"I'm the only one?" I said with surprise. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "There was another fledgling who had the blood of three master vamps, but he was recently set on fire by hunters and pulled apart by dogs. Apparently he saw it coming in one of those prophetic dreams." He shrugged. "I've researched it. It has to be a fledgling and it has to be the blood of more than one master vampire. That's you. You're so lucky. Masters almost never let fledglings drink from them."

My stomach lurched. "I'm going back to Haven."

"You need to bite me. Please, bite me, Sarah."

"Bite him, Sarah," Heather echoed. "Don't worry, I won't be jealous."

The cold wind picked up and I could hear it whistle through the dry branches overhead, shifting the loose snow so that it fell lightly to the ground close by. I sighed with frustration. "How many different ways can I say no?"

Heather's eyes narrowed. "You bitch. How can you be so selfish?"

I glared at her. "Selfish? Because I don't want to bite your boyfriend? How is that selfish?"

Then I felt a hand at my waist and the unmistakable feeling of a sharp wooden stake at my throat. Josh was now behind me.

"We tried to do this the easy way." The friendliness and pleading were now gone from his voice. "Ask you nicely. Pay you, even. But I'm not taking no for an answer."

Immediate panic gripped me as tightly as Josh had. "The easy way? By lying about a job?"

"God, get over it, would you? This is the job. You're going to sire me or I'm going to kill you."

Any move I made would send the stake directly into my jugular so I tried not to budge, even though my entire body felt like a live wire. Perhaps a different tactic would be a good idea.

"The Slayer of Slayers doesn't take kindly to threats, asshole," I growled, trying to sound as tough as I could through the fear as sharp as the stake at my throat.