by Rose, Imogen
“I know. It’s just... embarrassing.”
He shrugged. “I was in a lot of the vamp classes. That’s why I knew so many of them. The vamp guys kind of kept to themselves, though.”
“What sort of classes?” I asked curiously.
“Can’t talk about that, as you well know,” he smiled.
“Did you have common classes with any other paranormals?”
“Yeah. Seeing that I was the only Sigma-W student at the school, all my classes were with other paranormals, even some demons.”
“About that. Why were you sent to the academy? Spencer told me that only two Sigma-Ws have attended the academy in the last five years.”
“He actually told you that?” Ryker asked, surprised.
“Yeah. Are you angry?”
“No, just surprised. Spencer isn’t the sharing type, and I’m surprised that he shared Sigma-W business with anyone outside his circle.”
“So, it’s true? You were one of two? I’m not going to press you, but I am nosy, so I’d love to know why,” I said, batting my eyelashes for effect.
“Cute. I’m a hybrid,” he said and stopped.
“And?”
“That’s all I can tell you.”
“Oh, come on!”
He looked over at me and laughed. “I can’t tell you, but you’ll figure it out yourself.”
Very, very annoying! A hybrid? Vampire? Demon? Shifter? Angel? Troll? I looked him over carefully, looking for signs. There were no obvious ones, like fangs or red eyes. I guess that’s why he’d been sent to the Academy, to control any manifestations. I put my head back on his chest and closed my eyes again, listening to his heartbeat. It sounded comfortingly human. My head started hurting as a bazillion different thoughts crashed through, mostly images of mayhem in London, combined with Taylor and Fitch turning on us and siding with Katerina. Images of Ryker transforming into a vampire added to the mix. Yikes. I had to block those before my head exploded. I turned my concentration to the feeling of Ryker’s fingers as they gently massaged the back of my neck, shoulders and head. I emptied my mind, eventually relaxing into a deep sleep.
“Babe, wake up,” Ryker said, kissing me awake. I opened my eyes to find a juicy bit of steak, cooked to perfection, in front of me.
“Eat up, demon girl.”
“Mmm, thanks,” I said, and dove in. “Have you eaten?”
“Yeah. I had a snack while I was cooking. Your mom sure keeps an impressive supply of steaks,” he smiled.
When I finished eating, I decided to shower.
“Ready to go?” he asked when I came back into the living room after freshening up and changing my outfit. “Taylor just texted me to let me know that her dad is on his way over. She said she’ll call us once she’s in control of him. I didn’t tell her that we were coming. Shall we go?”
“How is it going to feel, Ryk?”
“Feel? You mean, being invisible?”
I nodded.
“It’s not going to feel any different. We won’t be invisible to each other, just to people around us, so it’s easy to forget. So remember! Also, they can hear us, so don’t talk,” he reminded me.
“Okay. Let’s go.” I felt queasy as Ryker put his hand on my shoulders. We wandered to Taylor and Fitch’s home. We arrived in the kitchen and sat down together in the corner. I sat in Ryker’s lap, his arms around me, and watched Taylor and Fitch getting dinner ready. They were actually cooking. Had I been a witch, I would totally have used a spell to magic up a delicious dinner! Taylor was stirring a red sauce in a big pan on the stove. I took a deep breath, bolognaise meat sauce; I nearly drooled. Fitch was busy expertly chopping vegetables for a salad on a large, wooden cutting board on the middle island counter. The room smelled divine. I was glad I had eaten before we came, or Fitch and Taylor would have been subjected to mysterious disappearances of food. Ryker and I sat and waited while the table was set in the dining room. We quietly made our way to the dining room and found another suitable spot to sit.
My heart almost jumped out of my chest when the doorbell rang. Ryker held me firmly, making sure that I didn’t react.
It was hard to believe that the man who came walking in was anything but harmless. His smile was wide as he greeted Taylor and Fitch. He was obviously happy to see them. It was the same guy, though; he was the Robert married to Tessa. How did that marriage figure in his plans?
“Taylor, Fitch, it’s good to see you. Sorry I haven’t been around much,” he shrugged.
“You’re here now, Dad. I’m pleased you managed to get some time off. What’s been keeping you so busy?” Taylor asked, her expression not betraying what she must be going through on the inside. I was proud of her.
“Something smells delicious,” he remarked, avoiding the question completely. “Pasta?”
“Yes,” Fitch replied. “Sit down and relax you two. I’ll bring the food over. Wine, Dad?”
“Some Shiraz, please,” Robert replied, slumping into his chair and stretching his legs.
“Busy day?” Taylor inquired.
“Yeah, just work. But you don’t want to listen to me go on about stocks and bonds. How’s school?”
“It’s good. I did well on our first math quiz. I’m thinking about auditioning for the school musical,” she volunteered, as Fitch came in with Robert’s glass of wine, placing the bottle in front of him.
