While grammatically correct, I have decided to do away with the quotation marks at the beginning and ends of the passages being read. There's no real reason behind it other than the fact that I am lazy!

After half an hour, Thierry gathered everybody back in the living room of the white mansion. They all settled in their same spots, happy for the break time. Thea and Eric took Keller and Galen's spot in the kitchen in order to make Thea's "famous brownies," which no one was opposed to having. Keller and Galen comfortably took the other couple's spot on the couch.

"James," Poppy said, handing him the book. James muttered about the unfairness of the whole situation and opened to the folded down page.

James dodged as Poppy lobbed a paperback book at him. "Poppy-"

"You jerk! You snake! How can you do this to me? You spoiled, selfish, immature-"

"Shhh! They're going to hear you-"

"Let them! Here I am, and I've just found out that I'm going to die, and all you can think of is playing a joke on me. A stupid, sick joke. I can't believe this. Do you think that's funny?" She ran out of breath to rave with. James, who had been making quieting motions with his hands, now gave up and looked toward the door.

"Here comes the nurse," he said.

"Good, and I'm going to ask her to throw you out," Poppy said. Her anger had collapsed, leaving her near tears. She had never felt so utterly betrayed and abandoned. "I hate you, you know," she said.

"You don't," Rashel piped up. She was grinning, loving every second of book-throwing action.

The door opened. It was the nurse with the flowered blouse and green scrub pants. "Is anything the matter here?" she said, turning on the light. Then she saw James. "Now, let's see; you don't look like family," she said. She was smiling, but her voice had the ring of authority about to be enforced.

"He's not, and I want him out of here," Poppy said.

The nurse fluffed up Poppy's pillows, put a gentle hand on her forehead. "Only family members are allowed to stay overnight," she said to James.

Poppy stared at the TV and waited for James to go. He didn't. He walked around the bed to stand by the nurse, who looked up at him while she continued straightening Poppy's blankets. The her hands slowed and stopped moving.

"No, you didn't!" Jez said. "You showed Poppy you were a vampire by using mind control? And she wasn't terrified?"

Poppy shrugged. "Of course I was terrified," she said.

James grunted and returned back to the story, unamused.

Poppy glanced at her sideways in surprise.

The nurse was just staring at James. Hands limp on the blankets, she gazed at him as if she were mesmerized.

And James was just staring back. With the light on, Poppy could see James's face - and again she had that odd feeling of not recognizing him. He was very pale and almost stern looking, as if he were doing something that required an effort. His jaw was tight and his eyes - his eyes were the color of silver.

For some reason, Poppy thought of a starving panther.

"You want a starving panther? Just look my way!" Keller interrupted. "Thea, how much longer with those brownies?" Thea ignored her and kept stirring.

"So you see there's nothing wrong here," James said to the nurse, as if continuing a conversation they'd been having.

The nurse blinked once, then looked around the room as if she'd just awakened from a doze. "No, no; everything's fine," she said. "Call me if..." She looked briefly distracted again, the murmured, "If, um, you need anything.

She walked out. Poppy watched her, forgetting to breathe. Then, slowly, moving only her eyes, she looked at James.

"I know it's a cliché," James said. "An overused demonstration of power. But it gets the job done."

"You set this up with her," Poppy said in a bare whisper.

"No."

"Or else it's some kind of psychic trick. The Amazing Whatshisname."

"Sort of..." Mary-Lynette said. "Plus, the Amazing Rasmussen isn't a bad stage name, James."

"No," James said, and sat down on an orange plastic chair.

"Then I'm going crazy." For the first time that evening Poppy wasn't thinking about her illness. She couldn't think properly about anything; her mind was a whirling, crashing jumble of confusion. She felt like Dorothy's house after it had been picked up by the tornado.

"You're not crazy. I probably did this the wrong way; I said I didn't know how to explain it. Look, I know how hard it is for you to believe. My people arrange it that way; they do everything they can to keep humans not believing. Their lives depend on it."

"James, I'm sorry; I just-" Poppy found that her hands were trembling. She shut her eyes. "Maybe you'd better just-"

"Poppy, look at me. I'm telling you the truth. I swear it." He stared at her face a moment, then let out a breath. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but..."

