“We had to give you some of our blood, Gwendolyn. We couldn’t let you die. You would have if we had not helped you.”
“Where the fuck is that evil bitch? I have a score to settle with her.”
“She’s gone. You shouldn’t have to worry about her ever again.”
“Dead, I hope?” She looked at Christian for agreement, but he didn’t answer. “We have to save Sebastian and you. I can feel your pain, too. It’s such a weird feeling.”
“You won’t feel it for long, my love. Once we are gone, you’ll lose the connection.”
“No, I can’t let that happen.”
“There is only one way to save us. You will have to become vampire.”
Gwen knew it would come down to this. She loved them. They made her feel alive as she never had been before. She knew without a doubt that now it was her turn to save them no matter what the consequences.
Bree pushed through the wall of vampires surrounding her and knelt by Gwen’s side. “Are you okay, Gwen? I thought I’d lost you for sure.”
She hugged Bree. “Yes, I think so.”
“Thank God.” Bree held on to her tightly, taking her breath away. “I thought you were dead.”
Gwen could feel things she never had before, mostly the pain which emanated from the men she loved. She couldn’t handle much else. She wasn’t even sure how to respond. “Bree, forgive me. But I think you might be taking over the business.”
“What? Where are you…oh.”
Gwen hugged her and tried to stand up. “Christian, can we get Sebastian back to your rooms?”
“I think so. Demetria will help.”
“If she must.”
Christian flashed Gwen a weak smile. “I think she must.”
Gwen turned to Brianna. “Could you please take care of things here? By the way, where is Roger?”
“Oh, Gwen, I’m so sorry.”
“What?”
“Roger’s dead.”
“What? How?”
“I’m not quite sure. It looks like the gypsy bitch possessed him. Then when it seemed like the vampire bitch queen killed her, she had really killed Roger.”
Gwen felt tears well up in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. “Poor Roger. All he ever wanted to do was protect me.”
“Gwendolyn,” Christian called to her, “we need to move Sebastian now.”
Damn, Roger, I’m so sorry you got mixed up in all of this. “Yes, of course. Bree, please make sure Roger gets taken care of properly.”
“You know I will.”
Gwen hurried after the three vampires. She decided that not knowing what was coming next was the worst part.
Chapter 27
Demetria helped to place Sebastian on his bed. He hadn’t opened his eyes since Gwen had returned to consciousness. Christian looked weak as well. She didn’t have any time to waste.
“Demetria, what do I have to do? I will do whatever it takes to save them.”
“You will need to die in order to save them. Can you do that? Give up your life for them?”
Gwen hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering. “Yes I can, and I will.”
“You will need to let them suck your blood until you are dead. Once that has happened, they will give you blood again, and you will turn.”
“It’s that simple.”
“It may sound that way, but it rarely is,” Demetria responded with a harsh laugh. “When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you’ll find that life is rarely easy.”
“Fine. Do you think you could leave now? I don’t really want you here. I don’t trust you.”
“Maybe you’re smarter than I gave you credit for, human. I shall leave you. I will know what is going on anyway.”
Demetria poofed out of the room before Gwen could answer.
“Gwendolyn…”
“Christian, how do we get Sebastian to drink from me?” Christian looked very bad. She could feel his pain and weakness pulling on her, but Sebastian was fading fast. Would she be in time to save them?
“Come here, let me bite your arm, then you can let the blood run into his mouth. He will drink it.”
She held out her wrist and was surprised when it didn’t hurt to have him pierce her skin. She looked at him with wonder. She was going to have a lot of questions for sure.
As Gwen held her bleeding left wrist to Sebastian’s lips, she felt his tongue reach out. After what seemed like an eternity he began to suck gently at her wrist.
Gwen pleaded. “Hurry, Christian, you need to bite me again. You need blood as well.” She held out her right wrist.
“Are you sure, Gwendolyn? We did not want you to feel forced into this.”
“I am sure. Just bite me, damn you.”
Christian forced a small smile, which never reached his eyes, and then he pierced her right wrist with his fangs. At first he drank gently and then he seemed to lose whatever control he still had.
Sebastian sucked at her other wrist harder as well. Gwen realized she was getting light headed. The room seemed to darken as she lost consciousness and fell between them onto the bed.
* * * *
“Gwendolyn…Gwen...wake up, sweetheart.”
Gwen’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Two sets of the most beautiful eyes in the world were staring down at her. Her face broke into a huge smile. They were all alive.
“Hi.”
Sebastian and Christian laughed deep and heartily. Gwen struggled to sit up and realized she was still in Sebastian’s bed. She no longer wore the blue velvet gown she had on for the party. Instead she was clothed in a pink silk chemise edged with lace. This is so beautiful.
“Oh man, I feel amazing.”
“Welcome to your new life, sweetheart.” Christian kissed her gently on the lips. She could feel the relief radiate through her body. In fact, she could feel everything. It was incredible.
Sebastian took her hand in his and slowly traced along her wrist. “You’ll get used to it, Gwendolyn. What you’re feeling now. But there is so much more for you to learn.”
“So I guess I’m never going to be able to go out in the sun again?”
“Not true, my heart,” Sebastian murmured against her soft lips as he kissed her. “You are not Bram Stoker’s vampire. You are of Demetria’s family line. There is much you don’t know yet. But there is time for that, plenty of time now.”
Gwen smiled her love at them. For the first time in her life, everything felt perfectly right in the world. There would be time to learn. They were together now, and that was all that mattered.
THE END
WWW.LYNNESTJAMES.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynne St. James has been writing for as long as she can remember. When she was young it was children’s short stories in marble notebooks.
Always a voracious reader, St. James took a job at the local library to feed her habit. She read everything from the classics to science fiction, and mysteries to romance.
When it came time to go to college she chose to study journalism, still planning to pursue her dream of being published. She would tell anyone who asked that her dream was to find one of her books on the shelf in a bookstore.
St. James received tons of encouragement from her local RWA chapter, STaRS, which kept her going. And now, after many years she can honestly say that “dreams really do come true.”
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Twice Bitten Not Shy [Vampires of Eternity] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 13