“Which musical?”
“South Pacific.”
“Good one! I look forward to it. Are you auditioning as well?” he asked Fitch.
“I want to, but the practices clash with soccer, so I’m going to have to skip it.”
As dinner progressed, Robert continued to sip his wine, which Taylor kept topped up at all times. It wasn’t long before the bottle was empty and a yawn escaped Robert’s mouth. He had prattled on like any other dad during the dinner; he even seemed more interested in what his kids were up to than most parents. Could this man really be involved in a scheme with my deranged half sister? It was hard to believe as he stood and made his way to the sofa.
“I’m going to have a short nap before I go,” he announced.
“Dad, you’re welcome to stay. You know that.”
“Thanks, hon. G’night kids,” he mumbled and fell into a deep sleep.
I saw Fitch nudging Taylor, who shot him the death glare.
“Do it,” he whispered and nudged her again.
She looked hesitant. I hoped she wasn’t going to back out. We needed to know what was going on. Was this man even involved? He sure didn’t look like the type.
She finally walked over to Robert and laid her hand on his forehead. He didn’t stir. She looked over to Fitch, who nodded. She put her other hand on Robert’s forehead, too, and closed her eyes. Then, she disappeared. Vanished.
Robert twitched and squirmed, then sat bolt upright. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Fitch.
“It’s me. Taylor,” he said in his normal voice. It sounded eerie for Taylor to be talking through him.
“You okay, Taylor?”
He–she–nodded.
“Is he still sleeping?”
“Yeah, he’s totally out,” Taylor confirmed.
“What now?” Fitch shrugged. “I guess we should get Mom to come over.”
“Ryk, make us visible,” I whispered, leaning back into him so I could reach his ear.
He nodded.
“Fitch, Taylor,” Ryker announced, standing up.
“What the heck?” screamed Robert, as Fitch nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Where in the bejeezus did you two come from?” Fitch asked, gaping.
“We’ve been here the whole time,” I explained. “Invisible. Just in case you needed backup.”
“Thanks, but we did just fine, as you can see,” Fitch said pointing to Robert-Taylor. “Now what?”
“Taylor, can you read his thoughts?” I asked.
“No. He’s fast asleep and totally drunk. Maybe the thoughts will become less foggy onc
e the alcohol wears off. You know, this really sucks! I hadn’t taken into account that I would have to live in a male body. Yuck! I can’t believe I’m going to have to use the restroom in this condition.”
I fell into the couch rolling with laughter. Now that would be a pain! The boys just shook their heads in disgust.
“Yeah, laugh, Faustine! It’s not funny!” Taylor whined.
“I’m sorry. Hopefully, it won’t be for long.”
“Yeah, I’ll get to exchange this body for a decrepit old witch’s soon. Lucky me!”
“I promise you a spa weekend when we are done,” I offered.
She sighed. “I guess we have to wait until this wine is out of his system. I think we overdid it on that score. We should call Mom and tell her to come over.”
“Alexandra had to go to London. In fact, I have to go as well. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, first.”
“Okay? That depends on your definition of the word. I am far from okay, but I’ve done what I was asked. Now what?”
“You need to figure out if your dad is involved in Katerina’s scheme. If he is, make contact with her; get to know Katerina through your father. Once you have a sense of her, we can move on to phase two.”
“How do I make contact with her? What do I say to her?” Taylor asked, confused.
“You need to tap into Dad’s entire being,” Fitch said. “That will become possible once the wine wears off. Then you can become him. You’ll be able to read every thought running through his mind. You’ll be able to manipulate both his thoughts and his actions.”
“I’m going to need Mom,” she interrupted. “I feel so alone in here,” she said, Robert’s eyes welling up.
“Taylor, I’ll ask her to come back as soon as I get to London. In the meantime, you have Fitch. Get some sleep and your mom will hopefully be back by morning.”
It was time for Ryker and me to go back to London.
All hell had broken loose in London. A councilman’s daughter had been found murdered, in true vampire fashion, outside Buckingham Palace. This time, the culprit had been apprehended, thankfully not by Scotland Yard, but by a pack of wolves–shifters–who happened to be patrolling the area on behalf of Shaefer and Hickman.
The culprit was actually culprits–two of them. They were now locked in Alfred’s basement, awaiting my arrival.
I spotted Alexandra as soon as I walked into the conference room in Alfred’s Surrey mansion. “Alexandra, could you fly back to New York right away? Taylor needs you,” I said.
“Is she okay?” Alexandra asked, concerned.
“Yes, but she wants you.”
“I think you may need me here... But, I would like to go, if you can manage without me.”
“Yeah. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Taylor is in phase one,” I whispered in her ear, “and she’s freaking out.”
