"So is this a . . . er . . . like a hive of vampires? You all live together and . . ." She let the question trail off because Gia had paused at the door and turned back, chuckling at the suggestion.
"No. This is not a hive, as you call it. This house belongs to Lucian's nephew, Vincent Argeneau. He and his wife, Jackie, are out of town and I offered to house-sit."
"Oh." Holly tilted her head. "So why are the rest of us here?"
"Ah." Gia wrinkled her nose. "Well, Lucian was going to take you back home to Canada for your training, but--"
"Canada!" Holly squawked with horror. She'd simply assumed she was still in California, but the mention of Canada made her wonder.
"You are still in California," Gia assured her.
"Oh," Holly murmured, wishing the woman would stop this mind-reading business. She let that thought go as she realized that Gia had said "back home to Canada." The words seemed to suggest that Justin and the others were just visiting California, that they hailed from Canada. Weather aside, it was hard to believe vampires came from there. Canadians were known for being so polite, so . . . nice. Heck, James liked to joke that if America ever invaded Canada, Canadians would probably apologize for being in their way. It seemed the unlikeliest place for vampires to come from.
When a burst of laughter slipped from Gia's lips, Holly realized the woman must still be reading her thoughts, and flushed with embarrassment.
"Well," Gia said with amusement. "Vampires, or immortals as we prefer to be called, aren't exactly from Canada. I mean they didn't originate there, though that is where Lucian and some others now live. But you can find them all over. I am from Italy, for instance, and some live in the States as well. In fact, Justin is originally from here in California," she informed her.
"Is he?" Holly asked with surprise. Vampires from her home state . . . Who knew? It was often referred to as sunny California and for a reason . . . one that didn't seem to her to make it vampire friendly. She shook that thought away and asked, "Why was he going to take me to Canada for my training?"
"Because that is where Justin, Lucian, and the others now live. Actually, that's where I was staying too until I came to house-sit for Vincent and Jackie," she announced. "So, he thought it best to take you there, at least temporarily. But Justin argued against it."
Holly had been about to interrupt until she added that last part, but now blinked in surprise. "Justin did?"
"Si. He seemed to think you would be more comfortable getting your training here in California."
He was right, Holly thought. She would have been super stressed to wake up and find herself not only in a strange bed, but a strange country as well, with no passport or way home. At least this way she could get home under her own steam if Justin refused to take her there. She had agreed to talk to him, and to get blood, but she had no intention of spending any longer than she had to here. As soon as she had the thought, Holly tried to forget it. She didn't want Gia to get wind of that and try to stop her. Fortunately, the woman didn't seem to pick up on the thought, because she continued her explanations.
"And when Lucian heard that Dante and Tomasso were considering coming out to house-sit with me . . ." Gia shrugged. "Lucian knew they had helped Vincent train Jackie after her turning, and had done a fine job of it, so he said okay and brought you all here."
" 'All' being myself, Justin, Andrews, and Beckham," Holly said slowly, trying to recall the names.
"Anders and Decker," Gia corrected gently. "They are Rogue Hunters, like Justin, and offered to stay and help out until Dante and Tomasso get here."
"Anders and Decker. Rogue Hunters," Holly nodded, pretending she knew what that was. She hadn't a clue, but didn't care either.
"Mind you," Gia said, amusement back in her expression. "From what I can gather, Anders and Decker only offered to stay and help so they could give Justin a hard time."
"Right," Holly murmured. She didn't understand why or how the men planned to give Justin a hard time, but really had no desire or intention to get to know anyone or what was between them anyway. She hadn't agreed to this training business. And she hadn't thought talking to him would land her in another strange bed. How much time had passed since she'd got in the car with Justin? She wondered. The last time she'd woken up in a strange bed, two days had passed. How long had it been this time? And how had she got from her car to here? The last thing she remembered was riding in her car. No. She recalled him parking it and turning to her . . . Jeez, she'd attacked him like some wild animal, going mindlessly for his throat and the blood she could smell pumping through it, Holly recalled with dismay.
