by Lynsay Sands
Holly turned on her back to peer wide-eyed at the woman seated in a second overstuffed royal blue chair on the side of the room she hadn’t yet examined. The woman was petite, with bleached blond hair and twinkling eyes.
“Who are you?”
“Giacinta Notte. But you can call me Gia.”
Holly raised her eyebrows. That told her absolutely nothing. This was a repeat of that morning in the hotel all over again, only with a woman there instead of a man. Feeling at a disadvantage on her back, Holly sat up abruptly in the bed. She pushed the sheets and blankets aside as she did, and was relieved to find that while she was waking up again in a strange bed, this time she was at least dressed.
“Were you not dressed the last time you woke up in a strange bed?” Gia asked curiously. “That sounds an interesting story.”
“You have no idea,” Holly muttered, swinging her feet over the side and grimacing as she noted that while she was still wearing the black dress pants and the red blouse she’d donned that morning, or what she presumed was that morning, they were a complete and utter wrinkled mess.
“I can help with that. Your clothes I mean,” Gia announced.
Holly peered at the woman solemnly. Gia’s eyes were twinkling as if Holly had just said something amusing. Since she hadn’t, the expression was a bit unsettling.
Repressing her amusement, the woman offered an apologetic expression. “My apologies. When I said that sounds an interesting story, you reacted by—”
“By saying you have no idea,” Holly interrupted. “I know. I am awake, I promise.”
“Yes, you did, but you also thought of the last time you woke up in a strange bed,” she explained. “That was an interesting story, by the way,” she assured her with amusement and then mimicked in a deep voice, “ ‘You have won a lotto of sorts. The Bricker lotto.’ Yeesh, idiota.”
Holly’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you can read my thoughts?”
“Oh yes,” Gia assured her. “For instance, right now you’re thinking, “Holy shit, Justin was telling the truth about immortals being able to read minds and stuff.” She nodded solemnly and assured her, “Yes, he was. You haven’t yet gained the ability and are new to our ways, but I assure you it’s a skill necessary to our survival. Although,” she added with a twinkle in her eyes, “I do understand your thinking me a rude bitch for reading you like this.”
Holly slapped a dismayed hand over her own mouth. She never ever cursed. Well, okay, rarely ever. But she would definitely never call someone a bitch. Not out loud. She was constantly editing her thoughts when she spoke to avoid such things. Diplomacy and politeness had been drummed into her from the cradle. She couldn’t edit her thoughts, however. They just came as they were and yes she had thought Gia was rude to read her mind like that. Although she would deny the bitch part to her grave and hadn’t meant for her to hear that. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Gia waved off her apology with a laugh. “I’ve heard worse . . . and so will you once you learn to read minds. Mortals never guard their thoughts. They don’t realize anyone can hear them. They look at people and make snap judgments and have throwaway thoughts that could be terribly hurtful if you let them.” Expression growing solemn, she warned, “You will hear many unpleasant things from mortals once you start to be able to read minds. When you do, you have to try not to take them personally, at least from the people who do not know you.” She paused briefly and then added, “As for the ones who do know you . . .” Gia grimaced and then shrugged. “You will learn what they really think of you.” Reaching out, she patted her arm. “Even the people who love us occasionally have unpleasant thoughts about us. It can be very painful . . . which may be good. It makes it easier for many turns to break away from their families.”
Holly frowned. She had no intention of breaking away from her family, and she really didn’t think they would have hurtful thoughts about her. She had very loving and supportive parents. They were tight-knit; they’d had to be. All they’d had was each other while she was growing up.
“So you have never had an unpleasant thought about anyone you love?” Gia asked, raising her eyebrows. “You’ve never thought your mother was a bit of a nag, or your father was anal and sometimes seemed to care more about a bunch of bones than he did the living breathing women in his life?”
Holly’s eyes widened. “You read my mind,” she realized and breathed out a little sigh before admitting, “Yes, I’ve thought both those things . . . and I guess they would be hurtful to my parents.” She grimaced and added, “And I suppose they may have had the occasional unpleasant thought about me too.”
Gia smiled faintly and shrugged. “No one’s perfect. We all have moments when we’re stubborn, or selfish, or act like a spoiled brat. People who truly love us know this, and love us despite it. The ones who ignore those tendencies and pretend we’re perfect don’t really see us at all, they see what they want us to be . . . and that’s not really love. Anyway,” she added, standing up and smiling now. “Enough of this serious business. We should see you changed and take you downstairs. Justin and the boys are waiting for you to wake up before deciding what to do about dinner.”
“The boys?” Holly asked uncertainly.
“Anders and Decker are here too.”
“Right,” Holly breathed with a frown. She didn’t recognize either name.
“They work with Justin,” Gia explained. “Lucian dropped you all off before heading home to Leigh and the bambini.”
Holly thought bambini might mean “baby.” She had no idea who Lucian and Leigh were though. Frankly, she didn’t much care either. She was too busy being relieved that Justin was there, and at the same time confused by that relief. He was mostly a stranger too.
“Bambini means babies,” Gia explained, turning to head for the door as she continued, “Lucian and Leigh have twins. And of course Justin is here. You are his life mate. He turned you. It is his job to train you to survive as one of us.”
