Sarah squealed and hugged Roland, jumping up and down until he laughed, though he was still afraid to believe it.
“But she doesn’t have any gifts.”
“Of course she does. Her dreams foretell the future.”
Sarah stopped jumping and stared at Seth. “They do?” she asked incredulously, continuing to cling to Roland.
“Yes, you simply haven’t learned to decipher them. Contrary to popular belief, prophetic dreams are only literal in the most powerful of the gifted ones and immortals. For the rest, there are symbols that must be learned and deciphered and the meaning of the dreams can be vague. For example, a week or so before you met Roland, you dreamed there was a large cockroach in your living room that you had difficulty killing. The living room represented daily activities, such as work. The cockroach, due to its size, represented a substantial irritation. The next day, your student went to the head of the department and lodged a complaint against you.”
Which had been a major irritation, she thought.
“A few days later you dreamed of tornadoes.”
“I did,” she said, amazed. “It was like in that movie The Day After Tomorrow, when all the tornadoes spiraled down and hit Los Angeles. They were all around me. And one even seemed to be chasing me. It was terrifying.”
“Tornadoes represent great emotional turmoil, danger, and, at times, death … all the things that accompanied Roland when he entered your life shortly thereafter.”
Wow. She had never paid much attention to her dreams beyond wondering why so many people believed dreams only came in black and white when hers were always in vivid color.
“I can aid you in learning how to interpret your dreams, if you wish.”
Realizing her mouth was hanging open, Sarah hastily closed it. “That would be great. Thanks.” She looked up at Roland, who was frowning. “My dreams foretell the future.”
“So I heard.” He grimaced. “Sorry about the turmoil, danger, and death thing.”
She smiled. “It was worth it.”
Roland looked to Seth. “What about the physical characteristics?”
“They’ve begun to weaken a bit in the last century or so. Nothing dramatic. Dark brown hair instead of black. Hazel eyes instead of brown. Even those changes are still extremely rare.”
“So I can be safely transformed?” Sarah pressed, just to be certain.
“Yes.”
Roland’s hold tightened. “You don’t object?”
“This is Sarah’s decision to make, not mine. If she wishes you to transform her, you may do so whenever you choose.”
Now that she knew it would happen, Sarah felt both excited and nervous.
Seth’s features softened. “It won’t be too bad. Roland will drain you until you are near death, then infuse you with his own blood. You’ll feel like you have a bad case of the flu for a few days. Then all will be well.”
He shifted his gaze to Roland. “You look as nervous as she does.”
Sarah glanced up and had to agree.
Roland’s lips tightened. “What if something goes wrong?”
“It won’t. She’ll be fine. And I’m only a phone call away if you have any questions or concerns. I’ll leave her training up to you, if that’s all right.”
They both nodded.
“I should be going now. I need to stop by Seattle on my way home.”
“Thank you, Seth,” Sarah said, “for everything.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
An instant later, he was gone.
Sarah smiled up at Roland. “I’m a gifted one.”
“I know. I can’t believe it. But, Sarah …” He lightly clasped her upper arms and stared down at her, his expression earnest. “This doesn’t have to change anything. The fact that you can be transformed doesn’t mean you have to be. I don’t want you to feel you—”
“I want you to transform me,” she interrupted.
Extreme relief blanketing his features, he slid his arms around her, lifted her feet off the floor, and twirled her around. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
She laughed and, wrapping her arms around his neck, hugged him back. “So you’re happy?”
He nodded, his face buried in her hair. “I wouldn’t love you less if you said no. But, given the choice of spending either decades with you or centuries, I’d much rather have centuries.”
“Me, too.”
Setting her down, he drew back slightly and touched his lips to hers, first buoyantly, then tenderly.
Her heart did a funny little skip when she met his faintly luminous eyes.
“I love you, Sarah.”
“I love you, too.” So much more than she had dreamed was possible.
He kissed her again, held her close. “I’ll leave it up to you to decide when you’re ready.”
“There’s no time like the present.”
His face lit with surprise. “Now?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
She didn’t blame him. She had expressed, more than once, uneasiness over how quickly all this had happened. But she felt no such uneasiness now.
“I’m sure. I’m not going to change my mind. And the longer we put it off, the more nervous we’ll both become.”
His lips twisted ruefully. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“What? That you’re nervous?”
“Yes.”
She shrugged. “I would’ve known even if you’d hidden it. You’ve never transformed anyone before and you’re a tad obsessive when it comes to preventing me from experiencing any discomfort.” When his arms tightened and his face filled with dread, she patted his back comfortingly. “That look right there is why we need to go ahead and get it done. I know Seth said it’s like having the flu, but the longer we put it off, the more we’re both going to imagine it being worse.”
He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right. Now it is, then.”
Thump.
Roland’s head snapped around at the odd noise that came from the kitchen. Eyes flaring, fangs descending, he was gone before Sarah even finished tensing.
“It’s all right,” he called a second later. “Come and see.”
Curious, she strode to the kitchen and paused just inside the entrance.
The largest gift basket she had ever seen sat in the middle of the floor. Decked with ribbons and bows, it was so large that if the contents were removed, she could curl up in it like a cat and take a nap.
“It’s for us,” Roland pronounced, opening a white envelope.
“Who’s it from?”
As he pulled out a folded sheet of paper, she moved closer and began to pick through the basket’s contents.
“It’s from David.”
There were several enormous bags of organic oranges so fragrant they made her mouth water, bottles of club soda, all-natural crackers sprinkled with sea salt, icy gel packs….
“Seth must have told him I’m going to transform you. David says you’ll have difficulty keeping food down for a couple of days, but fresh-squeezed orange juice and club soda will help.”
“And crackers?”
“Crackers and pita chips.”
Sure enough, there were several bags of super-crunchy baked pita chips with sea salt included.
Had David known it was her favorite brand or had it simply been a lucky guess?
She looked at Roland.
His eyes had lost their glow and were once more brown, his expression just this side of stunned.
“This is really nice,” Sarah said, a little stunned herself. David didn’t even know her and had only encountered Roland a few times, yet he’d opened up his home to them, told them they could stay as long as they wanted to, and now this?
Roland nodded slowly. “It is.”
She smiled. It was going to take him awhile to get used to having friends rather than acquaintances. “Let’s put the soda and the oranges in the fridge and get the gel packs in the freezer.”