Vanora sighed and rolled onto her side. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Armando is not for me. I’m not for him.” She plucked at the silver bracelet that rarely left her wrist since her birthday. Vanora had claimed a school friend had given it to her, but now Alisha knew better. Armando had given it to her sister.
“Who said that? Armando?”
Vanora gave a curt nod of her chin.
Alisha lay beside Vanora so she could see her face better. The sadness etched in her sister’s features said it all. “He’s right, you know. You’re going to go to UT, you’ll have a fabulous career, get married, have kids, all that wonderful normal human stuff. You get to have everything Roman and I won’t. Armando is right. Your forever is out there somewhere.”
Vanora visibly winced.
A startling shiver of ice slid through Alisha and she frowned slightly. Her words had felt somehow prophetic, yet cruel. “That’s a good thing, Vanora.”
“I know. But it’s hard to tell my heart that. This feels worse than any old crush. Like an ache inside of me that just hurts whenever I’m around him.”
“You two haven’t…”
Vanora pretended to pull something out of her jean pocket and hand it to Alisha. “V-Card intact.”
“Has he, you know, given you any indication of being romantically interested in you?”
Plucking at her lips, Vanora stared at her canopy before finally lifting one shoulder. “I don’t know.”
“The bracelet…” Alisha faltered when she realized how close her sister was to tears.
“It doesn’t matter, Alisha,” Vanora said at last. “It doesn’t matter because I’m leaving in December and doing all that stuff you said. I already feel guilty about leaving you and Roman as it is. I don’t need this…” She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Seriously. Armando made it very clear that we’re nothing more than friends.”
“So I don’t need to talk to him?”
“Oh my God! I would kill you!”
Alisha grimaced. “Okay. Sheesh. Back off, homicidal sister!”
Vanora covered her face with her hands. “Just let it go. Let it be. That’s what I’m doing. Besides, now Armando thinks there’s a boy at school who’s into me. He’s probably relieved to have shucked me off.”
Alisha considered telling Vanora that she seriously doubted that. She had sensed great discomfort within Armando throughout the conversation earlier. Plus, she had seen his face when he had seen the picture of Vanora looking very much like a sexy young woman. Yet, if she told her sister her suspicions, it would probably make things worse for her. It was best if Vanora wrote off Armando just as Alisha had written off Sin. Even if it hurt like hell.
Alisha wondered if it would always hurt like hell.
“Besides,” Vanora continued. “What hope does a mortal have with a vampire?”
Alisha knew that answer too well.
None at all.
36
August 2007
“It’s kind of gruesome, don’t you think?”
Vanora swam up to the edge of the pool, tucked her hands onto the ledge, and pulled herself up far enough to see what Rhonda was gazing at. It was the mausoleum, barely visible beyond the oak trees. In the late afternoon lighting, it did look particularly gloomy.
“I honestly don’t think about it,” Vanora lied. She fussed with her bathing cap. She had to wear it in the chlorinated water or else her fine white-blond hair would take on a greenish hue.
Earlier, Ryan had cleaned the leaves out of the old pool so Vanora and Rhonda could spend the afternoon swimming. Roman had finally relented and allowed Vanora to have a visitor over during the day. It was only Rhonda’s second visit and she was endlessly intrigued with the gothic mansion and the grounds around it.
“But there are dead people in it. On your property. Near your home!” Rhonda widened her eyes dramatically. “Boo!”
Vanora scoffed at her friend. “Oh, c’mon.”
“You live in a mansion straight out of a creepy horror story and you have a mausoleum sitting right under your nose. It’s all so…weird!”
Vanora slapped the water, splashing Rhonda. “Oh, shut up! See! This is why I never have you over!”
Laughing, her friend swam back across the pool. “It’s not my fault you live in Dracula’s castle. Hell, you’re even part Romanian.”
“My family wanted something that would remind them of home. So they built this…” Vanora motioned toward the house.
“It’s pretty awesome though. It feels like we’re in Europe.”
