Confused, she took in the IV, the machines monitoring her. Felt the weakness that suffused seemingly every cell of her body.
Had she been injured again? She could think of no other explanation. But how? Had she gone hunting with Bastien and Richart? The last thing she remembered was Bastien bringing Stuart to the network.
She sensed movement on the other side of the curtain and could’ve sworn she heard someone call someone else an asshole.
“Bastien?”
The curtain slid back.
Melanie stared at Bastien as he stepped up to her bedside. His hair was slicked back. Behind him Linda, Richart, Étienne, Lisette, Sarah, and Roland stood. Étienne’s clothes were cut and torn and bloody as though he had been fighting. And he kept shifting uncomfortably as if he had sand in his underwear.
Sarah seemed to have some blood splatter on her face. And her knuckles were crusted over with drying blood.
They must have just returned from hunting.
Bastien took her hand, rubbed his thumb across her skin in soothing circles. His warmth infused her icy flesh and traveled up her arm to fill her chest.
Her gaze strayed to Roland. Why was he here? Roland and Bastien in the same room usually spelled disaster.
Wait. Was that a hole in the wall back there? It was hard to see around the towering men.
Bastien didn’t possess any visible injuries, though. Neither did Roland. So . . . what had damaged the wall and why was Roland here? Had he healed her again?
“What happened?” she asked Bastien. “Did I go hunting with you again?”
He shook his head. “Stuart was a pawn. Emrys got his hands on him before our rendezvous and injected a tiny electronic device beneath Stuart’s skin that allowed Emrys and his mercenaries to track him anywhere he went.”
They could track him? Alarm rushed through her. “Then they know he’s here. They’ll find him. They’ll find us, the network.”
He touched a hand to her shoulder to keep her from rising. “They already did. They attacked in force just before dawn.”
She took in the grave expressions of the others. That explained the hole in the wall. “You held them off? Is it safe here? Won’t they return?”
“We defeated them, but they were heavily armed.”
Richart nodded. “And their numbers were such that we could not begin to estimate them.”
“The network’s headquarters was reduced to rubble,” Bastien finished.
“I don’t understand.” She looked around the familiar infirmary. “We’re in the network’s headquarters.”
Linda stepped up beside Bastien and patted Melanie’s knee. “No, honey. This is another building. You know how Mr. Reordon takes every freaking precaution imaginable to the nth degree to ensure all of our safety?”
“Yes.”
“Well, one of those precautions included constructing an identical headquarters building in Greensboro.”
“This isn’t the building we worked in every day?”
“No. It looks exactly like it, doesn’t it? Just . . . newer and cleaner. There are even apartments across the hall for the vampires.”
The vampires.
Melanie met Bastien’s brown gaze. “Are Cliff and Joe okay?”
His grip tightened. “They’re gone. Everything was utter chaos. Joe chose to escape in the middle of it all.”
“And Cliff?”
“The mercenaries got him. We think they might have Joe, too.”
Horror filled her. Emrys would torture them. To learn about the virus. To get information. He would dissect them while they were still living and breathing. And the madness she had worked so hard to help Cliff and Joe stave off would claim them wholly as a result.
Her eyes began to burn. Tears spilled over her lashes. “We have to get them back.”
“We will,” Bastien said. “I will. I vow it. But . . . there’s more.” He sat on the edge of her bed.
Her heart began to pound painfully in her chest. “What? What is it?”
“At my urging, Chris let the vampires out to help evacuate the injured and fight off the mercenaries who infiltrated the building.” A muscle in his jaw twitched. His eyes began to glow, revealing the inner turmoil roiling within him. “Stuart was wounded. Pretty seriously apparently and . . . he bit you.”
“One bite won’t—”
“He infected you, Melanie. He claims he bit you to heal his wounds, then panicked when he realized he had unintentionally drained you and you were dying. He transfused you, infecting you on a massive scale. Dr. Whetsman and the others worked fast to replace the infected blood with human blood. But . . . the damage has been done. Your immune system has been compromised and they have no hope that it will recover.”
“Are you saying I have no immune system?”
“Yes.”
“I’m dying.” Their expressions told her they already knew that. But she needed to say it out loud to wrap her mind around it. She had no immune system. At all. She wouldn’t live another twenty-four hours.
