Corinne bunched the quilt in her hand, her fingers rubbing nervously over the strange symbol sewn into the edge of the comforter. “Fully into your world.” She repeated the phrase softly, under her breath.
“Dayan’s world,” Desari reminded her gently. “Just keep that uppermost in your mind. You will be in his world.”
“What about my baby?” Corinne finally voiced the question she had been unable even to consider. She was terrified for her baby.
Desari smiled encouragingly at her. “Are you strong enough for the truth, Corinne? Because you have to know you want the truth when you ask for it.”
Corinne found that tracing the strange symbol over and over on the quilt was soothing. It helped to keep her mind from shutting down with fear. “Is my baby going to live and be healthy?”
“We are doing everything in our power to make that happen. Dayan’s blood, which we believe will save your life and will convert you, will also convert the baby if you are given the blood while you are pregnant. That presents us with a few problems and new territory we have never dealt with before.” Desari’s voice was hauntingly beautiful and tranquil. “I am being completely honest with you. We do not have the answers you seek. This has never happened before, at least not that I know of. Certainly, it has not happened to Gregori, and he is the acknowledged healer of our people.”
Corinne’s fingers found the next symbol in the quilt and traced the character. “I’m trying to understand what you’re telling me. If Dayan doesn’t give me his blood, I will die for certain. You’re saying that’s a fact.”
Desari nodded solemnly. “We are only delaying the inevitable. He would have completed the conversion already if you were not carrying this child.”
Corinne heard her heart racing and took a moment to slow it. “How does he do it? How does he complete the conversion?”
Desari’s gaze held hers captive, almost as if she were sharing her courage. “There must be three blood exchanges. Each blood exchange will bring you a step further into our world. And of course, because you are his lifemate, Dayan will complete the ritual and make you wholly his.”
“And you think this will save my life?” Corinne asked doubtfully, watching Desari’s face carefully. Dayan believed it because he had to believe it – he had no other choice or he would go crazy – but Desari had no ties to her. “Do you really believe it, Desari?”
Desari sighed softly. “I believe the odds are in your favor if everything goes right and we time it all perfectly. You know as well as I do that your heart is in bad shape. Even with Dayan’s strong blood reshaping your internal organs, you will have to have the necessary strength to go through the actual conversion. Gregori thinks we can get you through it, and I have heard he is capable of great miracles.”
“He is capable of miracles, Corinne,” Savannah affirmed.
Corinne smiled sadly. “Still, for the baby’s sake, I must be near Lisa. If something happens to me, she is the one who must raise her. She’ll be the baby’s only living relative.”
Desari was shaking her head. “When Dayan gives you his blood, the blood will pass through the placenta to the baby. The child will have his blood, his genetic code, not your former husband’s. The child will eventually be one of us.”
Corinne was silent, listening to the sounds of the house, the wind outside the window, the branches swaying and dancing. She could hear her own breathing and the heartbeat of the child growing within her. “He gave me his blood already. What did it do to the baby?” She was struggling desperately to understand.
“Corinne – ” Desari began gently.
Corinne shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to treat me like a child. Just tell me straight. What happened to my baby?”
“Your daughter would never have survived the birth,” Desari said. “Your heart was barely able to provide for you, let alone for both of you. Without Dayan’s blood, both of you would have died, and that is the truth. She already carries his genetic code, but she is not fully in our world. Darius monitored her along with Gregori during the exchange. When it became too much for the baby, the transfusion was stopped to allow her body to adjust.” Deliberately she used the human term transfusion to soothe Corinne.