“Which was the point.” Vanora floated in the warm green-blue water. A few leaves had found their way onto the surface and she pushed them away with her hands.
“My house is so boring compared to yours.”
“My life is so boring compared to yours. Who got to go to Europe this summer, huh?”
“You should have gone with me. Then you could have been devirginized by a hot Italian hunk, too.” Rhonda wagged her eyebrows.
Vanora flipped around in the water to face her friend. Grinning, she teasingly said, “Oh, and this makes how many times you’ve lost your V-card now?”
Rhonda rolled her eyes. “Whatevs.”
“Like the third time. Fourth time?”
“There are varying degrees,” Rhonda said, slightly pouting.
“I think there’s not.” Vanora enjoyed the sensation of the warm water shifting beneath her feet as she slowly kicked to stay afloat. The pool had been built long before the new regulations restricting pool depth, so it was eight feet deep at one end and four at the other. She felt a bit like a mermaid with the water lightly splashing her face and neck.
“Well, in my book there are varying degrees. You work your way around the bases. You know what I mean? Oh, wait. You wouldn’t know!”
“I’m waiting for someone special.” Vanora shrugged.
Rhonda made a face and rolled her eyes. “You’re not waiting until marriage are you?”
“Well, what if I did? There’s nothing wrong with that. But, no, actually, I’m waiting until I’m in love with someone.” Vanora tried very hard not to think of a certain vampire with amber eyes.
Rhonda rolled her eyes. “Romantic crap.”
“Yeah, romantic crap.”
“Sex doesn’t have to do with romance or love. Lust is very, very fun.”
“In your eyes maybe.”
“Why are you being such a prude? You know my brother still thinks you’re hot.”
“Your brother is a dick,” Vanora reminded her.
“True. True.”
“And I’m not a prude. I’m just…careful. I mean…c’mon, how many boys have shown real interest in me?” Vanora actually hated most of the boys at school. After she found out there was a bet going around that her nipples were as white as the rest of her, she’d decided to never let any of the idiots close enough for them to find out.
“Well, they’re all stupid. I went to freakin’ Europe to get laid rather than let those losers touch me.” Rhonda swam to one of the inflatable chairs they’d tossed into the pool earlier and clung to the armrest. “I can see why you’re all dramatic and romantic though. I mean, this house. C’mon. How could you not see yourself as some sort of romantic heroine? You actually have gargoyles on the house. Gargoyles!”
Vanora splashed Rhonda again. “Shut up!”
Rhonda splashed her back with vigor.
“Girls, I’m fixin’ a nice dinner for ya both. Don’t ya think you should be comin’ in now? The sun is setting.”
“Oh, not yet! It’s so nice!” Rhonda gave Miss Robbins her most adorable look.
Miss Robbins fussed with her apron and implored Vanora silently with her eyes. Vanora knew Miss Robbins hated to be around the vampires, but that she wouldn’t want to leave without making sure the girls were fed and taken care of.
“I’m really not hungry, but you can just put the food in the oven and we can eat it later. Alisha is going to show Rhonda so
me of her artwork when she gets up.” Vanora swam to the side and smiled up at Miss Robbins. “We’re okay. I promise.”
The automatic lights flickered on around the pool. That seemed to unnerve Miss Robbins even more. “Well, okay. But…ya don’t stay in there until you’re a raisin, ya hear?”
“I hear.” Vanora pushed off from the side and glided through the water to the inflatable chair. She hoped Miss Robbins hadn’t heard any of their discussion about sex. She tended to gossip and Roman was freaked out enough as it was. Vanora thought it was silly how he seemed to suddenly realize she was not a little girl.
Rhonda waited until Miss Robbins was in the house, then swam around the chair to bob in the water next to Vanora. “Seriously though, you should maybe get a makeover or something and totally hit up a dating site. I hate that you’re so horribly single.”
“Makeover?”
