With everything that had been happening in recent years, the enemies who had risen up against them, the Immortal Guardians could use another healer in the area. “As long as Seth grants his approval, I’ll do it.”
Squealing, Krysta threw her arms around Étienne and hugged him tight, then hugged her brother.
Cam clapped Sean on the back. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“So . . . you’re okay with what will happen when Étienne bites you?”
Sean nodded. “Dr. Lipton told me what to expect and I saw what Krysta went through with the illness, so yeah.”
Face solemn, Cam shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about the illness. I was talking about the other thing.”
What other thing? Étienne asked him silently. What are you doing?
Just having a little fun with him. Play along.
“What other thing?” Sean asked, smile fading.
Cam lowered his voice conspiratorially. “You know. The intense sexual bond it will forge between you two.”
Étienne was looking at Krysta when Cam made the absurd claim and nearly burst into laughter. Lightning fast, her eyes widened, she flashed all of her teeth in a grin, then sobered just as Sean turned a stricken gaze upon her.
She nodded solemnly. “It’s true.”
You are so bad, he told her.
Don’t make me laugh! This is hilarious! Look at his face!
“Dr. Lipton didn’t say anything about a sexual bond,” Sean said, the picture of unease.
Krysta shrugged. “She was probably too embarrassed. You’re about to become her student. I doubt she wanted you to know she was overcome with lust for Roland and tore his clothes off when he bit her. Especially since she and Bastien were already a couple then,” she lied with silent glee.
Cam nodded. “You’ve seen the movies. Being bitten is always . . . incredibly erotic.”
Krysta nodded. “Orgasmic.”
Sean swallowed. “Umm . . . Okay. Wait.” He actually began to sweat.
Krysta burst out laughing.
Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Étienne did, too. Then Cam.
Realizing he’d been punked, Sean swore and gave Cam a hard shove. “You asshole!”
Cam staggered. “You should have seen your face!”
“Uncool, man.” He turned to Krysta. “And you!” Locking an arm around her neck, he drew her down and ruffled the hell out of her hair.
She laughed all the while, letting him do it even though she was strong enough to toss Sean through the roof if she wanted to.
When he released her, Sean smiled wryly up at Étienne. “So you’ll transform me?”
“With Seth’s permission, yes.”
“And there won’t be anything sexual?”
“No.”
Krysta shook her head, still smiling. “The bite actually hurts like hell. You won’t be having any warm and fuzzy feelings for him. Trust me.”
“Good.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “You guys are so wrong.”
“I wanna be a cowboy,” a man began to sing to an eighties beat. “And you can be my cowgirl.”
Scowling, Étienne glanced around, then realized it was his cell phone. Damn it. He really needed to figure out who kept changing his . . . ringtone. He looked at Cam, whose mirth was unmistakable. “You?” he demanded incredulously. Cam was as staid and stolid as they came.
Or he had been until five minutes ago.
Laughing, Cam shrugged.
“You’ve been my Second for seven years now and haven’t once cracked a joke until tonight.”
“Because you were always so somber,” Cam said. “I thought you were a stick in the mud like the last immortal I served. Damn, Petrus was boring. I practically begged Chris for a transfer, then you ended up being the same. But you started loosening up after you encountered Krysta.” He shrugged. “So I did, too.”
Étienne narrowed his eyes. “Remind me to kick your ass later.” He answered the call. “Yes?”
“It’s me,” Lisette said. “I just talked to Chris. We’re striking the mercenaries’ compound tonight. Come loaded for bear.”
Krysta sat at David’s dining room table, Étienne on one side of her, Sean on the other, and marveled over how dramatically her life had changed. Two months ago, she and Sean had been struggling to make ends meet and risking their lives every night as they tackled the vampire threat on their own. Exhausted. Lonely. Their futures uncertain.
Tonight she was immortal, even stronger and faster than the vampires she hunted. She fought alongside a powerful immortal warrior she loved and who had asked her to marry him earlier this evening with charming uncertainty. Her brother, still studying medicine, would soon be immortal himself and free of the threat of death if he had to heal her. And the three of them sat at a table, surrounded by more than a dozen other immortals and their Seconds, all of whom would fight to the death if necessary to defend each other and her like family.