I nodded, turning away from the fire.
“Just a little cold.”
He nodded.
“Brain freeze from the cold beer. I got you.” He slung his heavy arm around my shoulders and squeezed, rubbing his hand up and down my back to warm me. He led me to a massive fallen slab of stone and sat down with a thump, bringing me with him.
Hello, Mr. Muscles.
He was strong, for a human. But I still had to force myself to bend my knees. Otherwise, he would have noticed my body was pretty much as strong as solid steel.
Maybe I was more like marble… a living statue, but softer thankfully. But my body was even stronger than stone. If you dropped me, I wouldn’t crack.
I sighed in relief as I felt my fangs recede.
At least that wasn’t going to get in the way if he kissed me.
Whoa, Sash. Slow your roll. Kiss me? What the heck was I even thinking about?
I had clearly lost my mind, because when he offered to get us another beer I handed him my cup. Then I sat there for an hour, sipping bad beer. I snuggled under the comforting weight of his arm and made small talk.
Small talk. Me. Bernard would fall over laughing if he could see me.
Vampires did not make small talk.
Of course, I had to evade almost all his questions about who I was and where I’d grown up. My family. My life. But it was oddly comfortable, all things considered. It didn’t feel invasive. It was just… nice.
“Hey, what time do you have to be back?”
I shrugged, starting to feel a little bit buzzed. I didn’t want to go back. I was too annoyed with Caleb and knew he’d give me a lecture the minute I walked through the door.
Maybe I’d get lucky and they wouldn’t even notice I was gone. I could just climb through the window and they would be none the wiser.
Yeah, right. That was not happening. I was sure they’d realized I was gone in minutes, if not right away.
“I don’t have an exact curfew.”
True. I wasn’t supposed to be out at all, so Caleb had not specified a time I had to be back.
“No shit? Your parents must be really chill.”
“They are, about some things. They trust me.”
False. They might trust me, but neither of my guardians were even remotely chill. Bernard was relaxed and easy going on a good day, but never about my safety.
They were probably going out of their minds right about now. Ugh, crap. My conscience reared its ugly, way too responsible, head.
“I should probably get back.”
He grabbed my hand as I stood, tugging me towards him.
“We’re going out for pancakes. You should come.” He stood up, his body so close I could feel the delicious warmth coming off him. I leaned into it unconsciously, like a cat. “It’s a tradition.”
His voice was husky and intimate. He was close enough to kiss me. I waited, but he didn’t make a move. He just stared at me, his bright blue eyes lit up by the firelight. I shivered, goosebumps breaking out all over my skin.
“Tradition?”
“Uh huh. Beer, then pancakes.” His perfect white teeth glinted in the firelight. “Carb loading. We do it when we are training hard. Sort of like a big, communal cheat day.”
My stomach actually rumbled. I pressed a hand over my stomach, hoping he couldn’t hear it. This was what I deserved for skipping out on dinner.
“Pancakes, huh?”
He grinned.
“With blueberries and syrup. They have a real old school griddle.” I think I started to drool. “And bacon.”
That cinched it. I was going for pancakes. I freaking loved pancakes.
“Okay.”
He grinned like he’d just won the lottery and I felt my knees get a little wobbly. Dylan was charming. And nice. And so normal it was disarming.
In fact, his normalcy might have been the most seductive thing about him. Well, other than his muscles. He smiled at me, looking at me like I was the pancake and he couldn’t wait to cover me in syrup and butter.
Yeah… he definitely had a crush on me.
I blinked. I had just realized something. The crush was mutual.
Bad bad bad.
He might as well have a flashing sign on his forehead that read ‘DANGER’ in red lights. I felt a sense of panic overwhelming me. Everything had been fine before this moment, before I realized how much I liked him.
How much I wanted him to like me.
I was a breath away from pulling a Jedi mind trick and glamouring him to forget me. Forget I even existed. Then I would dash off into the woods and never speak to him again.
If I told him to forget me, he would. It would just be a blank spot in his mind. And that made me a little sad.
I wondered sometimes if people who had been glamoured to forget ever sat around, wondering if they had misplaced their car keys. They would look, find them in their pocket and then think they had lost something else.
I had a terrible suspicion they would know something was missing. Just not what was missing. Ever.
I didn’t want to do that to Dylan.
His fingers brushed my cheek before I could move and then he kissed me, softly. Just once. It wasn’t a long kiss and he didn’t try to slobber all over me.
It was perfect. He was perfect.
I stared at him as he pulled back, his eyes deep and blue and true.
“Sophie—”
“Come on, the pancake train is pulling out!”
He was tackled as I held perfectly still, large teenage boys roughhousing all around me. But I was somewhere else. I could still feel his lips on mine, soft and pillowy. He smelled delicious. Good enough to eat.
Oops.
The fangs were back.
That was going to be a problem if I kept hanging around with him. I was going to have to remind myself over and over again. Maybe I could turn it into a song. Or a mantra.
Get all zen about it.
