Then Luna repeated the same words and took a drink from her goblet.
“We are on sacred ground,” I said to Alexander.
“What?” he said.
Just then Sebastian turned to Luna. He held her hands and stared lovingly at her. He then took one hand and brushed her hair off of her neck. He smiled and leaned in.
I shoved the blueprints in front of Alexander and in my loudest voice declared, “We are on sacred ground!!!”
Sebastian stopped, and everyone in the club turned to me.
Alexander’s face turned white, but it was Sebastian’s face that was the most horrified. “What?”
I waved the blueprints. “We are over a real tomb. You are performing a real covenant ceremony!”
“I thought this was a joke. Just a game,” Sebastian said, stepping back. He looked at Luna, whose bright face fell.
Sebastian jumped off the stage and shook his head. Disgusted, he pushed past us and headed up the stairs.
Jagger’s face was red with anger.
Luna stood alone on the stage. It was the second time she’d been stood up at a covenant ceremony. First by Alexander, and now by Sebastian. Even I didn’t wish that kind of rejection for her. I could see the horror and sadness in her face. One tiny pink tear fell down her porcelain white cheek.
“Luna—” I said, jumping up onstage to comfort her.
She gave me a killer stare that made me shudder. Then she stormed off the stage and out of the club.
Alexander went after Sebastian. Jagger was nowhere in sight.
Matt held Becky in his arms.
While everyone was in chaos, I took a moment at the altar. I imagined Alexander and me standing together over the coffin. He’d recite foreign words and lift his goblet and drink. Then I’d do the same. We’d face each other and stare into each other’s eyes like a dream.
He’d take me in his arms and give me a lust-filled, passionate kiss, then slide his fangs up my shoulder until they met the nape of my neck.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for an eternity,” he’d say.
Then he’d take the final plunge.
I sighed, imagining how happy I’d feel.
I spun around to find no one else in the room but Trevor, who was staring straight at me.
“My turn?” he said with a coy smile. “I can be into freaky foreign customs, too.”
I grumbled and then stormed off the stage and out of the club.
Chapter 19
A Storm Is Brewing
So you think Trevor knows we’re vampires?” Alexander asked the next day when I met him at the Mansion.
“No, he thought it was just something weird you guys do. But Becky knows the truth.”
Alexander appeared worried. “Well, someone was bound to find out, I guess. It’s funny. I came here to escape the Maxwells and now I’ve brought them to your town.”
“You couldn’t have known,” I reassured him. “So is the feud back on?”
“It might be with Sebastian. But I think they were doing it to also get back at me.”
Just then we heard a knock from downstairs.
“Alexander, you have a visitor,” Jameson called. We headed out of the attic room and met Sebastian outside the TV room.
“Thanks, Raven. I owe you one.” He leaned in and gave me a hug.
“I knew you liked her, but. .,” I tried.
“So how are you doing?” Alexander asked.
“Pretty good,” he said.
“What’s going to happen to the Crypt?” I asked.
“It will remain open,” Sebastian said, “but Jagger’s losing a partner.”
“Are you leaving town?” I asked, not able to mask the sadness in my voice.
“For the first time there is nowhere else I want to go,” he said.
“Do you want to crash here?” Alexander asked.
“I don’t want to mess with your setup,” he said. “Besides, I need way more electricity than this Mansion can provide. I’ve found an apartment in town that’s cool.”
“You’re staying?” I asked excitedly.
“Yeah, for a little while.” He looked at his shoes as if he was trying to find the words. “I’ve always thought that Onyx was really pretty. And I don’t like the way Jagger doesn’t pay attention to her. She needs to know what a real boyfriend is like.”
“And you’re just the man?” I asked, thrilled.
“Who knows, I might be. Anyway, I just wanted to stop over and say thanks. I have to set up my new place. You guys can come over tonight if you want.”
“That sounds great. I’ll walk you out,” Alexander offered.
While I waited for him to return, I heard Alexander’s phone beeping from the table. It beeped. And beeped.
If I wasn’t calling him and neither was Sebastian, it might be his parents.
When I saw the caller ID, my heart sank.
Stormy.
Who was Stormy?
After a few moments of emotional flatlining, my blood pressure soared.
What do I do now?
I couldn’t be that girlfriend — the kind who snoops in drawers and closets and invades emails and texts. Or could I?
When I saw the number’s prefix, it was definitely foreign. Not from Dullsville or even the United States.
I looked at the message.
When are you coming back?
I miss you like crazy!
Luv, Stormy.
Stormy! “Luv?”
My thoughts raced. Alexander had another girlfriend? It was the last thing I was intending to find. The number was foreign, so this girl obviously didn’t live in Dullsville or even in this country. I hadn’t imagined Alexander could be involved with someone else. Who was this “Stormy”? Was she pretty? Was she a vampire? And was Alexander in love with her, too?
