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"You what?"

Rachel gaped at her handso the loofah-on-a-stick she had hidden under the blankets It was a pretty pathetic weapon, but the only one she&039;dthat even a pathetic weapon was better than none she&039;d crawled back into bed hoping that a loofah coh to save her fro untoward She&039;d huddled under the blankets until a knock had sounded at the door

Her "Yes?" had held a startled note It had revealed her surprise at the courtesy of hi in

The blond man Etienne had entered, and Rachel had watched him warily Much to her relief, he&039;d co drawn-out story about hoas indeed her crispy critter, as well as the rifle-wound victim from work She had sat in amazed silence as he explained that she had indeed been felled while trying to save hie, and that he had saved her in return by turning her into a vampire like himself and the rest of his family

"I turned you to save your life," Etienne repeated, a hopeful expression on his face

Did he expect a thank-you? Rachel stared at hiave up her huddled position under the blankets She swept irritably froeneau, as he had reintroduced hioing near hiht grimly as she crossed the room to the set of double doors she hoped was a closet And she was not now a bloodsucking deerated patience, ain "A vampire"

"Vampires are dead people Soulless dead people who continue to exist," Rachel snapped She dragged the double doors open to reveal that beyond was indeed a closet She surveyed its contents as she continued, "They are soulless bloodsucking demons And they are fiction They aren&039;t real"

"Well, the soulless bit is fiction We are--What are you doing?" he interrupted hiers "So for soed out one of his dress shirts, considered it, then tossed it onto the bed

"I could--"

"Stay where you are!" Rachel warned Glaring at him until he stopped, she turned back to the closet

"Look," he said soothingly, "I realize this is upsetting, confusing, and perhaps--"

Rachel spun "Confusing? Upsetting? What could be confusing or upsetting? You&039;re a vaet you But he&039;s not a riet he accidentally axed et to you, so you turned me into a vampire too Now I&039;ht and suck neck" Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the closet "I have to get out of here"

"We don&039;t &039;suck neck&039;," he said, as if the very suggestion were asinine But when Rachel turned to arch an eyebrow at hiencies Ito avoid--Well, there is the occasional rogue va distressed

Rachel shook her head and muttered, "Completely bonkers Looney-bin boy"

"No, really," he said "What I mean is that we all invested in blood banks when they came into existence In fact, it was one of our kind who came up with the idea of blood transfusions He mentioned it to Jean Baptiste Denis, and the fellow tried it and Well, it doesn&039;t matter The point is, we have our blood delivered See?"

"Look, I" Rachel paused as she turned toward hierator he had opened Her eyes widened incredulously There had to be a dozen bags of blood inside

"Bastien stopped and picked up a couple dozen pints on the way here last night," Etienne explained "For you and I both We weren&039;t sure howand such We figured you would need four or five bags to heal, but the full turning can be tricky How e your body has sustained over the years You seemed relatively healthy, but there are always cancers, heart disease, et cetera" He eyed her stunned expression warily, then took out a bag and explained, "It isn&039;t as pleasant as fresh, warm blood from the source, but it can be consumed much the sa and opened his asped in horror as his teeth extended, and he plunged thean to disappear as if drawn up through the teeth

Still drinking, Etienne reached down and retrieved another bag, to hold out for her "Unh?"

She supposed it was an invitation Rachel wanted to laugh She wanted to howl hysterically at thishis closet, but that unna her belly Even worse, as the tinny scent of blood wafted around her, she could feel soe sensation of shifting--not painful, e to say the least Then she felt a sharp prick on the edge of her tongue Startled, Rachel opened her mouth and felt around

"Oh, God," she breathed as she felt her canines protruding down fro away from the closet, she rushed for the bathrooh her at the sight

"It must be a trick," she said desperately

"It&039;s not a trick," Etienne assured her He&039;d followed her into the bathroom "Bastien looked into it today and said that so is relatively fast The teeth are the first e Soon you&039;ll be able to see better in darkness, hear better, and stuff," he finished vaguely

Rachel shifted her gaze to his reflection in the mirror, then paused, distracted by the realization that she could see it Etienne stood directly behind her, and his shoulders, neck, and head were plainly visible

"Vaued It was a rather desperate point to make, but Rachel was desperate

"A myth," he informed her, then smiled "See? You can do yourRather than relax, Rachel felt herself slump unhappily "I&039;m dead"

"You aren&039;t dead," Etienne said patiently "I turned you to save your life"

"Oh--thanks a lot, buddy Kill uess that trip to Hawaii is off Shoot! And I just found a swimsuit that didn&039;t make me look like Godzilla"

