The afterlife was warm and snuggly. I frowned when the afterlife shifted and then grumbled that I was too hot. Sitting up with a gasp, I instantly regretted it. My head pounded hard, as I winced with the pain, I looked around me.

I was in the limo, Nisha was seated in her usual spot, watching me with amusement.

"Welcome to the land of the undead."

"We're not undead, Nish."

Turning to Alaric who was beneath me, my frown deepened.

"What the hell?"

He smiled wickedly from his position, laying on the leather seat. His hair was ratty from being wet. The bare torso had three patches that were tapped to the clean body. He was repaired.

"I was a little naughty, I hope that you can forgive me."

My lips pressed tight as my eyes narrowed.

"What did you do?"

"I turned you."

"Land of the undead," Nisha exclaimed.

Alaric rolled his eyes, a sly grin on his face.

"So, I'm a vampire now?"

He nodded.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Not for this but for getting shot five times, yeah, you totally are."

Nisha scoffed. "Wait till tomorrow."

I frowned and turned back to Alaric who was scowling at his sister.

"What's tomorrow?"

"We didn't get everyone on the list."

I shifted back on the seat, Alaric did the same but winced when he moved.

"How many?"

"Three."

"And the others?"

"Must have realized what was going on which will make tomorrow harder."

"And tonight wasn't?" I snapped. "I had to die to save you."

"Told you she'd be pissed."

Alaric scowled at Nisha. Moments like these made me grateful I didn't have a sibling. Then there were moments that I saw how good it was and realized that it was something that I'd never understand.

"Enough. We're going to be fine. They don't know who the attacker is so we'll walk in like we're friends."

"Callous."

"It's in our nature, Nish. Why does this surprise you?"

She said nothing in response, gazing out the window in a vain attempt at ignoring her brother.

"So, we've got another night of you trying to kill yourself? Not sure if you've realized it yet but I can't die for you a second time. And how can you do anything with those wounds?"

Alaric pulled one of them off and showed the repaired skin. He had a smug look on his face, all I could do was shake my head in mild disgust.

"This is not a game."

"I never said it was."

"But you act like it is. You can't just burst into the room again."

"Why not? It's worked two nights in a row."

"Great. I'm staying in the limo."

Turning to Nisha, I earned a confused frown.

"How did your night go?"

"Got all but one."

"And not a wound to be seen. Can I change to your team?"

She huffed with a soft laugh, unable to wipe the smile as she turned back to her view.

As the limo pulled into the estate, all mockery and laughter stopped in favor of packing bags and removing the evidence that Alaric had been wounded. He'd dressed in a spare shirt; his pants were the same style but these were not coated in blood.

"Here, change into these."

Alaric tossed a new pair of pants and a shirt at me. I changed quickly, stuffing the bloodied clothes into the bag.

"What are we going to do with them?"

He lifted the seat between us and Nisha, one little seat that sat opposite the empty drinks cabinet. It was a lockable storage compartment.

"Silas will deal with it tomorrow when we're out."

The guns were in the trunk, I knew that already. They were always there, something that I'd learned earlier tonight. Always ready, always prepared and always expecting the worst. The enemy was a strong one, the first one might have gone down easily but tonight had proved that not all were the same.

The limo slid under the portico, we had a welcoming committee waiting for us. Hendrick stepped forward without waiting for Silas to get out. He opened the door and looked in.

"Did we have a fun night out, kids?"

"Always." Alaric offered as he stepped out.

Hendrick moved out of the way, watching as Alaric held his hand out for me. Dutifully, I took it and smiled at Hendrick when I stood upright. An eyebrow was raised, restraining the shock.

"And it would seem that we have yet another interesting development. Congratulations, my dear and welcome to the world of being a vampire."

"Thank you, Hendrick."

He didn't seem pleased at all. Nisha was standing beside me now, Hendrick smiled as he closed the door. With a tap on the roof, he sent Silas on his way.

"The other interesting development, it would seem that Kronus and a few of his henchmen have met a grizzly end."

