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

by Stacy Claflin

  A smile crossed his face.

  I grabbed his waist and pulled him close, kissing him before he could respond. I heard the whispers all around us. He wrapped his arms around me and dipped me as if we were dancing and then pulled me back up. When we parted, everyone clapped and whistled.

  Someone shouted, "More!"

  "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Cole?" Toby asked, grinning, looking at the guy who'd asked for more. "We came here for a party, not to give a show."

  Amanda and Mark walked up to us. She had a twinkle in her eye. "You guys are like the perfect couple—well, maybe second perfect! Everyone is so excited about you two. You guys did such a good job keeping it a secret! I don't know of anyone who suspected anything. You totally shocked everyone at the graduation party."

  I snuggled up to him. "I didn't want to get him into trouble, so we took extra precautions."

  "You remember?" she asked quietly, looking around to make sure nobody heard her.

  "I do, actually."

  She smiled. "Yay! How much do you remember?"

  "Just since I got back to town. I remember falling in love with him and also becoming friends with Hailey."

  "Does she know?"

  I shook my head. "I haven't had time yet."

  "You should tell her soon. She'll be glad to know. After you left her house, when we were in the hot tub, she and Emma wouldn't stop talking about how worried they were that the last thing you remembered was them being mean to you when Tanner was still al…still here."

  My throat nearly closed up for a moment. "You can say it. Why else would his family have moved away?"

  Hailey and Emma joined us with two guys that I recognized, but didn't know their names.

  "You guys want to get in the pool?" Emma asked.

  Amanda's face lit up.

  "You're serious?" I asked. "We just spent all that time on our hair and makeup! You want to jump in the pool first thing?"

  "We're not going to get our hair or faces wet," Emma said, rolling her eyes.

  "Where's the fun in that?" I asked.

  "Do you remember ever lightening up?" Emma asked.

  Hailey jabbed Emma with her elbow.

  "What?" Emma asked, rubbing her side. "She totally lightened up after spending time with us. It's obvious she's not faking the amnesia."

  "Oh, she's plenty light," Toby said. He reached down and picked me up.

  I squealed. "Hey! Put me down!"

  "I'll get her to lighten up," he said, grinning.

  Emma laughed. "I like the non-teacher version of you. Well, I liked the teacher version of you too." She winked at him.

  I rolled my eyes. She obviously hadn't changed a bit.

  We all started walking towards the back of the house, Toby still carrying me. "You can put me down now," I told him.

  He smiled at me. "Not a chance."

  I saw the pool through a sliding glass door. "Wait. I need to get my suit."

  He was still smiling, but said nothing.

  "I need…my…suit." I looked around nervously. Everyone was watching us and my friends were giggling louder as we got closer to the pool. "Uh, what are you doing?"

  He walked me through the doors and headed straight for the pool's edge. He kissed me and whispered, "I hope you can forgive me for what I'm about to do."

  I stared at him, speechless. I hoped he wasn't planning on throwing me in the pool fully clothed.

  He gave me another kiss and then tightened his grip on me. He jumped towards the pool and I let out a scream. "We're both fully clothed, you—"

  We hit the warm water and went under before I could finish my sentence. I opened my eyes and could see perfectly; the chlorine didn't irritate my eyes. I looked around the blue, bubbly pool as we continued our descent. It had to be a dozen feet deep. He smiled at me, and then said something that I couldn't understand. He let go of me and swam away.

  "Hey!" I exclaimed, not that he could hear me. He wasn't going to get away that easily. I swam after him and grabbed him from behind. He turned around, laughing. He wrapped his arms around me and we kissed until he needed to go up for air.

  When we surfaced, everything was suddenly loud. It had been so quiet under the water. I looked around and saw people surrounding the pool, everyone's eyes wide, looking terror-stricken, but then they quickly started cheering and clapping.

  "Not sure if you noticed," Toby whispered, "but we were under at least three times longer than a human could hold their breath and survive."

