Chapter 22

Brigid was going to pretend she didn't hear the knock on the door at dusk the following night. They were staying in a beautiful one-bedroom suite at Katya's estate in the hills outside Ukiah, and Brigid was enjoying the seclusion of their private living room while Carwyn got ready for the night. She smelled coffee brewing somewhere, but there were far too many people wandering around the place for Brigid's liking. She couldn't believe it, but she actually missed the solitude of Carwyn's beloved van.

Not much longer, old girl.

Baojia had already reached out to the associate with criminal connections, and Brigid's wig and new, posh wardrobe were on their way from some of Katya's people in San Francisco. She could be waiting for days or hours for this hunt; she had no way of knowing.

In the meantime, the house was teeming with vampires. Human staff had been moved out since there was a newborn vampire in the vicinity. Katya was already on her way to deal with that issue and take responsibility for the young woman, who would be under her protection since her sire had abandoned her.

The knock came again, and with Carwyn taking a shower in the marble-clad bathroom, there was no one to open it but Brigid. She girded her snark and marched to the door, only to be surprised by Katya on the threshold.

"What are you doing here?"

Katya ducked under her arm and entered the room. "It's my house, remember? And I arrived before sunrise this morning. Trying to be inconspicuous."

Dressed in a pair of tailored tan pants, a cashmere knit sweater, and a trendy outdoor vest, Katya was anything but inconspicuous.

"Obviously." Brigid closed the door behind her. "How can I help you? I'm assuming Baojia briefed you about the plan."

Katya circled the living room and scanned it with a critical eye. "I don't stay at this house very often. I need to; it's beautifully isolated."

"Yeah, we like that part."

She turned her appraising gaze toward Brigid. "I have a unique problem, and I need your help."

"You have it." Brigid spread her hands. "As soon as Baojia secures an invitation, I'll be going in. I'm not sure how much contact I'll be able to maintain, but—"

"That's not my problem." Katya stared at a framed print of a redwood shrouded in fog. "Summer Mackenzie spoke to me a few minutes ago."

"She's a remarkable girl," Brigid said. "Her family raised her well. Confident. Competent. Clearly proficient in survival skills."

"She asked me to sire her."

Brigid blinked. "And wildly immature, obviously." Good Lord, what was the girl thinking?

The corner of Katya's mouth turned up. "She's older than I was."

"The world is different now."

Katya cocked her head. "Is it? I find her offer intriguing. That is how she approached it. She's a clever young woman. She listed her credentials and her future ambitions. Told me how she would be an asset to my organization and outlined why she thought it would be beneficial to both of us." Katya lifted an eyebrow. "It was persuasive."

Brigid felt her stomach drop. "You're considering it? Her father and uncle will go ballistic."

Katya raised an eyebrow. "She asked them to do it first."

"And they said no." Brigid walked to the bedroom door and closed it. "They know her best. What does that tell you?"

"That they're protective and they have their own plans for her." Katya's expression was serene but calculating. "I'm not looking to make enemies, but she's a human in my territory. She's given the first right of her blood to her clan and they refused. I am entirely within my rights."

Damn it, Katya was right. And Summer must have known enough about immortal rules to understand that. If Katya turned Summer, her family might be resentful, but no one would blame Katya.

Brigid tried another tack. "Maybe her father and uncle know she's not ready."

"Or maybe they're being overprotective." Katya turned to her. "That's the help I need from you. I turned for reasons… Well, they were my own reasons. Summer is young, but not that young. As far as her family is concerned, she had no desire to change prior to this current…" She frowned. "What did they call it? Oh yes, an ‘overload of emotion.'"

"Doesn't that concern you?"

"No, I think it's fascinating." She narrowed her eyes. "What drives a human to desire immortal life, Brigid? You're young enough to remember, aren't you?"

Brigid tried not to seethe, but it was difficult. "It's not fascinating, Katya, it's tragic. The girl needs therapy."

"She doesn't have therapy." She pursed her lips. "She has you. Find out what her motives are and tell me."

"If I recommend that you do not do this, will that persuade you?"

"No. I will keep my own council on this. But I do respect your opinion."

"Does Baojia know?"

"Of course not, and I'd prefer you don't tell him. You know how he feels about humans retaining mortality. The man practically had a temper tantrum when his own wife decided to change."

"I'm not a tattletale," Brigid said. "But I'm skeptical."

"Which is why I want your opinion." Katya started for the door. "Don't take too long. That invitation call might come any minute."

Brigid found Summer in the library, where she was reading a book titled Human Physiology. The large coffee-table book was open on a low book stand, and Summer didn't look up when Brigid walked in.

"Did you know that there are roughly ten pints of blood in the average human body?"

Brigid sat across from her. "And we can only drink about four pints in one go. But when a human is turned, most of those ten pints need to be drained quickly. So what does your average vampire do?"

Summer looked up. "I don't know."

"I'll tell you. Unless they have access to surgical equipment, they exsanguinate the body as rapidly as possible, vomit it into waiting containers or on the ground if they're messy, and then they do that again." Brigid gave Summer a level stare. "Unless the human has already lost a lot of blood from an injury. It's very messy."

Brigid had the pleasure of seeing Summer's face get pale, but the young woman's gaze didn't waver.

"Of course, the human being turned doesn't know much about that, because they're already passed out from blood loss. That happens long before their blood is gone. It's a tricky process; no way of knowing for sure if you're doing it right."

"Unless you've done it before," Summer said quietly.

