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

by Stacy Claflin

  "That's what the media kept saying. It's not true; I have a different boyfriend."

  "It was all over the news that you two were making out before you were kidnapped."

  My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Was he a teacher or a gossip girl? "You sure seem to know a lot about me. Why the interest?"

  "Sorry. Did I make you feel uncomfortable? I didn't think that I'd taken any more interest than anyone else. You might be surprised at how involved everyone became with the story."

  "Not really, I did see some of the news coverage. Plus, everyone mobbed me when I got back to school. Actually, I have you to thank for them leaving me alone." I smiled.

  "Me? What did I do?"

  "You showed up. That was all that you had to do for everyone to start talking about the new teacher."

  "I knew that this was a small town, but I didn't think that a new teacher was exciting enough to get people to forget about two kids who had been abducted and were all over the news."

  "You're not just any teacher. You're the hot new teacher."

  A smile slowly spread across his face. "Is that really what everyone thinks of me?"

  "Of course. I'm surprised that you haven't heard it yet. I would have thought that your Wilderness Club friends would have told you at least. Don't the teachers talk, too?"

  "The teachers around here don't keep up on what the students say outside of class. And my Wilderness Club kids don't talk to me like an equal. I'm the leader and that puts a distance between us."

  "I wouldn't expect that."

  "Why not?"

  "I thought that spending time together out in the wilderness would bring everyone closer and break that student-teacher barrier."

  "Maybe I'm too hot and that's the problem." He said, smiling.

  I shook my head and tried not to laugh. "You're easy enough to talk to. I don't get why they put up that distance. But then again, I'm not in the club."

  "Well, I should let you get going. I'll see you tomorrow, Alexis." He turned around and walked towards his classroom.

  I stared at him and scratched my head. There was definitely something going on with him, but I couldn't figure it out. I was glad that I had snagged that address anyway. I didn't know how I was going to wait two days to find out what was going on.

  NINE

  Cliff and I were in my back yard studying. I could see my mom looking out of the window at us, she was constantly checking on me when I was home. She hated for me to go anywhere, always afraid that I was going to get snatched away again. I waved to her and she waved back, and then disappeared from sight.

  "Maybe your mom would feel better if Brooke came with us when we studied."

  "I don't think it's you she's worried about. She's afraid that I'm going to get kidnapped again. At first, I thought she didn't like me being out here in the cold, but I think that she just doesn't like me being outside of the house, period."

  "That could be. You two had a rough relationship but then you were starting to turn that around before you were taken. I'm sure that it shook her up a lot. Are you thinking about telling them that you're a vampire?"

  "What? No. Where did that come from?"

  "You're obviously concerned about how worried she is. I thought you might want to tell her to put her mind at ease."

  "And you think that telling her that I'm a vampire is going to put her mind at ease? Really?"

  He laughed. "Apparently that was a wrong assumption."

  "It would probably send her off the deep end."

  "I just thought that if she knew how strong you were, she might worry less."

  I shook my head. "She wouldn't be able to handle finding out that truth. She won't even look at any evidence that I was adopted."

  "Their minds have been controlled by vampires, Alexis. It doesn't matter what you tell them, or how compelling the evidence is. They aren't going to believe it until it's been reversed."

  "How can it be reversed?"

  "The vampire who did it, or a more powerful one, can undo it. I've also seen it reversed when the vampire who controlled the mind dies."

  "We're more powerful than the ones who did this, right? We're royalty and direct descendants of the Fyrsturae."

  "Yes, but we're so young that we may not necessarily be more powerful yet. Do you want to have it reversed?"

  "I don't know. I'm just trying to figure everything out. I'm sure they're a lot better off not knowing for now. Like I said, I don't think my mom would take it very well."

  "Yes, I think it's best that we just blend in. The less that your friends and family know, the better it is for them. How are you doing with your cravings? Do you need any bags?"

  I made a face. "Definitely not. I'm making sure to take care of my needs before I have any issues. Clara is helping me out with that. Since she lives with me, it's convenient to go with her."

  "I'm sure that she's not meeting your needs in ways approved of by our parents, although I'm not going to ask you to give me details. I want you to think about how we can get you focused on fulfilling yourself with bagged blood. You're going to be spending time at the castle this summer and you'll need to be able to use it."

  "There has to be a way around that. There just has to be. I know that you've never tasted the real stuff, but it isn't the same."

  "The bagged stuff is real."

  "Fine, it's real. But it isn't fresh and it's not the same at all. Not just the freshness, but the taste is improved with the heightened emotions of the human. When they're scared, it's amazing." My mouth watered at the thought.

  "I don't need to hear about how fresh blood tastes, Alexis. I'm not going to have any and I don't care to think about you hunting and scaring the humans that we're supposed to be helping."

  "We aren't hunting innocents. These are predators themselves, they have it coming."

  He looked at me with irritated eyes, but then his eyes softened. "I simply can't be mad at you."

  I smiled at him and he cupped my chin in his hand.

  "Please promise me that you won't go after an innocent."

