The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

  I was organizing the contents of my backpack when the hair on my neck and arms stood up. I was not alone anymore, and I felt the presence of a very powerful vampire. It was not one of my friends.

  I braced myself and turned around very slowly. I nearly jumped from surprise, but tried my best to hide my alarm, when I saw Cliff's mother standing in front of me.

  "What are you doing here?" I asked, desperately trying to keep my voice even. I was grateful that I didn't have a heartbeat that would alert her to how I was feeling. She was one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world, and her presence felt like a heavy weight.

  "I need to talk to you, Marguerite," Francine said.

  "Do my parents know that you're here?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  She glared at me and avoided my question. "You and Clifford are destined to be together. He's supposed to rule the kingdom as much as you are. He's been in training his entire life. He's also spent the last fourteen years waiting for your return. Instead of spending time with friends, he spent his time alone, dreaming of you. I pushed him to live a normal life but he was intent on waiting for you. He did the bare minimum of what I asked him because he's a good son, but his heart never left you for a second."

  What was she trying to do? Was she there to threaten me? I wished that she would just get to the point instead of dragging it out.

  "I don't expect you to understand this," she continued. "You've been raised by humans all of these years. I never agreed with the decision, but your parents thought it was the best way to keep you safe. Now you know nothing about vampire culture."

  "I'm in love with Cliff and I have every intention to learn all that I can about vampire royalty, culture, history, prophecies, and whatever else I need to know. You don't need to worry about me. Let my parents do that."

  "It is not you that I'm worried about. I'm worried about my son and the future of the kingdom."

  "You're worried about your family line," I told her with much more confidence than I was feeling. My senses were screaming danger.

  "Of course I'm concerned about my family line! You went and turned that human with your blood. This could change everything."

  "I have no intention of removing Cliff from the throne. I've loved him since I was a baby and nothing will change that. I let my feelings become misguided with Tanner, who was being a friend to me when Cliff was gone. And I was also subject to the spell set by Samantha when Tanner was wearing the ring. I also haven't received the help that I've needed since I found out that I'm a vampire."

  "You will not take that tone with me."

  I looked into her eyes. "When you come to me behind my parents' back and threaten me, I will use any tone I want."

  "I most certainly have not threatened you, Marguerite. I am merely having a discussion with you."

  "You can call me Alexis. That's what I go by now. If you would like to carry this discussion further, we'll set up a time with my parents."

  "I'll have to have a discussion with Clifford to teach you our rules of etiquette. You need to learn the proper way to speak to your elders."

  "You could use a lesson on the chain of command. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to go behind my parents' back like this. Does your husband even know that you're here? I would think if you had his support, he would be here too. Or that you might have had a meeting that involved Cliff as well. Am I right?"

  "You're a mouthy one."

  "I think that it's time for you to leave. I have things to do."

  "I will not be ordered around by a child."

  "I could give my parents a call. What do you think they would say?"

  She made a huffing sound and said, "We are not finished with this conversation."

  "Yes we are. Goodbye."

  She glared at me and disappeared through the wall. I waited a minute to make sure that she had really left and wasn't coming back. Then I started shaking and fell on my bed. I had sounded so sure of myself when I spoke with her, but I felt nothing but fear. I didn't know what she was capable of.

  My door opened and Clara came in, shutting it behind her. "What was that?" she exclaimed.

  "Did you overhear that?" I asked, not even looking up.

  "I felt Francine's presence like a thick cloud, and then I listened in on your conversation. I can't believe it!"

  "Was I out of line?"

  "Not you! She was completely in the wrong to visit you here without your parents' knowledge!"

  "Well, she did threaten to start a war if I didn't choose Cliff. She's more concerned about getting her line on the throne than anything else."

  She shook her head. "I'm in shock. She must really be worried about the possibility of you choosing Tanner."

  "I already told my parents and Cliff that I'm going to let Tanner go. There's no contest."

  "Why didn't you tell her that?"

  "I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of thinking that she influenced my decision in any way."

  "We need to talk about this with Cliff, find out if he's involved at all."

  "What?" I exclaimed. "He told me that his parents had acted rashly when they threatened war. I don't think he would agree to this, either."

  "If you think so, then we'll leave it alone for now."

  "You don't sound so sure. Do you think that I should bring this up with Cliff?" I asked.

  "Cliff and your parents. If she thinks that she can get away with this, she'll keep it up. If Cliff is truly against it then he'll confront her on it."

  "Let me think about it. I don't want to make any rash decisions myself. I'm too shaken up at the moment."

  THREE

  I was sitting in the examining room waiting for the appointment to be over. I was nervous to use mind control on a doctor and I wasn't sure if it would work, but I knew that it had to. I had no way of explaining how I could be dead yet functioning.

  A nurse came in and smiled at me. "Hi, Alexis. I'm really glad to see you here. The whole town was so worried about you and Tanner. Your return was such a relief!"

