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

by Stacy Claflin

  When I sat back at last, he asked, "Do you want to talk?"

  He looked blurry through my tears. "My parents are dead. Your parents are dead. Brooke's dead too. I killed Clara's father and banished her mother. I don't know who else is gone. I suppose we'll find that out soon enough. When everyone else arrives, we'll probably have a big meeting."

  Cliff wiped tears from my eyes. "Brooke is finally with Steve. You know how much she's missed him. And as far as our parents, they all had it coming. We'll mourn them, no doubt, but I'm sure that it'll be for the best."

  "Will it? Really? I barely got to know mine! I thought I'd have centuries to get to know them. Now there's no chance."

  "I understand. As I said, we'll mourn. Even though my parents turned on me and tried to kill the one I love, I'll still mourn them."

  "We should check on Larus. I want to give him a big hug."

  He smiled. "I just checked on him. He's in the safe house with two of Mattie's daughters, anxious to see you and get back to his own room with us. He's in very good hands. You need to eat."

  Reluctantly, I ate some food. It did start to help me feel better. As I was finishing up, the servants began bringing out glasses of blood. After drinking mine, I noticed myself feeling better. It reminded me of the feeling that I'd had when my mother had given me the laced blood. Had someone told the servants to pass out laced blood to boost morale? Who would do that? My parents were dead; there was no one leading all of these vampires anymore.

  "How are you feeling?" I asked Cliff.

  "I'm starting to feel a lot better, actually. I must've needed to eat more than I thought."

  "That's good," I said absentmindedly. I turned to Svana and asked how she was feeling.

  "Like I've just been given laced blood."

  "Exactly what I was thinking. Do you suppose it was given to everyone here?"

  "What do you mean by laced blood?" Cliff asked, leaning against me.

  Svana pulled some hair behind her ear. "It's an ancient concoction that when mixed with human blood, type A+, helps us to temporarily feel on top of the world, forgetting about all of our problems. I'm not surprised that they're passing it out now. It's times like this when it's most needed. You know how we vampires feel everything to the extreme."

  Cliff nodded, looking deep in thought. "Is that what happened after that meeting, so long ago now, when your parents introduced Alrekur to the kingdom?"

  I sighed and nodded. "My mother gave it to me so that I would put on a happy show for everyone. But who would've told the servants to provide it now? My parents aren't here."

  Taking another sip, Svana said, "I'm sure they put the order in before we all left for battle. They probably thought that they might be too upset to do so when they got back. The concoction wasn't as strong for our parents' species, but it did take the edge off, so it would have helped them too, at least a little."

  "You know what I want?" I asked. "A long bath and clean clothes. Then I want to lie in bed for days."

  Svana and Cliff both smiled.

  "That does sound good," Cliff said. "Want some company?"

  I nodded, noticing that the conversation all around the room had picked up. I stood up and cleared my throat loudly. "Can I have your attention, please?"

  Everyone turned to look at me.

  "This has been a rough time for everyone. It's impossible to know the full extent of our losses at this point. Once you're done eating, please go to your respective rooms, freshen up, and rest. We'll meet in the evening before dinner, in the same room we were in before leaving for battle." I looked at a servant. "Will you make sure that everyone else who comes back from battle knows what to do?"

  He nodded and then bowed.

  "Thank you. You're all free to go to your rooms."

  Everyone began shuffling out of their seats.

  "Look at you," Svana said. "You're already standing up as a leader."

  I shrugged my shoulders. "Someone has to, and I'm the Sonnast, right?"

  She gave me a hug. "You're going to make a great leader! Well, I'll see you two in the evening."

  I returned the hug. "See you then. Get some rest."

  Cliff and I walked hand in hand to my room. He gave me a kiss at the door. "Do you want to meet me in my room when you're done? Take your time. If you'd like, I'll send for Larus."

  "Please do! After everything that has happened, all I want is to spend some time with the two of you."