  "I didn't notice. That does explain why they looked so shocked."

  "To say the least," he whispered. He gave me a mischievous look and pulled me back down before I could protest. I got myself out of his grasp and swam away. He grabbed me once again and we spun around in a few circles before I escaped again.

  We played tag like that until he had to surface again. I could have gone on all day, since breathing was nothing more than a habit for me. When I looked around, I saw that a lot of people had put on their swimsuits and were beginning to join us in the pool. We were the only ones who had gone in with our clothes on.

  "I hope you know that I didn't bring any extra clothes," I told Toby.

  "Just wear the extra outfit that you keep in my car."

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  "Obviously you don't recall all of the smaller details. You keep a bag of everything that you need in my trunk, just in case."

  "That's handy," I said. I acted like I was going to get out, but instead I turned around started splashing him with all of my might.

  He started laughing and splashed back with equal force.

  "Easy, you two!" Hailey said from behind me. "You guys are going to cause a tidal wave."

  I stopped and noticed that although she was being dramatic, we were creating bigger waves than two humans would, so I slowed down. We laughed and played in the pool with everyone for a while until the weight of my clothes became annoying.

  "Do you want to wait here while I go to my car?" he asked. "I didn't exactly plan on jumping in the pool fully clothed." He grinned at me.

  I tapped my foot in the puddle that I'd created from my dripping clothes. "Yeah. About that…."

  He laughed. "Do you forgive me?" he asked.

  "How can I not when you give me those puppy dog eyes?"

  "Are you making a reference to me being a—?"

  I laughed. "No! I wasn't even thinking about that."

  He winked. "I wouldn't be offended, coming from you. I need to get the clothes from my car. Do you want to wait here?"

  "Nah. I'd rather go with you."

  "Okay. Let's go around the side of the house. I don't want to drip chlorine in the house."

  "Good thinking."

  Toby grabbed my hand and we walked along the fence and went through a gate with people stopping us all along the way. I wondered if I had ever adjusted to the attention.

  "We must be a sight," I said as we walked along the sidewalk, soaking wet, through the wealthiest neighborhood in town.

  He squeezed my hand. "I'm sure all they're able to see is our love for each other."

  I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's probably it."

  We walked in silence for a few moments before he slowed his pace and asked, "Do you smell that?"

  I sniffed. "I hope they're from your pack. Can you tell by the scent?"

  "Not anymore. The packs have divided and reorganized, so former allies would still smell like allies, even though they aren't anymore."

  We continued walking at a slowed pace, both of us with senses on high alert. When we got to his car, three people got out of a nearby vehicle. I recognized Inna from his pack, and I hoped that she was still friendly. She'd been pretty timid when I first discovered the werewolves. Not that I could blame her. She was one of the new werewolves from a line that had gone dormant, but had been awakened after I began my transformation.

  Toby relaxed a little. "What's going on, guys?"

  The three of them walked over to us
with grave expressions. They stopped right in front of us, looking only at him.

  "War has been declared, sir," said one of the boys.

  All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness ran through me. I tried to focus on what they were saying, steadying myself against Toby.

  "What do you mean, Jonathan?" Toby asked.

  The other boy spoke up. "He means that Francine Montgomery has stepped up and announced that her plans are complete. She's gained enough help, mostly from the renegade werewolves and common vampires that she's rounded up."

  Inna looked at me with sad eyes. "They want to eradicate the vampire royalty and take over the castle."

  "But she's royalty too! She wants to get rid of herself?" I asked, feeling dizzier by the moment.

  Toby squeezed my shoulders.

  Jonathan looked at me. "She wants to rule as queen. She wants only her family and those vampires who are loyal to her to remain. She wants to rebuild the vampire race. It's been rumored that she's been creating new vampires to help her cause."