"You didn't hurt him," Gia said. "Lucian came upon you assaulting Justin and knocked you out."
"Oh," Holly said weakly, unsure how she should take that news. She was glad this Lucian had stopped her from hurting Justin, but knocking her out seemed a bit drastic. Couldn't he have just slapped her face or something to bring her back to her senses?
"Slapping you would not have brought you out of blood hunger," Gia said quietly. "You had been too long without feeding. New turns need more blood and more often than mature immortals. You needed to be fed. Knocking you out was the best thing he could do for you at that point."
"Oh," Holly repeated.
"Once he knocked you out, they took you up to the hotel room and Lucian administered sleeping sedatives to keep you quiet for the flight here."
That made her stiffen. They'd drugged her? And-- "What do you mean flight? I thought I was still in California."
"You are," Gia assured her. "We're on the outskirts of LA here."
Holly groaned at this news. She was hours from home. "How long have I been out?"
Gia raised her eyebrows at the question, thought briefly and then shrugged. "I'm not sure. What day was it when you last remember being conscious?"
"What day?" Holly asked with disbelief.
"Yes."
Holly felt her jaw tighten with anger. She so knew she wasn't going to like the answer to her question when she got it, and her voice reflected that when she said, "It was early Thursday morning."
"Ah." Gia nodded. "Then you have been out about a day and a half. It's just after noon on Friday now."
"Friday?" Holly echoed, putting a hand out to lean against the wall as her legs went suddenly weak. Cripes, she'd missed another whole day. "Why have I been out so long? Surely it didn't take a day and a half to get here, especially if we flew?"
"No. But I gather one of the company planes is in the shop and the others are doing double time trying to keep up, so they had to wait a day at the hotel with you, which was unanticipated and apparently annoyed Lucian mightily when he got the news." She shrugged. "You only arrived this morning."
"And I'm only waking up now?" Holly asked, eyes narrowing. "That sedative must have been a strong one."
"Oh, well . . ." Gia nodded with a grimace. "Lucian put you on an IV drip with the sedative in it to keep you under until they got you here, got you settled in and could explain everything to me. And then, what with the problem they're having with flights, Lucian didn't want to make the plane wait here for a couple hours while he did that, so he let it go on another short run and waited for it to return to take him back to Toronto."
"And I had to remain unconscious for all of that?" Holly asked grimly.
"He said you would no doubt be difficult when you woke up. He thought you'd probably be angry, frightened and hysterical and he'd rather not be present," she said with amusement and then shrugged. "We were to wait until he left to take the IV out . . . which happened half an hour ago."
Holly followed her gesture to peer back toward the bed and the IV stand beside it. There was a half-empty bag of clear liquid and an empty bag with traces of . . . blood?
"We gave you blood too so you wouldn't need to feed when you woke up," Gia explained.
Holly turned her gaze away from the IV. When she'd been in the car with Justin, her senses had been extremely keen. She'd been able to sme
ll the blood as if he'd had an open gushing wound. It had been heady, intoxicating and had made her almost faint with hunger and need. Now, however, she felt no such hunger or need and it was simply blood. A bit off-putting really. To the point where she found it hard to believe she'd acted as she had in that car. But she had and wondered if Justin was upset with her.
"Justin understands," Gia said.
Holly heaved a deep sigh. He might understand, but she still owed him an apology. She'd tried to rip the man's throat out.
"At least it wasn't your husband or some other mortal," Gia said solemnly and opened the door to head out into a long cream-colored hall. "They wouldn't have been able to fight you off and chances are you would have killed them before Lucian could have got to you."
Holly stared after her with dismay and then hurried after her. "Would he have turned into a vampire too if I had?"
"Your husband?" Gia asked.
Holly nodded.
"No," she said. "That is not how you make an immortal."
"How--"
"You'll learn that . . . eventually. But first you'll learn to take care of your needs so that you don't attack anyone else," Gia said firmly, and then added, "I know you don't want to be here. I know you only agreed to talk to Justin and not to training, but you need it. Without training, you're a rabid dog." She stopped walking and turned to face her, expression empty of emotion as she added, "And rather than leave you to kill and maim mortals, we would have to treat you like a rabid dog and put you down if you refuse training."