He stood, leaning close to Poppy. She refused to flinch, but she could feel her eyes widening.

"Now, look," he said, and his lips skinned back from his teeth.

A simple action - but the effect was astonishing. Transforming. In that instant he changed from the pale but fairly ordinary James of a moment ago - into something Poppy had never seen before. A different species of human being.

"In fact, not human being at all," Delos corrected.

His eyes flared silver and his entire face took on a predatory look. But Poppy scarcely noticed that; she was staring at his teeth.

Not teeth. Fangs. He had canines like a cat's. Elongated and curving, ending in delicate, piercing points.

They were nothing like the fake vampire fangs sold at novelty stores. They looked very strong and very sharp and very real.

Poppy screamed.

James clapped a hand over her mouth. "We don't want that nurse back in here."

When he lifted his hand, Poppy said, "Oh, my God; oh, my God..."

"All those times when you said I could read your mind," James said. "Remember? And the times when I heard things you didn't hear, or moved faster than you could move?"

"Oh, my God."

"Jesus, Poppy," Gillian said.

"Seriously," Ash piped up. He had been quiet for the most part, but now that he was talking again, the gang groaned.

"It's true, Poppy." He picked up the orange chair and twisted one of the metal legs out of shape. He did it easily, gracefully. "We're stronger than humans," he said. He twisted the leg back and put the chair down. "We see better in the dark. We're built for hunting."

Poppy finally managed to capture an entire thought. "I don't care what you can do," she said shrilly. "You can't be a vampire. I've known you since you were five years old. And you've gotten older every year, just like me. Explain that."

"Everything you know is wrong."

"What a line."

When she just stared at him, he sighed again and said, "Everything you think you know about vampires, you've picked up from books or TV. And it's all written by humans, I'll guarantee that. Nobody in the Night World would break the code of secrecy."

"Well, isn't that what you were doing?" Hannah asked.

"It was... different," James explained half-heartedly.

"The Night World. Where's the Night World?"

"It's not a place. It's like a secret society - for vampires and witches and werewolves. All the best people. And I'll explain about it later," James said grimly. "For now - look it's simple. I'm a vampire because my parents are vampires. I was born that way. We're the lamia."

All Poppy could think of was Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen with their luxury ranch-style house and their gold Mercedes. "Your parents?"

"Lamia is just an old word for vampires, but for us it means the ones who're born that way," James said, ignoring her. "We're born and we age like humans - except that we can stop aging whenever we want. We breathe. We walk around in the daylight. We can even eat regular food."

"Your parents," Poppy said again faintly.

He looked at her. "Yeah. My parents. Look, why do you think my mom does interior decorating? Not because they need the money. She meets a lot of people that way, and so does my dad, the society shrink. It only takes a few minutes alone with somebody, and the human never remembers it afterward."

Poppy shifted uncomfortably. "So you, um, drink people's blood, huh?" Even after everything she'd seen, she couldn't say it without half-laughing.

James looked at the laces of his Adidas. "Yes. Yes, I sure do," he said softly. Then he looked up and met her gaze directly.

His eyes were pure silver.

"Oh, my God!" Ash exclaimed, jumping up. "This is turning into a porno in front of our very eyes. People, children; this is gold!"

Mary-Lynette punched his shoulder. "Ash, sit down," she said. "And shut the hell up." He pouted.

Poppy leaned back against the pile of pillows on her bed. Maybe it was easier to believe him because the unbelievable had already happened to her earlier today. Reality had already been turned upside down - so, honestly, what did one more impossibility matter?

I'm going to die and my best friend is a bloodsucking monster, she thought.

"Ouch," James said. "That hurts."

"The argument was over, and she was out of energy. She and James looked at each other in silence.

"Okay," she said finally, and it meant everything she'd just realized.

"I didn't tell you this just to get it off my chest," James said, his voice still muted. "I said I could save you, remember?"

"Vaguely." Poppy blinked slowly, then said more sharply, "Save me how?"

His gaze shifted to empty air. "The way you're thinking."

