Page 91 of Shadows of Eternity

“She would have been dead before you got there.”

Winchester sat down hard on the desk chair in the corner. “I don’t believe in vampires,” he murmured. “And now you’re telling me my daughter is one.” He shook his head in denial. “It can’t be true.”

“Should I have let her die?”

“Yes! It would have been better than turning her into a monster.”

“Do I look like a monster to you?”

Winchester’s narrow-eyed gaze moved over him. “No,” he admitted reluctantly.

“She won’t be one, either. She’ll still be your daughter.”

Winchester blew out a ragged breath. Rising, he moved to Leia’s side and gazed down at her for a long moment. A single tear slid down his cheek. “When will she wake up?”

“Tomorrow, when the sun goes down.”

Bending over, Winchester brushed a kiss across his daughter’s forehead. Moving to the door, he paused and then turned. Staring at Rohan, he hissed, “I hope you burn in the hottest circle of hell for all eternity.”

Cynthia was waiting for him in the living room. “How is she? Brian?”

He dropped onto the sofa beside her, hands dangling between his legs, his head bowed.

“Brian? Answer me.”

“He said she’ll be okay. That she’ll wake up tomorrow night.”

“How does he know that? He’s a dancer, not a doctor.”

Winchester blew out a sigh, then lifted his head to meet his wife’s eyes. “He’s a vampire.”

Cynthia stared at him, open-mouthed, and then shook her head. “This is no time for bad jokes, Brian Thomas Winchester.”

“Believe me, honey, I’m not joking.”

“Vampire!” she murmured, and fainted dead away.

Trent walked through the house, peering out the windows before drawing the curtains, checking to make sure all the doors and windows were locked. As it grew darker, he turned on all the downstairs lights, the front porch light, the lights in the patio. From time to time, he checked his weapons.

Standing at the foot of the stairs, he tapped his fingers on the banister, wondering what Rohan was doing up there. An hour ago, Leia’s parents had gone up to their bedroom and shut the door. He hadn’t heard a peep out of either one of them since.

Feeling hungry, Trent went into the kitchen and rummaged around in the refrigerator. Mrs. Winchester must have been shopping recently because there was a lot to choose from. In theend, he made a ham and cheese sandwich. He pulled a beer from the back of the fridge, poked around in the cupboards until he found a bag of chips, then settled at the kitchen table, one of his pistols close at hand.

It was going to be a long night.

Josiah prowled the perimeter of the girl’s house. He was a powerful creature, able to do amazing things. It galled him that something as ordinary as a threshold could repel him. Yet no matter how many times he tried to enter the house, he couldn’t breach that flimsy barrier, nor could he go through any of the windows or down the chimney. The damn threshold protected those entrances, as well. He could burn the place down, he mused. That might be fun. It would drive the whole damn family and the vampire out into the night. And the hunter, as well. He hadn’t forgotten his vow to kill the hunter who had destroyed Magdalena. But there was no hurry. Right now, he was focused on getting his hands on the woman again. New blood. A new conquest.

He paused abruptly, muttered every curse word he knew in a dozen languages. As clearly as if he were in the room, he could see Rohan bending over the girl, drinking her close to point of death, then giving her some of his blood. He could feel the transfer of preternatural power, sense Rohan’s blood flowing through the girl’s veins, strengthening her, reviving her.Changing her.

Hell and damnation, his troublesome fledgling now had a fledgling of his own. A fledgling that should have been his, Josiah thought irritably. Dammit to hell, perhaps, after all these centuries, it was time to put an end to Shadow Dancer.

And then he smiled. All was not lost. He was Josiah, a master vampire. As such, he could still make her his.

Leia woke abruptly. A glance at the edge of the curtains showed it was dark outside. Had she slept the day away? Odd, she could see everything clearly even though the room was almost pitch black. Just as odd was the fact that she knew her parents and Trent Frumusanu were down in the kitchen having dinner—her mother’s pot roast, carrots, potatoes, and chocolate cake for dessert. The scent of the food made her feel faintly queasy.

She smiled as she heard footsteps on the stairs and knew they belonged to Rohan. She sat up as he opened the door and stepped into the room.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, somewhat warily.

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