Page 49

“Bye, Wombat,” he countered before climbing in his truck.

“This will be faster if I carry you,” Lydia said as I tripped over a crack on the sidewalk.

“Julian used to do that,” I said.

She sighed. “That bastard should’ve never abandoned you like this.”

“Right?” I said, excited that someone understood his true nature even if I didn’t want him here anyway. “He’s such an ass.”

Lydia tipped me over her shoulder and zoomed off, making me lose the contents of my stomach somewhere on the ride—hopefully in the forest where it wouldn’t disturb anyone.

Chapter Sixteen

Bloody Good

Lydia set me on my feet at my own doorstep and helped me onto the porch swing.

“Sorry about that,” she said, joining me.

“Not your fault Murphy got me sloshed.” I swatted her arm.

“You still have the cure?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I patted my belt, listening to the crickets and forest sounds from behind the house. I wondered if Mama and Zoe were both home.

“How long before it’s dangerous to use after someone’s turned?” she asked.

I scrunched my face in thought. “The blood has to still be in their system or they have to be well-fed. So maybe…a couple of weeks. Why?”

Lydia adjusted herself and made sure I was looking at her dead-on. “I want to turn you into a vampire.”

After a good five seconds of silence, I bust out laughing so hard I almost fell off the swing. Lydia waited until I was done. “I’m serious.”

“Why?” I asked, wishing I could clear my head somehow. “I don’t know if you remember, but except for present company, vampires have a history of causing me issues.”

“I’ll let that slide since you’re drunk off your ass, oh She-Who-Can’t-Hold-Her-Liquor. But here’s the thing—You are in danger, and I’m pretty sure I can get you out of said danger by turning you.”

I stopped smiling and tried to focus. “Is that what you want the cure for? To turn me back again? What’s the point then?”

“You may not want to change back, you know,” Lydia said, standing. “But, yeah, that’s the backup plan. I figure after a few days h—” she choked on whatever she was going to say, then tried again. “The danger will have moved on.”

“What is this danger?” I asked, standing and throwing out my arms for balance.

“I can’t tell you,” she said, trembling with restrained frustration.

“I’m just supposed to let you?” I countered, annoyed that everyone was always trying to save me without being honest. Maybe being a vampire had changed Lydia.

“If I wanted to do it without your permission, you’d already be reborn,” Lydia hissed. “I need you to trust me.”

“The only blood sucker I trust is Silas,” I yelled. “At least there’s one of you that’s decent.”

Lydia screamed and threw her hands up in the air. “Ask yourself why you trust him so fucking much.”

“Well, I—” I stopped, puzzled. “I just do.”

“That’s logical,” she snarked.

“What’s he done that I shouldn’t trust him?” I asked. “Tried to turn me? Nope, that’s you.”