"Screw that," Holly spat, and without thinking about it, grabbed him by the hair with one hand and pulled him back to rest against the driver's seat. At the same time, she raised her other hand to her face and ripped into her wrist. If Justin could turn her to save her life, she could turn James, Holly thought grimly as she quickly placed her gushing wrist against James's gaping mouth. She wasn't sure if it was her yanking on his hair, or what, but James woke up enough to open his eyes and peer at her dazedly. He then choked and tried to back away from her wrist, but she held him still.
"Swallow," she ordered grimly. "We may be having problems, James, but I'm not going to have your death on my hands for the next millennia or however long I live, so swallow."
Much to her relief he did.
Holly kept her wrist to his mouth until James passed out again, and then took it away to see that it had stopped bleeding. The nanos had sealed it, she noted and wondered if they were doing the same to her stomach. If so, she might be able to take the paper towel out now. But Holly had other matters to concern herself with just then, and so she left the paper towel and instead turned her attention to the metal crumpled around her husband's legs. Holly eyed it briefly. She was obviously stronger now that Justin had turned her. She'd snapped that branch like a twig when she wouldn't have been able to before the turn, but breaking a branch and unbending the metal from around James's legs were not the same thing. However, she didn't see much choice here.
Straightening, Holly opened her door and got out to walk around the car. When she reached the front, she braced both hands on the uncrumpled passenger side of the hood and shoved with all her might. Much to her amazement, the car rolled back under the effort. Her confidence getting a big boost from that success, Holly moved to examine the driver's side door and then glanced into the car with surprise when James stirred. She'd thought he'd be down for the count, but he'd thrown himself back against the car seat, his face a rictus of agony. When he then began to moan in a loud voice, she quickly set to work on the door.
Holly didn't know if the blood she'd given him had perked him up a bit, or if the turn itself was already causing him pain, but James was soon screaming his head off as she worked to free him. She withstood it for a good ten minutes, before she, who had never hit anyone in her life, stopped what she was doing and punched her husband, knocking him out. It wasn't because his agonized screams were driving her crazy, which they were, but Holly just couldn't bear that he was suffering such agony. His being unconscious, to her, seemed a kindness. Unfortunately, the pain didn't let him stay under long and ten minutes later she was knocking him out again.
Sighing with relief when James fell silent again, Holly finished unbending the last of the metal pinning him in the car and then pulled her husband out of the front seat and set him on the grass at the roadside so that she could get a look at his legs. The damage was horrifying. His left leg had been nearly amputated with just a bit of tendon remaining attached at the knee. She was amazed that it had come with him when she'd pulled him out of the vehicle. His right leg was a little better. At least it was still fully attached, but it looked like someone had run it over with a lawn roller, crushing all the bones.
Mouth tightening, Holly pulled her jacket off and quickly wrapped it around both of his legs and then tied the sleeves together, hoping this way to keep from breaking the small tendon and bit of flesh that kept the lower left leg attached. She then scooped him into her arms and stood to peer up and down the road.
James had really picked a doozy when he'd chosen to use this back road. Not a single car had passed since their crash and while Holly was grateful no one had come along to see what she could do, she could use a car about now to stop and give them a lift.
Turning to the right, she started jogging up the street, hoping she'd find a busier road at the end of it and someone who could drive them home. She was nearly to a cross street as unlit as the one she was on when Holly noted the driveway on their right. Pausing, she turned to look around, relieved when she spotted the golden lights up ahead. It was a house, and someone was home. There was also a van in the driveway. Holly hurried up the driveway to the house and shifted James in her arms to hit the doorbell.
A moment later the door opened and an overweight man in a wife beater grinned out at her as he crumpled an empty beer can in his hand. "Well, hello little lady. What can I do for a pretty little thing like you?"
Holly didn't waste time on niceties, she merely slipped into the man's thoughts and took control of him. Within minutes he'd fetched his car keys and was opening the back door of his van for her. She immediately crawled inside with James and sat down cross-legged before arranging James half in her arms and half on the metal floor. Then she glanced to her chauffeur, Earl.
