For Disclaimer, see the Prologue
Chapter One
I should be dead. Was Jarod's first conscious thought. He sat up and looked around. He was in a bed, no longer wearing his bloody clothing. Instead he wore a black T-shirt and jeans.
Though he was happy to be alive, he felt…different. Frowning, his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and a classically beautiful blond woman entered the room. She smiled when she saw he was sitting up.
"Good." She said, "You're awake."
Jarod continued to frown. "Who are you? What happened to me?"
"My name is Tempest and I found you bleeding to death in a graveyard. I brought you here and I saved you the only way I could."
"And how was that?" asked Jarod.
"I turned you into a vampire."
Jarod burst out laughing. "Vampires aren't real!"
The woman didn't even blink. "What makes you so sure?"
The Pretender stopped laughing as he gazed at Tempest's serious expression. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.
"You're a vampire?" he asked.
"Vampiress." She corrected him, smiling, showing teeth.
Jarod watched in horror and amazement as her incisors lengthened to form fangs. Unconsciously, he ran his tongue over his upper teeth, surprised to find his incisors already in fang form.
"The fangs can't retract until you come into your power. It's that way with all newbies."
The man blinked. "I'm a vampire?"
Tempest nodded. "Yes. And I will teach you all the basics."
*
The Centre
It had been a few hours since Angelo passed out, declaring Jarod's death. Miss Parker watched anxiously as Broots and Sydney tried to bring the empath back to consciousness. She sighed, running her hand through her dark hair.
"Come get me when Cousin It's awake." She said, leaving the office.
Once outside in the hallway, she leaned against the wall, bringing her hands to her face. She inhaled and exhaled slowly. She would not break down, not here, not yet. Numbly, she went to her office.
Once inside the partial safety of the room, she broke down into sobs. No…this can not be happening…it can't… her broken thoughts repeated over and over. Parker went to her mini fridge and got out a bottle of vodka and unscrewed the cap, taking a swig. She went to her desk and collapsed in the chair. Setting the bottle down, she rested her elbows on her desk, then buried her face in her hands.
Letting out a shuddering breath, she sat back and opened her desk drawer and took out a key. She then unlocked a secret drawer underneath that drawer. Opening it, she took out a picture. Tears stung her eyes as she gazed at it. It was of her and Jarod.
They had been lovers for three months and the thought of Jarod dead tore Parker apart. She couldn't lose another lover. Please let him be okay. She thought.