Lucan took hold of her chin and studied her face. “She is no longer mortal.” He eyed Jamys. “You changed her. How?”
“Wait,” Sam said, looking over at the other Kyn. “Let’s go say hello to everyone who was just mourning you, and head back to the stronghold where we can have this discussion in private.”
It took some time to do that, as all the warriors and the women from the ship gathered around them to express their surprise and happiness. Lucan finally dismissed the men, and sent Aldan to take the women to one of their hotels. Once they reached the penthouse, however, Jamys had little in the way of answers to offer.
“The explosion sent us both into the water on the far side of the ship. At first I was separated from Christian, but after an hour of searching I found her, and brought her to the surface. By that time the fleet had left, but I was able to swim with her to where I left my boat anchored. From there I took her to a house on a nearby private island, where she remained with hardly a spark of life in her for the next week. I waited for as long as I dared to see if she would make the change. I was preparing to bring her back to the mainland when she awoke as she is.”
Lucan frowned at Chris. “What is that mark on her neck?”
“This?” Chris tugged down the collar of her T-shirt to display a cross-shaped burn scar. “The blast drove my mom’s crucifix into my skin. Jamys said he had to dig it out of me, and then things really got weird.”
“When I removed the cross, the open wound glowed with a green light,” Jamys said. “A few moments later, it healed itself from the inside out.”
“Did you use your blood to heal it?” Sam asked.
“No, but when Chris began to slip away, I fed her from my veins. It was a foolish act of pure desperation.” He glanced at Lucan. “I mean no offense, my lord.”
“I am only too well acquainted with those feelings, Jamys.” He regarded Chris. “You survived a lethal explosion and an hour under the water, so whatever changed you happened before the bomb went off.”
“Nothing happened. Well, besides Dutch practically draining me dry.” Chris reached up and touched the scar on her neck. “This sounds crazy, I know, but I think it might have been my mom’s cross. Like maybe God decided to give me and Jamys another chance.”
Sam had seen too many murders to believe in that kind of God, but she was so happy to have Chris back she didn’t care what had done the dirty work. “How do you feel about being one of the fang gang?”
“Still trying to get used to it.” She laced her fingers through Jamys’s. “When I first came to, I thought I was in the afterlife. A really great afterlife. When Jamys told me that I’d changed, and we could finally be together, well . . .” She smiled at Lucan. “I love you both, and I loved being an almost-tresora, but I quit.”
Epilogue
Durand Stronghold
Freeport, Bahamas
“How long is that boy going to pace the floor out there?” Dr. Alexandra Keller asked as she finished checking Chris Durand’s pupil reactions.
“Until you let me change out of this paper towel and I can go reassure him I’m okay.” Chris fluttered her lashes. “So tell me I’m okay, Doc.”
“You’re more than okay. You’ve made a beautiful, complete transition and all of the wounds you sustained in the explosion have healed cleanly.” She clicked off her penlight. “All you have to do is give me some more blood, tell me what superpower you got stuck with, and I’m outta here.”
“I don’t know the name for my ability,” Chris admitted. “I could show you how it works, though.” She eyed the door, and a low sound came from the other side. “I can touch another Kyn without actually touching them. I haven’t tried it on mortals yet, but it probably works on them, too.”
“Psychic touchy-feely.” Alex made a note in the chart. “Now, that’s a new one.”
Chris grinned. “My range is pretty good, too. I can be a mile away and give him a kiss.” She blew one at the door, which resulted in a soft groan. “Anywhere on his body.”
“Let’s keep it PG-rated while I’m here.” Alex closed the chart and sat down on the chair next to the bed. “Chris, the fact is you’re too young to be Kyndred, so you weren’t changed because you already had vampire DNA. Just to be sure, I double-checked the blood work the jardin doc did on you when you started working at the stronghold. You went from ordinary human to Kyn without any help, except maybe this.” She tapped the top of the cross-shaped scar. “I think your cross might have had similar properties to one that may have recently turned a Frenchwoman from mortal to Kyn.”