All Wounds by Dina James Page A

exciting as it is dangerous, and you’ll desperately want to share that excitement. Apprentices have been known—often, I might stress—to...develop strong feelings...a deep attachment...to their mentors. It’s not uncommon, especially with a Master vampire. I am warning you now—guard against this. Experience the things you feel as they come, but always remember to put them in perspective. No matter my age, I do remember what it felt like to be as young as you. It is not an age of rationality. Heed my warning, I beg of you.” Rebecca knew her assurance that she wouldn’t fall in love with him was something important to him. She could feel it, somehow. She could sense that he’d been through it before, and didn’t want to have to break another girl’s heart. Or something. He’d probably had to break more than a few, and he probably already had someone waiting at home for him. A mate or a bride or whatever vampires called their significant others. He didn’t need—well, want—some little girl falling all over him, making him uncomfortable when all he was there to do was teach her.
    Not a problem. A professional relationship. Besides, all she had to do was keep reminding herself that he wasn’t even human, no matter what he looked like. And that he was four hundred and twenty ! FOUR HUNDRED
    AND TWENTY!
    Talk about an age gap. Oh, yeah. No problem there.

    “I wil ,” Rebecca said, hoping she sounded normal though she knew her face was aflame with the aftereffects of...whatever that had been. She looked at her unblemished, pain-free wrist. “Thanks, Blondie. I mean ‘Syd’.” She forced a happy, teasing smile. “The last thing I need is the school counselor calling me into her office to talk to me about teen suicide rates.” Rebecca felt a twinge below her breastbone and went around the curtained frame to look at the once-again motionless form of Ryan. He was lying just as he had been before, his eyes still open.
    “Is that...normal?” Rebecca asked Syd as he peeked around the curtained frame after her.
    Syd smiled and nodded. “At least, normal for a vampire. We ‘sleep’
    with our eyes open.”
    Rebecca reached to brush a lock of Ryan’s dark hair back from his face.
    She felt his forehead, then inspected her hand. It came away clean. No blood.
    Syd made a noise of approval. “Well, he’s stopped shedding. That’s a good sign.”
    “‘Shedding’?” Rebecca repeated. “Like Nana’s cat does on the furni-ture?”“Surely you’re not implying we’re animals,” he said, smiling in a way that showed his fangs.
    Rebecca gave him an innocent look. “I wouldn’t insult animals with the comparison,” she replied with a sweet smile.
    Syd laughed.
    That strange, warm tingle went through her again at the sound of it.
    Wow, he had a nice laugh.
    Stop it, Rebecca. What did he just say about keeping things in perspective?
    “Shedding blood,” he continued. “Sort of like your sweat. A fledgling vampire sheds his mortality, and part of that is purging his form of the dead blood that ran in his veins. That Ryan has both stopped shedding and is resting with his eyes open says that he’s over the worst and most dangerous part of his transformation. It’s a good thing, Acolyte.”
    “It’s a bit creepy,” Rebecca said, glancing sideways at Ryan’s now dark blue open eyes. She looked at Sydney. “No offense.”
    “None taken,” the Master vampire said with a mocking bow. “I can hear your thoughts, and I understand. Time, however, is beyond my ability to control, and it passes while you stand here talking.”
    “The bus!” Rebecca cried. She was going to miss the bus if she didn’t get going! “Oh my God, bye!”
    Rebecca dashed downstairs. She was dressed and ready for school in record time, and was in the foyer about to put on her jacket when a hand on her arm stopped her from shrugging into it.

    Syd stood there, his dark glasses once again hiding his metallic blue eyes, careful to