"James, I can't think anymore."

Gently, without looking at her, he put a hand on her shin under the blanket. He shook her leg slightly, a gesture of affection. "I'm gonna turn you into a vampire, kid."

Poppy put both fists to her face and began to cry.

Several people laughed out loud.

"Oh Goddess, Poppy," Jez said between laughs. "You are way too much, you know that?"

"Hey." He let go of her shin and put an awkward arm around her, pulling her to sit up. "Don't do that. It's okay. It's better than the alternative."

"You're...freaking...crazy," Poppy sobbed. Once the tears had started, they flowed too easily - she couldn't stop them. There was comfort in crying, and in being held by James. He felt strong and reliable and he smelled good.

"One of our many natural vampire talents," Quinn joked.

"You said you had to be born one," she added blurrily, between sobs.

"No, I didn't. I said I was born one. There are plenty of the other kind around. Made vampires. There would be more, but there's a law against just making any jerk off the street into one."

"But I can't. I'm just what I am; I'm me. I can't be- like that."

He put her gently away so he could look into her face. "Then you're going to die. You don't have any other choice. I checked around - even asked a witch. There's nothing else in the Night World to help you. What it comes down to is: Do you want to live or not?"

"Jeez, James," said Galen. "Harsh."

Poppy's mind, which had now been swamped in confusion again, suddenly fixed on this question. It was like a flashlight beam in a pitch-black room.

Did she want to live?

Oh, God, of course she did.

Until today she'd assumed it was her unconditional right to live. She hadn't even been grateful for the privilege. But now she knew it wasn't something to take for granted - and she also knew it was something she'd fight for.

Wake up, Poppy! This is the voice of reason calling. He says he can save your life.

"Wait a minute. I've got to think," Poppy said tightly to James. Her tears had stopped. She pushed him away completely and stared fiercely at the white hospital blanket.

Okay. Okay. Now get your head straight, girl.

You knew James had a secret. So you never imagined it was anything like this, so what? He's still James. He may be some godawful undead fiend-" "Hey!" "- but he still cares about you. And there's nobody else to help you.

She found herself clutching at James's hand without looking at him. "What's it like?" she said through clenched teeth.

Steady and matter-of-fact, he said, "It's different. It's not something I'd recommend if there was another choice, but... it's okay. You'll be sick while your body's changing, but afterward you'll never get any kind of disease again. You'll be strong and quick - and immortal."

"It sounds like you actually like being a vampire, James," Maggie teased, only to receive a grimace from James.

"I'd live forever? But would I be able to stop aging?" She had visions of herself as an immortal crone.

He grimaced. "Poppy - you'd stop aging now. That's what happens to made vampires. Essentially, you're dying as a mortal. You'll be dead and be unconscious for a while. And then...you'll wake up."

"I see." Sort of like Juliet in the tomb, Poppy thought. And then she thought, Oh, God...Mom and Phil.

"There's another thing you should know," James was saying. "A certain percentage of people don't make it."

"Don't make it?"

"Through the change. People over twenty almost never do. They don't ever wake up. Their bodies can't adjust to the new form and they burn out. Teenagers usually live through it, but not always."

Oddly enough, this was comforting to Poppy. A qualified hope seemed more believable than an absolute one. To live, she would have to take a chance.

"What?" Morgead said. "You'd rather have a 70 percent chance of making it through the change than a 100 percent chance? What kind of sense does that make?" He looked to Jez to back him up and she just shrugged.

Poppy did the same. "I don't know. It seemed more real that way. Like I wasn't completely beating out Mother Nature, you know?"

Morgead just shook his head in disbelief. As a rational thinker - someone who focused on the cold, hard facts - he couldn't wrap his mind around someone hellbent on loving the unknown.

She looked at James. "How do you do it?"

"The traditional way," he said with the ghost of a smile. Then, gravely: "We exchange blood."

Oh, great, Poppy thought. And I was afraid of a simple shot. Now I'm going to have my blood drawn by fangs. She swallowed and blinked, staring at nothing.

"It's your choice, Poppy. It's up to you."

There was a long pause, and then she said, "I want to live, Jamie."

