominic. “Did you—”
Danny’s felt his face go from flaming red to pale white when Dominic shook his head. “Did he what?”
“Vampires have the ability to put their blood donors into a trance,” Sully said, grimacing as he looked back at Danny. “It keeps them from fighting us when we need to feed. I’ve heard that the experience can be very painful if we don’t do that.”
“Then he must have put me into a trance because it didn’t hurt at all.” Danny’s words sounded weak even to him, so he wasn’t surprised when Sully’s eyebrows shot up.