Teren gaped at him as well, walking over to see him more closely, his head cocked, like the sound of his still beating heart was mystifying. And it sort of was. I'd been so used to twenty-something mixed, that the sight of a graying haired man, his fangs extended to show us what he was, was stunning.
Teren twisted back to Gabriel, his smile glorious. "It works," he breathed.
Gabriel smiled and nodded at Samuel, indicating the stool. Samuel obediently walked over, lifting his arm in the same way Starla did. As Jordan prepared a second vial, Gabriel nodded at Teren. "In the ones that take to it, it has worked exceedingly well."
He frowned, his lips twisting in displeasure as he injected the fluid into Samuel's arm. "The first batch I created...did not." He was silent for a second and then he fixed his face into a more clinical expression, as he explained. "Conversions are an interesting process in mixed. In pure vampires, it happens when they are created. When a mixed is born, the element that completes the transformation from living to undead, stays dormant. But eventually, the strain of our free-flowing blood is too much, and somewhere between twenty-one and twenty-six, depending on the family history of the vampire, an event is triggered, and that element activates. The blood then accelerates to a point where the vampire's human body can no longer handle it. The heart burns out, the human side dies and the vampiric blood takes over, reanimating the creature."
I watched, fascinated, as he finished injecting Samuel and handed the empty syringe to Jordan. He glanced at our curious faces. "You see, the process of conversion isn't just the human side dying, it's also the vampiric side awakening. Kill a mixed vampire before that trait has a chance to awaken, and you kill the vampire as surely as you would kill a human. That genetic marker in the blood is the key to vampirism." He sighed and shook his head. "The first batch I created accidentally triggered that dormant element in the blood - revved it up and burnt out the heart within hours, jump-starting the process, regardless of the vampire's age." He shrugged and looked very sad as Samuel rubbed the injection site on his arm. "I accidentally converted quite a few vampires, much too soon." He shook his head sadly and I gasped audibly.
He flicked his eyes up to mine, seemingly concerned at my alarmed reaction. "I stopped. Once I realized what it was doing, that it was never going to work, I destroyed all of the samples, locked up my research. Don't worry, I adjusted the formula considerably." His eyes took on a look of a scientist as he said that, emotionally detached from what he'd done. Of course, he probably didn't understand the extent of what he'd actually done.
Teren gasped as well as he looked back at me. Locking eyes, we understood each other. Teren looked back at Gabriel. "I think you may have missed some." His voice was rough, hard with anger.
Gabriel blinked at hearing it. My eyes watered as I found Teren's hand. That man who'd kidnapped us had injected Teren with something that had killed him. It had revved up his blood and given him a heart attack. He'd claimed it as his own creation at the time, but it hadn't been. Somehow, he'd gotten a hold of Gabriel's samples and had tried to pawn it off as his own. I always suspected that the bastard hadn't been smart enough to come up with something like that. But I couldn't believe a mixed had come up with it. I wondered if Gabriel knew that a hunter had been out there, killing other mixed with his creation. By the startlement on his face as Teren described what had happened to him, I didn't think he knew. As Samuel stood from the stool, he heavily sat down into it.
"That's not possible...the only person who could have..." His voice trailed off as he left that thought unfinished.
Slight anger still in his voice, Teren cocked his head. "Who?"
Gabriel, still looking stunned, shook his head and looked back up at Teren. His face regaining his ancient composer, he smiled. "A family matter. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, but I will take it from here." Standing up, he cast a significant look back at Jordan, who nodded once and left the room. I had the feeling that someone was in a world of trouble.
Bringing his eyes back to Teren, he calmly asked. "Has the hunter been dealt with?"
Teren smiled with an edge of his mouth. He nodded slightly. "He didn't survive...my conversion." I knew for a fact that that knowledge actually greatly bothered Teren, but he wasn't about to show a hint of weakness amongst this house of supernaturally strong creatures.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow and smiled at Teren. "Well, I can't say I'm sorry about that."
Teren raised his eyebrows, looking like he'd just mentally assembled some puzzle pieces together in his head. "He must have come to California for you." Gabriel gave him a curious expression and Teren shook his head. "The hunter left journals. They actually helped lead us to vampires. I think your nest was referenced in them. I think he was here for you, but he made a pit stop, when he stumbled across me."
Gabriel stared at Teren for long moments. "Interesting. It would seem that our lives started entwining before today." He frowned and shook his head. "I am terribly sorry for what happened to the both of you." He nodded at Teren, solemnly. "Because of you, he can no longer use my creation to harm anyone else. You have my gratitude for that."
He looked down, regret filling his ancient eyes. "As you were a mixed that had not converted yet, I was going to come out to your ranch, to offer you the shot, if you were interested." He peeked up at a shocked Teren. "I was obviously...too late." He shrugged. "When I had the time to come visit with you, word got back to me that you'd already converted. I didn't think anything of the circumstances surrounding your conversion. I regretted that I'd lost the chance to study you, but I moved on to other prospects." He stood and extended a hand to Teren. "You have my deepest apologies that I was in any way involved in your...unfortunate situation."