He nodded. "It'll mean going away from here. Leaving your parents. They can't know."

"Yeah, I was just realizing that. Sort of like getting a new identity from the FBI, huh?"

"More than that. You'll be living in a new world, the Night World. And it's a lonely world, full of secrets. But you'll be walking around in it, instead of lying in the ground." He squeezed her hand. Then he said very quietly and seriously, "Do you want to start now?"

All Poppy could think of to do was shut her eyes and brace herself the way she did for an injection. "I'm ready," she said through stiff lips.

James laughed again - this time as if he couldn't help it. Then he folded the bed rail down and settled beside her. "I'm used to people being hypnotized when I do this. It's weird to have you awake."

"Yeah, well, if I scream you can hypnotize me," Poppy said, not opening her eyes.

Relax, she told herself firmly. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how awful it is, you can deal with it. You have to. Your life depends on it.

Her heart was thumping hard enough to shake her body.

"Right here," James said, touching her throat with cool fingers as if feeling for a pulse.

"Tease," Ash muttered.

Just do it, Poppy thought. Get it over with.

She could feel warmth as James leaned close to her, taking her carefully by the shoulders. Every nerve ending in her skin was awake of him. Then she felt cool breath on her throat, and quickly, before she could recoil, a double sting.

Those fangs, burying themselves in her flesh. Making two little wounds so he could drink her blood...

Now it really going to hurt, Poppy thought. She couldn't brace herself anymore. Her life was in the hands of a hunter. She was a rabbit trapped in the coils of a snake, a mouse under the claws of a cat. She didn't feel like James's best friend, she felt like lunch...

"Jeez, how do you really feel, Pops?" James grumbled.

While Poppy didn't reply, Galen corrected the book. "Technically," he said. "At that hour, it would most likely be dinner." No one acknowledged him other than his soulmate who put a finger to his lips and shook her head disappointingly.

Poppy, what are you doing? Don't fight it. It hurts when you resist.

James was speaking to her - but the warm mouth on her throat hadn't moved. The voice was in her head.

I'm not resisting, Poppy thought. I'm just ready for it to hurt, that's all.

There was a burning where his teeth pierced her. She waited for it to get worse - but it didn't. It changed.

Oh, Poppy thought.

The feeling of heat was actually pleasant. A sensation of release, of giving.

And closeness. She and James were getting closer and closer, like two drops of water moving together until they merged.

She could sense James's mind. His thoughts - and his feelings. His emotions flowed into her, through her.

"Ah, yes," Thierry said with a little smile at Hannah. "The soulmate connection at work."

Tenderness...concern...caring. A cold black rage at the disease that was threatening her. Despair that there was no other way to help her. And longing - longing to share with her, to make her happy.

Yes, Poppy thought.

A wave of sweetness made her dizzy. She found herself groping for James's hand, their fingers intertwining.

James, she thought with wonder and joy. Her communication to him a tentative caress.

Poppy. She could feel his own surprise and delight.

And all the time the dreamy pleasure was building. Making Poppy shiver with its intensity.

How could I have been so stupid? Poppy thought. To be afraid of this. It isn't terrible. It's...right.

She had never been so close to anybody. It was as if they were on being, together, not predator and prey, but partners in a dance. Poppy-and-James.

She could touch his soul.

Strangely enough, he was afraid of that. She could sense it. Poppy don't - so many dark things - I don't want you to see...

Dark, yes, Poppy thought. But not dark and terrible. Dark and lonely. Such utter loneliness.

"Wow," James said, skimming the page slightly. "We can just...skip ahead a few pages, if you guys are all okay with that."

"No!" was the unanimous decision.

"Fine," James said through gritted teeth. "You all remember that answer when your story comes up."

A feeling of not belonging in either of the two worlds he knew. Not belonging anywhere. Except...

Suddenly Poppy was seeing an image of herself. In his mind she was fragile and graceful, and emerald-eyed spirit of the air. A sylph - with a core of pure steel.

I'm not really like that, she thought. I'm not tall and beautiful like Jacklyn or Michaela...