I paced in my boyfriend’s room. I gazed out the window. I tried to act calmly.
“That’s cool that Sebastian will be staying in town,” Alexander said when he reentered the room.
“Uh-huh,” I said flatly.
“What’s up?” he asked. “You seemed excited a few minutes ago.”
“I am,” I said indifferently.
“You seem weird. Distant. What’s wrong?”
“Uh. . nothing.”
I’d imagined Alexander to be someone that maybe he wasn’t. A guy who was straight and truthful. Who didn’t have girls in every country. He was so handsome and wildly hot, I was a fool to think that girls wouldn’t be throwing themselves at him.
I was wearing my broken heart on my black lace sleeve.
“Something’s up,” Alexander said. “I know that face.”
“I just thought we were only seeing each other,” I said, my voice cracking.
He was taken aback. “I am. Aren’t you?” he asked, bewildered.
“I thought you weren’t like other guys, like Trevor.” My heart was aching.
“What are you talking about?” Alexander asked.
“Who’s Stormy?” I asked. I handed him the phone.
Alexander paused. “You read my text?”
“The phone kept beeping and so I thought it might be something urgent. Something from your mother.”
“Raven—” he said.
“Who’s Stormy?” I demanded.
“She’s my sister!”
I was floored. “What?” I said. “You have a sister?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You have a sister?” I repeated.
“Yes. I have a little sister. Is that so terrible?”
“No! Well, yes, it is, because you never told me.”
“You never asked,” he said, half teasing. “And she never came up. I left my life suddenly when I came here to the Mansion. I didn’t know how long I’d stay. I didn’t plan on getting close to anyone here.”
“But I’ve never even seen a picture. Or painting.”
“Do you have a picture of Billy Boy in your room?”
“Uh. . good po
int. But you’ve never even talked about her.”
“I didn’t think I’d be able to be close to anyone here — then I met you. And everything changed. But really, when we’re together, I only want to talk about us.”
If I didn’t hear it straight from his dreamy lips, I’d have thought it was a line from a romantic movie.
“Honestly, talking about my family made me kind of miss them. So I never really did.”
His voice was so sincere, I felt lonely for my boyfriend’s situation. Here I was surrounded by my family, seeing them every day and celebrating my birthday with them. And Alexander lived in this big old Mansion alone.
I gave him a huge hug. First, I was sad for his plight, but second, I was so overjoyed that Alexander didn’t have a secret lover. But he did have a secret sister. It was one of the reasons I loved him so much. He was so mysterious, and even after all these months I was still learning things about him.
“Do you have a dog, too?” I asked.
Alexander laughed. “A few pet bats.”
“Stormy’s lucky,” I said. “She has the coolest big brother in the universe.”
Alexander beamed at the compliment.
“I can see why she misses you. I’d hate it if I had a big brother and he left town for another country.”
“She has full reign of the house. She’s in heaven.”
“I don’t think so. Not with a brother like you. Stormy Sterling,” I said. “It has an awesome ring to it.”
“Her real name is Athena, but we call her Stormy.”
“‘A’—like Alexander.”
He nodded.
“I bet she’s really cool.” Then it hit me. “She wants you to come home,” I said.
“Yes,” he said.
“So you’ll have to go?” I said, my heart breaking again. “For a short visit? Or forever?”
“It would just be a short visit.”
“I can’t take that,” I said selfishly. “We are already separated by the sunlight. Now by countries and weeks?”
“That’s why I convinced her to come here.”
“So you won’t have to go?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head.
“Then you’ll still be here,” I said, squeezing him with all my might. “And I’ll get to meet her, too?”
“Don’t be so excited. You’ll have wished I had gone home to visit. We call her Stormy for a reason,” he said.
And with that, Alexander turned off his phone.
Between creeps and Crypts, nemeses and best friends, pesky mortal families and visiting vampire parents and siblings, we were lucky enough to get any night time together. Alexander took this opportunity to lean in and flash his sexy fangs at me, and then led me into his closet room and opened his coffin and helped me inside.
He lowered the lid, closing the door on all worlds, mortal and immortal. He drew my hair back and rested his body next to mine. He pulled me in and kissed me with the heart and soul of a gorgeous, mysterious, and very romantic vampire.
Acknowledgments
To these fabulous people for their guidance in my career and support in my life: Katherine Tegen, Ellen Levine, Sarah Shumway, and Dad, Mom, Mark, Ben, Jerry, Hatsy, Emily, Max, Linda, and Indigo.
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Document creation date: 7.6.2011
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Cryptic Cravings vk-8 Page 16