"I didn&039;t kill you," Etienne repeated "Pudge--"

"Pudge? The guy in are rose in her lared at Etienne in the mirror "Jeez, I should have let him hack your head off At least then I wouldn&039;t be dead and soulless"

"You are not soulless," Etienne argued His patience was obviously beginning to fray "Pudge wounded you mortally To save your life, I had to turn you"

"I don&039;t feel soulless" Rachel leaned close to the mirror and pulled her lips back in a snarl, then poked at her new teeth

"You aren&039;t soulless"

Rachel ignored hian to search the vanity What she wanted was pliers, but of course, she had no expectations of finding any The best she could do was a pair of nail clippers She found a ser pair and leaned into the ?" her host shrieked He snatched the clippers from her when she tried to catch the end of one of her new teeth and pull it out

"I don&039;t want to be a varabbed the clippers back, but he was holding theain, this ti up with a nail file She turned back to theto file down one of the teeth

"It will just repair itself," Etienne said with irritation "And it isn&039;t so bad being a varunted and continued to file

"You&039;ll never age," he pointed out hopefully "You&039;ll never get sick, never--"

"Never see the light of day," she interrupted sharply Turning to glare at hiet off the night shift? Three years Three years I&039;ve been working through the night and not able to sleep during the day, and just when I get proht walker!" Her voice rose with each word until

Rachel was shrieking "You have dooo out in daylight," Etienne said But he didn&039;t sound very sure about it, and Rachel concluded that he was just trying to calm her down She didn&039;t bother to call him on the lie Her mind had already moved on to other vampire do&039;s and don&039;ts

"Garlic!" Her eyes widened incredulously "I absolutely love garlic, and now I can&039;t--"

"You can eat garlic," he interrupted "Really, that&039;s just anotheror not and so she eyed hily "What about church?"

"Church?" He looked blank

"Can I go to church?" she asked slowly, as if he were an idiot "My faether every week for my whole life, but valy relieved "That&039;s another ious articles and places have no ill effects on us"

He had obviously expected this neould please her It didn&039;t Rachel&039;s shoulders sluood excuse to -winded, but even Mo to burst into fla the h the doors" Rachel heaved out a dejected breath "I guess there are just no positives to this deal"

Etienne frowned She suspected he had preferred her anger "Of course there are positives," he said "You&039;re alive And you&039;ll live for well, a long tie, and--"

"You already said that," she pointed out dryly Pushing past hi?" Etienne sounded anxious, and he followed her

"Finding so to wear" Rachel paused halfway across the room "Unless my clothes happen to be around here somewhere?"

He shook his head "They were blood-soaked Ruined, I&039;m afraid"

"Hmm" Rachel turned back to the closet "Then I&039;ll just have to borrow clothes of yours I&039;ll replace them"

Etienne frowned but remained silent as Rachel ransacked his wardrobe Apparently forgetting she had already chosen one, she snatched another long-sleeved white dress shirt and a pair of pants, then marched back to the bathroom Out of pure instinct, Etienne started to follow, only to nearly get his nose broken when the door slammed in his face

"I&039;ll wait out here," he h the barrier

Etienne scowled at his bathroo He supposed she was stripping A quick i the material drop down over her pale round breasts, her belly, her hips, her He shook himself

Etienne knew exactly what she looked like naked He hadn&039;t been strong enough to help when they returned ho enough not to watch as Bastien and his mother undressed her, tended her wounds and cleaned her up, then put her in his bed He had a very good idea of what she would look like now beyond that door Her pale skin and red hair would be complemented by the blues of the bathroom Her muscles would stiffen and tense as she tossed the sheet aside and began to don the overlarge shirt, his favorite

Etienne was really getting into the vision when the door suddenly opened Rachel stopped abruptly and scohen she found hi there

He cleared his throat and offered a crooked smile "That was fast"

"Move"

"Yes, of course" He stepped quickly to the side and watched her pass The pants were far too large and hung like a sack from her hips She had tucked the shirt inside, then tied the waist of the pants into a knot, but as she walked back to the closet, the material unknotted and dropped from around her waist

Etienne&039;s eyebrows flew up as the pants fell down Rachel stopped walking, and he was sure she scowled as she peered down at the gar hi, but because the shirttail had dropped just as quickly, obstructing his view It was rather disappointing He still got a nice view of her legs, however Lovely legs

Muttering under her breath, Rachel stepped out of the pants and continued forward "I&039;ll need shoes"

"No, you don&039;t"

"Yes, I do"

"Why?"

"I can hardly leave barefoot Could you call me a cab?" She bent to survey the shoes in his closet

"No"