Piper left me with my shame. I guess she sensed it was time to let her logic sink in. I lay down on the bed, debating if I should grab a little sleep. I was used to sleeping only a couple of hours at a time. In order to graduate from high school, I had to be able to attend my day classes, so I learned to survive off of napping. Instead I decided to search out my sorority sisters. After all, they were my job. I was in the business of protecting them. It seemed natural to assume they might eke out a little gratitude and I could desperately use a pick-me-up.
I wandered upstairs and found Ileana going through her new purchases. She was giving orders to her maid to hang this, press that and put away the other. When she was satisfied everything would be accomplished to her satisfaction, she brushed past me and headed downstairs.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” I asked the maid from the doorway, fed up with “Sophie, fetch this for me.”
“No mum,” she answered quietly, never tarrying from her task.
“Well for heaven’s sake, why not? You’re a human being and deserve to be treated with respect. Don’t you want more out of life than jumping up to do her”—I gestured my thumb in Ileana’s direction—“bidding?”
“My family has been in the service of the Romanavs for centuries. It is an honor to serve my lady.”
“Really?” I puzzled, wondering if a long-standing employee /employer relationship was really worth putting up with Ileana.
“Yes, my lady has been very good to my family.”
“Oh, do you have brothers and sisters who work for her as well?” I leaned against the door frame.
“No mum, I am an only child. Every daughter serves my lady. I do, and my mother, and her mother before her. It has always been so.”
“Wow, so your mom and grandma served Ileana’s mom and her grandmother?” Talk about a family business.
Sophie stopped her folding actions and looked at me in speculation, then turned back to her task. “As I said, my family has served the Romanavs for centuries.”
Well, okay then. I left her to her lady’s maid tasks and went in search of Carl.
Carl and I began our relationship hating each other. Back when I was first changed, he thought I was mocking him when he asked to see my fangs and I showed him my stainless steel fang headgear. But over the last eight months, we’d become almost friends. Actually, I think he still had a thing for Piper but she hadn’t shown any romantic interest in him after he was her date for Homecoming. She liked him well enough but wasn’t willing to date a vampire, and I couldn’t blame her. Relationships were tough enough without adding the whole Undead thing into the mix. I worked with Carl and over time, I managed to grow on him. Much like a fungus, he was fond of saying.
I figured he wouldn’t be too thrilled to hear how I left Thomas stuck in California. When I found Carl at the massive dining room table, poring over some paperwork from his briefcase, he smirked as I entered the room and commented, “Never a dull moment around you, is there?”
“Ah, I see Thomas has filled you in.” I grabbed the chair across from him and sank into it.
“Breaking rank and leaving your partner essentially locked in a safe house while you placed yourself in danger is grounds for an inquiry.”
“I did not lock anyone in a safe house!” I hotly refuted. “I left him asleep in his room in the middle of the day! It’s not my fault he can’t go out in the sun. And, for your information, I am the Protector of the half-bloods and I shouldn’t have to wait for an Investigator to go talk to them.”
Carl raised an eyebrow and replied, “Thomas is not any Investigator, he was the one assigned to you on this case and he’s your senior.”
Before I could reply, a new voice added itself to the conversation.
“And by ditching him and playing Wonder Vamp, you kind of rolled his face in the fact that you didn’t need him there and that he has no value. No value as an Investigator or as your boyfriend. Nice job.”
I turned to glare at Piper. “I did not devalue my boyfriend. He knows how much I, uh, I value him.” Who uses “value” in a sentence that doesn’t include “shopping,” anyway? Not value Thomas? Sheesh, how could Piper say these things to me after I shared my pain with her?
“I’m just saying …”
“Well, don’t,” I said, cutting her off rudely. “Thomas and I are fine. He’ll be just fine. You just don’t get it. Our relationship is complex,” I added a little lamely, feeling myself sink into a shame spiral. Thomas was always doing whatever he could to help me and I had kind of slapped him down on this one. I shouldn’t have let my anger about our personal situation affect my job.
It’s just he made me so mad, acting like he knew everything and I was a newbie loser who couldn’t even walk on the beach in the middle of the day without wreaking havoc. Well, I did just fine. And my success would be just the eye-opener he needed to see I could take care of myself.
Piper threw her hands up and muttered, “Whatever,” and walked back into the living room. I stood up and glared at Carl, daring him to contradict me. He turned back to his paperwork, effectively dismissing me.
Well excuse me for living, er, not living. I stomped away in a bit of a huff. Didn’t anybody see my side of this? I was doing the best I could do at this stupid job. A job which I never asked for, by the way, and no one seemed to appreciate how hard I’d been working at it. Not Piper, not Carl and especially not Thomas.