  Once in my room, I prepared a bath and laid a dress out on my bed. By the time I was done, I felt much better. Granted, I hadn't allowed myself to think about any of the stress or our losses. I didn't know what to expect for the evening's meeting, so I thought it best to rest, relax, and then mourn later. At least this time, I would mourn with Cliff. We could mourn together, having both experienced such a loss.

  I knocked on the door of his room, energetic and excited. The door opened and Larus ran to my legs, wrapping himself around them. When he loosened his grip, I picked him up and gave him a huge hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"

  "I missed you, Mommy!"

  When I walked into the room, Cliff wrapped his arms around both of us. "I'm so glad to be here with you both."

  "Daddy, I sleepy. Can we read stories in your bed?"

  "That sounds like a great plan," I said, walking over to the bed.

  Cliff grabbed a pile of storybooks and we all snuggled together, reading stories until Larus fell asleep. Cliff and I talked until we too fell asleep, which didn't take long, given how tired we were.

  When I woke up, Cliff and Larus were coloring a picture together at the table. I smiled watching them. I hoped that this was what my future held. At least for a while. Some kind of drama was bound to be around the corner at some point, but a break with my family was exactly what I wanted. After all, the first time I laid eyes on Cliff, I knew he was my home. He really was.

  I got up out of bed to color with them when I felt a tugging sensation in my abdomen. I let out a little gasp.

  Suddenly, Cliff was at my side. "Are you okay, my princess?"

  Rubbing my stomach, I smiled. "Yeah. I think Larus is going to be a big brother."

  Cliff raised an eyebrow. "You can tell already?"

  "I've been through this before. I know the signs now."

  Larus looked up. "I big brother?"

  "Soon, baby. Soon," I said, smiling.

  TWENTY FOUR

  I sat next to Alrekur and Svana with the other Fyrsturae, minus Ida, who I refused to refer to as my sister and who hadn't shown up at the castle yet. No one seemed to be worried about her. Apparently she was known for taking off at important times even thousands of years before.

  Looking around the room, I noticed that there were a little less than half of the people that had filled the room the night before. I made eye contact with Cliff. He smiled at me, not upset about my standing next to Alrekur. He was thrilled that we were going to have another baby. We had talked about having a lot of them, ten or more over the course of the following decades, all in the name of building a strong tenth line. That would give me time to find a way to convince Alrekur to stop waiting for me and to let me marry Cliff.

  As I scanned the room, I made eye contact with Tanner again. He gave me the same curious look as he had earlier. Was it possible that on some level he knew that we'd once had something special?

  I noticed that Toby wasn't in the room. In fact, I didn't see any of the werewolves from our side. Had they taken off and run for the safety of their homes? I would have liked to have said goodbye at least. To thank him for everything and wish him a long, happy life.

  Alrekur stood up. "As you can all see, our kingdom has suffered a great loss. We've lost many great leaders and servants alike. Our king and queen are now gone, leaving myself and the Sonnast to take over those roles. We won't officially become your king and queen until we've wed. But for now, we are your leaders as the acting king and queen. The tenth line must be built; we all know the significance of s
trong lines. So once the line is complete and strong, we will become your king and queen."

  Everyone, well almost everyone, clapped. Cliff was not happy about it.

  Alrekur continued. "I am declaring two weeks of kingdom-wide mourning. Take what time you need to grieve the losses, but then we must step up and take up our roles again. I know that many of you are going to be ascending into new leadership roles as well. I speak for the entire clan of Fyrsturae when I say that we are here to help. I know that some of us have reputations for being heavy-handed and hot-headed, but we are here to serve. Of course, we're not to be crossed or disrespected."

  The doors to the hall burst open. I, along with everyone else, turned to see Ida. She looked somewhat frazzled.

  "I see you finally decided to join us," Alrekur said. "I was just saying how—"

  "Listen!" Ida said, looking frantic and sounding out of breath. "I was taking a walk through the deepest parts of the forest, making sure that none of our enemies were hiding out there, and you'll never guess what I saw!"

  "What?" Alrekur asked, sounding bored.

  "Nokken!"

