“Carlie,” Ronan said quietly. “You have a visitor.”
He stepped to the side as Carlie looked up, revealing me behind him. I made myself meet her eyes and braced myself for anger, for hatred, for the lash of words—and, depending on how angry she was, for fangs.
Her eyes went huge, went silver, and she leapt off the bed, was in front of me before I’d even considered grabbing a weapon.
She was fast. So fast.
And she wrapped her arms around me, embraced me with fierce strength she probably didn’t yet know she had.
“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“I— Okay,” I said, and patted her back, could practically feel my bones creaking beneath her embrace. “You’re welcome, I guess.”
“Let’s give them a minute,” Connor said behind me, and I could hear the relief in his voice.
Ronan opened his mouth to speak, probably to ask Carlie if she was all right to be left alone with me. But he held his peace, probably when he saw the expression on her face. They left us alone, closed the door behind them.
She stepped back, linked her fingers together. “I’m sorry. You don’t even really know me, and I’m probably just overwhelming you.”
“It’s okay. I’m—I’m a little surprised you aren’t furious with me.”
Her brows popped up. “Why would I be mad at you?”
What sounded like genuine confusion in her voice loosened some of the tension in my chest; bindings of fear unbuckled.
“Because I changed you—or started the process—without your consent.”
She snorted. “My consent was bleeding all over the freaking ground. I knew, when that thing picked me up, that I was a goner. I could feel it kind of”—she looked away, emotion welling in her eyes—“bite through me. There was so much pain. He was running, and every time his feet hit the ground, it got worse. And then I got cold, and I got tired, and I felt like I was floating. He jerked and put me down, and then you were there.”
She looked back at me, her smile so beatific I wanted to cry. “I heard you talking to me, and then you took the pain away. When you bit me,” she added, as if I hadn’t already committed every second of that night to memory.
“And then I was gone for a while, and then you began to feed me, and I came back. It was sudden, like I’d been thrown right into my body again. And the blood was . . . weird but amazing. You saved my life, but if you need my consent now, then you have it, lady. You freaking have it.”
She grinned. “Besides, do you have any idea how dull it is to be a human in Grand Bay, Minnesota? To smell like doughnuts all the time? Even the Sups are dull. I mean, I like Georgia, but the resort is a dive, and all the pretending to be human? Why would you do that?” She pointed at herself. “This looks a lot more fun.”
I smiled. “I think we’ll be seeing some leadership changes there. And the monsters have been caught. So they won’t bother you anymore.”
“Good,” she said with a nod.
“So, do you think you’ll want to stay in Minnesota?”
She bit her lip, looked apologetic. “I don’t want you to be mad or anything, but yeah.” She looked around the room. “I kind of like it here. The vampires seem nice, and the house is really cool, and Ronan said I could stay and still work at the shop at night. But if that’s not cool with you—”
“That’s fine with me,” I said. “Absolutely fine. I mean, we can stay in contact as much as you want, and you can maybe come visit me in Chicago sometime. But things have changed for you so quickly, and you don’t have to be in a hurry to make a decision. Your life is here, at least for now. I think you should see what that looks like for you as a vampire, and then decide.”
“That sounds good. Would it be okay if I gave you a hug?”
“Of course,” I said, and she embraced me and nearly broke every rib.
“Gently,” I said. “You’ve got to learn your strength.”
“Crap, sorry,” she said, and pulled back. “That’s what Ronan said. Did I break anything?”
“Nothing that won’t heal.” I rose, knowing I needed to let her go, to find her way.
“I know you didn’t come up here to make a vampire,” she said. “And I had to explain that to Ronan, because, damn, it would have been easier to find a person in Chicago. But I’m really glad you did.”
“I’m glad, too,” I said, and meant it. “I should go. We’re getting ready to head back to Chicago.”
She nodded. “Thank you again.”
“You’re very welcome,” I said, and left the room feeling much lighter.
* * *
* * *
Ronan and Connor waited for me downstairs, twenty feet between them. Fast friends they were not.
Connor looked at me, and I nodded. “We’re good here,” I said.
His smile looked as relieved as mine had been.
“Before you go,” Ronan said, “there are some things I should say. Privately.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him.”
Connor brushed the tips of his fingers against mine—the lightest touch, but full of emotion. Of promise.
“I suppose I had that coming,” Ronan said.
“At the least,” Connor said.
Ronan didn’t spare him a look. “I underestimated you. Or perhaps I should say I prejudged you. I believed I understood who and what you were, what you would be. And I believed I understood what had happened with Carlie. I was wrong on all accounts.”
“Were you?” My question didn’t sound very sincere.
“I believed you had made her without thinking. Perhaps because you’d been raised to take what you wanted. Or perhaps because you simply wanted a vampire of your own. And then I spoke with her.”
“And she told you the same thing I did.” My tone was desert dry.
“She did,” he said, guilt darkening his eyes. He walked to the windows, pushed back the curtains with a finger, looked out. “Regardless, she survived, and that’s what matters.”
“Carlie said you’d invited her to stay here. You’ll take care of her?”
“She is one of us now,” he said simply, with a certainty that made me feel better about returning to Chicago.
“If she needs anything—if she needs me—you can reach out.”