The Turning (40 page)

That didn’t mean I didn’t
totally
gape at him given the bomb he’d just dropped. “You were married?”

“Yes, I was married about a hundred years ago, she was murdered. It was when I still lived in Italy and some people in the village had figured out what we were. They came like you see in the movies, with pitchforks and torches. I woke up when I heard her scream before they cut off her head. I was able to fight my way free and migrated here.

“She was also my maker and I loved her dearly, but I’m not sure if I loved her because she was my maker
or
if I was
in
love with her,” Andre finished and turned away, stepping up the curb to continue on and nearly tripping. I reached out and easily caught him, mouth agape that someone so smooth could stumble—until I realized his eyes looked wet. Then I did the polite thing and pretended I didn’t see.

“I understand, the relationship is confusing. So you really get what I’m going through with Brian more than anyone could?” I let out a huge breath, not feeling quite so alone in this anymore.

“Yes,” he ventured. “I really do. I did want to take you out while I was here, not so much because I thought you would fall madly in love with me. I wanted to show you there are other options than Brian. You aren’t obligated to be with him. You need to follow what your heart tells you.”

I started to nod, when I heard something and turned away. We looked at each other, and without a word, I took off, Andre on my heels. We skidded to a halt about a mile away, to witness a drug deal going down. There were five very big guys.

I hope Andre knows how to fight.

I went after the guys on the right, first grabbing the two guns they had. I threw them to the other side of the alley and planted a roundhouse kick on the first guy. He landed so hard against the wall he was instantly out, but I had advanced so fast the second guy hadn’t even moved. I hit him in face so he fell but was still conscious so I could put the whammy on him.

Vampires called it “wiping,” when we erased humans’ memories with our minds and put in what we wanted them to do instead. All vampires were eventually able to do it, but it took time and training. Someone as young as I was didn’t normally have the patience and control to do it.

I held onto his shoulders while doing my visualization. “You will do exactly what I say and forget I was ever here. Do you understand?” He nodded and I gave myself a pat on the back for pulling it off when it wasn’t a controlled setting like practicing on Nicole. “You will stop selling drugs and get a real job, do you understand? You will take a ten minute nap, wake up feeling refreshed and determined to better your life, do you understand?”

He nodded both times and was out. I turned to make sure Andre was okay and saw he was still brawling with two of the guys but his smile said he was having a great time. I bit the guy I had just mesmerized and took a pint or so from him before I licked him and the wound healed.

One guy was on Andre’s back so I grabbed him and threw him off, putting the same whammy on him as I had his buddy. I now had four guns and a case full of drugs. I was going to have to figure out what I was going to do with all this. Andre subdued the last guy and drank from him, then we finished mesmerizing and drinking from them all.

“You know how to show a guy a good time.” He beamed as he nodded to the pile of shit that added up to about twenty years of jail time. “What do we do with the loot?”

I felt my forehead wrinkle as I glanced around. That was a
really
good question. “I can show you where the police station is, if you wouldn’t mind turning it in? I don’t know any of the guys but I also don’t want to be seen by them. Do you mind? Just tell them you found it?”

“How about I leave the bag at the front desk and book it? They would have a lot of questions how I would just happen to find this,” Andre offered as we ran. I didn’t want to be seen with the goods either. We stopped in front of the station. Andre ran in and was back out in a snap. He adjusted his shirt sleeves carefully and didn’t meet my eyes. “I think that was enough excitement for one day, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I think it’s back to bed. I’ve got a big day at work,” I agreed, heading back towards the car. When we got a few feet away, I gave Andre a big hug. “Thanks, Andre. I appreciate the help—and the talk. It was nice of you to open up to me like that.”

He smelled so good I leaned into the hug a little more. He was warm and completely surrounded me like a big safe blanket. He was taller than Brian, probably the same height as my younger brother, but filled out more. I could feel his muscular arms as I leaned against his pecs and perfect abs.

Whoa, calm down, girl
. Then suddenly he was pulled away from me and thrown across the street. Stunned, I turned to see Brian, and was he ever glaring at me, nostrils flared like a bull and all.

