‘It is, isn’t it? As a child, your family would allow me to come and read in here on visits.’ Alex was peering intently at one of the shelves at eye-level.
‘That’s it!’ he declared and pulled out a tall, green leather-bound book. The title was pressed into the leather in gold – Legends of the Lazar – and there was an ornate outline of a leafy tree.
Alex placed the book on a wooden book stand and opened it.
‘This is the oldest known version of the story I told you about, the princess in the tree.’ Alex pointed to a page of calligraphy with an intricate big letter with vine leaves twirling around it to begin the story.
‘Oh, yes,’ Ivy said faintly. What story? Was he talking about the poem she’d heard him reciting to Olivia on the hill? She’d just have to pretend that she knew what he was talking about.
The story was in Romanian, so Ivy couldn’t read it, but the image on the opposite page was of a beautiful girl wearing flowing robes and a crown. It was enough for Ivy to guess what Alex liked about the story: a beautiful princess is rescued by a handsome prince and lives happily ever after, bossing around servants and lording it over everyone for the rest of their lives.
No more Miss Nice Olivia, Ivy thought. Time to get down to business.
‘So, Alex,’ Ivy said, putting on her cheeriest voice. ‘Tell me about your mother.’
Alex looked a little like a sleeping fawn that had just had a torch shined in its face: startled and about to flee.
‘Good as new,’ Olivia declared, holding up the necklace so that Nadia could see it was fixed. Nadia had taken her to the servants’ quarters on the second floor, where she’d used pliers from the toolbox.
‘Miss Olivia, you are too kind,’ Nadia replied, putting the chain back around her neck. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’
‘It was the least I could do,’ Olivia replied. ‘And please, just call me Olivia. No “Miss”.’
Nadia nodded. ‘OK . . . Olivia.’ Then she blushed a little.
As Olivia stood up to go, she caught sight of a Romanian magazine with Jackson on the cover. Her stomach clenched. She remembered her first day filming on the movie set. Jackson had arranged for a playlist of all her favourite songs to be playing in her trailer while she was getting ready. He can be romantic and sweet, she thought. So why isn’t he making more of an effort? She hadn’t heard anything else from him. Even if the phone signal was dreadful here, she couldn’t help feeling that if Jackson really cared he’d have found out the landline number or something.
‘Well, I’m sorry again about clobbering you on the ice,’ Olivia said to Nadia.
‘That’s OK. I should probably get back to work,’ Nadia said.
They gave each other a little hug and Olivia left the servants’ quarters. Her confusion about Jackson threatened to take over all the good feelings she was having being here with her family.
Ivy will be able to help, Olivia thought. Find Ivy.
Down the hallway, Olivia caught sight of Horatio wiping dust off a frame that no normal-sized person would be able to reach.
‘Hey, Horatio,’ she said, hurrying over. ‘Have you seen Ivy?’
Horatio frowned at her, looking behind him and back. ‘Did you spill something, Miss Olivia?’
‘Um, no,’ she replied, wondering why he would think she had.
‘Hmmm.’ His fuzzy eyebrows furrowed. ‘I have not seen Miss Ivy recently.’
‘OK, no problem,’ she said. ‘If you see her, could you ask her to find me?’
‘I shall,’ he said and went back to his dusting. As she walked away, Olivia heard him mutter: ‘How many twins are there?’
She wandered down the corridors, asking anyone she came across about Ivy, but no one seemed to have seen her. Down one hallway, she heard Prince Alex’s deep voice coming from a room. Maybe he’s seen Ivy, she thought, and headed towards the door.
Chapter Seven
‘And I’m sick of her telling me what to do all the time!’ Alex was still talking. ‘She’s a control freak, living her life through me. Doesn’t she understand? I need some freedom to make my own decisions!’ Alex sounded just like any other teenager complaining about his parents, and for a moment Ivy almost felt sorry for him – almost. But she quickly reminded herself that she was on a mission. I’ll get the truth out of him, she swore. One way or another.
‘Which is why I’m so glad that you’re here,’ Alex finished, giving her a big smile.
Ah ha! Ivy thought. Because you want to make your mom mad!