"Get in here, Earl, and close the door," she instructed. Holly wasn't sure if her control would hold if he was out of her sight, so didn't risk sending him around the vehicle to get in. Instead, she made him climb through the van to the driver's seat and gave him her address with instructions to drive there.
Once he'd started the engine and begun to back out of the driveway, Holly relaxed a little and grimaced as hunger immediately roared up inside her. It had been gnawing at her since the accident, but she'd managed to ignore it while she struggled to free her husband. Now though, she had nothing to distract her and it was making itself known, with a vengeance. Grinding her teeth together, she looked around the interior of the van. It looked like a serial killer's holiday vehicle. Rope, duct tape, spades, and various implements that could have been used to torture someone hung from a pegboard strapped to one side wall, while a narrow cot was up against the other behind her.
Holly considered laying James on the bed and maybe snacking a bit on Earl, but then thought again. Feeding off the man driving the vehicle just didn't seem like a good idea. And, she doubted this could be considered an emergency since it was only ten minutes to their home and the blood that waited in the fridge there. She could survive ten minutes. Besides, the bed didn't look very clean. James was fine where he was, she decided, and glanced to their driver, slipping into his thoughts to make sure he stayed on course.
Ten minutes later the van pulled to a stop in their driveway. Holly had Earl get out and open the side door, and then gave him her keys to unlock the front door. Once he'd done that, she immediately scooped up James and slid out to hurry into the house with him. Unsure whether she'd need help or not, Holly had Earl close and lock the front door and then follow her as she carried James straight up to their bedroom. She ignored the man as she laid her husband on the bed, then straightened and rushed out of the room, barking, "Keep an eye on him."
The laundry room had seemed a good place to keep the refrigerator of blood when they'd delivered it, but as she rushed down to the main floor, Holly thought the bedroom would have been handier. Rather than grab a couple bags and have to return later, she unplugged the refrigerator, picked it up and hurried back through the house with it.
She would plug it back in, in the bedroom and--
Holly's thoughts died abruptly as she entered the bedroom and saw that James had Earl pinned to the bed and was tearing into his throat.
Cursing, she dropped the refrigerator and hurried forward.
"Bad! Bad James!" she yelled, smacking him in the back of the head.
When that had no effect, Holly caught him by the shoulders and pulled her husband off Earl. It was a lot harder than she'd expected. James was damned strong for a man whose legs were crushed and who'd probably lost more than half the blood in his body, if not almost all of it. Finally getting him off of Earl, Holly forced him onto his back and then knelt on his chest and caught at his arms to hold him down as he turned his attention to trying to bite her now. Not with fangs, she noted, he didn't seem to have those yet, he was gnashing and biting at her with his mortal teeth, and growling like a dog as he did it.
Holly scowled at him briefly and then released one arm to punch him in the head again. Much to
her relief, he went out like a light. Sighing, she sat back on his chest and then glanced around to check on Earl. She couldn't tell how badly he was injured, but the man was lying unconscious on the floor, his neck bleeding.
"Now look what you've done," she muttered, scowling at her unconscious husband. Shaking her head, Holly climbed off of him and went to plug in the refrigerator as she'd intended. She then opened the door, grabbed a bag and slapped it to her fangs as she counted the bags left inside the small appliance. She usually got deliveries on Monday night. James was at work then. This was Friday. More than half the blood she'd received on Monday was gone. Holly didn't know how much blood was needed for a turn, but she was pretty sure it was more than what was in that refrigerator right now. In fact, she suspected she'd need that much to make up for the blood she'd lost herself.
She needed to call the blood bank and have a delivery made. Surely they would know how much blood a turn took, right? Holly straightened and turned, her gaze landing on Earl before it shifted back to James. She couldn't go downstairs and look up the number to the blood bank and leave Earl here. What if James woke up again? He might attack the man and kill him this time.
