“Come on,” he says as he breaks into a run. I love to run. I mean, before the change it was like pure hell, but now it is the best thing ever; the fact that I can move fast and my body responds without soreness or pain. If anything it is like the inhibitions that had kept me held back from using my body to its full extent are gone.

At some point Max drops my hand and we run side by side, arms pumping and legs working. I wonder what my time for a marathon would be, but then I would probably be disqualified for being non-human. Still, this has got to be my favourite thing. I glance at Max. So far.

We must have been running for about twenty minutes when Max slows. Before us is the high street of Sudbury on Thames. I start to walk.

“Which…

“So, whereabouts do they live?” Max asks as we leave the warehouse. Briefly I look back.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” I ask, ignoring the first question.

“Who? Aaron?” His voice has a snide tone and I scowl. There is no reason to be jealous.

“Colin,” I answer.

“Yeah,” he says, “he’ll be fine.”

He sounds confident but his hand tightens around mine and I know he is worried. “I can check myself,” I say.

“No, I can’t let you go alone.”

I sigh. This macho shit is getting tiring. I mean it’s nice to have someone look after me, especially as I’ve been alone since Ricky’s supposed death, but it is starting to grate on my nerves. “You understand that I don’t need looking after.”

Max raises an eyebrow. “Really? And who just saved your arse?”

“Who saved yours?” I snap.

He falls silent. “I have to.”

“What?”…

“So are you going to become one of us?” Colin asks.

The room falls silent and the tension becomes thick. Goosebumps spring up on my arms and I have the urge to run. I rub my arms and the simple movement draws the eyes of all the men. They look at me, each expression blank. Then Eric looks disgusted and Max gives a smile. Aaron seems curious and he is looking at me with an expression that suggests he wants to know me well. I can’t help but give a slight smile.

“I’m not going to become a freak,” Eric says. He doesn’t surprise me, nor does the fact that he is cuddling the shotgun in his hands. That man smells of nothing but fear.

Max looks at Aaron, and his expression is not pleasant. “What about you? Think we’re freaks?”

Aaron looks at me. “No, but I need to…

It’s all happening! The cover for the picture book is finished… This is for the paperback, the ebook will be slightly different.

Max leads me into a room that I must have been carried through but I don’t remember it. I do remember the people though. The lisp is looking at me with a bland expression but the other is scowling. Colin smiles.

“You alright?” he asks.

I nod. “One bit me.”

The lisp moves his hand closer to the gun slung across his shoulder.

“Careful,” Max says.

Colin plasters a grin on his face. “Now, guys, I did say that she wouldn’t turn.”

Tall and thin steps away from the wall and walks toward me. He moves with a grace that tells me although he doesn’t have a gun, he is the more dangerous of the two men.

“Hi,” he says and offers his hand to shake. I take it. “My name is Aaron.” His hand is warm and his grip is firm. I like him and can’t help but smile.

He pushes his way inside and I back up just enough to let me feel that I’m safe from being pulled into his arms.

“What’s this about?” he asks.

He looks worried and I try to smile. I want him to feel happy and not worried. I want him to feel I’m capable, but how can he when he saw.

“You saw me.”

“I do.”

I shake my head. “In the shower.”

His eyes darken and I see lust and also concern. He lusts after me… The thought surprises me. I’m no perfect picture. I know that my belly is more rounded than is fashionable, and that my thighs don’t have the sort after gap between them. They touch as I move, but he looks at me as though he could eat me.

“I did, and it took all my control not to go over and hold you.”

I look…

“This might hurt,” Max’s voice rumbles and I nod. I don’t trust my voice. “It’s because you have taken so much blood. When it bit you the poison worked its way into your system.”

I place my head against the cold tiles of the shower as I feel the slice of the blade. Immediately I feel as if something has been released. It’s almost a high and I feel my legs start to quiver. Max seems to understand because he pushes my body into the corner, using his closeness to keep my upright.

“It’s just got to drain.”

I don’t want to know what it looks like, but I can feel a sluggish liquid tracking down my arm.

“I’m turning on the shower.”

The next minute the water hits us. It is like a balm; the water is warm and I briefly wonder why they have power, but the simple…