“What are you doing, Kelly?” he bellowed.

“What are
you
doing, Brian? What are you even doing here? Are you following me?” I yelled right back and realized he was heading back to Andre. I ran towards Brian and put my hands on his chest. “Answer me!”

“He had his hands all over you, Kelly. I thought you were giving us another chance?” Brian defended and I threw him against a building, I was on him in an instant, fangs out.

I felt numb as I cocked my head and studied him. “I was. I just gave him a hug. He’s been a good friend to me, and this is how you react?”

“I just—well, I thought he was getting fresh with you. I came here to hunt, hoping maybe I would get a chance to see you, but you are here with
him
.” He tensed back up as Andre crossed the street towards us, looking just as livid.

“Brian, what is your problem?” Andre hollered, his face tight as his skin stretched over his mouth as if about to snarl.

“Wait. Both of you stop. Brian, I am not yours to control. Andre, please, I don’t want you guys to fight, I just want to go home. Brian, you completely overreacted. Again!” My chest hitched as I got off him and did my best to stay calm.

“Kelly, I’m sorry—” he pleaded as I interrupted him.

“I’m tired of your apologies, Brian. Don’t
bother
sending any gifts this time. I still have a bunch from last time. I have to bring more of the flowers to the hospital so they don’t go to waste. Nicole and I aren’t home during the day to appreciate them, I don’t want them to die and nobody gets to enjoy them. You need to back off and give me space. I will call you when I’m ready to see you, after I’ve had some time to think.”

I wondered if Brian had my gift and could tell if I was lying… Would he have felt the breeze of deceit? Part of me worried I was agreeing to call him because it was the path of least resistance. I didn’t want this type of behavior in my life, this
drama
, and there was no indication it would taper if I let Brian back in.

His shoulders drooped as if he might know it too. “When will that be?” Brian whispered, gazing away from my eyes.

“I don’t know, I just don’t know, Brian. Every time I think we are getting somewhere you start trouble again. You should be thanking Andre for being a good friend to me and helping me. I was all excited because I was able to mesmerize people on my own tonight.”

I let out a sigh that had
pent up
practically written in a cartoon bubble. Pent up what? Fuck if I knew. It was only my life. I never said I understood any of it.

“I should be happy, instead I’m going home sad again. Go back to your condo and think about what you did and if you
really
see this working. Do you understand?” He nodded and I looked at Andre, his eyes wide… Which wasn’t reassuring. “You’re going to not think about seeing me all week or inserting yourself in my life, do you understand?”

Again he nodded and a chill surged through me. “You’re going to take a ten minute nap, forget that we talked but remember what I said, do you understand?” He nodded and sat down against the building and went to sleep. I turned back to Andre. “Is that possible? He’s just messing with us, right?”

“I don’t think so, Kelly. What would be his goal in playing us? It would just piss you off, and that’s the last thing he would want to do. I think this might be your gift. I’ve never heard of such a gift, being able to wipe other vampires.” He sounded almost scared. “I wouldn’t tell anyone about this until we are sure, okay?”

“Yeah, I think that’s smart, you cool with keeping this secret, right?” I asked, already knowing the answer, but the building tension mostly dissipated when he nodded. We got in my car, leaving Brian where he sat, and went home. Once we arrived, Andre followed me upstairs in silence and we crawled into bed.

“It’s going to be okay, Kelly, we’ll figure this all out,” he said, wrapping his arms around me, and I could feel his hands were warm, sweaty. “It’s a cool gift, just very powerful, and something a lot of vamps would want. Some humans we can’t control, but if you can control vampires you could control them. Maybe we should go see Julie this weekend, think about it, okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I’m glad you ended up coming, Andre. I’m not sure I would have been able to handle something this big on my own. I would have run to Brian, partially because I’m scared and upset. I have another support system that I trust and understands. Sleep tight, handsome, and by the way—you were really hot fighting those guys tonight,” I muttered as I drifted off to sleep again, and I thought he said something, but I couldn’t make it out.

