"And you are now?"
"Surprisingly, yes. Now, don't be a baby. Let's see."
He grudgingly pulled up his shirt and let her apply the balm to his already healing wound.
"God, I almost forgot all about that evil tree thing scratching your shoulder." She ran her fingers lightly over his ribs and abdomen and then pulled the shirt up even higher, before he pushed her hands away.
"I need to go." He stood up and turned away from her. "I have to find Malcolm before he gets too far."
"And what are you going to do when you find him?"
"Tear him apart with my bare hands."
"Sounds like a good start. I'll join you."
"No. You… you stay here. Just rest."
"I'm already rested enough. Look, we'll find him. I have a right to get my hands on him, too, you know.
The asshole almost killed me. I don't take kindly to stuff like that."
He didn't say anything.
"Quinn—" She grabbed his arm and tried to search his blank expression. "It's really okay. I don't blame you for any of this."
He nodded with a firm jerk of his head. "Good."
"We'll get the Eye back. I know you want to make your wish."
"Forget the stupid wish." He said it so harshly that she cringed. Immediately his expression softened, and he closed the distance between them to touch her face very softly. He stared into her eyes. "I thought I'd lost you."
"I'm hard to lose."
"Good to hear." His face was a jumble of emotions that she couldn't read. He pulled back from her and turned away, frowning. "I'm… I'm going to grab the stone and… and we'll go find Malcolm."
She nodded. "Okay."
With a last look, Quinn turned and left the room.
She let out a long breath, feeling very shaky, and she wasn't entirely sure it was from blood loss.
Okay, so being a vampire doesn't make you a great deal more confident. Then again, she was barely a real vampire yet. She was no more than ava . Maybe avam .
Maybe the confidence came with time.
A hundred, maybe two hundred years should do it.
She glanced at herself in the mirror again.
He'd saved her. Quinn had saved her life and was now racked with guilt over what he'd done.
How could she prove to him that she was very, very grateful?
Quinn was shaking by the time he got back to his room. The stone wasn't there like he'd told her. It was still in his pocket, but he'd needed a few minutes to compose himself before he'd be able to do anything else. He glanced at the clock to see it was nine o'clock. She'd been unconscious for almost an entire hour.
Too much to think about.
Shit. He'd just sired Janie. He couldn't believe it.
He'd sworn that he'd never drink from another person, be they human or vampire. He'd crossed that line. He'd never even imagined he'd cross the next line, that of actually making another vampire.
She was bound to him now. That's what he'd heard. That sires and their fledglings had a deep bond that could be broken only by death.
Something stirred deep within him. Knowing that she was bonded to him felt right somehow.
Why the hell could something so wrong feel so right?
There was a soft knock at the door behind him, and he spun around to see Janie enter the hotel room.
"I'm almost ready," he said after clearing his throat. He patted his pocket. "Got the stone."
She nodded. She'd washed her face, which was now clean of makeup. Brushed her hair until it was long and silky straight. She still wore the red dress, but her heels were gone and she stood in front of him in bare feet, looking painfully beautiful and strong and… andalive .
His eyes flicked to the neck wound, which was healing faster than he ever thought possible. Damn, what was that healing balm made of?
Magic.
He felt at his stomach and could barely tell where Malcolm had pierced him with the stake. He looked down at his wrist, which tingled pleasantly. Just a thin red line left.
Before too long he could almost forget anything at all had happened.
"You saved me," Janie said softly. "You saved my life."
"I don't know if you could call it that."
"Nobody saves me."
"I find that hard to believe."
She shook her head. "Why didn't you let me die?"
"What?"
"The way you feel about vampires… I just don't understand why you didn't let me die."
He didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything.