Repressing her amusement, the woman offered an apologetic expression. “My apologies. When I said that sounds an interesting story, you reacted by—”
“By saying you have no idea,” Holly interrupted. “I know. I am awake, I promise.”
“Yes, you did, but you also thought of the last time you woke up in a strange bed,” she explained. “That was an interesting story, by the way,” she assured her with amusement and then mimicked in a deep voice, “ ‘You have won a lotto of sorts. The Bricker lotto.’ Yeesh, idiota.”
Holly’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you can read my thoughts?”
“Oh yes,” Gia assured her. “For instance, right now you’re thinking, “Holy shit, Justin was telling the truth about immortals being able to read minds and stuff.” She nodded solemnly and assured her, “Yes, he was. You haven’t yet gained the ability and are new to our ways, but I assure you it’s a skill necessary to our survival. Although,” she added with a twinkle in her eyes, “I do understand your thinking me a rude bitch for reading you like this.”
Holly slapped a dismayed hand over her own mouth. She never ever cursed. Well, okay, rarely ever. But she would definitely never call someone a bitch. Not out loud. She was constantly editing her thoughts when she spoke to avoid such things. Diplomacy and politeness had been drummed into her from the cradle. She couldn’t edit her thoughts, however. They just came as they were and yes she had thought Gia was rude to read her mind like that. Although she would deny the bitch part to her grave and hadn’t meant for her to hear that. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean—”
Gia waved off her apology with a laugh. “I’ve heard worse . . . and so will you once you learn to read minds. Mortals never guard their thoughts. They don’t realize anyone can hear them. They look at people and make snap judgments and have throwaway thoughts that could be terribly hurtful if you let them.” Expression growing solemn, she warned, “You will hear many unpleasant things from mortals once you start to be able to read minds. When you do, you have to try not to take them personally, at least from the people who do not know you.” She paused briefly and then added, “As for the ones who do know you . . .” Gia grimaced and then shrugged. “You will learn what they really think of you.” Reaching out, she patted her arm. “Even the people who love us occasionally have unpleasant thoughts about us. It can be very painful . . . which may be good. It makes it easier for many turns to break away from their families.”
Holly frowned. She had no intention of breaking away from her family, and she really didn’t think they would have hurtful thoughts about her. She had very loving and supportive parents. They were tight-knit; they’d had to be. All they’d had was each other while she was growing up.
“So you have never had an unpleasant thought about anyone you love?” Gia asked, raising her eyebrows. “You’ve never thought your mother was a bit of a nag, or your father was anal and sometimes seemed to care more about a bunch of bones than he did the living breathing women in his life?”
Holly’s eyes widened. “You read my mind,” she realized and breathed out a little sigh before admitting, “Yes, I’ve thought both those things . . . and I guess they would be hurtful to my parents.” She grimaced and added, “And I suppose they may have had the occasional unpleasant thought about me too.”
Gia smiled faintly and shrugged. “No one’s perfect. We all have moments when we’re stubborn, or selfish, or act like a spoiled brat. People who truly love us know this, and love us despite it. The ones who ignore those tendencies and pretend we’re perfect don’t really see us at all, they see what they want us to be . . . and that’s not really love. Anyway,” she added, standing up and smiling now. “Enough of this serious business. We should see you changed and take you downstairs. Justin and the boys are waiting for you to wake up before deciding what to do about dinner.”
“The boys?” Holly asked uncertainly.
“Anders and Decker are here too.”
“Right,” Holly breathed with a frown. She didn’t recognize either name.
“They work with Justin,” Gia explained. “Lucian dropped you all off before heading home to Leigh and the bambini.”
Holly thought bambini might mean “baby.” She had no idea who Lucian and Leigh were though. Frankly, she didn’t much care either. She was too busy being relieved that Justin was there, and at the same time confused by that relief. He was mostly a stranger too.
“Bambini means babies,” Gia explained, turning to head for the door as she continued, “Lucian and Leigh have twins. And of course Justin is here. You are his life mate. He turned you. It is his job to train you to survive as one of us.”
“Right . . . as a vampire,” Holly muttered. Standing to follow her, she asked. “So, you can read my mind because you’re one?”
“Of course. So are the boys,” Gia said on a laugh.
“So is this a . . . er . . . like a hive of vampires? You all live together and . . .” She let the question trail off because Gia had paused at the door and turned back, chuckling at the suggestion.
“No. This is not a hive, as you call it. This house belongs to Lucian’s nephew, Vincent Argeneau. He and his wife, Jackie, are out of town and I offered to house-sit.”
“Oh.” Holly tilted her head. “So why are the rest of us here?”
“Ah.” Gia wrinkled her nose. “Well, Lucian was going to take you back home to Canada for your training, but—”
“Canada!” Holly squawked with horror. She’d simply assumed she was still in California, but the mention of Canada made her wonder.
“You are still in California,” Gia assured her.
“Oh,” Holly murmured, wishing the woman would stop this mind-reading business. She let that thought go as she realized that Gia had said “back home to Canada.” The words seemed to suggest that Justin and the others were just visiting California, that they hailed from Canada. Weather aside, it was hard to believe vampires came from there. Canadians were known for being so polite, so . . . nice. Heck, James liked to joke that if America ever invaded Canada, Canadians would probably apologize for being in their way. It seemed the unlikeliest place for vampires to come from.
When a burst of laughter slipped from Gia’s lips, Holly realized the woman must still be reading her thoughts, and flushed with embarrassment.
“Well,” Gia said with amusement. “Vampires, or immortals as we prefer to be called, aren’t exactly from Canada. I mean they didn’t originate there, though that is where Lucian and some others now live. But you can find them all over. I am from Italy, for instance, and some live in the States as well. In fact, Justin is originally from here in California,” she informed her.
“Is he?” Holly asked with surprise. Vampires from her home state . . . Who knew? It was often referred to as sunny California and for a reason . . . one that didn’t seem to her to make it vampire friendly. She shook that thought away and asked, “Why was he going to take me to Canada for my training?”
“Because that is where Justin, Lucian, and the others now live. Actually, that’s where I was staying too until I came to house-sit for Vincent and Jackie,” she announced. “So, he thought it best to take you there, at least temporarily. But Justin argued against it.”
Holly had been about to interrupt until she added that last part, but now blinked in surprise. “Justin did?”
“Si. He seemed to think you would be more comfortable getting your training here in California.”
He was right, Holly thought. She would have been super stressed to wake up and find herself not only in a strange bed, but a strange country as well, with no passport or way home. At least this way she could get home under her own steam if Justin refused to take her there. She had agreed to talk to him, and to get blood, but she had no intention of spending any longer than she had to here. As soon as she had the thought, Holly tried to forget it. She didn’t want Gia to get wind of that and try to stop her. Fortunately, the woman didn’t seem to pick up on the thought, because she continued her explanations.