"Yes. Like Katya. She has one child." Brigid continued. "Then the human body goes through a fairly disgusting period as our amnis takes over where everything human about us—any remaining undigested food, urine, feces—all leaves the body as quickly as possible while we're absorbing our sire's blood and digesting what is left of our own."

Summer looked fairly disgusted but still unmoved.

"And of course, if yer very lucky." Brigid snapped her fingers, and fire erupted in her palm. "If yer angry—if your head isn't in the right place—you might be sired to fire. It's completely unpredictable. I was lucky. I only took out a house when I woke." She drifted into memories. "I didn't kill anyone, though I did injure a dog. Poor mite. He never walked properly again, and I always felt guilty about that." She looked back at Summer. "But I didn't kill myself, which lots of our kind do."

"If you're trying to scare me, you can't." Summer slowly shook her head. "I've gone over all this a dozen times in my head."

"Go over it a dozen more." Brigid leaned forward. "I promise there's something you forgot."

"I know the positives and the negatives too. I grew up around this, remember?"

"So did I. I still didn't choose it."

"But you're a vampire anyway."

"Someone made the choice for me." Was it still a sore point? Every now and then, but she'd mostly moved past it.

"Well, this is my choice." Summer's jaw was set. "I'm not going to miss the sun. I chose to move to Seattle, for God's sake. I don't want children; never have, even when I was younger. If I change my mind in a hundred years, I can always adopt a kid like my dad was adopted."

Dammit, those were the first two objections most humans had.

"I'm not going to have to say goodbye to my family. Some of them will die, and some of them won't. How's that different from anyone? And I won't have to hide anything from my brother, from my mom or dad, or—"

"Tell me one positive reason you want to do this, Summer Mackenzie. Why here? Why now? Why not wait until you're home? Wait until you've had time to process this? You've been through a horrible trauma. What you need now is—"

"I made a promise." Summer looked away, then back to Brigid. "I don't make promises lightly—Mackenzies aren't taught that way—I keep my word."

And now we're getting the real story. "A promise to who?"

"Myself."

Brigid softened her voice. "And what was that promise?"

"I promised that I would kill Ivan." She blinked, and tears fell down her cheeks. "I promised to kill the vampire who killed Dani. The monster who stole my life." She slowly shook her head. "And even though I know Dani's alive, he'll never be the same. I will never be the same."

Brigid leaned forward and took Summer's hand in her own. "When I tell you that I understand anger and hurt and trauma, I need you to believe me." She locked her eyes with Summer. "Do you believe me?"

Summer nodded.

"Revenge is not a good reason to turn. Even if feels like a good reason right now."

"It's not revenge." Summer wiped the tears that ran down her cheeks. "It's justice. For me and for every person who disappeared in those woods."

"I don't disagree with you, but yer not thinking clearly right now. How do you know—?"

"I'm not kidding myself, Miss Connor." Summer tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know there are things about being human I'll miss. I know I'll never enjoy my nana's peach pie the same way. I'll miss watching the sunset. Or diving into the pond by my Grandpa Logan's place when the sun is beating down and making my skin sweat." A smile touched her lips. "I was even kind of looking forward to seeing what I'd look like with grey hair because my mama is so pretty with hers. She reminds me of Emmylou Harris, you know? She's so beautiful."

"Summer, there are other choices you can make. Ivan is not going to survive this. I promise you—"

"Changing is not what I planned." She looked down at her hand, which was still grasped in Brigid's. "That's the truth. Because in a lot of ways, vampires aren't as free as humans are. I don't like the idea of drinking blood or hurting people. And a part of me knows that I might hit a hundred and twenty and walk straight into the sun like my Great Aunt Corynne. I saw it happen; I was nine, and it was scary." Her forehead furrowed at the memory, and she looked back at Brigid. "But I made a promise to kill Ivan, and I can't do that if I'm human."

"Summer, I don't think you should do this."

"Do you think I'm bein'… overwrought?" Summer asked. "Like my daddy and uncle?"

Damn it. "No." Brigid could honestly say that Summer was looking at the situation with clear eyes. She wasn't acting rashly or out of impulse. The young woman was almost preternaturally calm. "You're not being impulsive."

Summer leaned toward Brigid and squeezed her hand. "You understand being hurt—I can see it in your eyes."

Brigid nodded.

"Did you kill him when you could?"

Brigid shook her head. "He was long dead." Her stepfather had died at Carwyn's hands when Brigid was still a child, a monster stopped in his tracks by immortal judgment.

Fire came to Summer's eyes. "Don't you wish you'd had the chance?"

Fuck yes. Brigid couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I want to kill Ivan." Summer's voice shimmered with barely suppressed rage. "I want to feel his blood running hot in my hands while I rip his throat out with my fangs."

"Does that sound rational to you, Summer?"

"Oh, it's not rational." A glint of steel in the young woman's beautiful hazel eyes. "But there is such a thing as righteous anger, Miss Connor. My grandfather taught me that."

Brigid was not going to change her mind. Maybe, in some way, she didn't want to. Summer Mackenzie was a human who saw vampires clearly, both their strengths and their weaknesses.

She'd survived. She'd earned the right to seek justice, and for Ivan, justice only existed in the immortal world.

Brigid closed her eyes and sighed. "All I can tell you is that you need to give grace to your father and uncle. They're not going to understand this, and they're allowed their feelings, just like yer allowed yours."

Summer nodded. "I know. But they'll come around. Remember, they're the ones who taught me about promises."