I climbed the stairs to my bedroom and threw myself on the bed. I lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling, hugging my fluffy pink throw pillow to my chest. Would it ever get any easier? I thought and then my stomach growled. I groaned at the injustice.
Just then a timid knock interrupted my pity party (I hate that) and my door cracked open to reveal Lucy.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” I returned her greeting.
“If you have time, do you, uh, want to see what we picked out shopping?” she asked shyly.
Ah yes, the infamous shopping trip to Nordstrom. The event that would forever leave me in Piper’s debt.
I hemmed a bit. “Well, actually…”
Lucy rushed to add, “And I hoped you could go with me to feed? You know, show me where…” She paused with a hopeful look on her face.
What kind of ogre was I, anyway? Poor thing just wanted some company and to eat, but was too timid to go alone and I’m all “poor me.” I sucked as a Protector.
“I was actually going to suggest feeding. Great minds think alike, I guess. We’ll see who else wants to come with us. Then you could show me your stuff, if you’re still up for it?”
Lucy blinked twice and said, “Sure, great. Let’s do that.”
I smiled at her enthusiasm. Maybe everything wasn’t a complete disaster. I could make some friends out of this gig and maybe, just maybe things would turn out okay.
“Great, let me grab my fangs and we can go.” I reached for my nightstand and pulled out the familiar box which housed my headgear fangs.
“I’m sorry, I thought you said you had to get your fangs.” Lucy giggled at the thought.
“Well, actually I did. I don’t have real fangs.” I was embarrassed each time I had to explain my lack of canines to another vampire. It wasn’t my fault I had six teeth removed for braces when I was twelve. My orthodontist (also known as Dad’s best friend, Ted) suggested oral surgery to remove my wisdom teeth and two canines. Unfortunately, though I now had a killer smile, I no longer had my feeding fangs.
So my dad, a gifted orthodontist in his own right, created special headgear with stainless-steel fangs so I could still feed. Yes, it made me look like the biggest geek in the vampire world but at least I didn’t starve. Which normally seemed like a pretty good trade-off until I had to explain why I had to wear the headgear. Like now.
I showed them to Lucy, who wanted to see what they looked like on. I slipped them into place and she carefully examined how they fit, the sharpness of the fangs and its overall effectiveness. She didn’t laugh at me and nodded in support.
“Ingenious,” she announced. “You’re very lucky your father would make these for you.” She sounded so solemn I asked about her family.
“I have no one,” she answered, then quickly changed the subject.
In the end we picked up Angie and surprise, surprise, Ileana to make the feeding rounds. Sage and Tina were worn out and not at all hungry. They decided to kick back and watch reruns of The Simpsons and veg out downstairs.
Instead of driving we opted to walk to the nearest park by the university. There were bound to be dozens of students or teens hanging around, bent on misdemeanors.
After I informed Carl where we were going (to which he just grunted in response—men are so touchy) we headed out the door, where I found Piper getting into her car.
“Hey,” I said, noting she was leaving without saying good-bye.
“Hey,” she responded, looking a little guilty at being caught sneaking out.
“We are headed out to fee—er, get some fresh air,” I finished lamely. Sometimes it was really hard having a best friend who wasn’t Undead. The Living were kind of squeamish about the whole feeding thing.
“Cool, I’m just on my way home. Gotta get some sleep and all before we have to catch our flight.”
My mouth fell open as I remembered that Piper was leaving tomorrow, er, today since it was after midnight. She would be gone for ten whole days in England with her mom.
She took one look at my face and retorted, hands on hips, “You do remember I’m leaving for England, right?”
The problem was, I hadn’t remembered she was leaving. I mean, I knew she was leaving but with having to go pick up Sage and Tina, then leaving Thomas in California, I completely lost track of time. Instead of pouting about my circumstances, I should have been spending the evening with Piper before she left the country. It was official. I was the world’s worst best friend.
“Of course I remembered.” I decided to take the wounded friend role, since I wasn’t about to admit I’d lost track of the days. “I just thought you wouldn’t leave without saying good-bye first.”
Ha, dodge that one, Little Missy.
Piper, of course, was way too smart to play my game, which is one of the reasons she is my best friend. She doesn’t put up with my crap. A blessing and curse, I can assure you.
“Dude…” She drew out the word and tilted her head to the side as though she couldn’t believe I would even try the wounded friend thing on her.
I walked over to her car, leaving the other vamps clumped together in an awkward circle, trying to pretend they couldn’t hear every word of our conversation.