Teren and I looked at each other. If Gabriel had offered Teren the shot, and it had worked on him, we would have had all the time in the world to conceive our children. Even now, Teren's heart could have been beating. I let that thought tumble through me, then tumble out of me. What-ifs were all well and good, but it hadn't happened like that, and Teren was what he was now, and we were fine with it. My hand idly rubbed my stomach. We'd even managed the conception part just fine. Now, we just needed to make it to the birthing part.
Gabriel turned and then started packing several vials into a leather briefcase. He filled another one and then handed them both to Jacen, who looked happy at finally having an important task to do. Starla sighed and started twirling empty vials on the counter. Gabriel grinned at his "daughter" and then indicated the vial still in Teren's hand. "I've provided enough to get her through the pregnancy. Give her 4cc a day, every day. Don't give her more than that, don't give her less, and don't miss a day. It has to be exact, for it to work."
Teren stared at the vial, then his hand clenched around it. "How will we know if it's going to work on her?"
Gabriel stared at the ground, before looking back up. "Unfortunately, some things from the first batch still carried over." Teren and I looked at each other confused. Gabriel sighed, then explained. "If it is not going to work on her, it will almost immediately awaken the dormant trait within the vampiric blood, and her heart will stop, much like yours did. But while your body took hours to die after your shot, on her newly-exposed-to-the-blood body, it will happen fast. If her heart does not give out within several minutes of the first dose...you'll know it works."
Teren's mouth dropped and he stared over at me. I felt my chest stop breathing as my face paled. So that was it, all or nothing.
Gabriel's voice snapped us out of our stupor. "I'm sorry there is not a gentler way. I'm assuming she's close to conversion? You seemed desperate to find me."
Teren nodded, still numbly staring at me. "We have no choice, I guess." His eyes watered and I nodded at him. Yes, we had no choice. My heart would give out if we did nothing. If there was a chance to prolong that until after the birth, to save the children, we had to take it.
Looking back at Gabriel, Teren whispered, "If it doesn't work, and she starts the conversion...will she finish it. Will she survive? Is my mixed blood enough to fully change her?"
Gabriel looked at Teren for long seconds. I thought I could see the debate in his eyes, maybe judging whether being honest with Teren, would drive him over the edge. Finally, and without ever removing his eyes from Teren, he spoke to Starla, spinning on the stool in her boredom. "Starla, please help Jacen load the vials into your car."
Starla straightened and pouted, her perfectly painted lips disgruntled. "My car? Do I have to drive them back, Father? They live so far away...and do have any idea how annoyingly lovey-dovey they are?"
Gabriel looked at her from the corner of his eye and I heard Jacen suppressing a laugh. Starla immediately looked down and replied with, "Yes, Father."
She and Jacen twisted to leave the room, Starla smacking him across the back as Jacen snorted once. "Shut it, Jace," she muttered as she opened the door to leave. The sounds of the house rushed back in on me, and I swear, somewhere in the house, I heard what sounded like a muffled cry.
Samuel also seemed to hear that. "Father, I should get back to...that other situation."
Gabriel looked over at Samuel, who was eyeing us cautiously. I wasn't quite sure what situation he was referring to. Maybe Jordan had found the culprit already. Gabriel nodded at Samuel. "Please, make sure the vampires stay back. Zane needs it, not them. He is the one completing his conversion tonight." Samuel nodded, and then left through the open door, closing it behind him.
Once again encased in silence, I forgot our original conversation, and curiously asked, "You have someone here, converting?" I turned back to Gabriel, stepping forward to grab Teren's hand.
Gabriel gave me a sideways glance, also looking cautious. He straightened, his eyes emotionally detached again. "Yes. He chose to let his human side die. He should be awakening at any moment actually." Gabriel looked through the walls of the home, to where the seemingly dead person was changing. "I should be there for that." When he looked back at us, his face switched back to concern for his "family". "I always try to be there, to help the new ones." His eyes shifted over to Teren, and I clenched Teren's hand tighter. "That first moment can be quite...terrifying."
"What will he eat," Teren asked smoothly.
My eyes widened as pieces of the conversation fell into place. Gabriel cocked his head at Teren, twisting his lips. "You are not the only one that has come across hunters." Gabriel sighed, coming over to stand in front of us. Sitting on the edge of a table, he crossed his arms over his chest. "We found one a few nights ago, trying to...remove, one of my children." A hard edge was in his voice and my face paled.
"He's here, alive?" A shiver went through me, remembering the muffled cry I'd heard.
Gabriel shifted his cool, green eyes to me and nodded. "For a little while longer."
Knowing I sounded hypocritical, I sputtered, "You can't just feed him to a vampire. That's murder."