The words she heard in answer didn't seem directed toward her - she had a feeling they were something James was thinking to himself, or remembering from some long-forgotten book.

You don't love a girl because of beauty. You love her because she sings a song only you can understand...

"Goddess, you sap," Thea said, smiling down at her cousin. She tossed the brownie mix into a pan and proceeded to put it into the oven.

With the thought came such strong feelings of protectiveness. So this was how James felt about her - she knew at last. As if she were something precious, something to be protected at all costs...

At all costs. No matter what happened to him. Poppy tried to follow the thought deeper into his mind, to find out what it meant. She got an impression of rules - no laws...

Poppy, it's bad manners to search somebody's mind when you're not invited. The words were tinged with desperation.

Poppy pulled back mentally. She hadn't meant to pry. She just wanted to help...

I know, James's thought came to her, and with it a rush of warmth and gratitude. Poppy relaxed and simply enjoyed the feeling of oneness with him.

I wish it could last forever, she thought - and just then it stopped. The warmth at her neck disappeared, and James pulled away, straightening.

Poppy made a sound of protest and tried to drag him back. He wouldn't let her.

"Poppy, no offense, but you're worse than a two-year-old," Keller commented.

"No - there's something else we have to do," he whispered. But he didn't do anything else. He just held her, his lips against her forehead. Poppy felt peaceful and languid.

"You didn't tell me it would be like that," she said.

"I didn't know," James said simply. "It never has been before."

They sat together quietly, with James gently stroking her hair.

So strange, Poppy thought. Everything is the same - but everything's different. It was as if she'd pulled herself up on dry land after almost drowning in the ocean. The terror that had been pounding inside her all day was gone, and for the first time in her life she felt completely safe.

After another minute or so James shook his head, rousing himself.

"What else do we have to do?" Poppy asked.

For an answer, James lifted his own wrist to his mouth. He made a quick jerking motion with his head, as if tearing a strip of cloth held in his teeth.

When he lowered the wrist, Poppy saw blood.

It was running in a little stream down his arm. So red it almost didn't look real.

Poppy gulped and shook her head.

"I think we all know the feeling," Mary-Lynette said.

"It's not that bad," James said softly. "And you have to do it. Without my blood in you, you won't become a vampire when you die, you'll just die. Like any other human victim."

And I want to live, Poppy thought. All right, then. Shutting her eyes, she allowed James to guide her head to his wrist.

It didn't taste like blood, or at least not the blood she'd tasted when she bit her tongue or put a cut finger in her mouth. It tasted- strange. Rich and potent.

Like some magic elixir, Poppy thought dizzily. And once again she felt the touch of James's mind. Intoxicated with the closeness, she kept drinking.

That's right. You've got to take a lot, James told her. But his mental voice was weaker than it had been. Instantly Poppy felt a surge of alarm.

But what will it do to you?

"I'll be alright," James said aloud. "It's you I'm worried about. If you don't get enough, you'll be in danger."

Well, he was the expert. And Poppy was happy to let the strange, heady potion keep flowing into her. She basked in the glow that seemed to be lighting her from the inside out. She felt so tranquil, so calm...

And then, without warning, the calm was shattered. A voice broke into it, full of harsh surprise.

"What are you doing?" the voice said, and Poppy looked up to see Phillip in the doorway.

"Ooh!" said Ash. "Cliffhanger!" Mary-Lynette elbowed him in the stomach lightly enough where it didn't hurt him seriously.

"Speaking of Ash, it's your turn to read," Poppy said, turning to him. She hadn't spoken the whole time and James was just now finding that curious. He thought he knew Poppy very well, but sometime she stumped him.

Poppy knew why she was being quiet, though. That entire chapter was full of her world shattering and being reborn, just as she had when she was dug out of her literal grave. Her first romantic moments with James, her uncontrollable sobbing, her unflattering responses to the Night World. Although she had lived with most of the people in that room for close to a year, she still had secrets, private things that she wanted to keep to herself.

This book, she realized, had no intention of letting her do that.

Ash settled back into his chair and opened the book before him. He pretended to readjust his non-existent reading glasses. "Well, let's start," he said.