“Piper, I didn’t forget you were going out of town,” I tried to reassure her but had to add, “I just… didn’t remember you were leaving so soon.”
Whereas I didn’t want to hurt Piper’s feelings by admitting I forgot, she had no such problem with me.
“You suck,” she said pointedly. Ugh.
“I know, I know. It’s all part of the insensitive vampire package. I’m sorry, Piper, I really am. I, I just didn’t want to think about you not being around, is all.”
My voice broke toward the end of this dark confession. I didn’t want to think of Piper leaving me alone with all my Protector responsibilities. She’d been by my side since I turned Undead and I wasn’t sure I could do it all alone. Really alone, since I was sure to have pissed off Thomas with my freedom flight out of California.
Piper put her fingers on my lips and mocked, “Stop. You had me at insensitive.”
Man, with friends like these, who needed enemies? She dropped her fingers away and I laughed. So we would be okay. I moved forward and gave her a quick hug.
“I’ll e-mail you every day you’re gone,” I promised. She returned my hug quickly then pushed away.
“Sheesh, not every day. I do have a life you know. I plan to be sightseeing and stuff.” But she smiled when she said it so I knew she would be looking forward to hearing from me.
“Be safe,” I reminded her as she opened her car door.
“Always,” she assured me haughtily and climbed into her car. Then she was gone. My stomach growled insistently and I turned back to my group of charges, shuffling uncomfortably on the front lawn.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, are we going to feed or not?” Ileana demanded.
I sighed deeply and motioned for the group to follow me. I was missing Piper already. We walked west for several blocks to a rather large park just south of the university campus. There were several open-all-night food places and the park always seemed to be brimming with activity. Tonight was no exception, and I suspected we would easily be able to feed without drawing any undue attention to ourselves.
“Okay, why don’t we split up and make the rounds?” I suggested.
“Do we meet back here when we’re done?” asked Lucy. I hadn’t planned on all of us rendezvousing after we were done, but the look on Lucy’s face made me realize that the others weren’t as confident on their own as I was. Actually, none of them were even from Seattle, no wonder they looked like lost little sheep.
“Sure, if everyone is cool with that?” I glanced around at the group and they seemed to be in agreement.
“Shall we say one hour from now?” Again more nodding from the group.
I turned to walk into the park, on a trail that took me through a heavily treed area and noticed all the girls still standing in a group, looking around the area but not moving a muscle. I stopped and asked, “Everything okay?”
“Where should we go?” Angie asked.
“Um, anywhere. You could try near the Taco Bell or over there next to those cars parked by the video store or…” They were each staring blankly at me. Oh, for heaven’s sake.
“Why don’t you all come with me?” I suggested instead and they immediately jumped to join me. We took a leisurely stroll through the park and into the shading trees.
“What I find that works is just to hang out until someone walks by. Then I ask them to come over and stand still, I feed and send them on their merry way.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Ileana snorted.
“What do you mean, fun? It’s feeding. It’s not supposed to be fun,” I retorted, irritated by her attitude.
“We are predators by our very design. Waiting in the path for some unsuspecting person to walk by hardly seems very sporting.” It was almost pleasant to hear Ileana talk, with her soft rolling accent—if you didn’t listen to the actual words coming out of her mouth.
“How do you feed at home, Ileana?” Lucy asked.
“Well, I have Sophie bring me my meals, of course. I don’t go traipsing around a park.” She turned up her pert little nose and looked around her surroundings.
“Predators hide in the brush and wait for their prey. I see it all the time on the Discovery Channel,” Sage offered to the group. I felt a pinprick of pain start behind my left eye. Not enough to really hurt, just enough to irritate me. Much like the group was beginning to do. Looked like my migraine was coming back in full force.
“Predators kill to survive. May I remind you that none of us needs to kill to do that? We take what we need and that’s all.”
“Well, no one needs to eat more than one slice of cake but we’ve all been known to gorge once in a while.” Ileana giggled at her little joke and I rounded to face her.
I kept my tone even, eyes level with hers, and explained slowly, “No one in Psi Phi House gorges. Understand?”
Everyone else nodded vigorously, but Ileana simply sighed. “Whatever. My, you really are touchy, aren’t you?”
I was ready to argue some more when the breeze changed and I caught an unfamiliar scent. I shoved Ileana to the side sharply and leapt past her in one swift motion. I landed in time to block the stake that came within an inch of embedding itself in her back. My surprise attacker was wearing black (so cliché) and his fangs were bared.
