15. My heart hurt for them while my hatred for Jeremy Breckenan grew. #2
“No more than a pint, but yes. A pint between the two of them would be enough to bring them into my brood if Pepper is also donating. Is that what you are hoping for?”
“As we have few women on board, yes—and while I trust every man here to handle fatherly duties with grace and compassion, Pepper will comfort them the most. I suspect they were given an order, as a weak compulsion, to draw enough blood to begin the turning process. It’s probable they will begin becoming vampires upon first exposure to blood.
To do so as an act of violence? That is less than ideal.
Pepper, sharpen those stakes so that little pressure can pierce skin, please.
Should they begin to turn, we can begin the process as peacefully as possible. ”
A chill sliced through me, and I paled at the realization the girls had been put on death row without even a chance to consent at becoming vampires. “But what if they don’t want to become vampires?”
“We will get them through the first phase of turning in as much comfort as we can, and then we will make a painful decision. They are old enough to consent.”
I understood, then, what my father had faced with my dying breath.
The girls were no different from me, but rather than a life cut short due to misfortune, they had had theirs torn away from them. “Is there a chance their parents have been turned?”
“There is,” he admitted. “I will contact shore and have the North American broods on standby begin their assault. I will have the parents captured and restrained and cared for should that be the case—and like these girls, they will be given the choice denied to them.”
What a horrible decision to have to make. Heaving a sigh, I picked up the first of the stakes and went to work doing as my father had asked, sharpening the tip until it became a lethal beauty. “What are your names?”
I refused to condemn the girls to eternal life without learning more about them.
“I’m Darcy,” the girl on my left replied in a meek tone.
“I’m Anne.”
“I’m Pepper. Yes, I am a vampire.” I opened my mouth and showed them my fangs.
While I didn’t want to ask if they’d been forced to drink any blood, I needed to know what I had to work with.
Perhaps being vague might help my cause without adding to their trauma.
Bracing for the worst, I asked, “Did the bad men force you to drink anything?”
While they hesitated, both girls nodded.
Darcy and Anne stared at each other, and after a moment, Darcy lowered her gaze while Anne lifted her chin. “He said if we didn’t stab a vampire, we would die within a week.”
“Likely poison or a disease in with whatever else they were forced to drink,” Emerick stated. “Turning can resolve many issues like that. We also can be cured of things humans cannot recover from.”
Somehow, my husband managed to keep the fury out of his voice, but I understood the truth: underneath the surface, he raged.
“Turning?” Darcy asked without looking up.
I sighed. While I had no idea how old they were, I couldn’t stomach the thought of lying to them. “I think the men who did this to you want you to become vampires, and they put you in a position where you either become one of us or you die.”
Rather than cry, Darcy moved so she could meet my gaze, and her sister likewise regarded me with frightened dark eyes. Something in Anne’s expression darkened. “Why?”
How could I answer such a question? I couldn’t even guess as to why.
Only one truth stood out to me. “They are evil and don’t care about anyone other than themselves.
But if you are okay with becoming vampires like us, I can promise you a few things.
You won’t go hungry or thirsty, you’ll always have a warm bed, and there will be other children for you to play with. ”
I couldn’t promise them anything else.
It bothered me that the girls seemed to absorb my claim with ready acceptance, and they stared at each other, their expressions betraying their worry.
“Uncle Bobby is a vampire,” Anne confessed. “But Uncle Bobby said we weren’t allowed to become vampires until we were at least fifty years old, and only if he liked the vampire we liked. He has rules for us dating vampires. Right now? We’re too young to date vampires.”
Emerick sucked in a breath. “Well, this is a problem.”
“What’s a problem?” I demanded.
“Uncle Bobby would be Robert Caulder, and he’s aboard the vessel. I’ve never met his twin nieces, but these girls look to be the right age. Robert is not going to take this well at all.”
“Benoit, go find this Robert and bring him down. Text your brothers and update them on the situation,” my father ordered.
“Until we figure out if they’re going to be turning, let’s keep this down here.
We’re near one of the blood stores, so if they need blood, it’s readily available.
But that would be like Breckenan and his scum followers.
How better than to sow discontent and obtain revenge? ”
I worried my father would start growling. “Darcy, Anne, does the idea of becoming vampires bother you?”
The girls shook their heads.
Well, that was something. “Were you aware the people who hurt your parents are vampires?”
Once again, they shook their heads. After a moment, Anne frowned, and she wiped her eyes with Ben’s handkerchief. “I should have guessed. He was afraid of a stick. Sticks don’t hurt vampires, Pepper. They have to be carved first.”
I wondered about that. “Well, they’re wise to be afraid of sticks, especially if I’m the one holding them. Your uncle is coming, and we’ll see where we go from there, okay? But in any case, you’re safe now.”
The same could not be said for the filth I hunted, and when I finally crossed paths with them, I would paint with their blood rather than drink it. There would be no doubt of their fate—and no hope they would ever rise.
Their every dream, their every ambition, all of it would be crushed to powder beneath my heel.
Robert Caulder, a reclusive brood master from Delaware, held his nieces and wept.
The confirmation they’d been fed sufficient vampiric blood to begin the process of turning them would prove to be Breckenan’s undoing.
Without remorse or hesitation, my father began making phone calls to notify the broods of the world of Breckenan’s sins—sins that would be paid back as full as we could without having the ability to turn back time.
He also made a point of informing everyone of my situation, how I had been raised to adulthood despite my severe case of vampirism, and that our family would be making certain the twins would likewise enjoy prosperity should they choose to become vampires.
It would just take some time and a great many changes to their lives.
