Free Trials (The Forever Series, Book 6) by Eve Newton

being human.”
    “I think you would quite like being a Vampire,” I tease him.
    “If I said now, okay, Liv, turn me. You would just do it.
Easy as that?” he asks, changing tactic.
    “No, not easy as that. It isn’t something you just do. You
have to be completely sure because there is no going back. And I wouldn’t do
it. I would have to find someone else to do it.”
    “Why not you? You are the only one who can bite me,” he
says, now interested enough to pursue this conversation.
    “I am not sure what my elevated status would bring with a
siring. And I can just picture CK’s face if I told him I would have yet another
bond to ‘nurture’ as he calls it.”
    He laughs long and hard at that, “Oh, Christ. So can I, now
that you mention it!”
    I laugh with him, enjoying his company. I say, “I am
intrigued though…can Hunters be turned? You know, due to the fact that your
blood incapacitates?”
    “Yes,” he says. “There have been a few who have gone to the
dark side. As you well know, a Vampire doesn’t have to drain to sire.”
    “Good to know,” I say with a tilt to my head and he shakes
his at me. “And yes, that is true. Jess aside, I myself was fatally wounded
when CK turned me.”
    “Well, Queen Liv. I fancy that option even less than you
sucking me dry.”
    “What if I gave you another option?” I say, suddenly
serious.
    “What do you mean?”
    “What if you could live a longer life, not age, but not be a
Vampire?”
    “How would you propose to do that?”
    “I have a theory but it needs testing,” I admit.
    “You want me to be a guinea pig?”
    “Only if you want to. Haven’t you already noticed a
difference in your behavior after the blood oath you swore to me?” I ask.
    “What do you mean?” he asks confused.
    “I mean you may have started out with this job because you
said you know how to pick a side, but don’t you feel differently now?”
    He stares at me for the longest time and doesn’t look all
that happy as he says, “Yes, I suppose I do.”
    “I…I am not used to having humans around me, working for me
so closely. I get too attached, it will sadden me when you…you know…” I admit
then cautiously.
    “Oh, bless you,” he says. “You will miss me when I am dead.
I am flattered,” he jokes, but I am not joking.
    “Cade,” I say. “I am being serious. Just think about it.
Please? Thirty-odd years is a lot for you. It’s nothing to me and it will go by
quickly. Even then you will have to stop working before that time is up.”
    “You are being completely serious now, aren’t you? You want
me to stick around,” he says.
    “I do.”
    “Hm. Well, it isn’t ever something I have thought about, but
the answer is still no, thank you. It’s unnatural and therefore falls into the
category of Supernatural.”
    “We’ll see. And I prefer Paranormal.”
    “It just annoys you, doesn’t it? That I don’t want to be
like you.”
    “I wouldn’t say annoy. I’m just surprised. Do you know how
many people would love to be in your shoes? Asked to be turned instead of
asking?”
    “No, can’t say as I do,” he says. “How many have asked you
and you declined?”
    “Hundreds. More probably.”
    “Really? That many?” He sounds surprised.
    “Yes, that many.”
    “I guess I am more surprised that you told that many people
what you are.”
    “A thousand years worth of Feeders and acceptors is a long
time, Cade. A long time to be alone.”
    “You don’t seem very alone to me.”
    “Not now, no. But there was a time when I was very much
alone.”
    “Want to tell me more about this Lance? It might help with
the research,” he says casually.
    “Erm, well as I said, he was evil. He took me and held me
captive for about twelve years,” I say just as casually, still tapping my nails
on the table.
    “Captive?”
    “That’s the nice word for it.”
    “Oh. I guess then you don’t really want to talk about it?”
    “Not really.”
    “Did he hurt