Born in Twilight: Twilight Vows by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page B

once more, and a strong young man entered, handed me a glass of scarlet liquid and left without a word. Not a word. As if I were an inanimate object or a pet to be fed. I drank the cold stale sustenance he’d provided, but it lacked the invigorating warmth of blood drawn from the living. That warmth I still recalled suffusing my body as I fed at the throat of that beautiful man who’d offered to help me.
    But I didn’t want that warmth. I didn’t want to prey on the innocent. I wanted to be mortal again, to have my old life back. And so I drank, and I prayed it would not be long I’d have to remain in this place.
    Â * * *
    Hilary Garner listened to Rose Sversky’s report, and tried to keep a semblance of clinical detachment on her face. She wasn’t certain she succeeded. But she tried.
    â€œWe’ve successfully harvested and fertilized a single egg from the subject. Only one. The implantation will have to go off without a hitch, and if it doesn’t take, I’m not certain we’ll get another shot. We may have to have another subject or two before we achieve success.”
    Fuller nodded, his narrow-eyed gaze slipping to Hilary’s face every so often, as if he were watching for something. A slip. She kept her expressionless mask firmly in place. She’d show this man nothing. There was nothing she could do, anyway.
    â€œSchedule the implantation for tonight,” he said. “Let’s get this experiment under way. How is the subject?”
    Rose smiled her grandmotherly smile. “Irony always amazes me, Mr. Fuller, but this time it’s overwhelmed me. The subject is a virgin.”
    Fuller’s brows rose high. “You’re kidding me.”
    â€œNo. Other than that odd state of affairs, she remains completely cooperative. She still believes she’s going to become mortal again. She won’t give us any trouble.”
    â€œDon’t get too complacent, Sversky,” Fuller said. “She’ll give us plenty of trouble once she realizes she’s pregnant. And she’ll have to realize it, sooner or later.”
    â€œYes, well, she will if the implantation is successful.”
    Fuller nodded. “Best prepare one of the maximum-security cells for her. Once she figures it out, she’ll fight us every step of the way.” He shook his head. “A freaking virgin birth. Wasn’t she some kind of nun before she was changed over?”
    â€œSomething like that,” Sversky said with a chuckle.
    â€œWill wonders never cease?” Fuller replied. He leaned back in his chair and began filling his pipe.
    Â * * *
    I was slowly going insane. Stir-crazy would be the closest term. I had no books. No television. No radio. I was allowed to bathe nightly. And my liquid meals were brought to me by soft-spoken, even respectful individuals dressed in white. From glasses, not warm bodies, I fed. And the sustenance was diluted. Thin and cold, and I began to suspect, laced with some sort of tranquilizer. Since coming here, I’d never once felt that odd surge of vampiric strength that I’d felt before.
    I should have known, I suppose. I should have seen the signs. The heavily veiled disgust in the eyes of those caregivers. The glances they exchanged. When I objected to any of the conditions I lived under, I was told that they’d never be able to help me get back to being mortal again, unless I cooperated with them. So I did.
    And oh, that was so foolish! So incredibly foolish.
    I had no idea why they would want to do what they did to me. No clue. Not in my wildest imaginings could I concoct a reason. But it soon became apparent.
    Months had passed before I understood what was happening. Truly understood it. My belly began to swell, and more than that. I could sense a life force within me. I could feel it there. A separate entity. Living, growing, inside me. I was, I realized, stunned, with child.
    And as that knowledge came to