The Accidental Vampire(60)

Elvi opened her mouth, closed it again, then threw up her hands and whirled away as

Mabel shouted something about stallions and saddles.

Victor's gaze dropped to the keyhole, but he shook his head and turned to follow Elvi.

DJ was on his own.

Elvi's back was stiff as she descended the stairs once more.

Victor followed, searching his mind for something to say to ease the situation, but

really, this was beyond him so he remained silent as he followed her through the

dining room and around the counter into the kitchen. Elvi opened the refrigerator to

consider its contents, and Victor glanced out the window to see that the fire was out

and the men were now gone. He supposed they'd gone to their rooms while he was

out with DJ.

The slam of the refrigerator door drew his startled gaze as Elvi turned on him.

"If he's messing with her feelings I will personally hide him," she warned through

gritted teeth.

"He isn't," Victor assured her quickly. "He can't read her."

"And what the hell am I supposed to take that to mean?" she asked with mingled

anger and bewilderment.

"It means she's his lifemate," Victor explained. "He won't hurt her."

"His lifemate," Elvi echoed, obviously confused, and he was reminded that she hadn't

been taught all the things he'd been taught centuries ago and took for granted.

"Each of us has a lifemate," he explained. "Someone we can't read or control who is

our perfect mate. Mabel is DJ's."

"But Mabel isn't a vampire," she said.

"An immortal," he corrected.

"Whatever," Elvi snapped. "She is mortal. How can she be his lifemate?"

"She isn't an immortal yet," Victor corrected. "If she agrees to be his lifemate, he will

change her."

"He can do that?" she asked with amazement.

"Of course. DJ has never turned anyone, so by our laws is free to turn her if he wishes."

"That makes absolutely no sense to me," Elvi informed him on an unhappy sigh. "But

what I meant was… Can he actually, physically turn her? I mean, I tried several times to

turn Mabel. The books say biting them three times will do it, but I must have bit her a

dozen times and she never turned. We kept trying and trying, but—"

"You tried to turn Mabel?" Victor asked with horror.

"Well, of course," she said, obviously surprised by his reaction. "We've been friends

since childhood and suddenly I was young again and strong and she wanted to be too,

and I didn't want to be alone in this."

Victor opened his mouth, thought better of what he'd been about to say, shook his

head and instead said, "They have to consume or take in your blood. The sire has to

give up their own blood. It carries the nanos. They'll move into the turnee's

bloodstream, reproduce themselves, and spread until they infect the whole body."

"Right. Nanos," Elvi muttered to herself. She'd been pondering that while in her bath

earlier. Considering what the men had said had left her feeling slightly deflated. As

much as she hated to admit it, she was almost sorry to hear she was a vampire

because of nanos, not a curse. It was ridiculous, she knew but… that was how she felt.

Her dissatisfaction must have shown in her voice. Victor's eyebrows rose and he asked,

"What?"

Elvi grimaced, and then shook her head. "It's just so… Well, there's no romance in

nanos and science and… stuff."

"And there is in the explanation of the cursed and soulless walking dead?" he asked

with disbelief.

She scowled, feeling foolish. "Well, at least the vampire is a tragic hero and not some

science experiment."

Victor rolled his eyes. "The Dracula of Bram Stoker's story is not a tragic hero. He's a

parasite, feeding on and turning the innocent willynilly, and the man he's based on

damned near got us all destroyed back in the day."

"Dracula was based on a real person?" Elvi asked with interest. "Can I meet him?"

"No," Victor snapped. "He's dead."

"How could he be dead?" she asked. "We're immortal."

"No, we're not. I mean, we are mostly, but we can die if we're beheaded or—"

"Staked?" she asked.

"Staked, stabbed, or being shot in the heart can kill us if the implement used is left

there. As will being burnt to death."

"Hmm." She considered this news, and then frowned.

"Then why on earth do you keep insisting I call it immortal? We aren't immortal at all.

We're vampires."

Before he could respond to that, Elvi said, "So how did this man Dracula was based on

nearly get you all destroyed?"