‘Because now I have lots of excuses to leave the palace.’ Alex sat back in the chair, relaxing.
Ivy adjusted her white skirt and tugged at the pink hairband that was starting to tickle her ears. She pushed away the guilty feeling for impersonating her sister. This was important.
‘Would your mom be mad that you were spending time with me?’ Ivy asked.
Before he could answer, a panel of books swung open, making Ivy jump. Alex stood up and Ivy watched to see who was coming in with her heart pounding.
Please don’t be Olivia, Ivy thought.
It was one of the Queen’s footmen, who bowed sharply and said, ‘Your Highness, word has been sent from the palace.’
Alex sighed.
‘You are to attend your mother immediately,’ the footman finished.
Alex looked like he was going to say something but he stopped himself. His body stiffened and Ivy realised that in front of the footman, Alex had slipped back into his role as prince. ‘Yes, of course.’ He turned to ‘Olivia’. ‘I’m sorry to leave you so abruptly.’ He gave a tense smile, and kissed Ivy’s hand. ‘Good day, Olivia. I hope to see you again soon.’
Ivy smiled and curtsied. Just when I was about to get the confession!
Alex disappeared through the panel behind the footman.
It doesn’t matter, Ivy thought. It’s pretty clear from his ranting about being controlled that he is using Olivia to annoy his mother.
Now all Ivy had to do was get upstairs, de-Olivia-fy herself and then convince her sister that Prince Alex was bad news.
But how?
She pulled open the door and blinked. She’d come face-to-face with someone. It was just like looking in a mirror.
Ivy gasped. ‘Olivia!’
‘Ivy?’ Olivia said.
‘I can’t believe you!’ Olivia stormed up the stairs to their shared bedroom, feeling hurt, confused and really, really un-perky.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ivy said.
‘You’ve said that,’ Olivia snapped.
‘If you’ll just let me explain –’ Ivy began.
Olivia whirled around, two steps above her sister. ‘This is the ultimate twin betrayal, Ivy!’
Ivy took a step down with her mouth open.
‘Switching without permission? It’s like . . . like body-snatching! Identity theft!’ Olivia marched into their room, not even holding the door open for Ivy.
‘Please, Olivia,’ Ivy said, pushing through the doorway.
Olivia struggled to keep her voice even. ‘I know you’ve been having trouble adjusting here but I’d never expect you to do this.’
‘But –’ Ivy was backing away, almost into the big wooden wardrobe.
‘Dressing up like me to spend time with Prince Alex is plain devious, Ivy,’ Olivia said.
‘If you would just stop shouting –’
But Olivia didn’t want to hear whatever Ivy had to say. Her own sister had been keeping secrets from her. She never thought that would happen.
‘Girls?’ came the Countess’s voice from the doorway, and instantly Olivia regretted yelling. ‘Girls, what’s the matter?’ Their grandmother’s glance flickered from Olivia to Ivy, wearing similar outfits, and realisation spread across her face. ‘I see.’
Olivia shot a look at Ivy.
‘Something has obviously happened between you two, and I don’t need details,’ the Countess said. ‘But you both should know that nothing that ever happens between you stops
you being family.’
Olivia crossed her arms.
‘You are sisters – twins – there is nothing more important than that bond.’ She motioned for both of them to come over and give her a hug. Olivia didn’t want to refuse her grandmother but she didn’t want to be that close to Ivy at the minute, either.
She stubbornly waited for Ivy to go over first.
‘You, too, Olivia,’ the Countess said.
Olivia shot her sister a Death Squint and hugged her grandmother, making sure she didn’t touch Ivy at all.
The Countess pulled back and looked at them both. ‘There is nothing that can’t be resolved with a good talk. I’m going to leave now, and you are going to stay here until you work out whatever it is that caused all this squabbling.’
Olivia sighed and her grandmother took both her hands.
‘Believe me,’ she said. ‘Fighting with your family is awful.’
Olivia looked into her clear blue eyes and realised that her grandmother was talking about her biological dad. She’d fallen out with her son and it had taken Charles fifteen years to come back here. As the Countess left the room, Olivia imagined if ten years from now she and Ivy weren’t talking. I wouldn’t know where she was or what she was doing.
