Page 52 of Death Dance

I tensed, as did everyone else. Alisander grimaced, nodded, and hurried to catch up with Eugene.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Benoit asked.

“Should they require it, you will provide blood, as will your sister. Emerick, can you donate?”

“No more than a pint, but yes. A pint between the two of them would be enough to bring them into my brood if Pepper is also donating. Is that what you are hoping for?”

“As we have few women on board, yes—and while I trust every man here to handle fatherly duties with grace and compassion, Pepper will comfort them the most. I suspect they were given an order, as a weak compulsion, to draw enough blood to begin the turning process. It’s probable they will begin becoming vampires upon first exposure to blood. To do so as an act of violence? That is less than ideal. Pepper, sharpen those stakes so that little pressure can pierce skin, please. Should they begin to turn, we can begin the process as peacefully as possible.”

A chill sliced through me, and I paled at the realization the girls had been put on death row without even a chance to consent at becoming vampires. “But what if they don’t want to become vampires?”

“We will get them through the first phase of turning in as much comfort as we can, and then we will make a painful decision. They are old enough to consent.”

I understood, then, what my father had faced with my dying breath.

The girls were no different from me, but rather than a life cut short due to misfortune, they had had theirs torn away from them. “Is there a chance their parents have been turned?”

“There is,” he admitted. “I will contact shore and have the North American broods on standby begin their assault. I will have the parents captured and restrained and cared for should that be the case—and like these girls, they will be given the choice denied to them.”

What a horrible decision to have to make. Heaving a sigh, I picked up the first of the stakes and went to work doing as my father had asked, sharpening the tip until it became a lethal beauty. “What are your names?”

I refused to condemn the girls to eternal life without learning more about them.

“I’m Darcy,” the girl on my left replied in a meek tone.

“I’m Anne.”

“I’m Pepper. Yes, I am a vampire.” I opened my mouth and showed them my fangs. While I didn’t want to ask if they’d been forced to drink any blood, I needed to know what I had to work with. Perhaps being vague might help my cause without adding to their trauma. Bracing for the worst, I asked, “Did the bad men force you to drink anything?”

While they hesitated, both girls nodded.

Darcy and Anne stared at each other, and after a moment, Darcy lowered her gaze while Anne lifted her chin. “He said if we didn’t stab a vampire, we would die within a week.”

“Likely poison or a disease in with whatever else they were forced to drink,” Emerick stated. “Turning can resolve many issues like that. We also can be cured of things humans cannot recover from.”

Somehow, my husband managed to keep the fury out of his voice, but I understood the truth: underneath the surface, he raged.

“Turning?” Darcy asked without looking up.

I sighed. While I had no idea how old they were, I couldn’t stomach the thought of lying to them. “I think the men who did this to you want you to become vampires, and they put you in a position where you either become one of us or you die.”

Rather than cry, Darcy moved so she could meet my gaze, and her sister likewise regarded me with frightened dark eyes. Something in Anne’s expression darkened. “Why?”

How could I answer such a question? I couldn’t even guess as to why. Only one truth stood out to me. “They are evil and don’t care about anyone other than themselves. But if you are okay with becoming vampires like us, I can promise you a few things. You won’t go hungry or thirsty, you’ll always have a warm bed, and there will be other children for you to play with.”

I couldn’t promise them anything else.

It bothered me that the girls seemed to absorb my claim with ready acceptance, and they stared at each other, their expressions betraying their worry.

“Uncle Bobby is a vampire,” Anne confessed. “But Uncle Bobby said we weren’t allowed to become vampires until we were at least fifty years old, and only if he liked the vampire we liked. He has rules for us dating vampires. Right now? We’re too young to date vampires.”

Emerick sucked in a breath. “Well, this is a problem.”

“What’s a problem?” I demanded.

“Uncle Bobby would be Robert Caulder, and he’s aboard the vessel. I’ve never met his twin nieces, but these girls look to be the right age. Robert is not going to take this well at all.”

“Benoit, go find this Robert and bring him down. Text your brothers and update them on the situation,” my father ordered. “Until we figure out if they’re going to be turning, let’s keep this down here. We’re near one of the blood stores, so if they need blood, it’s readily available. But that would be like Breckenan and his scum followers. How better than to sow discontent and obtain revenge?”