Maybe she should tie James down. Would rope hold him or did she need something stronger?
Holly threw her hands up with exasperation. She didn't know anything about anything. She was as useless as--
Pausing, abruptly, she rushed to the bedside table and pulled the drawer open to retrieve the small slip of paper inside. Unfolding it she peered at the two phone numbers Gia had written on it, one was hers, and one was Justin's she saw. Who to call?
James groaned and started to stir, and Holly snatched the phone and climbed onto the bed and then onto her husband's chest. Dropping to sit on him, she watched his face warily as she dialed the first number. If he even blinked she was knocking his ass out again.
"And you'd deserve it," she told her unconscious husband. He was normally such a nice guy. Who would have thought he could turn into such an animal?
"I'd deserve what?" Gia laughed over the phone and Holly turned her attention to her call with relief.
"Gia, you said to call if I needed anything," Holly reminded her quickly, her gaze narrowing on James as he shifted and moaned under her.
"Yes, I did," the other woman agreed. "What do you need, piccola?"
"Help!" Holly hadn't meant to scream the word, but James chose that moment to wake and rear up at her, his mouth going for her throat. Help came out a startled yelp just before the phone was knocked from her hand and she found herself wrestling with her less than rational husband.
Holly was sitting on the floor outside the closed bedroom door, dozing against the wall when the doorbell rang. Lifting her head, she peered up the hall to the window to see that dawn was just cresting on the horizon. Day had arrived to chase away the night.
The doorbell rang again and Holly sighed wearily and dragged herself to her feet. Honest to God, this had been the longest and worst night of her life so far. She added the "so far" part in the hopes of not tempting fate. That bitch did seem to like a challenge.
"And you are suffering the effects of blood loss and so exhausted that you're not making any sense," Holly told herself as she stumbled up the hall and started down the stairs.
"You've also apparently taken to talking to yourself," she added with rebuke as she reached the main floor and staggered toward the front door. "But what the hell, there's no one here to talk back but you. James just growls and poor Earl has been curled up in a corner of the bedroom whimpering since he woke up."
Shaking her head, Holly grabbed the doorknob and--idiot that she was--opened the door without checking to see who it was first. She regretted that the moment her tired brain recognized the police uniforms the two men on her stoop wore. One had dark hair and one was blond. It was Blondie who started talking.
"Good morning, ma'am, we're . . . er . . . are you okay?"
Holly glanced down at her torn and bloodstained clothes and then back to Blondie. Her voice was as dry as dust when she queried, "Is that what you knocked on my door to ask?"
Blondie blinked, as did his partner. Apparently they weren't used to being questioned themselves. Their surprise was brief however and then their expressions both turned stern and kind of scowly.
"No, ma'am, we had a noise complaint," Blondie said, and then completely blew the tough cop act by frowning with concern and reaching out with one hand as if he thought he might need to steady her. "Maybe you should sit down. You don't look so good. You're white as a sheet."
"That's because--" Holly paused abruptly. Blondie's scent had just reached her nose and he smelled like pot roast on Sunday. Licking her lips, she murmured, "Actually I do feel rather faint. Maybe you should help me to the living room."
They were very accommodating policemen. Concern clear on their expressions, both men stepped forward to help. As each took an arm and urged her toward the living room, Holly tried to work out the logistics of controlling them both while she fed off first one and then the other.
"Holly!"
Freezing, she turned and found she had to go up on her toes to see over the shoulders of the officers to get a look at who was at her door. Gia, she saw, and the other woman was eyeing her with rebuke. Grimacing, Holly threw up her hands and complained, "I'm hungry. I've been hungry for hours and everything hurts. I need it. This is an emergency."
Gia frowned and closed the front door. "Hasn't Mac delivered the blood yet?"
"No," Holly said wearily, quite sure she was going to have to let the policemen go without even a nibble. That was so unfair. She really was in pain for want of blood, agony even, and she'd been that way all night. If this wasn't an emergency, she didn't know what was.