  "At least we weren't gone long," I told her. "It was just a week. Some kids who get abducted are gone months and others never return. Not only were we only gone a short time but we're both doing very well." I wasn't using mind control yet on her but I thought if I could convince her normally it would be easier than using mind control. I hoped.

  She smiled again. "It's no wonder that you made it through the ordeal; you're so strong and so level headed."

  "That's what I've always been known for."

  "Let me just get started by taking your blood pressure," she said, as if that would be the most simple thing to accomplish.

  I looked into her eyes and said steadily, "I'm fine. My blood pressure is great."

  Her expression went blank and she said like a robot, "You're fine and your blood pressure is great." She wrapped my arm in the black velcro thing and I felt it go tight and loose a few times. "That's perfect," she said and wrote something down on my chart. She put her warm hand on my cool skin and said, "Your temperature feels fine too."

  I let out a sigh of relief and said, "What did I tell you?"

  "I'm glad that you're doing so well after everything," she said, seeming to be back to normal. "The doctor will be in to see you shortly."

  "Thanks," I said as she was on her way out of the room. I hoped that it would go as smoothly with the doctor. I started twirling a strand of hair nervously and then felt a sudden wave of confidence. I had beat Vince Moretti as well as a bunch of other vampires. I'd already turned into a full vampire and I was the Sonnast and a freaking princess! Why was I sitting there like a scared little school girl?

  By the time the door opened, and a very handsome doctor walked in, I had pulled together so much confidence that I believed I could take on a whole panel of doctors.

  "Hello, Alexis," he said with a smile. "It's truly an honor to see you."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. Apparently I'm a celebrity now. All I had
to do was get abducted and locked in a cellar."

  He laughed. "Other people do take easier paths to get their fifteen minutes of fame. But that's not why it's an honor to see you."

  The room felt like it was spinning as I contemplated what he could mean. I listened for a heartbeat and didn't hear one. I stared at his face and suddenly pictured him wearing bike leathers instead of a lab coat. "Were you at the Moretti's?"

  He smiled. "I was, and I was pleased to serve you."

  I exhaled in relief. "What are you doing here? At the hospital, I mean."

  "I work here." He laughed. "When I heard you were coming in for a checkup, I thought that you could use a doctor that would understand your lack of vitals. So I pulled some strings for you."

  "By strings, do you mean mind control?" I asked with a smile.

  "Guilty," he said. "From what I saw at the castle where you defeated the Moretti's, it seemed to me that you are doing quite well, but I'll give you a quick check to be certain."

  "Do you have access to fresh blood bags?" I asked as he looked in my ears.

  He laughed. "Don't like the preserved blood?"

  I made a face. "Are you kidding me? After having the real thing, that stuff is nasty."

  "I know it is. From what I hear, you're the first royal to feed from a human in some time."

  "The first royal who's in line for the throne. My uncle's kids seem to have no problems with feeding."

  "That's what I meant, yes. Most royals outside of the Fyrsturae castle do feed."

  "The royal castle was used by the Fyrsturae? It's three thousand years old?"

  "Yes, they had it built when they settled here. They have castles all over the world, but that one is by far the largest."

  "How do you work around all of these humans and the blood and not go crazy?" I asked, catching a whiff of blood as I heard a cart roll by in the hallway. My mouth watered and I was sure my eyes turned red.

  "Easy there, Princess," he said with a smile. "I always feed before coming into work and that helps. I also make a habit of helping myself to the bagged blood when I need to. I would be more than happy to help you out if you decide to keep some of it at home." He handed me a card. "Just give me a call and I'll supply you for free."

  "You usually charge for the service?"

  "It does take some risk, and it takes time because I have to alter paperwork and sometimes erase memories. But for the princess, I would gladly do that for free."

  "Thank you, Dr. Robinson," I said, looking at the card.

  "Please, call me Stan."

  "Um, okay. I don't usually call adults by their first name."

  "You'll need to get used to that, Princess. Let's go out to the waiting room and I'll tell your human parents that you're fine."

  "Can't I just tell them?"

  He smiled. "I was a parent once as a human. Trust me—they'll feel better hearing it from the doctor."

  ***

  "Brooke tells me that you spent some time with Tanner last night."

  "Did she tell you that my family went over to his family's house? I don't even know how she knew that," I said to Cliff. We were sitting at the table in his kitchen, enjoying dessert at three in the morning. It seemed strange to me that he had his own kitchen, as though it was too adult. He was the only one staying in the house that belonged to the Flemings, so it was his. Someday we would have an entire kingdom of our own; that was even crazier than a kitchen.

  "She has visions of you, remember?" He smiled at me.

  "I thought her visions were restricted to times I'm in danger. I wasn't in any trouble."

  "When you're in peril, they come upon her no matter what she's doing. But if she wants to, she can call a vision at any time."

  "Splendid. Why did she call up a vision of me last night?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "I might have asked her to," he said with a grin. "I missed you and wondered what you were doing at that moment."