At a slow blooming seven, the girls should have had bright childhoods filled with laughter and light. Instead, they would choose to live or die—and we couldn’t guarantee they would live, although we would do everything in our power to make it so.
In some ways, Darcy and Anne reminded me of me—steadfast, intelligent, and adaptable. Unlike me, they would receive support from every adult vampire in their impending eternal life.
Because of me, they would grow to become vibrant women.
No, because of my father and mother, who had loved me enough to sacrifice just about everything to make certain I could grow to become a vibrant woman.
I took the stakes I’d carved on behalf of the girls, settled beside the trio, and patted Robert’s back.
“It’s not a death sentence,” I reminded him.
“Look at me—and actually see me. Once upon a time, I was just like them. If my father managed to get me to adulthood, you can get them to adulthood. We can help. My father has already notified the predominant broods around the world we’ll see them through this.
Breckenan did this because he knows the old ways while we’re forging new ones.
He didn’t send them here to kill vampires.
He sent them to demoralize you. There’s a chance their parents are still alive, too. ”
Robert nodded, and he held his nieces closer. “I didn’t even know my brother was missing.”
“We will hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That’s all we can do—and we will make certain your nieces get the best care possible.
Once you’re ready, you need to talk to them and explain everything that will happen in the coming days.
With so many vampires on board, we will have no problems providing enough blood.
The donors will lounge about and be treated like the kings they are for the day.
I shall enjoy being pampered like the queen I am.
” I raised a brow at my husband. “I’m expecting exceptional pampering after today. ”
“How about I delay Ben beating you with a stick for a day?”
Only a fool wouldn’t accept that offer. “That sounds reasonable. I think I should get two days, though. I actually escaped him.”
Ben, who had been conferring with my father and his uncles, considered me with a raised brow. “If you’re donating blood for both girls, you’re getting the rest of the voyage off from the stick with endurance building exercises as soon as one of the doctors clears you.”
My father made a thoughtful sound. “There is likely a compulsion requiring the girls to stab somebody—a vampire—with a stake. If our speculations are correct, this will begin the turning process in earnest. We should separate them for the start of the turning, make sure each drinks enough from Pepper and Emerick for them to solidify a hold on them, and then we’ll all donate smaller amounts to help get them through the transition.
Once they’ve finished the first stage of turning, we’ll keep them together.
Pepper’s stakes will not hurt her, and if Pepper is helping them, for all we know, her stakes might assist with the process.
She works with stakes in fashions I never have, so I simply do not know what will happen.
After the girls are settled, have awoken, and have fed, Robert can bring them into his brood.
For the turn, it’s better for them to be part of the Lowrance brood, Robert. ”
Their uncle nodded his agreement.
All I could do was hope the stakes offered the girls comfort and peace no matter what happened.
I sighed. “Robert? Are you going to be okay?”
“I promised them many things I won’t be able to give them now,” the brood master confessed in a hoarse whisper. “Trips to amusement parks. Walks on sunny beaches.”
My father joined me in sighing. “You can still give them those things even as vampires. If I cannot help with the magic needed to allow them to walk underneath the sun, my uncles can. They won’t be as plentiful, but those days are not behind them.
Most days, they won’t even really realize they’re vampires.
They’ll just have stricter rules than before and a special diet.
Should all go well, they’ll even be able to go to school with regular kids, although the local broods will have to send vampires to watch their classes to make certain there aren’t any accidents.
That part of things was a challenge when Pepper grew up; several members of my brood doubled as janitors and administrative staff to keep an eye on her. Her nature helped.”
“They have a lot of advantages I didn’t.
My father couldn’t afford to tell me what I am.
We’re already seeing growth in Edgar. If we can get Edgar maturing, we can help them.
It’ll be easier, too. You don’t have to hide their nature from them.
They’ll be able to understand what is going on and why.
I mean, look at me. I couldn’t smell more of roses despite my rather odd childhood. ”
Robert nodded. “You want to do them one at a time?”
“Having two girls drinking off my wrist at the same time will get a little tricky to manage,” I replied with a wry grin. “See if one of them will volunteer, and we’ll make them understand whichever girl goes second will see her sister taking a nap and that it’s normal.”
“Taking a nap is one way to put it,” Robert muttered.
Their nap would make it appear there was no life left in them, and we’d wait for several days to see if they would awaken into their second lives. If not, we would make use of the morgue on the ship, and Breckenan would pay for the deaths of the two beautiful little girls.
“For them, they’ll take a nap and wake up feeling a lot better. We’ll give them mashed potato volcanoes with gravy that fills their need for blood, and they’ll otherwise be the same little girls. And unlike the rest of us, when we get it right, they’ll be able to have all the ice cream they want.”
Robert laughed at that. “They do love nothing more than taunting vampires when they get ice cream. I hope by the time they’re adults, they’ll have changed their pranking to something that won’t make them sick.”
“Lactose-free ice cream is real, and it’s fun tricking other vampires into thinking you have the wrong stuff.
I’m sure we can find many ways they can fill their days and nights with good humor.
” I gave Robert another pat on the back.
“We’re going to give you some space so you can explain the situation to the girls.
When they’re ready, either way, please let us know. I’d say take your time, but…”
“We’ve run out of that,” he acknowledged in a solemn tone.
I nodded.
“It makes me grateful I had this talk with them last year. I just hope I can truly make them understand what comes.”
“I think they’ll be fine. They have you, and they have us. And unlike those who came before him, they will not have to live long in a world with Jeremy Breckenan in it. He sealed his fate tonight, that much I can promise.”
While it took him a few moments, he nodded his agreement, and I left so he could have at least the illusion of privacy while explaining what would happen in the next few hours.