“Right . . . as a vampire,” Holly muttered. Standing to follow her, she asked. “So, you can read my mind because you’re one?”
“Of course. So are the boys,” Gia said on a laugh.
“So is this a . . . er . . . like a hive of vampires? You all live together and . . .” She let the question trail off because Gia had paused at the door and turned back, chuckling at the suggestion.
“No. This is not a hive, as you call it. This house belongs to Lucian’s nephew, Vincent Argeneau. He and his wife, Jackie, are out of town and I offered to house-sit.”
“Oh.” Holly tilted her head. “So why are the rest of us here?”
“Ah.” Gia wrinkled her nose. “Well, Lucian was going to take you back home to Canada for your training, but—”
“Canada!” Holly squawked with horror. She’d simply assumed she was still in California, but the mention of Canada made her wonder.
“You are still in California,” Gia assured her.
“Oh,” Holly murmured, wishing the woman would stop this mind-reading business. She let that thought go as she realized that Gia had said “back home to Canada.” The words seemed to suggest that Justin and the others were just visiting California, that they hailed from Canada. Weather aside, it was hard to believe vampires came from there. Canadians were known for being so polite, so . . . nice. Heck, James liked to joke that if America ever invaded Canada, Canadians would probably apologize for being in their way. It seemed the unlikeliest place for vampires to come from.
When a burst of laughter slipped from Gia’s lips, Holly realized the woman must still be reading her thoughts, and flushed with embarrassment.
“Well,” Gia said with amusement. “Vampires, or immortals as we prefer to be called, aren’t exactly from Canada. I mean they didn’t originate there, though that is where Lucian and some others now live. But you can find them all over
. I am from Italy, for instance, and some live in the States as well. In fact, Justin is originally from here in California,” she informed her.
“Is he?” Holly asked with surprise. Vampires from her home state . . . Who knew? It was often referred to as sunny California and for a reason . . . one that didn’t seem to her to make it vampire friendly. She shook that thought away and asked, “Why was he going to take me to Canada for my training?”
“Because that is where Justin, Lucian, and the others now live. Actually, that’s where I was staying too until I came to house-sit for Vincent and Jackie,” she announced. “So, he thought it best to take you there, at least temporarily. But Justin argued against it.”
Holly had been about to interrupt until she added that last part, but now blinked in surprise. “Justin did?”
“Si. He seemed to think you would be more comfortable getting your training here in California.”
He was right, Holly thought. She would have been super stressed to wake up and find herself not only in a strange bed, but a strange country as well, with no passport or way home. At least this way she could get home under her own steam if Justin refused to take her there. She had agreed to talk to him, and to get blood, but she had no intention of spending any longer than she had to here. As soon as she had the thought, Holly tried to forget it. She didn’t want Gia to get wind of that and try to stop her. Fortunately, the woman didn’t seem to pick up on the thought, because she continued her explanations.
“And when Lucian heard that Dante and Tomasso were considering coming out to house-sit with me . . .” Gia shrugged. “Lucian knew they had helped Vincent train Jackie after her turning, and had done a fine job of it, so he said okay and brought you all here.”
“ ‘All’ being myself, Justin, Andrews, and Beckham,” Holly said slowly, trying to recall the names.
“Anders and Decker,” Gia corrected gently. “They are Rogue Hunters, like Justin, and offered to stay and help out until Dante and Tomasso get here.”
“Anders and Decker. Rogue Hunters,” Holly nodded, pretending she knew what that was. She hadn’t a clue, but didn’t care either.
“Mind you,” Gia said, amusement back in her expression. “From what I can gather, Anders and Decker only offered to stay and help so they could give Justin a hard time.”
“Right,” Holly murmured. She didn’t understand why or how the men planned to give Justin a hard time, but really had no desire or intention to get to know anyone or what was between them anyway. She hadn’t agreed to this training business. And she hadn’t thought talking to him would land her in another strange bed. How much time had passed since she’d got in the car with Justin? She wondered. The last time she’d woken up in a strange bed, two days had passed. How long had it been this time? And how had she got from her car to here? The last thing she remembered was riding in her car. No. She recalled him parking it and turning to her . . . Jeez, she’d attacked him like some wild animal, going mindlessly for his throat and the blood she could smell pumping through it, Holly recalled with dismay.
“You didn’t hurt him,” Gia said. “Lucian came upon you assaulting Justin and knocked you out.”
“Oh,” Holly said weakly, unsure how she should take that news. She was glad this Lucian had stopped her from hurting Justin, but knocking her out seemed a bit drastic. Couldn’t he have just slapped her face or something to bring her back to her senses?
“Slapping you would not have brought you out of blood hunger,” Gia said quietly. “You had been too long without feeding. New turns need more blood and more often than mature immortals. You needed to be fed. Knocking you out was the best thing he could do for you at that point.”
“Oh,” Holly repeated.
“Once he knocked you out, they took you up to the hotel room and Lucian administered sleeping sedatives to keep you quiet for the flight here.”