Do not eat Dylan. Do not eat Dylan. Do not eat Dylan.
I ducked my head and followed him to the designated driver’s SUV. The kids around here were not mega rich, but it was a nice car. Most likely it belonged to someone’s parents. It was a light gray color, big and safe looking.
Caleb couldn’t complain about me getting a ride in this, I thought as I slid into the roomy back seat. Even though I suspected he would not be thrilled I had gotten in a car with a human driver, let alone an untested teenage driver.
Dylan pulled me against him as drunk kids piled in. Um… yeah, Caleb would freak if he could see me. This was not exactly the safest way to ride. If there was an accident, these kids would get messed up bad with no seat belts.
Meanwhile, I would most likely walk away without a scratch.
As long as it didn’t explode or something.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a long ride. Even though I didn’t mind being smushed up against Dylan, I was afraid someone might comment on my relatively low body temperature, or how unyielding my body was.
I was lucky. They were either too drunk to notice, or just too oblivious. Before I knew it, we were pulling into an old school twenty-four hour pancake house called Millie’s on the far side of town.
It looked like it was straight out of a black and white movie from the 1940s. I smiled, thinking how much Bernard would like it. He loved old movies. It was too bad he couldn’t actually eat pancakes.
But he could sniff them. And maybe he’d get a sugar high if he drank from someone who’d just eaten a stack. Half the country was addicted to sugar, if the news was right. So there would be plenty of sweet stuff to go around.
Focus on the pancakes Sash. Not what a diabetic’s blood might taste like.
I straightened my clothes and patted my hair as we got out of the car. We all looked disheveled, and not unlike we were getting out of one of those clown cars at the circus.
Dylan took my hand and tugged me towards him. Once again, I had to remind myself to act physically weaker than I was. I
was usually annoyed by having to act ‘human.’ To slow down when I ran. Or pretend to be cautious and fragile.
For some reason with Dylan, I didn’t mind.
Probably because he was ridiculously good looking.
“Hungry?”
I nodded. Yes, I was hungry. I’d like to bite him. But I was not going to. I wasn’t even going to let my fangs pop. I closed my eyes and exhaled.
Down girl.
I was just a normal teenage girl, on a date. Or kind of a date? I didn’t know. This was a night of firsts. My first human party. My first —maybe?— date. My first kiss, for sure.
It all felt surreal, like I was a little girl playing make believe. But one thing was for sure, I told myself as we opened the door and the sugary sweet smell hit me. I inhaled deeply and smiled.
Tonight, I was going to eat pancakes.
Chapter 8
“Wow, you were hungry!”
Dylan’s friend Brian looked impressed. I laughed. I did eat a lot for my size. If only they knew how much exercise I was really getting, it would make sense.
In a weird way, the mental exercises were even more draining than my physical training.
Training. Caleb. Bernard.
“Wait, what time is it?”
“Almost two.”
“Oh no!”
I stood up abruptly. Dylan moved out of the way so I could scramble out of the booth. I reached into my pocket for money, but Dylan stopped me.
“I got it.”
“Thanks.”
I hurried outside, pulling out my phone to check the map. My stomach dropped when I saw the screen. I had about fifty missed calls and texts.
Crap.
I’d been angry when I left, but I didn’t mean to freak them out. Judging from the number of messages, they were more than freaking. They were most likely out looking for me, putting themselves at risk of discovery.
I realized suddenly what a total jerk I was. My guardians loved and protected me for years. They had dedicated their lives to my cause and I pulled this.
I had to get home. Now.
Dylan murmured something about walking me home or waiting for the designated driver to take me home. I knew I could run way faster than a car. He argued with me, flat out refusing to let me go.
I groaned in frustration as he held my arm. I knew I had two choices if I wanted to get home: I could make a run for it or I could glamour him. But I tried the normal, human approach first.
“I’m okay. I like running.”
“Sophie, there is no way I’m letting you run home alone at this hour.”
“No one will mess with me.” My voice was urgent but I tried to smile. “I have pepper spray.”
It was ordinary silver spray, bought at a health food store. But there was no need to tell him that. And it didn’t matter anyway. Dylan was not budging.
He shook his head.
“No way.”
“I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Not good enough.”
He shook his head, staring at me with a very determined look on his face. I sighed, realizing I had no choice but to glamour him. It’s not like I could show Dylan and his buddies where I lived anyway.
That is most definitely against Caleb’s rules of keeping a low profile.
Vampire protection program 101:
Rule #1: Do not reveal location of secret lair.
Rule #2: Do not eat handsome teenagers even if they smell like pancakes and sunshine.
Rule #3: Glamour aforementioned hunky teen boy if he gets too protective and demands to escort you to secret lair.
I exhaled, hoping this didn’t ruin our connection. Then I looked him in the eyes. I felt the power pulse out of me, washing over him in waves.
“You are going to go back inside right now and forget all about this. I will be fine. You won’t worry.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. The look he was giving me was incredulous. And all too aware.
What was happening?
“Yes, I will.”