The thought made her anger fade a little.
Olivia examined her sister. ‘I never should have brought that shirt,’ she said. ‘Those frilly sleeves are horrible.’
Ivy gave a hopeful smile. ‘I picked it because I thought it was the most cheerleader thing in your suitcase.’
‘Hmph,’ Olivia said. ‘So . . .’
‘So, what?’ Ivy asked.
‘So why are you dressed up as me and talking to Prince Alex?’
Ivy pulled Olivia over to sit on her coffin. ‘OK,’ Ivy began. ‘I wasn’t trying to get closer to Prince Alex. I think he’s pretending to be interested in you to get back at his mother. If I pretended to be you, I hoped I could trick him into revealing what he was up to.’
Olivia couldn’t believe that Alex would have any ulterior motive. ‘But Alex and I are just friends.’
Ivy raised an eyebrow. ‘Private tours of the palace? Poetry on the top of a hill? Taking you ice-skating? That’s all pretty romantic for someone who just wants to be friends.’
Olivia had to admit that the walk on the hilltop had been pretty romantic.
Ivy went on. ‘And ever since Jackson was all weird about Valentine’s Day, you’ve been brooding over him, so maybe Prince Alex seemed like a better option. But if he’s just pretending, I wasn’t going to let him break your heart.’
Olivia remembered what he’d said after he recited the poem: something about longing to escape his circle. Had he been trying to tell her something? The Queen had made it pretty clear that she only just tolerated humans in her presence, and Alex could have been saying how his mother would never let him have a human girlfriend.
‘You might be right,’ Olivia admitted to her sister. ‘Not about him pretending, I don’t think, but about him liking me.’
‘Do you like him back?’ Ivy asked.
Olivia was asking herself the same question. An odd feeling crept over her and she was surprised to hear herself say, ‘I don’t know.’
Jackson had always seemed perfect for her – except for when she thought he might have been a vampire – and, even though they hadn’t kissed yet, being his girlfriend made her so happy . . . usually. Lately, being his girlfriend had been kind of hard. These past two days with Alex had been a breeze by comparison. No long lines of girls, no rushing off anywhere, no Amy Teller hovering over them looking at her watch.
Then something occurred to her.
‘Oh dear,’ Olivia said aloud.
‘What?’ Ivy wanted to know.
‘He doesn’t know I’m dating Jackson,’ Olivia replied. ‘I’d tried to tell him when we were ice-skating but couldn’t find the right moment.’
‘That was worrying me,’ Ivy said. ‘At least now we know he wasn’t ready to ruin your relationship with Jackson in order to get back at his mum. That would have made him evil.’
Olivia couldn’t imagine Alex being cruel; he seemed so sensitive. ‘Are you absolutely sure about this?’
‘His mother is a separationist, and everyone says they fight a lot.’ Ivy jumped up and started pacing. ‘Having a human girlfriend would be one sure-fire way to make his mom really angry.’
Olivia sighed. ‘I think you’re right that Alex is sometimes unhappy with what his mother and his position demand of him, but he’s not a bad person.’
Olivia was worried it was worse than him pretending to like her; what if he really did like her? If that was true, she was going to have to do something about it. She was with Jackson, and even if things were weird between them right now, she had to stay true to him.
‘So . . .’ Ivy said.
‘So, what?’ Olivia asked.
Ivy sat back down on the coffin. ‘Am I forgiven?’
‘You’re forgiven,’ Olivia replied, giving her sister a big hug. ‘As long as we can bury that shirt in my suitcase and forget I ever bought it.’
‘Deal,’ Ivy said.
‘Or maybe I should make you keep wearing it as punishment?’ Olivia grinned wickedly.
Ivy let out a strangled noise and hurriedly pulled it off.
The next morning at breakfast, Ivy was delighted to see a table of pancakes, sausages, hash browns and eggs laid out buffet-style.
‘Yum,’ she said to Olivia as they entered the dining room with their father. He sat down towards the foot of the table. ‘Nudge me if I look like a werewolf during a full moon.’
The Countess beamed from her position at the head of the table. ‘I’m so glad you like it. It was Tessa’s idea.’
