She touched her tongue to her lips to moisten them. “So, what do we do now?”
“I need to teach you our ways.”
His voice was quiet and matter-of-fact. Did that mean people turned into vampires every day? Alexandria sat up tentatively. Her body was sore and stiff but not agonized as it had been before. She stretched her muscles gingerly, testing them. “I don’t have any desire to learn your ways.” She glanced up at him, a flash of blue eyes quickly concealed by long lashes. “You tricked me. You knew I thought I would become… human again.”
He shook his head, the force of his will so strong, she had to look up at him. At once the molten gold captured her gaze. “No, Alexandria, you know that is not true. You wanted to believe it, so you convinced yourself. I chose not to confront you with the truth, but I never at any time misled you.”
A small, humorless smile touched her mouth. “Is that what you think? How noble of you to absolve yourself of any responsibility.”
He stirred, a slight ripple of muscles, and her heart leapt in alarm. He subsided, motionless once more, as if reading her fear. “I did not say I do not hold any responsibility in this matter. But I cannot change what is. Nor could I change what occurred last evening. Believe me, Alexandria, I would give anything that you not have had to endure what the vampire put you through. Had I been able to do more to spare you such agony, I would have done so.”
His voice, so soft and gentle, rang with honesty. He seemed incapable of lying. But didn’t vampires have that ability, that power to mesmerize their victims? Alexandria didn’t know what was reality anymore, but she was not going to allow anyone to take over her life without a fight. She had a brain, she was strong, and she was determined. She had long ago learned patience. Fortitude. Survival skills. Right at this moment she didn’t have enough information to make any decisions.
“Am I like you now?”
His mouth quirked in the smallest of smiles; then his face was once again a cool, blank mask, his golden eyes soulless, reflecting back her own image. “Not exactly. I was born Carpathian. My people are as old as time itself. I am one of the ancients, a healer of our people, and a hunter of the vampire. I have knowledge and power from centuries of study.”
She held up a hand. “I’m not sure I’m ready for all this. Mostly I want to know if I’m still me.”
“Who did you think you would become? There is no longer any lingering taint of the vampire’s blood in your system, if that is what concerns you.”
She took a deep breath. Drew on her knowledge of vampire lore. Hunger was a clawing ache. “What concerns me is… whether or not I can walk in the sunshine. Whether or not I can eat like a regular person, go to a fast-food place with Joshua and eat whatever I want.”
He answered calmly. “Sunlight will burn your skin. Your eyes will have the worst reaction, swelling and tearing. In daylight you must wear dark glasses, made with special lenses for our people.”
She let her breath out slowly. “That answers one question. I’m trying hard not to get hysterical here. Just say it out straight.”
“You must have blood to survive.”
“You could have broken it to me more gently, in stages or something,” she replied wryly, her customary irreverence clearly intact even though her mind was spinning, in total chaos. It was hard to think, to breathe. This couldn’t really be happening. It just couldn’t. “I hope you don’t expect me to sleep in a coffin.” She tried to make it a joke, to help her mind accept the possibility of such a thing. More than anything, she wanted to scream.
His eyes were absorbing her, drawing her to him. She could almost feel him reaching for her, an illusion so real that she felt the warmth of his arms, his soothing touch in her mind. “I do not think that will be necessary.”