you have to—"
Her mouth snapped shut when Victor grabbed her arm and tugged her backward
behind Mabel and DJ.
"I think it might be a good idea if we keep the hows of a turn to ourselves," he
murmured as the other immortals closed in around them.
"Why?" Elvi asked with surprise.
"Because I don't think you want someone sneaking up on you while you're sleeping to
get some of your blood."
Elvi relaxed and even chuckled at the possibility. "No one would do that! These are my
friends."
"Friends?" Edward arched an eyebrow and asked drolly, "Does that include the guy
with the crossbow and arrow aimed at your heart?"
Elvi cast a glare the Brit's way, and snapped, "He's looking out for his son. Besides,
you'll notice he hasn't used it yet!"
"God, you're right, Victor. She is terribly naive for her age," Harper murmured with
dismay and Elvi didn't know who to glare at: Victor for apparently saying such a thing
at some point, or Harper for agreeing with him.
"I'm not naive," she informed them grimly. "I've spent my whole life in this town and I
know these people. Unlike you five." She scowled at them and demanded, "Now which
of you turned Owen?"
"My dear, Ellen," Edward said with disgust. "We are allowed only one turn in our lives.
You can hardly believe any of us would waste it on that young lad?"
Elvi frowned, knowing he was right. They would save it for their lifemate if needed, not
fritter it away on a boy who had apparently got over his fear and decided to become a
vampire. Sighing unhappily, she said, "Well, someone turned him."
"Ellen," Victor murmured patiently. "Did you see his teeth?"
"Of course, I did. And I want to know who gave them to him."
"My guess would be the costume shop in the city," he said dryly, and then asked with
exasperation. "Have you even seen your own teeth?"
Elvi scowled. "Yes. Once."
"Once?" he asked with disbelief.
"Once," Elvi insisted. "In Mexico right after the turn."
She grimaced. "They were kind of scary looking as I recall, so I haven't bothered
looking since we bought the mirror."
"I forgot you haven't had mirrors until recently," Victor muttered and shook his head,
then said, "Look, his teeth… our teeth…"
Elvi waited patiently when he paused and frowned, and then Victor gave up trying to
explain. Stepping through the men, he reached out to put a hand to the back of
Owen's neck and dragged him into the booth. He must have squeezed his neck
painfully then, because the boy squealed with surprised pain. Quick as a whip Victor
reached into his open mouth with his free hand and snatched out one of the fangs.
"Oww!" Owen cried, covering his abused mouth. "That was glued in."
"Glued?" Victor asked with surprise.
He nodded. "The bonding stuff didn't work very well, so I used crazy glue."
"Idiot," Victor muttered, but simply walked to Elvi and held out his hand. The tooth lay
in the middle of his palm, nothing more than a cap. "They're fake."
"What?" Mike lowered his crossbow and crowded into the booth, Karen rushing up
behind him. The couple stared down at the fake tooth as Elvi did, then peered at each
other, then back to the tooth, then to their son.
"Owen Knight," Karen snapped, moving toward her son. "How could you do something
so stupid? Your father nearly killed Elvi because of this stunt!"
"I didn't mean to get Elvi killed," Owen squawked, backing away. "I was just—Bev
thought vampires were cool, so I thought…" His explanation faded away as he ducked
behind the other immortals, doing a side maneuver to avoid his irate mother.
"Ah," Victor said wisely, drawing Elvi's curious gaze.
"Ah what?"
"A female. It explains everything. Mortal males do incredibly stupid things to try to
impress females."
"You mean like cutting your hair?" she asked archly.
Victor grinned. "Yes. Just like that."
Shaking her head, Elvi slid through the men and stepped between Owen and his
mother. "It's all right, Karen. All's well that ends well and no one got hurt."
"What?" Victor squawked. "You were nearly killed three times!"
"Yes, well she knows we didn't mean anything by it," Mike assured him. "We really like
Elvi. She's the best neighbor we've ever had. I was really torn by the idea of having to
kill her."
A burst of laughter from Edward is the only thing that kept Victor from grabbing the
man and snapping his neck. The short, harsh sound drew his vexation instead and he