That made her stiffen. They’d drugged her? And— “What do you mean flight? I thought I was still in California.”
“You are,” Gia assured her. “We’re on the outskirts of LA here.”
Holly groaned at this news. She was hours from home. “How long have I been out?”
Gia raised her eyebrows at the question, thought briefly and then shrugged. “I’m not sure. What day was it when you last remember being conscious?”
“What day?” Holly asked with disbelief.
“Yes.”
Holly felt her jaw tighten with anger. She so knew she wasn’t going to like the answer to her question when she got it, and her voice reflected that when she said, “It was early Thursday morning.”
“Ah.” Gia nodded. “Then you have been out about a day and a half. It’s just after noon on Friday now.”
“Friday?” Holly echoed, putting a hand out to lean against the wall as her legs went suddenly weak. Cripes, she’d missed another whole day. “Why have I been out so long? Surely it didn’t take a day and a half to get here, especially if we flew?”
“No. But I gather one of the company planes is in the shop and the others are doing double time trying to keep up, so they had to wait a day at the hotel with you, which was unanticipated and apparently annoyed Lucian mightily when he got the news.” She shrugged. “You only arrived this morning.”
“And I’m only waking up now?” Holly asked, eyes narrowing. “That sedative must have been a strong one.”
“Oh, well . . .” Gia nodded with a grimace. “Lucian put you on an IV drip with the sedative in it to keep you under until they got you here, got you settled in and could explain everything to me. And then, what with the problem they’re having with flights, Lucian didn’t want to make the plane wait here for a couple hours while he did that, so he let it go on another short run and waited for it to return to take him back to Toronto.”
“And I had to remain unconscious for all of that?” Holly asked grimly.
“He said you would no doubt be difficult when you woke up. He thought you’d probably be angry, frightened and hysterical and he’d rather not be present,” she said with amusement and then shrugged. “We were to wait until he left to take the IV out . . . which happened half an hour ago.”
Holly followed her gesture to peer back toward the bed and the IV stand beside it. There was a half-empty bag of clear liquid and an empty bag with traces of . . . blood?
“We gave you blood too so you wouldn’t need to feed when you woke up,” Gia explained.
Holly turned her gaze away from the IV. When she’d been in the car with Justin, her senses had been extremely keen. She’d been able to smell the blood as if he’d had an open gushing wound. It had been heady, intoxicating and had made her almost faint with hunger and need. Now, however, she felt no such hunger or need and it was simply blood. A bit off-putting really. To the point where she found it hard to believe she’d acted as she had in that car. But she had and wondered if Justin was upset with her.
“Justin understands,” Gia said.
Holly heaved a deep sigh. He might understand, but she still owed him an apology. She’d tried to rip the man’s throat out.
“At least it wasn’t your husband or some other mortal,” Gia said solemnly and opened the door to head out into a long cream-colored hall. “They wouldn’t have been able to fight you off and chances are you would have killed them before Lucian could have got to you.”
Holly stared after her with dismay and then hurried after her. “Would he have turned into a vampire too if I had?”
“Your husband?” Gia asked.
Holly nodded.
“No,” she said. “That is not how you make an immortal.”
“How—”
“You’ll learn that . . . eventually. But first you’ll learn to take care of your needs so that you don’t attack anyone else,” Gia said firmly, and then added, “I know you don’t want to be here. I know you only agreed to
talk to Justin and not to training, but you need it. Without training, you’re a rabid dog.” She stopped walking and turned to face her, expression empty of emotion as she added, “And rather than leave you to kill and maim mortals, we would have to treat you like a rabid dog and put you down if you refuse training.”
Holly stared at her wide-eyed, her body going hot and then cold and then hot again. She didn’t doubt for a minute that Gia was serious. The woman’s expression and cold words convinced her of that. Swallowing, she said, “But my husband—”
“Has been handled,” Gia assured her, turning to continue up the hall. “As have your employers and friends.”
“How exactly have they been handled?” Holly asked worriedly as she followed again.
“They all think you had to go away on a special project for one of your courses. They believe you are at the top of your class, which you are, and were offered a once-in-a-lifetime temporary internship with one of the top four accounting firms in the world. As far as they know, you’re presently at the head office in New York City. You’ll be back in two weeks unless they keep you longer.”
“One of the top four? With a head office in New York? Do you mean Deloitte?” she asked breathlessly.
“I am not sure if Lucian mentioned the name,” Gia said with a frown and then shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not true anyway.”
“Oh . . . right,” Holly muttered, giving her head a shake.
“But I suppose we should find out so that you can keep up with the lie when you return home,” Gia added thoughtfully as she paused at a door and opened it.
“Yes, that would probably be good,” Holly agreed, trailing her into the new room. Her mind, though, was on the fact that she’d have been over the moon if she’d actually got such an internship. That would have been a dream come true. Instead she was a vampire who, when hungry, might well try to rip out a person’s throat. Lovely, she thought unhappily.
“You will learn to recognize your hunger and feed to keep those around you safe,” Gia assured her, walking across the rose-colored bedroom she’d led her into and to a set of closet doors. As she opened one, she added, “And how to read mortals, how to control them to protect your secret.”
