Page 88 of Benjamin and the Thief

“Ryder is a vampire like Benjamin, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he’s a vampire hybrid. His father is a pure-blooded vampire. He was the one who turned me into a vampire. My injuries were too severe. I only had minutes left. Scarlet was there in the ambulance with me, and she didn’t want me to die.”

“So she knew that Ryder and his family are vampires? Did you?”

“Scarlet only found out a couple of days earlier. I didn’t know until after I woke up.”

She nodded, but before she asked more about how he dealt with the urge to drink blood, she needed to hear something else first.

“And your daughter, Scarlet, is she a vampire now too? Is she with Ryder?”

“They are blood-bonded and have two adorable twin boys. But no, Scarlet isn’t a vampire. She’s human, and she’ll remain human. And before you ask about aging, here’s the deal: as long as she is bonded to Ryder, she remains the same age as she was when she first entered a blood-bond with him.”

“A blood-bond?”

“Yes, it’s like marriage, but stronger.”

She couldn’t imagine why a human would want to be with a vampire, but she didn’t want to insult Brandon, so she changed the subject.

“Go on. Tell me about when you woke up.”

“At first, I felt so alive, so young and vibrant that it was as if I’d undergone some kind of rejuvenation treatment. All my senses were sharper. My hearing was better, my eyesight was 20/20 again, and my sense of smell was out of this world.”

She sighed. “You felt fine. I don’t. It’s nothing like what I’m feeling.”

“I said at first,” he replied. “The first half hour was amazing. Until the hunger hit me. Or the thirst, if you will. The thirst for blood.”

She listened up.

“It was worse than any hunger pangs I’ve ever experienced. It was a craving that I had no idea existed.”

She noticed how his eyes changed color, and the white of his teeth peeked through his lips. His fangs were lengthening. In response, her own fangs extended without any effort on her part. She pressed her hand over her mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “It still happens sometimes when I think back to it. My body remembers what it was like.”

She took a few deep breaths, and finally felt her fangs retreat.

“Are you saying that it goes away eventually?”

“The hunger? No. You’ll always feel the need to drink blood. It’s the only thing that nourishes you. The only thing keeping you alive. But you learn to control it and to channel it.”

“How?”

“Practice and willpower.”

Did she have enough willpower to do this? Right now, it didn’t feel like it.

“What if I can’t do it? What if I can’t restrain myself?”

“Maya told me that the first blood you had was Benjamin’s.”

She closed her eyes, ashamed of how little control she’d had over her body.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

A soft chuckle made her look up.

“I’m sure he says otherwise.”