  Had she been turning people into common vampires with royal blood to make her army larger? I stood tall, still feeling dizzy. "There are plenty of royal vampires around the world. I've seen the leaders myself. Aside from that, my parents have been working hard to awaken all of the Fyrsturae. They are supposed to be even stronger now than they were before their deaths. We'll beat her army."

  "So you know where they are, then?" asked the third werewolf, scowling.

  Toby narrowed his eyes. "Kyler, I expect you to speak respectfully to the woman I love."

  Kyler's eyes widened. "You…and her?"

  He nodded. "Aside from that, we'll be fighting alongside her and the other royal vampires, against most of our kind. You'd be wise to get used to respecting them."

  Kyler nodded, looking both shocked and irritated.

  "What do you know about the war?" Toby asked them.

  "Only that it's been declared and we must prepare now. There isn't much time, sir. You can't return to the party. We need to gather the pack and plan our next move. What about her?" he asked, looking at me.

  "She's with us. We protect her as one of the pack. Got it?"

  The three of them exchanged worried looks.

  "I'm your connection to the castle," I said, trying to reassure them. I was trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling, but it wouldn't let go. "If you want the vampire royalty's protection, then you need me. Francine is working with werewolves, so you need our help—and we need yours too."

  Inna shook her head. "As surprised as we all are about them being together," she said to Jonathan and Kyler, "we need to trust her. If Mr. Foley trusts her, then we should as well."

  Toby nodded. "Inna's right. We have every reason to trust her—and after the war is over, we'll have peace with our enemies."

  "But now we have new enemies, Mr. Foley," Jonathan said. "Our own kind!"

  "We have no choice but to fight against them. They will surrender or die for their cause."

  "It doesn't make sense that we have to kill to preserve the peace," Kyler said, folding his arms.

  Toby sighed. "We've been over this a hundred times. It's a necessary evil; if we don't fight back, they will kill us. We can't let that happen. We need peace, but it comes at a cost."

  "We're wasting our time," Jonathan said. "We need to gather the rest of the pack to plan our next move."

  Toby pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me. "Yes, we must. Do I have your word that you will treat her as a member of our pack?"

  They all nodded their heads, Jonathan and Kyler looking unhappy about it.

  "Good," Toby continued. "Because the rest of the pack will follow your lead. More than ever, I need the three of you on my team. Let's get going."

  Toby and I got into his car. I was vaguely aware of him speaking. We started on our way to meet with the rest of his pack, but I couldn't focus. I was still feeling dizzy. When I'd heard that the war had been declared, it was as if the news had triggered something in my mind. Something was going on in there; I couldn't tell what. I prayed it wasn't another memory lapse.

  "Alexis, are you okay?" Toby finally asked, looking at me.

  "I'm not sure. I think something's happening."

  "What do you mean? Should I pull over?"

  "No. My brain feels strange. I can't explain it. It feels fuzzy and busy; kind of like the calm before a storm. Does that make any sense?"

  "When does anything make any sense? Are you starting to remember anything?"

  "Yeah. I—"

  Suddenly, memories flooded into my mind, overwhelming me. First of Cliff hating me after the announcement, followed by a long stream of unbelievable buried memories. I couldn't believe what had happened while I had been at the castle. I had to get back there!

  EIGHT

  Eighteen Months Earlier

  My vampire parents had just announced to all of the world leaders that they had awakened Alrekur, and had explained everything about the true meaning of my Sonnast mark. Cliff had stormed out of the meeting after telling me that I'd signed his death warrant by sleeping with him.

  I wanted nothing more than to chase after him as he ran through the doors, but I was stuck on the platform with my parents and Alrekur. The room was in complete chaos as the world's vampire leaders responded to the unexpected news of the Fyrsturae being awakened to lead the vampire world again.

  My father raised his hands high into the air to get everyone's attention. He looked like he was enjoying the reaction of the leaders. One by one, the leaders sat back down in their seats, giving my father their attention.