"No great loss," Alaric grumbled as his hand slid around my waist, dragging me closer.

"Yes, absolutely. Just another vile roach to be squashed. Although, it is interesting that two kingpins and their followers have been removed in two nights. Imagine what the others are thinking."

Arrogance filled his face as he turned and walked up the stairs, his followers not far behind. Nothing was said, Alaric held out his hand and waited for me to take it. I didn't hesitate even though I wanted to have a few terse words with him. We were back in unstable territory here and I knew to hold my tongue, fearing that we'd be heard.

There were so many instances where they could have heard something, I don't know what had been done to ensure that any conversation was protected. Worse yet, I couldn't exactly ask.

Hendrick was seated in the parlor, looking rather smug as he stretched back in the seat.

"Perhaps they might meet their maker within the next few nights too, eh Alaric?"

"With any luck." He said tersely.

My hand was gently tugged away, we quickly made our way up the stairs. Our path was watched from the entry, Hendrick's associates keeping their gazes firmly on us.

With the main door to the guest quarters closed, Alaric sighed.

"He knows," I said softly.

"Of course he does." Nisha returned. "Silas said that dad was very vocal about being against anti-drugs. He was murdered by these criminals. Hendrick would be an idiot if he didn't think it."

Dumping myself in the lounge, I watched Alaric as he moved into the kitchen and pulled out several blood bags. Silas walked in and locked the door. He joined us in the lounge, taking a bag when Alaric offered it. One was offered to me, I looked at it and then to Alaric.

"It's not the greatest but for tonight it will do."

"I don't think that I can," I said as I took it.

"Trust me, you can."

Nisha had already finished hers, tossing the empty packet onto the coffee table before stretching back on the seat. Alaric sat down beside me, smoothing a hand over my thigh, the other reaching to the back of the lounge behind me.

"Drop the fangs and pierce the plastic. Once you've done that, your body will figure it out and your mind will go crazy thinking about it if you don't drain the bag."

His head tipped at the bag.

"Do it."

Pressing my teeth to the bag, I waited, wondering how I'd make my fangs change. I soon realized that it was a natural process and the smell of the blood made them grow. Puncturing the bag, my fangs dipped into the blood. Instantly my body took over, a yearning grew fast and I began to drank.

Before I knew it, the bag was empty. I pulled the bag away and hiccupped. With a giggle, I pressed my fingers to my lips, feeling a little weird.

"See? Easy as."

Nisha rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky." She scoffed. "A turn doesn't always work out well. Sometimes the mind cannot get past drinking blood, sometimes the stomach doesn't cope, sometimes errors happen in the transformation."

Nisha glanced at her watch.

"Time will tell."

My stomach gurgled as the pain ripped through me. I winced from the sensations. Silas perked up with alarm. 

"Don't listen to Nisha," Alaric said softly, easing me onto the lounge. "She's just teasing because she knows that the transformation is not fully completed."

"It's not?" I said, almost whimpering.

"You needed a proper feed to finish it off. This is going to hurt like nothing that you've ever experienced but I promise that it won't last long."

Alaric moved to the floor, positioning himself in front of me. I tried to roll over away from him but Alaric held tight.

"It's going to be okay."

"How would you know? You were born a vampire."

"She's got you there," Nisha said dryly.

My stomach felt like it was ripping apart. Everything was hot, I felt like stripping out of my clothes and immersing myself in a bath of icy water.

"Get a wet towel." Alaric snapped.

Through the white noise that was increasing, I heard Nisha cluck her tongue in mild disgust. My eyesight was fading, every part of me was hurting and made me want to scream in pain but I couldn't. Nothing came out.

Wetness pressed to my forehead, the cold cloth slowly slid down the side of my face. It didn't stay cold for long, warming to me quickly.

I couldn't see or hear a thing. I could feel but it was limited. Wriggling my fingers? No, but I knew where they were, pain shimmered through me in waves, reminding me that my suffering wasn't ending any time soon.