Gia clucked her tongue as she started forward. "All right. Make it quick though. I'll see what's taking Mac so long. I called the order in right after we got off the phone. It should have got here shortly after that," she added irritably and then asked, "Can I use the house phone? I didn't get the chance to charge my cell."
"Of course." Holly waved her into the living room and then followed, pulling the officers in behind her by their hands. They were both being incredibly docile about this. She was amazed they weren't asking questions until she glanced at their faces and noted their blank expressions. Frowning, she glanced to Gia. "Are you controlling them?"
Gia nodded and gestured for her to get on with it as she pulled the phonebook out of the bookshelf next to the phone and began to rifle through it.
Sighing, Holly turned to her dinner and glanced from one man to the other. They were both pretty much the same height, which was just tall. Determination squaring her shoulders, she stepped in front of the blond, grabbed his shoulders and tried to get him to bend forward. He didn't bend. Scowling, she placed her right foot against his knee and tried to climb him instead.
"For heaven's sake, Holly, stop playing with your food," Gia snapped.
"I'm not playing. They're too tall, and you're controlling them so I can't make them bend over or anything."
"Per l'amor del cielo," Gia muttered and glanced to the men. They both immediately moved around Holly to sit on the couch behind her.
Instead of following right away, Holly peered at Gia narrow-eyed. "What does por favor del cello mean?"
"Not--" Gia shook her head and sighed. "I said per l'amor del cielo. It is like 'for heaven's sake.' "
"L'amor means love doesn't it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Yes."
"What is cielo?"
"Sky," she answered.
"So you said for the love of the sky?"
"Dio mio!" Gia said impatiently. "Stop stalling and feed or I will send them away."
"I'm not stalling," Holly said at once.
"Yes, you are," she said more gently. "You're nervous. This is all still new to you. But you can do this. You did it at the club."
"Right," Holly breathed, forcing herself to relax as she realized she was nervous an
d stalling. While she'd practiced feeding on mortals at the club, that had been two weeks ago, and these were cops, for heaven's sake. It was bad to assault cops.
"Think of them as blood donors," Gia instructed.
"Blood donors," Holly murmured and turned to survey her meal. The two men had settled side by side and straight backed on the couch. She considered them briefly, and then moved in front of the blond and bent over, but she couldn't quite reach his neck.
Muttering under her breath about the inconvenience of being so darned short, she climbed onto him and settled on his lap with her knees on either side of his legs. Clasping his head, she pulled him forward, and then paused to glance to Gia, who was now punching in numbers. "Are you going to control him while I feed or--?"
"I have them, go ahead," Gia said, sounding a little distracted.
Shrugging, Holly turned to the blond and urged him back against the couch again. She then leaned against him and planted her face in his neck. Hungry as she was, she had absolutely no difficulty locating the vein, and she released a little sigh of relief and let her fangs slide out.
The moment Holly's fangs pierced his skin, the man moaned and slid his arms around her waist to pull her close. She ignored that and the way his hands were now roving over her back as she concentrated on counting to thirty. This time it seemed like no time at all had passed before she reached thirty, but Holly reluctantly retracted her fangs and released the man.
Rather than go to all the trouble of climbing from one lap to the other, she then just turned and caught the second officer by the front of the shirt and pulled him closer. Burying the fingers of her free hand in his hair, she used it to control his head and quickly sniffed out his vein. Like the first man, this one moaned when her teeth slid into his throat. He also reached to embrace her, but at this angle instead of wrapping his arms around her, one slid around her front, the hand stopping on her right breast, while his other hand snaked around her back landing low enough to nearly be cupping her ass. Holly gasped in surprise and lost count for a second, but then forced herself to ignore it and quickly went back to counting.
"This reminds me of a porn my cousins once made me watch." Gia's voice was filled with laughter, Holly noted. "Il Poliziotto Con Il Grosso Bastone. 'The Cop with the Big Stick,' " she translated.