Bastien looked over his shoulder.
Roland stepped forward. “Bastien has asked me to transform you, Dr. Lipton, if you so desire it.”
Transform her. Make her an immortal. Like Bastien.
She had always known the option was there for her and had intended to take advantage of it. She was a gifted one, after all. It just had always seemed like something that would happen in the distant future. Not now.
She focused on Bastien. “Why Roland? Why don’t you want to transform me?” It hurt that he would rather someone else do it.
Leaning forward, he stroked her face in a loving gesture she was surprised he would let the others witness. “I want you to be strong like Sarah. I want you to have every advantage over our enemies. I want you to be able to kick my ass when you get tired of my bullshit.”
She covered his hand with hers, understanding now why such seemed to take so much effort.
Roland nodded somberly. “We all want you to be able to kick Bastien’s ass. And you don’t have to wait to get tired of his bullshit.”
Melanie smiled. “I admit, there were times I would’ve already done so if I could.”
Everyone laughed.
Except for Bastien. His brow remained furrowed with concern. “Will you do it? Will you let Roland transform you? I’ll be right here. I won’t leave you.”
She found enough strength to squeeze his hand. “I will. But I don’t want you to stay.” Yes, she did. She really, really did. “I’m going to be out of commission for a few days and—”
“You’ll do it? You’ll become an immortal?”
“Yes.”
The relief that swept his handsome features was heartrending. For a moment she thought he would weep with it. “Thank you.” He pressed a kiss to her hand. “As I said, I won’t leave you. I’ll stay with you and help you through the transformation.”
She shook her head. “As much as I would like you to stay with me, finding Cliff and Joe is more important than holding my hair for me while I vomit.”
“I don’t want you to go through this alone.”
Linda rested a hand on his shoulder. “I could watch over her at night while you hunt. Then you could take over during the day.”
Bastien seemed surprised by the offer. “Thank you.” He looked at Melanie. “Is that what you want?”
“Sounds good.” Melanie drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, nervous butterflies fluttering in her belly. “Okay then, can we go ahead and do this? The sooner we get it done, the sooner I’ll stop feeling like this.”
Bastien started to rise. Roland cupped his shoulder and eased him back down, then walked around to the other side of the bed.
Melanie searched out Sarah’s gaze. “You’re okay with this?”
Smiling, Sarah nodded. “It won’t bind the two of you together or anything.”
Jeeze. She hadn’t even thought of that. That was good to know. “Does it hurt?”
“I don’t remember Roland biting me.”
Of course she didn’t. Melanie had forgotten the GHB-like chemical the glands above their fangs produced and released under the pressure of a bite.
“What about the rest of it?”
“It’s like having the worst case of the flu ever. You’ll be miserable as hell for about three days. But, if you’re like me, you won’t remember most of it.”
Melanie nodded. “It’s worth it.”
Sarah smiled at her husband. “It really is.”
Roland winked at Sarah and carefully removed the IV, needle, and tape.
Melanie’s heart slammed against her ribs. Her eyes sought and clung to Bastien’s. “I’m nervous.” She needn’t say it. Everyone but Linda could hear the physical manifestations of it. “Were you nervous?”
He smiled. “My transformation took several weeks. Definitely not the way I would recommend being transformed, by the way. And when I realized what was happening, I was terrified.”
Roland lifted her free arm off the mattress. “Do you want a warning, or should I do it on the sly?”
“Warning.”
“Then consider this your warning.”
She nodded.
His lips parted. His fangs descended. Bending his head, he sank his teeth into her arm at the bend of her elbow where she had donated blood so often.
She gritted her teeth. It felt like twin needles piercing her.
Where was the erotic ecstasy vampire bites inspired in movies and novels and TV shows? Not that she wanted to feel that for Roland.
Bastien brushed his hand over her hair. “Okay?”
“Yes.” She smiled up at him, feeling very mellow all of a sudden. “You’re cute with your hair slicked back like that.”
Someone snickered.
Bastien’s smile widened. “Thank you. Shall I wear it like this more often?”
“Absolutely. It makes me want to run my fingers through it and muss it up.”