Cold pressed to me again, this time it felt like I was disconnected from the sensation. I could feel it but it wasn't the same. Something was different.

Opening my eyes, I saw a liquid ceiling. With a spluttering gasp, I sat up in a bathtub that was full of cold water. Still fully dressed, I was soaked from head to toe. Alaric fumbled and fell back, staring wide-eyed at me.

Nisha was at the door with an ice cube tray that slowly dropped to her side as she stood at the doorway, staring too. A yearning for something ripped through me, I climbed out of the bath, driving my fingers through the tiled wall and searched for the smell. The higher I got, the more of it I could smell.

It moved, I climbed over the glass wall of the shower, following the scent. Tiles dropped and smashed, the glass wall was cracking underneath me. Whatever the smell was, it was on the move. Punching through the wall, I heard a shriek when I grabbed the smell and pulled it back to me.

"Emmeline!" Alaric yelled.

I saw the wide-eyed creature staring at me as I bared my fangs. Something pulled at my wet clothes, I turned to see Alaric trying to drag me down. With a growl of anger, I pushed my dinner back through the wall, falling to the floor behind it.

Blood soaked through my fangs, I groaned in ecstasy. The creatures shrieks didn't stop me, I was starving and wanted more.

"Emmeline."

I looked up, Alaric had his head through the hole in the wall, a heavy frown on his face.

"Stop it!" He hissed.

I growled and pulled my victim away from him. He was not going to steal my meal.

"Look, I've got another baggie for you. Come back to the bathroom and you can have it."

Dragging the body further along the narrow space, I stared at him and kept feeding. The blood sated my needs and desires. All that I wanted was right here.

"Please, Emme, we need him."

He huffed, waggling the bag at me again.

"Come on. I know that you don't believe me but it's true."

It was too late. Hendrick was dead. I scrabbled down the tiny corridor, following the path that he'd taken to get into the passage. Finding a ladder, I made my way down, face first. It seemed that gravity didn't apply or even bother me. I didn't fear falling.

Reaching the end, I turned and sank my fingers into the ceiling, feeling it crumble around me as I swung down to the ground.

Hearing a round of gasps, I watched as Hendrick's followers began to back away. They were rushing to the door but I beat them to it, breaking the handle to trap them into the room.

"Please, we were only following orders." One said.

I merely smiled before I broke his neck.

"I'm sure you were."

Grabbing the next one, I pulled him to me and slammed my hand into his chest.

"The problem is, you decided to follow the orders."

Dropping the dead body to the ground, I tossed the heart aside and carried on.

"You don't have a mind of your own."

I could hear my name being called but it was a distant sound, I frowned and turned to the sound. When I turned back to the creature I'd grabbed hold of, I saw that he was about to stab me with a knife. Grabbing his hand, I twisted it hard, hearing several bones crack. Taking the knife, I ignored the howls of pain and sliced over the neck.

The last creature was running for a window, I threw the knife. Blood soaked the wall as the knife drove deep, the man turned with a yelp.

"Talk."

"Uh, what do you want to know? Your eyes are black, we could talk about that or maybe that you are freakishly fast, that's not normal."

He winced a smile, trying to keep me from killing him like the others.

"And uh, you swung from the ceiling," The vampire nodded thoughtfully. "Without anything to hold onto, that's a little odd. I guess you did make holes in the roof, I've never seen that before."

"Enough. Tell me everything that you know about Hendrick. Do it fast or I will take your life slowly until I get everything that I want."

"Okay," He nodded nervously. "Well, Hendrick has warned the remaining drug lords that Alaric is coming for them. He's given them full descriptions of you, the sister and the uncle."

I raised an eyebrow at him, he nodded hesitantly.

"Yes, he knew who Silas was. With the information, Hendrick was able to gain backing for the future."

"What future?"

"He wanted to discredit Alaric's claim. Time limits are drawing close, he was stalling so that Alaric couldn't return his family to rule."

"When does it run out?"

"Tomorrow."