  I looked into his chocolate eyes and wanted nothing more than to kiss him. "Anything for you."

  "I wish for you not to hunt at all, my princess," he whispered.

  I ran my fingers through his hair. "Anything except that, my prince. But I'll stay away from the innocents and I'll even try the bagged stuff. That's how much I love you."

  He stifled a laugh and grabbed my free hand with his. I continued to play with his hair and we stared into each other's eyes.

  "Get a room, you two."

  We looked up and Clara was standing next to us, smiling.

  "How did you sneak up on us? I didn't hear you at all," I said.

  "I've had a couple of centuries to work on being stealthily quiet."

  "What are you doing here?" Cliff asked. "We're trying to study. I need to teach her about our culture and history."

  She rolled her eyes. "I can see how important that is. You guys look like you were really studying. I was sent out here by your parents, Alexis. They want us all to go out for dinner together tonight."

  "All of us? Cliff, too?"

  "They didn't specify. Just don't go getting all mushy around them. Parents don't usually like that sort of thing."

  "You don't say! Well, let's go. I'm getting hungry anyway."

  ***

  "Are you ready?"

  I rolled over and pulled the pillow over my head.

  "I'm going hunting with or without you," Clara said. "You're free to call that doctor and ask for some bagged blood if you want."

  I sat up. "What's the rush? It's not like I was going to sleep much longer."

  "It's after one. Let's get going already."

  I groaned. "Why are you bothering me this early? Come back at three."

  "Like I said, I'm going with or without you."

  I yawned and stretched. "Give me a few minutes to get ready. I'll meet you in your room."

  "A few minutes
; that's all you have," she said. That's when I noticed that her eyes were extremely red.

  "What's going on? Why are your eyes so red? I thought that you could go longer between feedings because you're older."

  "Normally I can, but I have a bad craving right now and I don't want to kill your family," she growled.

  "Why do you have such a strong craving?"

  "I don't care, just get ready."

  A few minutes later we were outside. "Where are we going?" I asked her.

  "Somewhere close. I need to feed quickly before I lose control."

  "Like I said last time, I don't want to feed here in Delphic Cove anymore. It has to be somewhere else."

  "Great, you lead the way."

  I sighed. "Okay. Follow me." I started running, with Clara right behind me. We continued on for a few minutes until we were in a town not too far away. There was a surprising amount of people out and about that early in the morning. Most of them looked as though they were up to no good.

  "You want to choose or shall I?" she asked.

  "As long as they're not innocents, I don't care."

  "Okay, let's see who can find some baddies first."

  I spotted some guys wearing suits. They were talking with some young girls who appeared to be trying to get away from them. The girls didn't even look old enough to drive.

  "We need to get home. Our parents are expecting us," one of the girls told them.

  "You snuck out and you know it," the shorter guy sneered. "They're sleeping and don't have a clue that you're here."

  The other girl sniffled. "Please let us go home. We don't want to be here."

  I made eye contact with Clara. Those guys.

  She nodded and we walked over to them.

  "It looks like these girls are trying to get away from you two," she said. "Why are you keeping them from leaving?"

  They looked us over and clearly preferred our company.

  "They can go," the tall one said, waving the other two girls off. "Why don't you two join us instead?"

  The two girls ran off without a word.

  "We'd love to," I said with smile. I could feel my fangs growing.

  The two guys gave each other excited looks.

  "Why don't we go somewhere a little more secluded?" Clara asked.

  Both of their hearts began to beat rapidly. My mouth watered and I could see in Clara's eyes that she was ready to pounce. I wanted to play with my food first, but she wasn't going to wait. I wanted to wait for the taste of fear.

  "Follow us," I said. Clara and I led the two suits toward a dark field.

  As soon as we stopped walking, Clara jumped on the tall guy and bit right into him before he knew what had hit him.

  The other one didn't realize what was going on. He looked at me and smiled. "Do you like it rough, too?"

  I looked into his eyes with my now glowing, red eyes. "Are you kidding me? We're your worst nightmare!"

  The color drained from his face and he ran away from me, further into the field. I stood there for a minute, giving him a head start. Then I moved in right behind him.

  "What do you want from me?" he cried.

  "What do you think, scumbag?" I jumped on him and threw him to the ground. I bit into his neck and savored the taste of the warm blood. To my delight, he was extremely fearful. I was glad that I had taken the time to give the little chase.

  "We better do something with these bodies," Clara said when I had finished feeding. "We're not in the middle of the woods this time."

  "Where are we going to put them?"

  "Let's grab them and see what's on the edge of this field."

  As we hid them under some bushes, I asked Clara if she wanted to find more people to hunt. I had never seen her so hungry before and didn't know what was going on. "Do we need to start hunting more often?"

  "It's probably just a fluke this one time. I always know when I'm starting to get hungry, for some reason it hit me by surprise tonight. You're the newbie; you're the one who should be surprised by the cravings."

  "Your sudden need is just so strange. I want to know why. There has to be a reason for it."

