Part 6 (1/2)
”It's just good television,” she agreed.
He rolled his eyes. ”Right. Anyway, that's one thing the stories get right. You become a vampire by having one feed from youa””
”Drink your blood,” she said, and he nodded.
”Drink your blood. Then you feed off them and the circle is complete. But that's a simplified view. It's actually a little more complicated than that.”
She rubbed her fingers over her temples, suddenly confused. ”How do you mean?”
”The circ.u.mstances have to be right too. Human's have a natural immunity to whatever it is in our blood that makes us what we area”that's why there are so few of us compared to the rest of the population. Best we can figure there has to be some kind of weakness in the body alreadya”an illness or an injurya”to make the transformation complete.”
She sighed. ”I'm getting very tired.”
”Like I said, it's complicated. There's a lot we still don't know.”
She frowned. ”What, is there like a lab full of vampire scientists somewhere trying to figure out the hows and whys of it all?”
”Actually, there are several,” he said mildly, and she did a double take.
”Where?”
”Long Beach, actually. Also London, Paris, Prague, Budapest and Vancouver.” He chuckled when her jaw dropped.
”Long Beach. That's weird,” she decided. ”So, what have they figured out?”
He shrugged. ”They're still doing basic research into transmission and transformation.”
”Transformation?” she asked. ”You mean what happens to your body when you become a vampire?” He nodded, and she chewed her lip thoughtfully, mind racing. ”So what does happen?”
Jack grinned. ”More curious than mad now, are we, darling?”
”Oh I'm sure I'll get back to mad,” she a.s.sured him. ”It's just fascinating is all.”
”Indeed,” he murmured, a spark of something lighting in his eyes as he watched her.
When he didn't say anything else, she s.h.i.+fted restlessly. ”The transformation?” she prompted.
”Right.” He cleared his throat. ”The details are fuzzy on my own transformation since I was unconscious when it took place, but basically something happens on a molecular level. Bones become more dense, muscles become thicker, stronger. The need for basics like food, water, even air becomes almost miniscule. The aging process is slowed so it's almost infinitesimal.”
Rowan struggled to understand. ”But you're not dead.”
He shook his head. ”No, but one of the things they can't figure out is why we don't appear to make our own blood anymore. It's why we have to feed, to replenish the supply.”
”Yeah, that is sort of odda”that it would strengthen you and slow down the aging process but not allow you to make your own blood.”
”One of the theories being tested is that the process is slowed down just as the aging process but to such a slow rate so as to be impossible to survive without regular infusions.”
”Infusions.” She raised a sardonic brow. ”You make it sound like a medical procedure, like dialysis.”
”It's not that different. It's not,” he insisted when she continued to look skeptical. ”It's necessary for survival and there is a network of blood banks all over the world. I keep a supply in the freezer and thaw a packet each day. Which reminds me, don't eat the blue packets in the freezer.”
She made a face as if she'd just tasted something foul. ”Don't worry, I won't. What do you do if you don't have a freezer handy?
”We can get it in powder form as well and mix it with water. Think of it as a vampire protein shake.”
”Doesn't it skeeve you out?”
”Skeeve?” he asked.
”You know,” she said, impatient. ”Gross you out.”
He shrugged. ”It's a little inconvenient, but one does get used to it. The major advantage is it makes surviving without feeding off humans possible.”
She started. ”You don't feed off humans?”
Jack shook his head. ”Not as a rule, not anymore. There was a time when it was the only game in town. But this is the twenty-first century and it's considered bad form to go pillaging. Besides, how long do you think it would be before we were discovered and hunted down, exterminated, if we went around biting people all the time.”
”Good point,” she conceded. ”So the blood banks stock blood. Is it human blood? Where does it come from?” She suddenly had a horrible thought. ”That's not where my Red Cross donation goes, is it?”
He chuckled again. ”No, darling. I call them blood banks because it's just simpler. What they are actually, are manufacturing sites for synthetic blood. There are at least two in every country, sometimes more. It's not actually synthetic blood either, it's more like a serum that gives our bodies the boost it needs to make more.”
Rowan frowned, oddly deflated. ”So what, vampires don't drink blood anymore at all?”
”Sure we do. Just not for survival. It's more forarecreation.”
She blinked, the rough, intimate sound of his voice gliding over her like a rough caress. ”What is that? Are you flirting with me?”
He grinned at her, unfazed by the panicked edge to her voice. ”Yes, I think I was.”
”Well knock it off!” she shrieked. When he just continued to grin, exuding s.e.xual charisma and charm, she decided to distract him with more questions. ”Tell me about the mind-reading thing.”
”I can't actually read minds,” he explained. ”It's more like I can read emotions. Anger, fear.” His voice dropped. ”Arousal.”
She ignored that. ”But before, you picked the wordsa”I mean the exact wordsa”right out of my head.”
”If the emotions are strong enough, the effect is amplified and I get more specific impressions.”
”You can do it with everyone?”
”In theory,” he said. ”I don't notice half the time actually, unless I stumble across someone who's experiencing some extreme emotion.”
She frowned. ”Why, if you can do it with everyone?”
He shrugged. ”I had to learn to block other people's emotions or I'd have gone crazy.”
She narrowed her eyes. ”Then why aren't you blocking mine?”
”I have to have some leverage with you,” he explained, and she felt her temper go nuclear.
”Excuse me?” she said, her voice barely audible, she was so angry.