  I looked around in confusion as gasps were heard around the room. Everyone else seemed to know something that I clearly didn't.

  Alrekur's eyes flashed red. "Tell me you didn't wake the Nokken!"

  "Aren't they all supposed to be dead?" Halldor exclaimed.

  "They were thought to be!" Ida said. "But obviously some survived and now they're in our forest—awake!"

  "Did they see you?" Dagur demanded.

  Ida shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. But I got away and they don't know where the castle is. I ran in circles for a while until I was sure I'd lost them."

  I looked at Svana. What's a Nokken?

  A vampire's worst enemy.

  "Let's hope they go back to sleep," Asdis said.

  "Are you kidding?" Hella asked. "They've been sleeping for at least two thousand years. They're going to be hungry!"

  Fyrsturae in order of birth:

  1. Alrekur Vidarsson - Soren's brother

  2. Halldor Falkursson - Svana's brother - killed by Alrekur - in love with Asdis

  3. Dagur Runsson - killed by Alrekur

  4. Svana Falkursdottir - Halldor's sister - in love with Soren

  5. Baldur Jonsson - Asdis' brother

  6. Asdis Jonsdottir - Baldur's sister - killed by humans

  7. Soren Vidarsson - Alrekur's brother - killed by Halldor - in love with Svana

  8. Ida Freysdottir - Alexis' sister - killed by Dagur - first to be killed

  9. Hella Porsdottir

  10. Marguerite Alexis Westerfield - Ida's sister - The Sonnast

  SILENT BITE

  One

  I tip-toed into the classroom. I didn't feel like talking to anyone, much less Mr. Foley, because he used that concerned, adult tone every time he talked to me, as did my parents and every other grown-up in my life. It didn't help that he was barely older than me, which made his tone feel condescending.

  With his back to me, I quietly grabbed the stack of papers in the bin marked "T.A." and sat down at the back of the class.

  When the bell rang, he turned around and jumped when he saw me. "I didn't hear you come in, Alexis. You can say something if my back is turned."

  Nodding, I got to work on the first paper. It was a Geometry quiz that I could have graded in my sleep. I was glad for that, because I was tired from thinking in my honors classes all morning. Not that they were even difficult, but I had a headache that wouldn't leave me alone, and that was what was really bugging me.

  The dull pain was my constant companion. I couldn't get rid of it, even with the strongest of pills. I had tried everything, but finally gave up and just lived with it. The weather was depressing that time of year, so I pretended the headache was part of my gloomy late fall routine.

  Not that there was anything routine about my life anymore. Not since I'd woken up in my bed nearly three months earlier with no memories of the previous nine months. I had been away with my birth family, but the story around school was that I had been on a student exchange program.

  Kids being as they are, I was teased relentlessly about my nine month absence. I wore skimpy clothes as long as the weather allowed, trying to shut them up, and it worked to some degree. The nice ones moved on, but there are some kids who just like to torture people, and it didn't matter what I did. Even the fact that I had gone to a pool party right before school started wearing a bikini, making it obvious there was no way I had been gone to have a baby.

  I sighed, thinking about it all.

  "You okay?" asked Mr. Foley, bringing me back to the present.

  "Fine," I said, and put my attention back to the quizzes in front of me.

  "I'll be right back," he said, standing. "You're okay with those? Don't need the answer key?"

  "Never do," I said, not looking up. I hated being rude, but talking to anyone, much less an adult, was the last thing I wanted. Not that Mr. Foley even seemed like a typical adult. First, he was actually a werewolf. Second, he was so young, that sometimes he felt more like a peer than a grown up. It was actually rumored that he had graduated from high school a couple of years early and wasn't even old enough to go to a bar.

  I was grateful for him letting me be his TA again after I returned from my trip, but I didn't owe him anything other than grading papers. He didn't need to know why I was depressed. Why did he care, anyway? He knew I was a vampire—and not just any vampire. I was destined to rule the vampire kingdom someday. But that looked pretty bleak at the moment, given the fact that all the other vampires had abandoned me without explanation.

