Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands

Author:Lynsay Sands
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-08-11T01:50:09+00:00

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Chapter 13

"We're going to try systematic desensitization," Greg announced.

"Oh?" Lissianna said politely, and he couldn't help but notice that she looked more wary than impressed with this news. He wasn't surprised; fear was a terrible thing and difficult to deal with, and that's what they were about to do, deal with Lissianna's fear and, hopefully, cure her phobia.

There were other things Greg would rather do with Lissianna than deal with her phobia, but Marguerite had been so upset to learn that they'd done absolutely no therapy while she'd slept that he'd found himself promising they would work on it directly after he and the twins ate the dinner he was making. So, here they were, in the library for what Lissianna had referred to as their first torture session.

"Will this systematic desensitization work?"

"It should. It's very effective with phobias," he assured her.

"Okay." She blew out a breath, straightened her shoulders, and asked, "What do I have to do?"

"Well, I'll need you to think of situations that cause the anxiety, and—"

"I don't feel anxiety about blood," Lissianna interrupted. "1 just faint."

"Yes, but—" Greg paused, then tilted his head, and asked, "Do you know why you react to blood like this? I wouldn't think it was a common complaint among your kind. When did it first start?"

Lissianna peered down and Greg followed the move, noting that she was twisting her hands together in her lap. Blood might just make her faint, but she was definitely feeling some anxiety at the idea of talking about when it started. After a long silence, she glanced up, and reluctantly admitted, "It started after my first hunt."

The tortured expression on her face was hard to handle. He'd seen it before on the faces of his patients, but this was different. Greg wanted to wrap his arms around Lissianna and say she need never think about it again, that he'd keep her safe. He didn't, of course. Lissianna wanted the tools and know-how to be free of her phobia. She wasn't Meredith. That was one of the things he liked best about her.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Tell me about your first hunt."

"I… Well, I was thirteen," she said slowly and Greg managed not to flinch outwardly. Just thirteen. Christ! A child, but then he reminded himself that it was a necessary skill Lissianna would have needed, one that would have kept her alive if anything had happened to her parents, and she'd needed to fend for herself.

If he was having trouble hearing this, Greg knew it was worse for her. He decided to give Lissianna a chance to get used to the idea of discussing it and satisfy his curiosity at the same time.

"How did you feed before that?" he asked, and felt some of the tension leave him when she relaxed a little.

"Before blood banks, I used to have… well, the vampire equivalent of wet nurses I guess. Only I didn't suckle at their breast, I bit their wrists or necks."

When Greg grimaced, she added, "Now that there are blood banks, wet nurses aren't needed.

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