I stared at him, realizing he wasn’t glamoured. Not even a little bit. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t make a human do whatever I wanted just by commanding it.
That was… weird.
His friends chose that moment to come outside. I breathed a sigh of relief as they distracted Dylan and got in the car. I debated telling him I was getting a cab and then gave up. I knew he would only insist on going with me.
He was just too much of a gentleman to let me go home alone. It wasn’t in his nature. Little did he know that I was very close to indestructible. That I would be alive centuries after he was gone.
Well, if the New Leaders didn’t eat me and toss my limbs into a fire.
Two fires.
Either way, I definitely didn’t need his paltry human protection. He was worm food when it came down to it. But the thought of a world without Dylan was indescribably sad to me.
I knew it was a long time off, but I didn’t want to see him get old and die.
He took my arm and escorted me to the car with a firm grip. I rolled my eyes. And I’d just been thinking such nice, I —wish —you —were —immortal —too kinds of thoughts about him.
Man, this whole chivalry thing was kind of annoying.
“Drop Sophie first.”
“Where to?”
I bit my lip, then gave into the inevitable.
“Route 17. Pull over at the mill.”
“You got it.”
* * *
Ten minutes later we pulled into a gravel drive beside a deserted building. It was an old mill from the early nineteenth century. It was dilapidated, falling in on itself, though the walls still stood. A stream ran through the back under a giant wooden wheel, now partially submerged and rotting under the water.
It was too bad that no one had tried to restore the cool, old building. I thought about it every time I passed it on my way to and from school.
Well, when my guardians didn’t drive me.
My guardians.
The two vamps who cared about me the most. The two who were literally having a cow right now. I’d frantically texted them in the car, getting the tersest reply ever from Caleb and nothing from Bernard.
“Thanks. I got it from here.”
Dylan tried to argue about letting me out on side of the road. I told him that my ‘cool parents’ might ‘never let me near him again’ if he came within fifty feet of our house.
“Besides it’s literally five minutes away.”
“What about bears?”
“Dylan, seriously, they are going to crap a brick as it is.”
He held up his hands.
“You win. Text me when you're inside.”
“I will.”
I scooted out before he could kiss me in front of his friends. I felt him wanting to, as clearly as if he’d spoken the words aloud. The car didn’t move, so I took off at a jog. I knew they were waiting to see me turn off the main road.
Yeah, not going to happen.
I was still at least half a dozen miles from the private road that led to the farmhouse. I improvised, turning down a random driveway and then darting sideways into the woods. I didn’t bother looking back or hiding my speed. It was dark and I knew I was well hidden by the trees.
I raced deeper into the woods, crossing several driveways. The sporadic signs of civilization gave way to longer stretches of woods, with a few rarely used dirt roads. There were signs here and there about hunting season.
It was far, but took only minutes before I came to our drive. I was running at top speed. I turned up the gravel road, running toward the old farm house.
I stared at the house, the feeling of dread intensifying exponentially.
Not surprisingly, all the lights were on. What was surprising was parked out front. There were more vehicles here than I’d ever seen before. An unfamiliar luxury SUV and a shiny black motorcycle.
So… either Caleb had gone on a late-night spending spree
or we had visitors.
Which was rare. Extremely rare.
I groaned, realizing there was no use in sneaking back in through the window. Just own it. Apologize firmly. Then grovel, if necessary.
I exhaled and walked up the porch stairs, adjusting my hair. The door opened as I reached for it. Bernard looked overjoyed for a split second before a worried expression took over his face.
He looked over his shoulder and I immediately saw why. Caleb’s face was hard and cold. He was beyond angry.
And not just that either.
He was not alone.
I’d been right about the extra vehicles but I still wasn’t expecting this. I stopped in my tracks, staring at all the unfamiliar faces in our living room. There were five of them. The one I knew was called Vlad, one of my father’s soldiers who helped keep us informed. The other four were Vampires I’d never seen before.
We had company.
Chapter 9
“Your Highness.”
The newcomers all bowed. I stood there like an idiot, fidgeting while Caleb glared at me. He didn’t move from where he was leaning against the wall.
He looked calm and collected but I knew that was a lie. The fact that he was revealing nothing meant that he was too furious to speak. I swallowed nervously.
I’d really messed up this time. Guilt pooled in my stomach, filling me with self-loathing. It would serve me right if he stopped speaking to me altogether.
On the other hand, that might be a good thing. I knew I was in for a tongue lashing. I knew that I deserved it, too. And judging from the look in his eyes, it was not going to be short.
Or quiet.
Or dignified.
I only hoped he would wait until we were alone.
After all, I had my pride.
Finally, he spoke. His voice was deceptively civilized. Like he wasn’t a pissed off supernatural killer. I had a feeling that had to do more with our guests than anything else.
“Where have you been, Sasha?”
“Call her Sophie, Caleb.”
I blinked. If Bernard had to remind him to use my fake name, we were in bigger trouble than I realized. Caleb bared his fangs.
Vampire Princess Page 5