She didn’t necessarily mean it. Not yet. Losing her humanity wasn’t something she could ever take so lightly. But she wanted to know if it was possible. She wanted to know what it would take. And more importantly, the consequences. Ginny was more interested in satisfying her curious nature than floating the possibility.
Roksana’s face remained stoic, but her steps faltered. “You would no longer be able to sustain him.”
A pang hit her in the throat, the memory of him pale and out of his mind with hunger rushing to the fore. “Would anything sustain him if I was Silenced?”
“There’ve been no cases like yours. Vampire mates with girl, girl becomes only source of nourishment for vampire, girl turns to vampire…I don’t know what happens after that.”
Ginny processed that, the fear of the unknown weighing in her stomach like a boulder. She stood in the middle of the lobby while Roksana checked every shadow and hiding spot, clomping across the burgundy carpet with a sense of purpose, until finally she gave Ginny the all clear.
“Do not leave this office,” Roksana said, punching the air with her finger. “I’ll be back. Right after I bag these dresses like I’m someone who earns minimum wage and says things like ‘I’ll try and get a sitter.’”
“You’re the best,” Ginny called back, already pulling out her sample books and paperwork in preparation for the meeting. She took out the laptop and opened their trusty—and often malfunctioning—database to read through the information Larissa should have entered for tonight’s meeting. There was nothing there, though. Simply the initial “C,” a phone number and the appointment time. “Guess Larissa already had one foot out the door,” Ginny murmured.
A thunderclap brought Ginny’s head up.
Was it supposed to rain? Last time she checked, the sky had been clear.
There were no windows in her small, airless office, but when the lobby darkened considerably, she rose from her seat. The lights were still on, but the windows were almost black from the sudden storm. She came around the desk and stopped in the doorway, her heart flying into her throat when thunder rolled, immediately followed by a crack of lightning, briefly illuminating the empty lobby.
There. In the far end, near the visitation room.
Had she seen an outline of somebody or were her eyes playing tricks on her?
All she could hear in the muted stillness was the sound of her own breathing. In out in out. Something was missing. The gentle ticking of the grandfather clock. Had it stopped working? In the absence of enough light, she couldn’t see the time indicated by the two hands. The sound of rain intruded, pelting the windows like Tic Tacs falling from the sky and thunder blustered again, followed by another blast of lightning.
A movement occurred in her periphery and she whipped her head in that direction. Nothing. Just the movement of shadow, surely.
The hair on the back of Ginny’s neck stood up.
Slowly, she backed into the office and closed the door, twisting the lock. Roksana would be downstairs any minute. Of course Ginny was spooked. Her life had become a parade of the unusual. Things that never existed before were her new normal. Once a vampire makes an attempt on one’s life, one may never feel truly safe again. Wasn’t that a universal truth?
Someone knocked on the office door.
Once.
Pause.
Twice.
Pause.
A third time.
Roksana wouldn’t knock.
Ginny reached back and gripped the desk, remaining as still as possible. Who was on the other side of the door? If it was a vampire that wanted to do her harm, there would be nothing she could do to stop them. Even if she had a big, nasty stake, she didn’t have the skill or speed to drive it home.
Another, louder knock made her jump, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. “Ginny?”
Her hand dropped away. “Tucker?”
“What’s good, sweetheart?”
She heaved a choppy laugh and unlocked the door, opening it to find Tucker in a rain slicker and Wellingtons. Gold chain. No shirt. “Crazy weather we’re having.”
“Yeah, it’s not often I get outside before six o’clock in the fall. I feel like a kid again.” Even as he made the joke, Ginny could see the concern lurking in the corners of his downturned mouth. “Where’s Roks?”
“Bagging my dresses for tonight.”
“I’m right here,” the slayer said, striding into the room, wooden stake at her side. “What the hell is up with this storm?”
“You mind putting that thing away?” Tucker waited for her to tuck the weapon into her boot. “I don’t know. It came on pretty fast.”
“Too fast,” Roksana muttered. “Where is the prince?”
“He’s going to be late. That newbie he met with the other day is having an existential crisis. He’ll meet us there.” He hopped up onto the desk and tossed a wink at Ginny. “Until then, I’m putting the body back in bodyguard.”