"Don't be tellin' me any of that nonsense, girlie," he said, turning light brown eyes at me and almost growling. "I heard the stories about what you did at the Packmaster meetin'. Lily here could be just like you. I know it. You're gonna save her."
I wanted to argue with him over that. Nobody had any guarantees, even if they did turn successfully. I wanted to tell him about the two who'd turned me. What they were. And about Edward's sire, Nyles Abernathy, who'd almost killed Gavin. He'd murdered several humans, all innocents, just to play a game and lure Gavin in. Vampires were no better than humans. There were good ones and bad ones. Bad vampires, though, could be infinitely more dangerous. According to Merrill, it was against vampire law to turn anyone under eighteen. He'd taught me that in one of my lessons. This was a disaster, no matter how you looked at it.
"All right," I sighed. "But just be prepared. If this one gets turned, I'll be breaking all sorts of laws to do it." I pulled the cell phone from my pocket and punched Merrill's number on speed dial. I just hoped he'd pick up.
"Lissa?" I almost heaved a sigh of relief at Merrill's voice.
"Merrill, I have a little problem, here," I said. Likely, he read the emotions in my voice—he was very experienced at that. Anger, fear and horror warred with one another and permeated my words. "Some of the wolves here have kidnapped the Grand Master and the others and they're holding them. They did this during daylight." I wanted Merrill to know how things had gone down without explaining too much. That could anger Gap. "Now," I went on, "they're telling me they'll kill the Grand Master if I don't turn this werewolf's human granddaughter who's dying of brain cancer. Merrill, she can't be more than fourteen, and she's hours away from dying." I wanted to wail at that admission. Instead, I did my best to school my voice and my features. I was terrified that Merrill would say absolutely not, the Grand Master would die and I'd have to fight my way through a small pack of werewolves to get away, risking their bites while I fought them off. My memories of the last werewolf bites I'd gotten were far from pleasant.
I heard Merrill punch a button on his phone instead and Wlodek was on the line in seconds. I now had the two oldest vampires I knew on the phone and one of them just happened to be Head of the Vampire Council. Of course Gap didn't know that and I wasn't about to tell him. I had to explain to Wlodek what was going on; Gap was listening attentively to the entire exchange.
"Lissa, we will give you permission to try this," Wlodek said. I was stunned; I never expected that. I realized quickly it was a calculated decision, in order to buy time for the Grand Master. If Weldon died, the peace treaty between vampires and werewolves could die with him. "You must listen carefully, however," Wlodek instructed. "While you might think that the easiest method is to slash the neck, a first-time attempt at this may be fatal. Doing it in that manner requires a great deal of skill. Therefore, you must make incisions at the wrists. Open both wrists, lengthwise. Drink as much of the blood as you can hold because the turn will require your blood, once the girl is near death from blood loss. You must open one of your own wrists at that point and feed her. Once she gets the taste in her mouth, she will accept it. Allow her to drink for four minutes, Lissa. No more, no less. Otherwise, she may get too little or too much. Do you understand?" Vampires bleed sluggishly, so I did understand. It would take that long for enough blood to pass from sire to child.
"Yes," I said. I almost added Honored One to that but caught myself in time.
"Lissa, the shortest amount of time it will take for a complete turn is three days, and that is if the body is young and healthy. If the girl is gravely ill, it may take some days beyond that. Do you understand?"
I looked up at Gap. He was nodding at me. "Yes," I replied.
"Try to get better treatment for the Grand Master during that time and inform your captors that you will require blood—not just for you but for the girl when she wakes." Once again, I looked at Gap who nodded his understanding. "You must also watch the girl every moment that you are awake so that you may feed her, show her how to drink properly and tell her what she needs to know to survive. Do you understand?"
"Yes," I said. "Sir," I went on, "there is one here who does not submit to compulsion."
"I understand that," Wlodek said. "Do your best, Lissa. That is all we can ask under the circumstances." Wlodek and Merrill both hung up.
"Where will we get blood?" One of the other werewolves asked Gap.
"There's a cooler full of it back at the cabin," I grumbled. I hadn't eaten yet, and my skin was tightening and my stomach hurt as a result. "It needs to be kept cold. I hope you have electricity or a generator."
"We have electric," Gap huffed, insulted. "Rowdy, go get that cooler."
"Winkler has the key," I said. "And I'm not doing anything for you until you do something for them. It won't do you a bit of good if you're going to hurt them further. Your granddaughter's life is in my hands, now." Gap punched a number on Winkler's cell and spoke to someone, telling them to make sure their guests were comfortable and fed.
"Mess up, girlie and they're all dead," Gap informed me, tapping the end call button on Winkler's cell. If I were human, I'd have been in a cold sweat. No longer human as I was, I shivered and nodded with as much dignity as I could.
Bowls were brought from the kitchen to drain excess blood from the girl's wounds; there wasn't any way I could drink more than I usually did. I also knew, just by talking with Wlodek that he and Merrill would make a rescue attempt but they had no way of knowing exactly where I was and it could take days to find me. Was there a GPS tracker on my phone and would it work in the back of beyond? Afterward, we'd have to find the Grand Master. Who knew where he and Winkler were being held? I didn't even think about Kelvin. Maybe I should have, but I didn't.
Rowdy came in with the cooler of blood a little later and then somebody else came in with the key. That werewolf had the scent of Winkler on him, along with a bit of Winkler's blood. Winkler had likely fought with this one before handing over anything. I almost growled at my captors as the cooler was set against a wall of the girl's bedroom. Gap almost growled back. What he didn't know was that unless it snowed quite a lot, I could follow his werewolf cousin's tracks back to Winkler if he'd made the trip on foot.
My hands shook as I made my preparations. My sire most likely should have been there with me, talking me through the ordeal, but he wasn't. "You may have to hold her while I do this," I nodded at Gap who came and sat on the side of the bed. He gripped Lily's shoulders tightly. Allowing my claws to slide out about an inch, I set about opening her wrists.