I turned to Dorian, “Dorian, can you get the private jet ready to take Alexandra back to New York?”
“If you want, I can take her,” Ryker offered, looking over at his uncle for permission.
Spencer looked uncomfortable, but nodded. “Can you return here once you are done? I need to talk to you,” he said sternly.
I wondered what that was all about.
“If you’re sure,” Alexandra said, squeezing my hand. “Call me, if you need me.”
“You gonna be okay?” Ryker asked me, as he put his hands on Alexandra’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry about me, guys. I’ll be fine. Go. I’ll see you later, Ryk.”
We watched them disappear as Mom came walking into the room.
“Hon, it’s so good to see you!” Mom exclaimed. “Did Alexandra leave?”
I hugged her and breathed in her great, mom-smell. “Yeah, she needs to be back in New York.”
“Well, we did well here,” Mom said proudly, sitting down on the chair next to mine.
Everyone around the table–Alfred, Cassandra, Edith, Sophia (the vampire queen of New York), Nora, Eva, Spencer, Shaefer and Hickman–nodded.
“Lady Annabel is quite the strategist,” Alfred said, admiringly. “She suggested we use the shifters in their werewolf forms to patrol some of the more prominent London sites. We have Shaefer and Hickman to thank for getting their packs organized so efficiently. They have been roaming the streets in various shifter forms–cats, birds, dogs. Anyway, we have the culprits in custody. We decided to wait for you before we question them. If you feel ready, we’ll go and do so now.”
“Who are they? What are they?” I asked.
“It’s two female vampires. We have no information about them in our database. They are not London residents. We haven’t been to see them, yet. The shifters transported them to my basement and left them there. Like I said, we’ve been waiting for you to return.”
“Have they been demonized?”
“We don’t know. We need you to tell us.”
Ah. This is where it may have been useful to have Alexandra stay a bit longer. I had no idea how to tell. But, I nodded solemnly.
“Are you ready, Princess?” Dorian asked, as my silence created an uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.
“Yes. Lead me to them,” I said bravely. I followed Alfred as he led us through the rooms, then down the back stairs to the basement. Sigh. I could only hope that it would be spider-free. As it turned out, it was more than just free of bugs. The cavernous, dark hole that I had imagined in my head turned out to be a finished, hi-tech play area, complete with a mini-theater and popcorn machine. Cool.
The two prisoners were sitting, bound to their chairs, watching Blade Runner. Alfred turned the projector off, and the two women in the chairs rolled their eyes at each other. Twins. Their mouths were sealed with tape. They both had amber eyes and red, curly hair.
“Does Faustine really have to be here for this?” Mom protested. “She’s only fifteen; she shouldn’t be exposed to this sort of thing.”
“Mom!” I whispered to her. “Don’t! I need to be here. I want to be here.”
She shook her head and sighed.
Alfred walked up to the twins and tore off the tape covering their mouths–instant upper-lip waxing. Both of them hissed, exposing their fangs momentarily, but then shut up and glared at us.
“Well, they are clearly vampires,” Alfred confirmed, reluctantly. “Who are you?” he asked gently.
The one on the left smiled with her fangs still exposed. “Collette, and this is Silvia,” she said, darting a look at her sister.
“Do you understand what you have done?” Alfred inquired.
They both shrugged.
“Do you understand that you have broken my rules, the Vampire King’s rules?”
“You are not our king,” Collette said sullenly.
Alfred delivered a sharp blow across her face. My mom looked ready to hurl, so I reached to steady her. She was clearly not equipped to handle this kind of violence. For whatever reason, it didn’t faze me at all. I didn’t even blink when Alfred made his move. As long as he wasn’t going to torture them with tarantulas, I’d be fine.
“Shall we try that again?” Alfred asked, his voice low and even, as his eyes narrowed and simmered into Collette’s. She didn’t flinch. “Whose territory are you in?”
Collette shrugged. She was rewarded with yet another head-splitting blow from Alfred. This time, the force of the impact made Collette’s chair fall to the side, and her body fell to the floor.
“Faustine,” Mom whispered. “We are leaving.”
I shook my head, but gestured to Dorian to walk my mother out of the room. She shouldn’t have been here in the first place. She protested as Dorian took her elbow and led her out, but he held firm and closed the door behind them.
“Princess?” Alfred asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Continue.”
Collette, still attached to her chair, lay silent on the floor.
“Is she alive?”
“Alive? She’s a vampire,” Alfred re
marked.
“Oh, you know what I mean!”
“Yes! She is still alive, but barely.”
While Shaefer returned Collette’s chair to an upright position, Alfred moved over to Silvia. Colette’s head had slumped to the side, and her slack jaw revealed that her fangs were missing. I looked around on the floor trying to spot them.
“Silvia.” Alfred seethed venomously.