“Yeah. Like you used to talk about getting. Dying your eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair. The blue contacts? That way a guy will just think you’re a bit on the pasty side, but not an actual albino. Not that there’s anything wrong with being an albino, but you know.”
Vanora knew that Rhonda was trying to be helpful, but each word drove another nail into her heart. It had taken her a very long time to embrace the fact she was never going to look like everyone else and that she wasn’t a freak of nature. The night of her birthday, Armando had actually gazed at her like she truly was beautiful. That had made her feel a bit more secure in her appearance and identity. Now that her looks were being brought into question again, it hurt.
“I’m sorry, Vanora, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Rhonda said after too much time had passed without a response.
“I get what you’re saying. I used to think the same way, but if a guy doesn’t want me for who I am, what’s the point? Why should I change myself?” Vanora sounded far more defensive than she liked, but her mind kept wandering to the moment when Armando had told her she was a moon goddess. He had told her she was lovely and she had believed he meant it.
The delicate skin around Rhonda’s eyes was turning slightly blue from their long time in the water and the chlorine rimmed her eyelids with red. Yet it was the pity in her friend’s eyes that made Vanora want to flee the pool.
“I hate that you’re alone,” Rhonda said at last. “You’ve never even been kissed.”
“Actually,” Vanora said, slightly preening. “I have been.”
“When? How? Who?” Rhonda seized her hand.
“My birthday. Someone you don’t know. And…it just sort of happened.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” Her friend looked both excited and miffed.
“Well, it’s awkward,” Vanora answered.
“Awkward? Of course, it was awkward. It’s always awkward!” Rhonda hesitated, then said cautiously, “Was it with a girl?”
Vanora giggled. “No, no. It was with-”
“Good evening,” Armando’s voice said.
Swishing about in the water, Vanora gazed up at the vampire in surprise. Standing with his hands tucked into his jean pockets, he lifted an eyebrow at her. A quick look at the skyline revealed the sun was just vanishing below the horizon. Her eyes slightly narrowed while she wondered just where he had been sleeping that he had arrived so quickly after sunset.
Rhonda launched herself to the side of the pool, the water cresting around her in a large wave that splashed into Vanora, making her sputter. “Hello! I’m Rhonda!” She extended her hand to Armando, her smile openly flirtatious.
Amused, Armando squatted to extend his hand. “I’m Armando.”
“Arrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmandooooooooo,” Rhonda purred. She cast a curious look at Vanora before peering up at the handsome man. “I’ve heard about you!”
Vanora deliberately dove into the darker depths of the pool and swam for the far end, away from the vampire and her friend. She could hear their voices muffled by the water, but didn’t want to know what they were saying. The awkwardness of the moment was almost too much to bear. Finally surfacing and dragging in a deep breath, she pulled herself out of the water. Her body felt heavy and clunky after so much time in the pool, luxuriating in the sensation of weightlessness. Dragging a towel around her and shoving her feet into her flip-flops, she trudged over to a deck chair and sank onto it.
“Well, I am a patron of sorts of her sister’s artwork,” Armando was saying.
Vanora dragged her bathing cap off her head and shook out her hair.
“I’ve seen her work online, but tonight she’s actually going to show me her gallery. I don’t get to visit often,” Rhonda said pointedly, “so I’m really, really excited.”
“You know how artists are,” Armando said, shrugging. “They need their space.”
It was difficult not to admire the way Armando’s curls hung perfectly around his high brow and the muscles shifting beneath his maroon silk T-shirt. Vanora vigorously dried her arms and legs, trying to block out the conversation at hand. It was all small talk, but she felt as though both Armando and Rhonda were watching her furtively.
“Well, she’s kind of secretive.”
That one sentence uttered from Rhonda’s lips pulled Vanora’s attention back to the conversation.
“Yes, she is. I hear there is a boy at school that likes her, but she’s being very elusive,” Armando answered.
“Oh?” Rhonda widened her eyes.
Vanora glared at her.