Holly stared at her wide-eyed, her body going hot and then cold and then hot again. She didn't doubt for a minute that Gia was serious. The woman's expression and cold words convinced her of that. Swallowing, she said, "But my husband--"
"Has been handled," Gia assured her, turning to continue up the hall. "As have your employers and friends."
"How exactly have they been handled?" Holly asked worriedly as she followed again.
"They all think you had to go away on a special project for one of your courses. They believe you are at the top of your class, which you are, and were offered a once-in-a-lifetime temporary internship with one of the top four accounting firms in the world. As far as they know, you're presently at the head office in New York City. You'll be back in two weeks unless they keep you longer."
"One of the top four? With a head office in New York? Do you mean Deloitte?" she asked breathlessly.
"I am not sure if Lucian mentioned the name," Gia said with a frown and then shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's not true anyway."
"Oh . . . right," Holly muttered, giving her head a shake.
"But I suppose we should find out so that you can keep up with the lie when you return home," Gia added thoughtfully as she paused at a door and opened it.
"Yes, that would probably be good," Holly agreed, trailing her into the new room. Her mind, though, was on the fact that she'd have been over the moon if she'd actually got such an internship. That would have been a dream come true. Instead she was a vampire who, when hungry, might well try to rip out a person's throat. Lovely, she thought unhappily.
"You will learn to recognize your hunger and feed to keep those around you safe," Gia assured her, walking across the rose-colored bedroom she'd led her into and to a set of closet doors. As she opened one, she added, "And how to read mortals, how to control them to protect your secret."
"What secret?" Holly asked distractedly, her eyes sliding over the clothes now revealed. Good Lord, how long was the woman going to be house-sitting? She had enough clothes in there for a year. And every single item appeared extremely short, or skimpy, Holly noted with a frown.
"What secret?" Gia echoed with disbelief.
Holly glanced to her distractedly and nodded.
Gia stared back for a moment, then shook her head and turned back to the closet's contents. She was muttering something in what Holly was sure must be Italian as she began shifting hangers along the rail, examining what she had available. Holly didn't understand most of what she said, but did catch a word here or there that sounded familiar. She was pretty sure she knew what idiota and stupido translated to, for instance, but bit her lip and simply waited. At that point, her head was swimming with all the information she'd gained; all the names, the fact that she was now a vampire, that she could rip out a throat without compunction . . . That wasn't her. But it appeared to be her now. Her life had taken a definite turn, and she didn't know how to turn it back . . . or even if she could.
"I should be up there with her," Justin growled, pacing the kitchen for probably the hundredth time.
"You heard Lucian," Decker said, shaking his head. "No going anywhere near a bedroom with her. No being alone with her. No--"
"I wouldn't be alone with her. Gia would be there," Justin pointed out, pausing.
"In a bedroom," Anders tacked on firmly and repeated Decker's words, "No going anywhere near a bedroom with her."
Justin growled under his breath with frustration and returned to pacing, which made Decker chuckle with amusement. Spinning to scowl at the man, he snapped. "What's so damned funny?"
"Well, it was just a couple hours ago that you were begging Lucian to let you off the hook and have Dante and Tomasso do all the training so you could return to Canada," Decker pointed out. "Now you're pacing like a caged tiger and impatient to see her."
"She's my life mate," he said grimly, and then his mouth twisted and he paced away, adding, "And I can't claim her. She's married. It's against the law."
"That's tough," Anders said and actually did sound sympathetic. It was the first sign of sympathy he'd shown. Mostly he and Decker seemed to find this a big damn joke. Bricker getting payback for all the guff he'd given them while they were courting their life mates.
"Yeah, tough," he echoed bitterly.
"Not exactly," Decker argued.
Justin glanced to him with irritation. "Trust me, not being able to claim my life mate is tough. How would you like it if you couldn't have Dani?"
