Page 76 of Bite of Passage
Gemma scurried to the mirror, but didn’t touch the glass.Perhaps, she’d never touch a mirror again.No getting sucked back to her world right now.Living as a vampire over there meant she’d have to bite humans.Thatwasn’t happening.Biting Skarde, from an objective perspective, seemed gross but tolerable.Attacking humans to suck their blood and then killing them?Eww.
Whew, she still looked like herself—even if her skin was smooth.As in, she had no blemishes at all.She’d never been a person who tanned, but now her skin was super pale, as if she’d used some sort of whitener.She splashed water in a basin to rinse off her face and swish in her mouth.
No toothbrush.
Lifting her lips, she stared at her sharp canine teeth.They weren’t movie-monster scary, but they definitely weren’t human.How she wished for a change of clothes, anything other than this old puffy pirate-esque shirt.A bit of mascara and a hairbrush would be an additional bonus.
A hundred questions pinged inside her head.Her chest cramped tight.
Wake the hell up, Skarde.
She nudged him.He didn’t stir.
She didn’t want to come off as clingy or weak, so she decided to let him sleep.
Finally, what seemed like an hour later, he stirred.It might’ve been five minutes, but it seemed forever.Rolling, he faced her where she sat cross-legged on the floor.
“You’re up,” he said hoarsely.
“Do we get morning breath?”
He rolled back onto his back and covered his eyes with an arm.“Not really.”
“How do we brush our teeth here?”
He compressed his lips.“That wasn’t the first question I had when I woke up a vampire.I didn’t handle the change well.I had Cade, who has the compassion of a brick.He concentrated on escape over everything else.A toothbrush?Yes.They’re made of wood and horsehair, at least the ones I prefer.”
“Am I going to shape shift into a bat or something?”
“No.”
“Can we teleport?”At his confused frown she added, “Turn into dust and move somewhere else?”
“Now that would be useful, but no.”
“How about flying?Some fictional vampires can do that, mostly cartoons.”
Skarde shook his head.
“So all we have is the ability to move fast and be a bit stronger than people, with the handicap of needing to drink their blood and having to avoid the sun?And we live indefinitely with those issues?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this sucks.”
“The sex is so much better.”
“Something’sgot to make up for this condition.”She did a scan of his body.“Can we mesmerize people with our eyes and make them do our bidding?”
“Persuasion.Some call itthe voice.It involves more than the eyes.You have to concentrate solely on that person and ask something simple.Complex orders will get messed up.It doesn’t work on other vampires or fae.It’s a crapshoot on dwarves, fairies, mages, and anything magical.”
“How long can I go between times I need blood?I don’t see you drinking from people all the time.”
He propped himself up on his elbow to stare at her.“A while.In the beginning, the hunger is stronger.As you get older you need less, but the more frequently you drink, the stronger you will be.”
“Can I drink from any vampire?”
“I suppose, but most don’t allow it.”