“Him! Oh…we…don’t talk about him.” Rhonda waved her hands at Armando, indicating he should lift her out. He took them and dragged her from the pool. Shivering slightly, Rhonda giggled. “You know how it is. When a boy likes a girl and plays it all coy.”
Armando lifted an eyebrow. A very slight inclination of his head in Vanora’s direction made her squirm nervously. “Is that what he’s doing?”
“Well, there was this kiss…”
Vanora thought about shoving Rhonda into the pool and drowning her.
“A kiss?” Both of Armando’s eyebrows climbed upward.
“Oh, yeah. A kiss,” Rhonda said, conspiratorially. “Didn’t she tell you?”
“I can’t say that she has.” Armando finally turned his golden eyes directly on Vanora. “So a kiss.”
“It meant nothing,” Vanora said significantly.
“But she really likes this boy,” Rhonda continued, skipping over to the deck chair where her things were heaped. “I mean…a lot.”
“Really?” Armando followed in Rhonda’s dripping wake.
“Completely. She’s been crushing on him for years. Absolute years.”
“She’s totally lying,” Vanora said quickly.
Rhonda threw her an annoyed look. “I am not. That boy you’ve crushed on all those years obviously likes you back since there was a kiss.”
“A kiss,” Armando said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “How old is this boy?”
“Oh, my God! Shut up, both of you!” Vanora slid to her feet and smacked Armando with her towel. “It’s you, dumbass! You! No one else! No mystery boyfriend at school! It’s you!”
Armando grinned, clearly pleased.
Rhonda howled with laughter, falling back onto the deck chair, long legs curled up as she rocked back and forth.
“Oh, fuck both of you!” Vanora stomped past them, her flip-flops squelching wetly along the cement.
Darting around her, Armando opened the door to the house. He smelled delicious. Vanora glared at him instead of taking another sniff.
“Shut up, Armando.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Haven’t you said enough already?”
“I’m just pleased you’re not wasting your time with ridiculous boys at school. They’re not worthy of you,” Armando said, suddenly quite serious.
“And who is?” Vanora stared into his eyes defiantly.
Dark lashes hooding his eyes, Armando glanced toward Rhonda, who was busy drying her hair and trying to catch up.
“Who is?�
� Poking him in the chest with one finger, Vanora waited for an answer.
“Not me,” Armando said at last.
“You’re damn right,” Vanora said, her heart hurting, but not allowing herself to fall apart. “Come on, Rhonda. Armando has somewhere to be.”
Rhonda brushed past Armando, giggling.
Vanora shut the door in his face.
37
“So, what’s she like?” Roman asked, trying not to sound irritated even though he was. Sitting on the brocade sofa in the library, his fingers plucked at a frayed thread on the armrest.
Armando shrugged. “Any teenage girl.”
“That’s not very specific.” Roman frowned. He knew he was being overly protective of Vanora, but he couldn’t help himself. His sister was determined to move to Austin and at some point live with her best friend, Rhonda. Roman hadn’t seen Rhonda since she was ten. He remembered her as a precocious child that was a bit boy crazy. The constraints on his life chaffed at him at times like these.
Studying the tomes on a bookshelf, Armando answered, “She’s a pretty girl, a bit flirty, outgoing, and is loyal to Vanora. Protective even.”
“You figured this out after ten minutes?”
Turning, Armando smirked. “I’m a quick study. Besides, I’ve lived long enough to have a certain understanding about women.”
“They’re girls. Young girls.”
“They’re women. Young women. In another age, they would both be married and with children.”
Roman’s frown deepened. “Well, in this age, they’re still young. Vanora has a lot of living to do before she settles down, gets married, has a family, a career…”
Drawing a book off the shelf, Armando flipped it open to look at the copyright page. “A first edition. Very nice.” After a long pause, he said, “Who is to say Vanora wants all those things. Isn’t she going to inherit money at some point? What if she decides to live a life of leisure? Travel the world?”
Vampire in the Night: In Darkness We Must Abide, #1 Page 23
