Corin laughed. It looked both unusual and intensely interesting on him. “Let me escort Jasmine to the restroom and when I return, you and I will have a long talk. And don’t worry, unless you decide to tell others about this, her origin stays with us.”
“Oh, good Lord.” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I think I can handle going to the bathroom by myself. Been doing it that way for a long time.”
“Not until I check it out, mellita.” His sharp gaze went to Alice. She shrank internally from the scrutiny. “Too many whack jobs getting too close to you. Both vampire and human.”
Sebastian tightened his hold on her hand. “Alice is with me.”
“And you trust her?” Corin asked.
“With my life.” He sounded so grave, Alice could have gone wobbly kneed from his declaration. Something was shifting between them. Something that would have to be explored later. “Is there a problem?”
“According to some fanatics, my wife has no sire. They have made our lives very interesting with their twisted devotion. They worship her as some type of goddess, her mysterious turning proof that a new age of vampirism is upon is. Some of them have been a little too enthusiastic, wanting to drink from her or her from them. And once we were no longer able to hide her pregnancy, they’ve become even more zealous. I don’t dare leave her side.”
“Corin, unless you want me to leave a yellow trail behind me, can we move, please? This kid of yours is line dancing on my bladder.”
Another one of those looks of pride mixed with admiration shined from his resulting smile. “Of course.”
“Alice, you look like you could use a break from all the testosterone flooding the room for a minute too,” Jasmine said with her own pretty smile following. “Care to come with? Perhaps I’ll be allowed to pee in peace with a female escort.”
Alice found herself drawn in by her calm demeanor and easygoing manner. “Sure.”
“After I check out the restroom,” Corin amended. He turned to Alice, his face hardening again. She could see why the other woman was attracted to him, but his intensity sent a shiver of fear through Alice. “Are you carrying?”
“My purse?”
His jaw tensed. “Weapons of any kind.”
Sebastian stepped forward. “We are her weapons.”
Corin glanced at Sebastian before visually locating each member of his team, all of whom stood unspeaking. None of them ate or drank. A dead giveaway to anyone who was observant that they didn’t quite belong. “Fine,” he said.
His reconnaissance only took a few minutes, by the end of which Jasmine was bouncing from foot to foot. “You have any children?” she asked Alice when they were finally left alone to use the posh room.
“No,” Alice called to the closed stall door. “I’m not sure I’m the mother type, you know? Maybe one day, but not yet.” She paused, but then decided to push forward. “Is it true that Sebastian made you a vampire?”
“It is. First one to be made without direct contact, or so I’m told. The whole thing of it was an ordeal, but it’s how Corin and I met. You said his name is Sebastian?”
“Yes.” Alice listened with rapt attention.
“The one and only time I ever met him, I was his nurse and he was a GSW dumped outside my clinic.”
“GSW?”
“Sorry, old habits. Gunshot wound victim.” The toilet flushed, and the sound gave Alice a brief moment to reflect on the fact that Bast had been in mortal danger at some point recently. She knew he had a dangerous job, but it never really occurred to her just how dangerous. “Anyway, I accidentally got stuck with a needle that had been contaminated with his blood. Sebastian supplied the enzyme necessary to make me into a vampire, and Corin did the rest.”
“So this wasn’t an authorized turning? I thought it had to be approved first.”
Jasmine laughed lightly. “Definitely not authorized. Corin and I almost didn’t make it out of the whole thing alive.”
Alice stood before a sink, looking into the mirror. Her heart pounded wildly, the implications of what Jasmine was telling her almost too difficult to comprehend. Despite his illness, despite everything he’d been told, Sebastian did have the ability to create a new vampire. He was less mystery creature and more vampire than he realized. He could return to the life he was living before, his mind intact.