Victor. One of the firemen had been kneeling beside him, checking him over, Elvi
supposed.
She'd actually worried for an instant that he'd been more seriously injured than she'd
realized, but had refused to go find out just to get yelled at again. Instead, she'd got
into the shower to wash away the smoke and soot, telling herself he was fine.
But he was still out there, lying on the ground. Though, Elvi noted, the firemen were
now gone and Teddy and Mike had rejoined the smaller circle of men. As she watched,
Victor sat up slowly, and then accepted the hand DJ held out to help him rise. He got
cautiously to his feet, and stayed bent over for a minute, but she didn't see blood
anywhere to suggest he'd had anything but the wind knocked out of him as she'd first
supposed.
Sighing, she turned away from the window and passed through her room to the hall.
Mabel had been left alone a long time. She should check to be sure she was all right.
Mabel was in the process of trying to get up when Elvi entered her room.
"No, no, no," she said at once, rushing forward. "You shouldn't get up."
"I need to go to the bathroom," Mabel announced with exasperation, waving her away
as she stood.
"I'll help y—" Elvi froze as Mabel straightened and she got a good look at her. She'd
only seen Mabel twice since the turning started. When they'd first arrived back from
the Night Club, and then this morning on her way downstairs. Last night, Mabel had
been thrashing so violently, Elvi hadn't paid attention to anything but helping to keep
her from hurting herself, then of course, she'd been bitten. This morning, she'd merely
peered in from the door and Mabel had been sleeping with her head turned away, the
sheets tangled around her body and partially concealing her head.
She wasn't concealed now and Elvi just stood and gaped at the change. Mabel didn't
look a day over twenty‐two. Her face was peaches‐and‐cream perfection, her eyes
were pure gold, her figure slender and lithe, and her hair a halo of shiny, glossy golden
waves around her face.
Elvi shook her head in wonder. Mabel didn't look like she had when she was younger,
she looked better. Unfortunately, the blonde had suffered a terrible case of acne as a
teen and her complexion had forever after been pockmarked because of it. She'd also
been too thin and flat‐chested until she hit her mid‐forties when she'd taken on a good
forty pounds. Mabel was neither too thin now, nor overweight. The turning had
removed at least twenty pounds, redistributing what it left behind to give her a
healthy, curvy shape. She was gorgeous and had the added confidence of age to add to
that beauty. It made Elvi wonder what the woman's life might have been like had she
looked like this back then.
"You look almost as poleaxed as Teddy was when he saw me. Is it that bad?" Mabel
asked warily, noting her expression.
Elvi managed to close her mouth, but then she just shook her head, took her by the
arm, and led her over to stand in front of the full‐length mirror at the foot of the bed.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Mabel breathed, staring at her reflection with stunned
golden eyes.
Elvi grinned at her flummoxed expression, and then laughed as Mabel began to poke
herself in various places as if to see if her new body was real. When she then opened
her mouth and began to prod around in search of her canines, Elvi moved to the
refrigerator to fetch a bag of blood. All she had to do was carry it back to her. The
moment Mabel spotted the blood, her teeth began to shift and Mabel covered her
mouth with dismay then whirled back to the mirror to look at them.
"Come on," Elvi said after letting her examine herself for a few more minutes. "You
should get back in bed and feed."
"I don't want to get back in bed," Mabel said impatiently, but she did take the bag of
blood. "Do I just…"
"Just open your mouth and pop it to your teeth," Elvi instructed, then watched her do
it and smiled. "See? Easy. Now, at least sit on the bed while you feed."
Mabel followed reluctantly and sat on the bed as Elvi retrieved several more bags of
blood from the refrigerator. The small mini fridge had originally been in DJ and Victor's
room, but the men had moved it over last night.
While Mabel fed, Elvi regaled her with all that had happened since she and the men
had left the house the day before. She told her about their trip to the club and Victor's
coldness, then arriving back to find DJ in a state and her mid‐turn.
Mabel flushed guiltily and interrupted her then to admit she remembered biting her
the night before. When she started to apologize for it, Elvi waved it away.
"I bit you in Mexico. We're even," she said lightly, and then went on to tell her about