Two grand? That was a lot of money and would currently solve a great many problems.
"That's very generous, but no. I can't do it. Listen, don't become a vampire. It's not really that great. Be a human. Stay a human. Less stress, trust me on that."
Disappointment filled Josh's expression. "That's not an option."
"I'm sure somebody will help you if it's what you really want."
"No, it has to be you," Josh said, and he began to shiver from the cold night, since he only wore a sweater, and he wrapped his arms tightly across his chest. "You're currently the only vampire alive who has the blood of two masters coursing through her veins."
"I'm the only one?" I said with surprise. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "There was another fledgling who had the blood of three master vamps, but he was recently set on fire by hunters and pulled apart by dogs. Apparently he saw it coming in one of those prophetic dreams." He shrugged. "I've researched it. It has to be a fledgling and it has to be the blood of more than one master vampire. That's you. You're so lucky. Masters almost never let fledglings drink from them."
My stomach lurched. "I'm going back to Haven."
"You need to bite me. Please, bite me, Sarah."
"Bite him, Sarah," Heather echoed. "Don't worry, I won't be jealous."
The cold wind picked up and I could hear it whistle through the dry branches overhead, shifting the loose snow so that it fell lightly to the ground close by. I sighed with frustration. "How many different ways can I say no?"
Heather's eyes narrowed. "You bitch. How can you be so selfish?"
I glared at her. "Selfish? Because I don't want to bite your boyfriend? How is that selfish?"
Then I felt a hand at my waist and the unmistakable feeling of a sharp wooden stake at my throat. Josh was now behind me.
"We tried to do this the easy way." The friendliness and pleading were now gone from his voice. "Ask you nicely. Pay you, even. But I'm not taking no for an answer."
Immediate panic gripped me as tightly as Josh had. "The easy way? By lying about a job?"
"God, get over it, would you? This is the job. You're going to sire me or I'm going to kill you."
Any move I made would send the stake directly into my jugular so I tried not to budge, even though my entire body felt like a live wire. Perhaps a different tactic would be a good idea.
"The Slayer of Slayers doesn't take kindly to threats, asshole," I growled, trying to sound as tough as I could through the fear as sharp as the stake at my throat.
He snorted at that. "We know it's just a rumor that you killed all of those hunters.
However, everything else about you isn't a rumor. You've drunk the blood of two master vampires. That makes you very special. But you don't have to bite me. The virus is in your blood as well as your fangs. Doesn't matter if you're alive or dead. All I need is enough of your blood." He dragged the tip of the stake along my neck and I felt a stinging pain and a warm trickle of blood slid down my throat. "See? Not so tough after all."
"Let me go right now." My gaze whipped over to where Heather stood, hoping that she would see that her darling boyfriend was actually a violent sociopath, but she just looked at him with love and devotion.
"Kill her," she prompted. "We can save the money we were going to pay her for our honeymoon."
I breathed out, trying not to shake with the fear I felt, and tried to think as calmly as I could. This wasn't the first time I'd been in a life-or-death situation. However, I wasn't quite the victim I'd been ten weeks ago when I was made into a vampire by my blind date.
"Josh," I said shakily. "Listen, we can talk this out."
The stake eased off a bit from my throat. "Can we?"
"Not really." I stomped on his instep and twisted away from him. Then I curled my hand into a fist and socked him as hard as I could in his jaw. Not too much vampire strength, but since he was only human it was enough to knock him back a few feet. Enough for me to get away.
That is, if I didn't suddenly have his vampire girlfriend behind me, pinning my arms down at my sides.
"Let go of me, Heather," I snarled at her. "Right now."
"Not a chance."
"I thought we were friends? Why would you do something like this to a friend?"
"Because I love Josh. But I guess somebody involved with a cold, emotionless jerk like
Thierry wouldn't understand what true love feels like, would you?"
"This isn't love," I managed.
"We're going to be together forever."
"You've only known him for a few weeks, haven't you?"
"It doesn't matter. I know it's forever." Her fingernails dug painfully into my arms. "Do it, Josh. Do it now."
"Let go of me!" I yelled and struggled so hard against her that I almost broke free. She had a fight on her hands to keep me in place. I wrenched to the side, twisting my body to possibly bite her on the nose, but then I felt something very bad slam into my chest.
I gasped.
It was something sharp.
Something extremely painful.
Heather finally released me. "Sorry, Sarah. I wish you'd given us another choice."
My eyes widened as I looked down at the wooden stake protruding from my chest. I touched the end of it with shaking hands, blinking hard.
"Wh-what…?" My mouth was dry. I fell to my knees on the cold, hard ground and stared up at Heather, who'd gone to stand next to Josh. They both looked down at me coldly.
Oh, my God. I'd been staked. They'd staked me.
I couldn't breathe. The pain in my chest was like a living thing that was burrowing into my body. The night that surrounded me began to fill my vision with a growing darkness.
I thought she was my friend. I trusted her.
Too good to be true.
I gasped for breath and fell to my side, my head landing on a patch of thick white snow.