Ivy grinned at her new friend, who was laying out a selection of maple syrups, and mouthed, ‘Thank you!’
Tessa smiled back. She held up a bottle and made a show of pointing to it and mouthing, ‘Try this one.’
‘Now, fill up, girls,’ the Count said as he sat down opposite his wife. ‘Your grandmother will be putting you to work soon with all the preparations for this evening.’
Ivy didn’t need telling twice and heaped food on to her plate. She made sure to choose the maple syrup that Tessa had recommended, which was labelled ‘Apricot Maple Syrup’.
The Countess cleared her throat. ‘Charles, my son.’
Ivy paused in her feasting, sensing that something was about to happen.
‘I had hoped that you would be by my side tonight and escort me into the ball?’ The Countess spoke slowly but with a hopeful look on her face. ‘Like you used to do?’
Please say yes, Ivy wished. Please!
Ivy remembered what he’d said in the car before they’d arrived at the house. He was only here for his daughters – but maybe spending time here had convinced him to forgive his parents?
Mr Vega hesitated. ‘I regret to say that I am not feeling entirely myself today and so do not think I will be able to attend. I apologise.’
‘Of course,’ said the Countess, her voice catching in her throat. ‘I hope you feel . . . better . . . soon.’
Ivy didn’t know what to say and the rest of breakfast passed in almost silence. Half an hour later, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her full belly.
‘Now you look like a werewolf who ate a full moon.’ Olivia said, laughing.
‘Mmm.’ Ivy smiled. ‘Bliss.’
‘Come along, now, my darlings,’ the Countess said, getting to her feet. ‘There are a few things to do before the ball tonight.’
Ivy pulled herself out of her chair, gripping the edge of the table.
‘Should I get you a crane?’ Olivia teased.
‘How about one of those motorised scooters?’ Ivy replied, trudging after her grandmother into the parlour. Piles of silky red and black ribbons waited for them on each of the polished oak side tables.
‘You girls can sit there.’ The Countess pointed to a sofa behind one of
the tables with ribbon. ‘And the gentlemen can share that pile to help me wrap the party gifts.’
Mr Vega followed the Count towards two armchairs and sat down, dutifully.
The Count poked at the ribbon. ‘Perhaps I’ll leave the pretty bows to you girls,’ he said, before settling into a chair and pulling a book out of his jacket. He was soon hidden behind its pages, chuckling at whatever he was reading.
‘Mmm, sitting,’ Ivy said to Olivia, plopping down heavily.
‘I’ll get Tessa to bring in the presents.’ The Countess called down the hall.
‘Presents?’ Olivia asked, looking the most excited Ivy had seen her since they’d arrived. The Countess had come back into the room.
‘Last year, we gave everyone a portable music player pre-filled with love songs,’ the Countess said.
Ivy and Olivia shared a look. Wow, Ivy thought. They take Valentine’s really seriously in Transylvania.
‘And this year . . .’ the Countess paused until Tessa appeared in the doorway, carrying a tray of small silver boxes. ‘We’re giving everyone a visit from my favourite feng shui expert in honour of you two and your father. It’s a gift to help everyone find harmony in their home.’
‘That’s amazing,’ said Olivia and Ivy thought so, too.
She snuck a glance at her father. He was neatly sorting the ribbons into tidy rolls, lined up on the table. He didn’t seem to have heard a word the countess had said.
‘Yes,’ his mother repeated, gazing at Mr Vega. ‘A harmonious home is so important for a family.’ Ivy could see her dad’s cheeks colouring, even as he twirled another piece of ribbon around his finger.
Come on, Dad, she thought. Can’t you just put your differences aside and come to the ball?
Ivy went over to help Tessa set the tray down on the table. Together, they placed a few stacks of boxes next to each pile of ribbons. She noticed that Tessa’s face was pale and she had dark circles beneath her eyes, as though she hadn’t been sleeping.
‘Are you OK?’ Ivy whispered.
Tessa nodded quickly, not making eye contact. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. Ivy wasn’t so sure. Her friend looked . . . unhappy.
‘I want us to tie one red and one black ribbon around each box,’ the Countess declared.
06 Love Bites - My Sister the Vampire Page 8