  The smell of coffee surrounded me and I looked up. Mr. Foley was walking through the door, carrying two white cups with brown sleeves, obviously from the cafeteria. He flashed his Hollywood grin that made every girl in the school melt, the very grin that had given him the nickname 'the hot new teacher' the previous year. "I got myself a coffee, and thought you could use one too."

  "Oh," I said, surprised. "Uh, thanks."

  White flashed through the windows, immediately followed by a loud clap of thunder. Then rain started pouring, the wind causing drops of rain to hit the windows.

  "It's the perfect weather for a warm drink if you want one."

  I shrugged my shoulders. "Sure."

  He walked to my desk. "I hope you don't mind coffee. I had them make yours a mocha."

  "That's cool. Thanks for thinking of me."

  "You seem a little tired. Just thought I'd help." He set the cup next to the quizzes and went back to his desk.

  Going back to the papers, I ignored the drink. I could feel his eyes on me without looking up. He was waiting to see me drink the coffee. I sighed again. Why did he even care?

  Hoping that he'd leave me alone if I took a drink, I grabbed the cup and took a sip through the gap in the lid. It tasted like bad coffee from a high school cafeteria. Feeling the burn of his gaze, I looked up and gave a weak smile. "It's good," I lied, holding the cup in the air.

  He smiled, his eyes sparkling. "Good. Drink it up."

  I sighed and then took another sip, holding it up as though to say 'cheers' and then set it down, getting back to work. His stare disturbed my work several more times, and each time I took a drink to appease him. When the bell finally rang, I put the graded papers on his desk. "Thanks for the coffee."

  "No problem. Thanks for the great work. You always save me so much time."

  I nodded again and then left the room. Before I reached my locker, my best friend Amanda was by my side. She looked at the cup. "Since when do you drink coffee?"

  "Since Mr. Foley bought me a mocha," I said, spinning my locker combination.

  She gasped. "He bought you something?" she gushed. "Ohmigosh. You would be so lucky. Maybe a little sweet, chocolate goodness and some attention from an even yummier teacher will pull you out of your slump."

  "Don't count on it," I said, shoving my books around in the locker. How had I
let it get so messy?

  Amanda groaned. "What's with you, Lex? Seriously. You know that if you keep acting like this Hailey's going to start a rumor that you've got that post-something depression. You know what I'm talking about? That thing some people get after they have a baby."

  "Yeah. I know."

  She sighed. "So, you gonna eat lunch today?"

  "I wasn't planning on it."

  "Oh come on. You're already super skinny. You're totally going to waste away."

  "Do you know how many calories are in this?" I asked, holding the coffee cup. "Enough to meet half of my daily needs. I'm not going to waste away today."

  She gave me an exasperated look. "At least have an apple or something healthy."

  "Okay—if you grab me something. I'll meet you down there in a few minutes and I'll eat what you pick out."

  Her face lit up. "That's what I'm talking about. See ya in a few."

  I nodded, and then slammed my locker shut as she walked away. I went to the nearest bathroom, dropping the coffee cup in the garbage. I looked in the mirror and knew why I was getting so much grief from everyone in my life, including my best friend. My eyes had dark circles under them, and my cheeks were starting to look sunk-in with the weight loss. Underneath my stylish clothes, I was getting to the point of being too skinny, my bones becoming visible.

  Pulling some concealer from my purse, I brightened up my eyes. Then I dabbed on some bronzer to give myself a bit more color. There. No one had any room to complain about how I looked anymore.

  Down in the cafeteria, Amanda smiled at me while rolling her eyes. "Nice makeup. You still have to eat the food I got you." She shoved an apple and a yogurt in front of me.

  "Yogurt too?"

  "You said you'd eat whatever I got you. You know, protein is good for you, especially when you're wasting away to pretty much nothing."

  "You do realize this is fat free, don't you?"

  She glared at me. "Just eat. It still has protein."

  I ate the food and tried to ignore everything going on around me. Everyone was excited because we were about to have a long weekend for Thanksgiving.