  "Don't look so deep into everything. Sometimes things just happen without a huge explanation. I've probably been distracted with everything going on lately. Or maybe an old flame is nearby, and I'm sensing it."

  I raised an eyebrow. "You could sense that?"

  "Why not?"

  "Has that happened before?"

  "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that's what this is. There could be other reasons for it, too. I don't want to worry about it."

  "You don't suppose that Francine is still in town?" I asked. "I want to be done with her."

  "Cliff said that he talked with her, right?"

  I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think I told you about her showing up at school. Twice."

  "What?" she exclaimed. "I can't believe that! Well actually, I can. They want nothing more than to secure their line on the throne. This is the first time that anyone from the second line has been second in command. It's always been two couples from the first line."

  "Why isn't it two couples from the first line now?"

  "If my father hadn't chosen my mother, then your parents would be second in command to my father and the vampire that he was supposed to marry."

  "I know that, but I would think that there would have been another couple from the first line who would've stepped up to the job."

  "I'm pretty sure that our two families are it for that line now, but there could be others in hiding that don't want to be found."

  "Why is that? Does that happen a lot?"

  "How does Cliff deal with all of your questions? It's not uncommon for vampires to go into hiding. The older ones sometimes get tired of all the fighting and want to live out their existence in peace. It's the young ones who love the excitement."

  "Is it possible that my parents aren't the oldest vampires in the world right now?"

  "Most definitely. They're the oldest known vampires, but the thing is that when a vampire wants to go off the grid, it's not that difficult. Finding one who's in hiding can take years; they tend to hide among a select few who will guard their location with their lives. Seriously, if you're in the mood for a history lesson, then let's go find Cliff."

  "He probably won't want to see me. He doesn't think that I should be out hunting humans."

  "Of course he doesn't, but he hasn't tried to stop you. That boy loves you so much. You know that, right?"

  "He also knows how difficult this is on me considering the way that I was initially exposed to blood. He's a lot more understanding about that than some people I know."

  "You have to admit that it's easier to be a vampire with me around. I spent a lot of time in the castle over the years, so I know how everything is run. That's why your parents wanted me to be with you during this time. But I refuse to live by castle rules and that's what you need. You need someone more open minded about the world, someone who can help you deal with this, like someone who didn't grow up in the castle. Even Cliff knows that, and he's spent more time in the castle than anyone else I know."

  The thought of Cliff made me feel drawn to him, and I wanted to go see him. I wanted to look into his eyes, feel his smooth vampire skin, and kiss him. I imagined myself grabbing his face and placing my lips on his. I sighed, as I could literally smell his scent.

  "Are you listening to me?" Clara asked.

  I blinked a few times. "Sorry, my mind wandered."

  She shook her head. "I should have known better than to bring up his name. Should we pay him a visit?"

  "Yes! Well, unless you need to feed some more first."

  "Don't you worry about me. If I need more blood, I'll get more blood."

  "Do you really think that Francine will leave me alone if Cliff asks her to?"

  "For one thing, I'm pretty sure that he's going to do more than ask her. He's usually the perfect son, but she messed with you. He's not going to take that lightly fro
m anyone. You two have always been so protective of each other, and it's grown even more since the engagement blessing."

  "Were you there?"

  "I wouldn't have missed that. You've been my favorite relative since you were born. It killed me to be away from you during those years that your parents insisted on letting the humans raise you. Even though you were so young, we always had a connection."

  "I felt it when we first met. Well, after I knew that you weren't going to kill me, anyway." I laughed.

  She smiled. "I'm glad that your time with the humans didn't destroy that. It's been fun to get to know you now, and I love that you're so open to everything. If you'd grown up in the castle, you'd be looking down on me for hunting."

  "People don't understand what they don't know. All the other royals know is that bagged stuff."

  "One drop at a time, I've heard that so many times. Should we go to Cliff's? I can leave you two lovebirds alone."

  "I don't want you feeling like a third wheel. We'd be happy to do something with you. Grab dessert or something."

  "I'd rather hit a bar."

  "That doesn't sound like Cliff's scene. Or mine, I'm only seventeen."

  "You don't have a fake ID? You need to get one; you'll only ever need the one. You just have to change the birth date every decade or so. One of the perks of never aging."

  "Or I guess we could go to one on the way. I can test out my mind control abilities."

  She smiled. "Someone liked that party, didn't she?"

  We found a bar not too far away and made our way inside with no problem—no mind control or fake ID's needed—which surprised me, because Clara didn't look any older than I did. Once we were at a table, a waiter stopped to see what we wanted. He smiled when he saw us. "You two are a sight for sore eyes. We don't usually get such pretty ladies in here."

  I wanted to roll my eyes at the lame line, but I thought that he could be telling the truth, since we were more attractive than most of the humans.

  Clara smiled and started flirting with him. I picked up the menu. I hadn't realized how hungry I was for a meal until I saw the pictures on the pages.

  "Are you two old enough to be in here?" the waiter asked.

  Clara kicked me under the table and I looked into his eyes. "We're old enough…and we'll be your favorite table tonight."