All Wounds by Dina James Read Free Book Online Page B

her.“You have much to learn, Acolyte.”
    “Ouch!” Rebecca gasped as Ryan’s fangs pierced her wrist.
    Then the pain faded, and she felt nothing. She really expected to feel something ...but there wasn’t anything at all. She didn’t feel weak or dizzy, or like something was being taken away from her. On the contrary, she felt...
    really, really good. Helpful and...and...
    “Nurturing?” Sydney said out loud.
    Rebecca blushed and nodded. “I guess that’s as good a word for it as any.” She closed her eyes, but there wasn’t the usual darkness behind them.
    Instead there was...something. Darkness, yes, but...things...moving in the dark. Shapes and fire and flame and—
    Rebecca gasped and her eyes flew open. Nana came to rest her hands on Rebecca’s shoulders.
    “You’re strong,” Nana said. “Stronger even than I was, I think. It’s all right. He won’t take much, this first time, but he’ll need more over the next couple of days.”
    “Days?” Rebecca echoed. “Doesn’t this take—I don’t know—just a few minutes?”
    “This isn’t Hollywood,” Sydney said with a roll of his dark blue eyes.
    “You don’t get bitten by a vampire then change in moments to bite your friends.”
    “Well...no offense, but isn’t that kind of what just happened?” Rebecca countered. She pointed to the wrist Ryan had pressed to his mouth.
    “Point taken,” Sydney replied. “However, he won’t remember himself for a couple of days.” Sydney glanced up at Nana. “Though something tells me you’re accustomed to people not remembering themselves.” Rebecca felt Nana’s hands on her shoulders tighten slightly before Ryan dropped her wrist and began to tremble.
    “That’s enough,” she heard Nana say. “Move away now.” Rebecca did as she was told, and Sydney reached for the damp cloth as Ryan’s trembling once again escalated into convulsions.
    “Is it going to be like this until he’s...um...converted, or whatever?” Rebecca asked in a whisper.

    Nana nodded and pressed a cloth to Rebecca’s bleeding wrist. “Mmm hmm. But don’t worry. He’s with us now, and safe. Comfortable. But it’s also very late, and you have school tomorrow.”
    Rebecca looked horrified.
    “Nana,” she reasoned. “You can’t possibly—”
    Nana held up a hand, an old familiar gesture that said she was through talking about a subject.
    “I can ,” Nana said, firm. “Your wrist will be healed by morning, and Syd will stay and help me set up a privacy partition for Ryan. Rebecca, you can help in the evenings, after your chores and schoolwork are done, not before.
    It will be a lot of hard work, but you’ll likely be trained enough in a year or so of hard study that we can tell the Council you’re ready to be mentored.
    That’s not too long for you to help out here, is it, Syd?”
    “A year? ” Rebecca squeaked.
    Syd voiced the same protest.
    Nana folded her arms and looked stern. “Sydney Alexander, you came seeking a Healer, and you’ve found one untrained. Rebecca Charlotte, you have a great deal to learn and a vast amount of power to harness. You’ll be lucky if a year is all it takes. And that’s just the bare minimum! Remember, you should have been studying the basics with me for at least a dozen years by now. Most Healers begin at age five. I’m sorry this is late, but if it’s what you both want, it’s all or nothing.”
    Syd looked mutinous.
    Rebecca was just as unhappy as he looked, but asked, “Will you be more like your old self, Nana? I mean...with him around?” She jerked her head in Syd’s direction.
    Nana nodded. Syd looked skyward.
    “Then that’s worth a year of...Blondie...and ‘hard work’ to me.” Rebecca glared at Syd out of the corner of her eye.
    The vampire groaned. “And I suppose, Martha, since I owe you my own existence and those of my various clan members more than once over, a mortal year isn’t so long a time, especially if it is given to train the granddaughter