Be Still My Vampire Heart(102)

 

Emma's eyes widened. The glass was filled with blood. "No!" A sudden jab of pain pierced her mouth. She cried out.

 

Darcy set the glass down. "You poor thing. The same thing happened to me. They always come out the first night."

 

Emma covered her mouth and whimpered. Her gums were ripping in two. With a scream, she felt them rip. She lowered her hand and saw blood splattered on her palm. It was horrible! And it smelled delicious. The pain in her mouth subsided as another hunger pang struck her.

 

Darcy plopped a straw into the glass and handed it to Emma. "Here. It's hard to use a glass when the fangs are out."

 

Fangs? Emma touched her mouth. Her canine teeth were long, pointed, and sharp. "No!"

 

She shook her head. This was another bad dream. It couldn't be true.

 

"I know it's upsetting." Darcy perched on the bed beside her and pressed the glass into her hand. "You'll feel better once you eat."

 

Emma's hand shook as she took the glass. She had a terrible desire to throw it away and sink her teeth into Darcy. Oh God, it was true. She was a vampire.

 

She stared at the glass, stunned. The blood actually smelled good. Was this the sort of agony Angus had endured all night when he'd refused to bite her? She closed her mouth around the straw and sucked. The blood was sweet and warm. It flowed into her, filling her with an energizing sense of strength and power. Too soon, she reached the bottom of the glass.

 

"I need more." Her gums tingled, and she realized her fangs were retracting.

 

"I'll be right back." Darcy stood, taking the glass. "It's normal to be very hungry the first night."

 

"You were a vampire," Emma whispered.

 

"Yes, for four years. But you needn't stay this way for long. Roman can change you back. You'll be all right."

 

Emma nodded. She watched Darcy leave the room. Austin smiled at his wife as she passed by. A gentle, loving smile. And Emma knew exactly what she needed. "Where is Angus?"

 

Austin's smile faded. "He's, uh, not here right now."

 

Emma looked around the room. She still felt strange. Sort of numb. Maybe this was all a dream. She'd had a lot of them lately. Or were they memories? She'd made love with Angus. Katya had dragged her away and attacked her. Good heavens, Katya had killed her.

 

She lifted a hand to her neck. The skin was smooth and unbroken.

 

Austin walked toward her. "You healed during your death-sleep. One of the advantages of being undead." He smiled. "You look great, but you'll have to take my word for it. You can't see yourself in a mirror. One of the disadvantages of being undead."

 

"There are no disadvantages." Giacomo strolled into the room, sipping blood from a wineglass. "Buona sera, signorina. I came to see how you are faring." His brown eyes twinkled. "And to welcome you to the club."

 

The full extent of her circumstances sank in. She was dead. She pulled the blue comforter up to her chin. Where was Angus? She wanted to see him. She wanted his strong arms around her. She felt her neck where he'd fed from her while making love.

 

The puncture wounds were gone. As if it had never happened.

 

Robby sauntered into the room. "How are ye, Miss Wallace?"

 

I'm dead. Emma wrapped her arms around herself underneath the comforter.

 

"I think she's in shock," Austin whispered, but Emma could hear it.

 

She could hear everything, even the whir of a microwave across the house. "I want to talk to Angus."

 

Robby exchanged a worried look with Giacomo. "He's no' here. He went to Paris with Jean-Luc and Ian."

 

"Then call Paris and ask him to teleport here. Please." Emma shuddered under the blanket. She hated being this needy. She'd always been strong and decisive before. But then, she'd never had to handle being dead before.

 

"He was going on to New York," Robby continued. "He willna be awake now."

 

New York? She was going through a crisis, and he was in New York? She gritted her teeth. He needed to be with her. She was dead, dammit. He needed to show respect for the dead. And for the woman he loved. "I need to talk to him."

 

"I'll send an e-mail," Robby offered. "He'll see it when he wakes."

 

"I bet you'll see him soon," Austin added. "As soon as you're strong enough, you can go to New York and have Roman change you back."

 

"Aye." Robby nodded. "Angus left me his T-shirt coated with yer blood."

 

"Your ticket back to mortality." Giacomo sipped from his wineglass. "Although I cannot imagine why anyone would want to be mortal again."