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smeared over my fingers. I drank blood! His blood! “What have you done to me? Who in the hell are you? What …are…you?” I glared up at him; my body was trembling all over.
    “Abigail, Abigail, please calm down and I will tell you everything you want to know, but you must calm down first.” His voice was still, very still.
    I swallowed hard. Took a deep breath, but nothing seemed to happen. “I can’t breathe,” I gasped, my hands pressed against my chest.
    “Do not worry. Your body no longer requires air. It is simply acting out its old breathing pattern. In time it will stop.” He smiled, big and brilliant, flashing sharp oversized canines. Fangs!
    Shaking my head from side to side, I said, “Your teeth aren’t human! Wh-wh-what, are you?” My voice trembled uncontrollably.
    “I am a vampire, a very lonely vampire. My partner dismissed me after spending two decades together. It would have broken my heart if I had one. She was bored with me. She wanted a new partner, one that could bring her the excitement of passion that we no longer shared. I did not feel the same. I pleaded with her not to send me away.” He closed his eyes for a few moments. I kept silent.
    “One night while we were hunting, two Enforcers jumped me. Enforcers are very old vampires with special gifts in addition to being exceptionally strong. One of them had the ability to freeze the body, preventing it from moving at all. I could not stop them from taking me away from her. She laughed at me as they did. The other Enforcer could move at the speed of light. All vampires move extraordinarily fast but nowhere near as fast as that. That Enforcer brought me here to this house. He threatened that if I ever returned they would kill me but not without torturing me first.” His smile was gone, eyes like black holes in space, threatening to suck me inside.
    My stomach tightened. Lumps formed in my throat.
    Bronx kept talking. “It has been seven lonely years since that happened. I did what they asked and remained here, searching for a new partner. None of the other vampires I have run into have been good enough, all of them lacking some quality that I need and most important, the connection of me to her that will bind us together for eternity. Then I saw you through the window at The Beacon. You were so beautiful. For months I walked by and watched you while you worked, waiting for the perfect time to come inside and meet you. Tonight was that special night.”
    When he sat down beside me, I sunk toward him. He reached over and took my hands inside his. I didn’t move, didn’t fight him. My body was frozen, numb. He stared at me. I met his eyes. “Abigail, you exceeded all of my expectations. After you spoke just a few simple words, I knew you were the one. The woman I have searched for. Your beauty exceeds far beyond your physical appearance. Your heart was full of compassion unlike anything I have ever seen or felt. I needed you to be mine forever. But you were a mortal human, and our love would never work if I left you that way. There was no choice but to transform you into one of my kind.”
    My mouth got dry like there was an invisible sock stuffed in it. My tongue scraped the insides of my cheeks trying to find anything wet. He stared at me, eyes full of expectation. I didn’t know what to say. So I said nothing.
    Eerie minutes passed by. He watched me like he was waiting for something—a reaction maybe? Well, he wasn’t going to get one just yet.
    “Abigail, you are a vampire now. You are the one who will stand by my side as my eternal partner. I brought you back to life with my blood to complete the transformation.”
    Well, that was going to get a reaction. I was literally about to blow. I jerked back, pulling my hands free, and the sofa conformed around me like soap in a tub. Did the sofa just break? I shouldn’t have been able to go that deep into the cushions. I got up, moving fast, too fast. Everything around me was a blur.