  "Apparently there's no privacy for a princess," I observed, taking a bite of pie. "Does she only see what I'm doing or does she eavesdrop as well?"

  "It seems that she can only hear them when you're in trouble, although it's not an exact science," he said. "She can't control it and it's been a lot less predictable since you started your transformation. When you were abducted, she couldn't see much and it really upset her. Back to Tanner. What did you two talk about?"

  "We didn't really talk about too much, mostly just about being new vampires. He didn't even know that I had died."

  Cliff's expression became very serious. "He's not going to go away, is he?"

  "No. In fact, it sounds like he'll be around all the more with our families suddenly so close. They're talking about all kinds of get-togethers: camping trips and other stuff."

  He made a face. "We'll be at the castle over the summer with your real family, so I don't see that being a problem."

  "He's also going to be at school with us," I told him.

  "Right. It doesn't mean that we will all be spending time together though."

  "You could give him a chance," I said. "He did befriend me when nobody else would. He also helped us in the battle against the Moretti's. He's a good guy."

  "You have feelings for him," he said, staring me directly in the eyes. "You can't deny that."

  "No I can't deny it, and I refuse to lie to you. But you're my destiny; wherever you are is my home. You're my past and my future."

  He smiled and brushed a strand of hair from my face. "I'm glad to hear it. I know I pushed you toward him, but I will earn back your complete devotion so that you'll forget all about your feelings for him."

  "Since we're on the topic of secretly keeping an eye on me, did you know that your mother paid me a visit?"

  His eyes narrowed and his pupils became tiny. "She what?"

  "You mother left the castle and showed up in my room to make sure that I know that I had better choose you."

  He stood up, knocking his chair over. "I hope you know that I had nothing to do with that!"

  "I don't think that anyone else had anything to do with it. I'm sure she went behind everyone's backs."

  "Don't worry about her. I'm going to have a talk with her and will make sure that she doesn't do that again."

  I nodded. "I would appreciate that."

  He came to my side and put his arm around me. "Are you okay? Were you scared?"

  "I'm fine now, but I was quite shaken up after she left."

  He rubbed the top of my head and followed my hair down my back. "I'll make sure that you don't have to worry about her showing up like that again. I'm going to take you back home and then I'm going to have a talk with her before sun up."

  ***

  "Are you sure you're ready for school?" my dad asked as I was trying to go through the front door.

  "Yes, all I want is for everything to get back to normal," I said.

  "You can take some time to stay home and relax," my mom said. "Everyone would understand if you took some time to recover."

  "You heard what that doctor said. I'm doing great!"

  "If you want to come home early today, just call me and I will excuse you," my mom said.

  "Okay." I was trying not to get irritated. "And Dad, you can go back to work too. I'm fine. Everything can go back to normal."

  "One thing that all of this has shown me is that I need to spend more time with my family. I'm going to work less while you girls are home. If I have to go in earlier so I can be home, I will. And I'm going to bring home what work I can."

  "That sounds nice," I said. "Can I go to school now?"

  "Yes, but just remember that if you need to come home for any reason, give me a call," my mom said.

  "Really, I'm fine," I said. What a change from a few months ago when I felt like they didn't care about me at all! I would have been happy to get a little of that indifference back.

  They both gave me a hug. "You be careful out there," my dad said. "We know that you're doing alright and you
managed to escape, but they were never caught."

  "I told you: there was a fire and they didn't get out."

  "I hope so, but the police haven't even been able to find that building, so as far as we're concerned, we need to worry about your safety. Keep an eye out for them; they're obviously strong if they were able to take both you and Tanner."

  They had no idea. "I promise. Can I go now? People will be all over me at school, there's no way that anyone could get to me without being noticed."

  They finally let me go and I was glad to be able to drive my car again. I took in the new car smell and geared myself up for what would likely be colossal attention at school. Since Tanner and I had been all over the news, everyone would surely want to be my friend again. Never mind the fact that on the day I was taken, everyone was calling me names, throwing things at me and making my life miserable because of the rumors that Hailey and Emma had started.

  Everyone would see me with Cliff and know that the rumors about him leaving town because I'd given him a disease hadn't been true, but it didn't matter, because they had probably forgotten about that anyway.

  When I parked my car, Cliff was already waiting for me. He smiled as I got out, taking my hand, and I instantly felt relaxed.

  "Your touch always calms me down."

  "It's a gift," he said with a smile. "It seems to be most effective with you because we're so close. I imagine that it will come in very handy when we are leading our people and things get heated. People tend to act the most irrationally when they lose control of their emotions."

  "That has to be why my parents are always gone and dealing with leaders who can't handle their own domain."

  He nodded. "That's a big part of it. The Moretti's have done a good job in stirring up trouble all over the world. Shall we go in now?"

  We walked into school together and were immediately swarmed by the students. I was glad we were holding hands because it kept me calm in the midst of the craziness.