Decker winced at the suggestion, but argued, "No one says you can't have her. The rule is we aren't to use undue influence to interfere in a marriage," he pointed out. "Which means using our abilities like mind reading and mind control. They only instituted that law to prevent immortals from destroying otherwise happy and healthy marriages for a fling."
"Yeah," Justin agreed sharply. "And?"
"Ahhh," Anders murmured, nodding and then glanced to him and said, "You aren't a fling. You want her for your life mate."
"And while you can't use mind control or mind reading to win her, the law doesn't say anything about you not winning her on your own merits."
"On my own merits?" Justin asked uncertainly.
"He means using your dubious natural wit and charm," Anders said with dry amusement.
Justin's eyes widened and then he frowned. "I'm not sure . . ."
"Of what?" Decker asked mockingly. "The law? It can't be that you aren't sure you can woo her. Not Justin Bricker, the Casanova of the immortals. The man who has been telling the rest of us for years that he was such a ladies' man and we didn't have a clue."
"A clue about what?" Gia asked, entering the kitchen.
Justin's head swiveled to the woman. Ignoring her comment, he asked with alarm, "You left Holly alone? What if she wakes up and--?"
"She is awake," Gia interrupted. "She's changing. She'll be down in a minute."
"Oh." Justin relaxed with a sigh.
"So?" Gia asked. "Who doesn't have a clue about what?"
"We cavemen-type old fellas don't have a clue about women," Decker explained with amusement. "While Justin is the Casanova of the immortals."
Gia raised her eyebrows and glanced to Justin. After brief consideration, she shook her head. "No. He's nothing like Casanova.
"Did you know him?" Decker asked with interest.
"Of course," she said with a shrug. "Most of his reputation is due to his charm and skill at wooing rather than his abilities as a
lover. He was only passable in that area."
"Back to the issue at hand," Justin said, scowling at the pair of them. "I can't read or control her, so I couldn't use those abilities to interfere with her marriage anyway, but life mate sex would probably be considered undue influence."
Gia shrugged. "Then woo her the old-fashioned way . . . no sex."
Justin frowned at the suggestion, not at all sure he could do that. He'd found it hard not to touch and caress her while he'd sat at her bedside, and she'd been unconscious then. Hell, when she'd attacked him in the car . . . Well, frankly, it hadn't been just her he'd been fighting. He'd liked the feel of her body on his enough that Justin had almost wanted her to bite him. His body had wanted to do a lot more. He'd had brief, hot visions of her doing the same thing naked, lowering herself onto his erection and riding him as she ripped into his throat with her teeth. Only the reality of their both being fully dressed had prevented his letting her have her way while he had his own . . . well . . . that and the fact that while she'd wanted to sink her teeth into him, Holly probably wouldn't have welcomed his sinking anything into her.
So, wooing her the old-fashioned way, without sex . . . not so appealing. Frankly, Justin didn't even know what that would entail. The realization was a lowering one. He'd wined and dined hundreds, maybe even thousands of women over the last hundred years, but every wooing had been with the strict aim of getting them into bed. Now he had to do it with no end game in mind except to win her. He couldn't even bloody kiss her. What was he supposed to do? Bring her flowers? Read her poetry? Throw his coat over puddles for her?
"Wow," Decker said on a laugh. "For the guy who's supposed to know so much about women, you don't seem to have a clue."
"What do you expect?" Gia asked with amusement. "He's a man. You men have never understood us women. Ever."
Justin glanced to her sharply. "You're a woman."
"Thank you for noticing," Gia said on a laugh.
"No, I mean . . . you can tell me what I should do. How can I win her?" he asked almost desperately.
Gia peered at him silently for a moment and then said, "I will think about it."
"About what?" he asked uncertainly. "About ways for me to woo her?"
"About whether you deserve my help," she corrected and then said heavily, "From your memories and thoughts it seems obvious to me that you think of women as little more than sheaths for your sword, and you've had many sheaths," she added dryly. "No doubt you've wined and dined them, charmed them with your wit and smile, and then discarded them with that same charming smile when you wearied of them, caring little how they felt about it all."