  Once the room was quiet enough for my father to be heard, he began speaking again. "I understand that this news is shocking to say the least. That's why we wanted to have every one of you here together. You're undoubtedly wondering what this means for you and your region."

  He paused and waited, as many nodded and a wave of yes's ran through the audience.

  "You'll remain in your leadership positions, and my wife and I will continue acting as your king and queen until such time as we have all ten Fyrsturae with us. At that point, Alrekur and Alexis will be married and they will step up to the throne and rule for all eternity."

  I hid my disgust at the mention of marrying Alrekur. Even though I had obviously made a mess of things with Cliff, I was still determined to find a way to marry him instead. Aside from that, since Alrekur had killed Tanner, I hated him and couldn't even stand to look at him.

  My father went on to share about the process of finding the remaining Fyrsturae and I tuned out. I looked around the room, my gaze finally falling upon Francine. I had never seen her look so angry, and that was saying something, because she was always upset about something. She was texting furiously, not even listening to my father.

  I heard my father say my name and I looked over at him. Alrekur was holding his hand out for me. Because, as princess, I had to do what was expected of me with a smile on my face, I plastered on a fake smile and walked over to him.

  Alrekur took my hand, and with his other hand, he moved my hair back and exposed my newly visible mark. It had been hidden after my birth to protect me from the Moretti's, and had reappeared after I had awakened Alrekur from his thousand year nap, as he called it. When he touched the Sonnast mark, his face began to glow a blue-silver color. His touch had caused it to glow again, as it had after I'd pulled the stake from his chest.

  Another whispered hush went through the crowd and I felt like a circus freak. I was the vampire who continually surprised everyone by not going by the book. It didn't look like that was going to stop any time soon, but at least now I had the answer as to why everything was at the extreme with me.

  I had reacted so strongly to my first blood exposure, my eyes turning a shade of red that had never been seen before except by those who had been alive to see the Fyrsturae. Nobody's eyes turned that red except for the Fyrsturae, not even any of their descendants. After I died, I had transformed into a full vampire
in under fifteen minutes. Every other royal vampire had always taken at least six hours to complete their transition. The list went on, and I was sure that I would discover that everything about me was normal…for a Fyrsturae.

  It still seemed strange to me that I could be part of the group of the very first vampires when I'd been born three thousand years after them. However, my parents were not vampires. My mother was a water faerie called an Asrai and my father was a man-eating ogre called an Atcen. They were part of the group of Asrai and Atcen couples who had fallen in love and birthed the world's first vampires. After their first daughter, Ida, had been killed, they went in search of her body to find a way to awaken her.

  While they had been gone, a plague swept through the other Asrai and Atcen couples, killing them all and making the living Fyrsturae very sick. The young vampires had become stronger as a result of the plague, and it's believed that that's why the Fyrsturae and all of their descendants, the royal vampires, must be staked with the wood of the Populus Tremola tree in order to be killed.

  My parents had spent all of the time since then looking for Ida. About eight hundred years ago, they killed a vampire couple and had shape-shifted into their image, having no idea that those two were in line to be king and queen. The brother of the vampire whose shape my father took married a common vampire and declined his place in line. Common vampires are turned by other vampires and have no royal blood, which is why the elder brother chose to step down from the throne.

  When the crowd of leaders calmed down again, my father said, "I know that this is a lot to take in. I would like to give you a few hours to go to your rooms and discuss this amongst yourselves. Let the news settle and discuss your concerns. We will reconvene back here in exactly three hours for dinner and dancing. You'll be free to talk to myself, the queen, Alrekur, and Alexis about anything on your mind. Thank you. You are dismissed."

  As soon as we were outside of the meeting hall, I ran for Cliff's room before my parents could request that I go anywhere else. When I reached his door, I knocked on it, holding back my desperation to pound on it.

  "Are you in there, Cliff?" I asked calmly, wanting to scream it out loud.