* * * *

The alarm went off again at four am. I rolled over and shut it off, hearing Nicole’s as well. I grabbed my morning blood and drank it while showering, then got dressed. “Geez, Kelly, you make it really hard to be your friend and behave myself,” Andre bitched from behind me.

“I want to try one thing,” I hedged, walking to him, still only in my undergarments.

I ran my hands through his hair and planted a big kiss on him. He put one hand around my lower back and one in my hair. The kiss was amazing and I hated to break it, but I did. I finished getting ready while Andre just stood there, lips parted with wide eyes.

“Bye, Andre, I should be back tonight. I left the fridge that has the blood unlocked, and if you get bored, you can bring some of the flowers to the hospital.” I walked out and met Nicole at the door with Andre still not having moved his feet but was now rubbing his eyes vigorously. I caught the raised eyebrow from Nicole that spoke volumes of why Andre was half-naked in my room in a daze.

The day at the hospital started about the same as yesterday, Nicole and I sat in the doctors’ lounge looking over the charts. I filled her in on what happened last night with Andre, and then with Brian. She told me about her conversation with Trent and the date she set up for Saturday. It was nice to see her so happy and excited about her date.

We went through rounds at exactly seven am, and I nailed four out of the eight patients’ histories. It seemed my shyness about being a know-it-all was long gone. Bringing out my aggressive nature last night was helping me in my internship.

“God job in there, Kelly,” Dr. Mike Malinowski—my resident—praised. “You’re in for all my surgeries again today. Study up and check the board, don’t let me down.”

“I won’t, I promise. Thanks, Mike, I appreciate this. Let me know if you need anything else,” I gushed, heading over to the surgical board, wondering how far I’d be willing to go for that
anything
offer. Granted, I wasn’t willing to do anything immoral for him or to stand in on surgeries… That wasn’t what I meant. I knew it was his job but he was also teaching me a lot already and he would continue to.

Wasn’t that something a person repays? Maybe wash his car?

Mike was slotted for three surgeries. I took a look back at Mike and came up with a few other ideas besides
washing
his car. Someday I would need to get a handle on these vampire hormones. He was what I would call my type. He was tall, lean but muscular, blond hair, blue eyes, and an Indiana Jones smirk that just melted me.

“Kiss ass,” I heard in a whisper from down the hall from a fellow intern.

“What makes her so damn special? I mean she’s no better than anyone else.” another voice bitched. I obviously couldn’t comment, since there was no human who could hear that far.

At least I identified they weren’t going to be friends of mine. I thought it would bother me, hearing what they said… But I wasn’t here to make friends, I was here to do a job. Besides, jealousy could make anyone ugly and I knew the second intern was lying, she recognized I was better than others.

My ego did take over, though, and I made sure to walk by them, acting a little like Ms. America as I smiled and waved… One so fake it should have been in a parade. They did the same and when they thought I couldn’t see them—one flicked me off.

Glass reflects, brainiac
. I snickered and waved to them again in the reflection of the glass. The guy went pale and that pretty much made my day. Childish, and stupid, but what could I say, they pissed me off.

I went and studied up on the surgeries, since they were back-to-back. I immersed myself in it for a few hours before I heard some confusion by the nurses’ station and decided to check it out. Andre was there with tons of flowers. “What are you doing here?”

“You said to bring by the flowers,” he defended and then swore under his breath at a volume we could only hear. Andre ran his hands through his hair, staring at his feet. “I was distracted and wound up and still partly asleep before. I’m sorry if I misheard you and embarrassed you.”

“Oh, yeah—sorry, just hand them out however you want.” I leaned in over the nurses’ station and winked at the hottest female there, testing a theory. “He’s trying to get in my good graces by handing out flowers to show he can be supportive and caring but I have to be in surgery soon. I’m observing three today. Can you throw the poor guy a bone and show him where to put them or where you’d like them to go? Who needs them today?”

She snickered and nodded. “I can do that, Dr. Murphy. He does look pretty lost.”