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outfitted with clamps made of thesame metal. Bones told Don all these precautions were overkill, pun intended, but Don was worried about Tate busting out and running amok. Tate was strapped to that table now, wearing only a pair of shorts to allow for easier electrode access. I slipped in to see him as a human one last time.
    Numerous bags of blood sat in a cooler nearby for Tate’s first few meals. My gaze met his indigo one as I stood next to the inclined slab, maneuvering it until he was upright.
    “God, Tate.” My voice wavered. “Are you sure about this?”
    He attempted a smile, but it lacked its usual depth. “Don’t look so spooked, Cat. You’d think you were the one about to die, not me.”
    I laid my hand on his cheek. His skin felt as warm as mine. This was the last time it would be that way. Tate sighed and inclined his head closer.
    “It’s been a strange ride, hasn’t it?” he murmured. “I remember when I didn’t believe in vampires. Now I’m about to join their ranks, led by a son of a bitch I despise. Ironic, huh?”
    “You don’t have to do this, Tate. You can change your mind and we’ll call the whole thing off.”
    He took another deep breath. “As a vampire, I’ll be stronger, faster, and harder to kill. The team needs that…and so do you.”
    “Don’t you dare do this for me, Tate.” My voice trembled with vehemence. “If this is for me, then get off that table right now.”
    “I’m doing this,” he repeated, his tone equally vehement. “You can’t talk me out of it, Cat.”
    Bones saved me from a response by coming up behind me. “It’s time, Kitten.”
    I went to the small observatory one level up, where the video from that room fed into. My uncle was already seated, watching the screen. Juan, Cooper, and Dave came into our room. I couldn’t look away as on the screen, Bones walked over to Tate with the slow grace of a true predator. Tate’s breathing and heartbeat began to accelerate.
    Bones studied him without emotion. “You won’t gain what you’re hoping for, mate, but you will have to live with this decision the rest of your days. So, one last time, do you want this?”
    Tate took a long breath. “You’ve wanted to kill me for months. Here’s your chance. Just do it.”
    In the next second, Bones’s fangs were sunk deep into Tate’s neck. The machines picked up Tate’s skyrocketing pulse as he gasped, stiffening. Dave gripped my hand and I clenched back, watching as Bones drank the life from my friend with deep, long pulls of his mouth. That pale throat worked over and over as he swallowed. The sounds from the EKG monitor slowed, decreased, and then made only intermittent, brief bleeps when Bones lifted his head.
    He licked the spare drops of blood around his mouth before pulling out a blade and making a gouge in his own neck. Then Bones pressed Tate’s lolling head to the wound, keeping the tip of the knife in his neck so it didn’t close.
    Tate’s mouth moved, at first feebly lapping at the blood, and then sucking with more vigor. The EEG monitor began to make alarming noises. Bones dropped the knife as Tate, eyes closed, clamped his teeth around his neck and tore at it. Bones held Tate’s head, not flinching as he chomped at him for more. Tate gnashed and sucked as the minutes ticked on, hisheartbeat skipping longer and longer in between blips until at last there was…silence.
    Bones tore Tate’s mouth free, wrenching it loose and staggering back. The EEG went haywire while the EKG showed a straight flat line on its monitor. A great tremor wracked Tate’s body, rattling the clamps holding him. Then he slumped in his restraints, motionless. Dead, but waiting to rise.
     
    The hours dragged by with painful slowness. Bones sat on the floor of the cell, looking like he was resting, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. Every so often, his gaze would flick over to Tate’s still form. I wondered if he could feel changes in the energy around Tate. Lord knew