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Standing, I dusted my hands on my pants and turned back to Camille. "It's simple. We wait. So cool your jets and pull up a chair. And, by the way, we need food for her—she's going to be ravenous. Unless one of you wants to play blood bank, we're going to need a donor."
Roz grinned. "I can find someone. I know the drill, even if I don't wade in the pool." Before I could speak, he slipped out of the door, leaving the rest of us sitting in silence.
CHAPTER 18
Having never sired a vampire, I wasn't entirely clear on the process myself, but I was damned certain it would go easier than my own rebirth.
The shock of opening my eyes, of believing I was still alive, had been bad enough. But the suffocating inability to catch my breath had been even more frightening. Then came the dawning realization that yes, I was dead, I just hadn't been allowed to cross over. And that's when the madness began to set in, as did the hunger. At least Erin had made her own choice. Hopefully she wouldn't regret her decision.
I glanced around the room. There were a few cushions, some heavy drapes that were being used as a floor cover. "Those curtains. Someone gather them and make a bed. Cover those blood-soaked cushions with them, and set the whole thing in the center of the room."
Morio and Chase set things up while Delilah and Camille rooted through the bunker in search of anything that might help us. "All of you, stay well out of Erin's reach. Especially you, Chase. She's going to wake up confused and ravenous. The hunger will be so bad that she'll be ready to attack anybody nearby."
The jangle of my cell phone suddenly cut through the muffled hush of the nest and I yanked it out, wondering who the hell could be calling me. I'd warned Chrysandra that I'd be out of touch for a night or so, and not many other people besides my sisters had my number. I glanced at the caller ID. Iris. Oh shit, what was wrong?
I flipped it open. "Iris, what's up?"
The static was horrible. I hurried outside, onto the steps, where the signal strengthened. "Hurry it up. I'm in a dicey situation here. What's wrong?"
Iris took a deep breath. "I know you are. Roz is here and he wants to talk to you. And another thing—Trillian just returned from OW." Something in her voice made me wary.
"What's wrong?"
"He's been hurt. He was shot by one of Lethesanar's archers."
Holy crap. Had she called me so I could cushion the blow for Camille? Was Trillian dead? I suddenly found myself whispering a silent prayer that my sister's love-bunny was okay. "Tell me."
"He'll live, but he's lost a lot of blood. He's not going anywhere for a while. So don't count on him coming to help you tonight. His shoulder is pretty mangled. I've called Sharah to come out with a medic kit so she can work on him." Iris sounded rushed. "She'll be here any minute. Meanwhile, here's Roz."
"Put him on." I decided to wait on telling Camille about Trillian. If she wasn't worrying about him, she'd pay more attention to what we were doing. And since Iris said he'd live, there was no real urgency.
Roz took the phone. "I found a volunteer. I don't have that internal guidance system you do in picking out perverts—at least not the kind you're looking for. And I didn't want to risk somebody innocent, since Erin's going to wake up ravenous."
"Then who did you find? And how the hell did you get out to our house so fast? You don't drive, do you?"
"Never mind how I got here—I have my ways. Thing is, I have the feeling you aren't going to like who our donor is."
"Why?" A rumble in my stomach told me that he was right—I wasn't going to like his answer. "Just who did you find?"
He cleared his throat. "Your friend. Cleo—Tim Winthrop. I had the feeling he'd be here, and he seemed the best choice. I told them about Erin and he volunteered to be the donor."
Holy crap! Of course Tim would volunteer. Erin was like family to him. I let out a long hiss. This was a mess. Tim had a little girl to think about. What if something went horribly wrong?
"Hold on, let me talk to the others." I put him on mute and ran back into the bunker to tell Camille and Delilah. Chase and Morio listened, but they clearly understood that this was our call. "So what do you think? Should we tell Roz to bring Tim with him?"
"How long before she wakes?" Camille said, looking down at Erin's still form.
I shook my head. "I have no idea. Probably not long."
Delilah scuffed the toe of her boot on the floor. "The way I see it, we don't have a choice. Erin will need blood. We need a donor. We don't have time to be choosy, and Tim's volunteered. We just do our best to keep her from draining him."
"Delilah's right," Camille said. "Tim knows the risks. Tell Roz to get the hell back here with him."
By their expressions, I realized they both knew exactly what we were risking. I'd made the choice, accepted the challenge, now we all had to cope with the ramifications and not let Erin down. The last thing I wanted to do was to have to stake my own daughter.
I hurried back to the steps and punched the talk button. "Get back here with Tim. Hurry it up—we don't have long before she rises."
"We're on the way," he said, then hung up before I could ask him just how he planned on getting both of them over here in time. With a look around to make sure we were still alone, I returned to Erin's side.