The girls screamed in surprise but I was already countering his next move. He was strong, but then so was I. He struck quickly on the offensive and it took all my concentration to keep from getting impaled. I wouldn’t last long in this fight if I didn’t think of something quick. He lunged toward me again and this time I took his arm and pulled forward, sidestepping the stake. The momentum of our combined energy threw him off balance long enough for me to kick at the back of his knee and down he went.
A quick clip to the side of his temple with my foot rendered him momentarily stunned. I dropped down onto his back and wretched the stake from his hand. I’d hoped to knock the air from his lungs, but being a vampire and all, there wasn’t a lot of air occupying his lungs.
I wasn’t sure what to do next. I wanted to know more about him but I could hardly keep a vampire subdued without keeping him unconscious. And I didn’t feel like carrying his body back to the house.
Just then another vampire made his presence known by grabbing Angie from behind. I quickly struck my hostage unconscious and leapt up to help her. I looked to the other girls. Where was Lucy? Ileana seemed to snap out of her daze when Angie was grabbed. She reached into her bag and pulled out, could it be? A Taser.
Ileana pointed it at Angie’s attacker and fired. The vampire released Angie, but stood frozen, shaking as who knows how many volts of electricity surged through his body. Angie fell, somewhat stunned; she must have absorbed some of the Taser’s voltage.
“Ileana!” I yelled at her. “That’s not going to stop a vampire.”
I was right but it sure did slow him down. I took both my fists and clapped them together at his temples, knocking him out. With the exception of not being in the black zone and taken by surprise, I think Cyrus would have been proud by the way I took out two vampire assailants. Well, okay, one vampire assailant. Ileana seemed to be doing okay without me.
I checked around quickly to make sure there were no more. Lucy appeared, as if out of nowhere, at Angie’s side and announced she would be fine in a moment. Ileana efficiently unclamped her victim and put the Taser back in her purse, calm as you please.
“What in the world are you doing carrying a stun gun?” I demanded. Ileana simply shrugged in response.
“Who are they?” Angie asked, trying to shake off her shock.
“My guess is vampires who don’t care for half- bloods,” responded Ileana coolly.
“We should get out of here,” Lucy suggested, looking around nervously. Lucy might outlive us all because her fight-or-flight instinct seemed to be heavy on the flight, not so much fight.
I tried to concur but my stomach growled again, drowning out my agreement. Slowly, a smile spread on my face. To quote a famous Dr. Suess book, “Oh, the thinks you can think.”
“Ladies,” I announced smugly, lifting up the closest incapacitated vampire by his collar. “Dinner’s on me tonight.”
There were four of us and we could feed two per vampire.
Though I wouldn’t normally feed on a vampire, the blood of the Undead was very rich and we needed much less of it to be satisfied. Anyway, it seemed only fair that these two bigoted vamps who tried to kill us would end up being our meal. Imagine their embarrassment when they awoke to find our fang marks on their neck? Served them right.
I slipped on my headgear and heard Ileana snicker. I raised an eyebrow to her in question, but she said nothing. We all fed.
“We should drain them,” Ileana spoke up after she drank her fill.
“Are you crathy?” I lisped.
“She’s right,” Angie agreed, surprising everyone. “They will only try to kill us again. They shouldn’t be allowed the chance.”
They all looked toward me, the Protector in bright pink headgear, for guidance. Hey, I didn’t want to get attacked again either, especially by vamps who might be more successful with their second attempt, but still, I didn’t think it was right to drain them in cold blood.
I popped out my fangs and shook my head. “No, we leave them alive. There are laws governing behavior between vampires and none of us have acquired a blood-war license with these two. If they don’t have ID, I’ll take their picture with my cell phone and file charges with Carl when we get back to the house. Unless any of you want to carry them back?”
There was some grumbling, but all in all it was the right decision. Our existence was precarious at best. I hardly wanted to start a blood war with a vampire clan I knew nothing about. These two could have acted alone, or be part of a larger group. Either way, we survived the encounter relatively unharmed and victorious. That would send the right message. Half-bloods were not easy targets.
We hurried home and I told Carl everything that happened. The girls went downstairs to share the tale with Sage and Tina. It was very exciting, now that we were out of harm’s way and I noticed they were exaggerating my combat prowess with each telling.
Carl took me aside to view the photos. I e-mailed them to him from the phone as well, but he didn’t recognize them.
“So, it’s started already,” he murmured softly, careful to keep his tone hushed.
“You sound surprised.”
“I am,” he admitted, then clarified his position. “I’m not surprised someone would attack you—” I snorted out a thanks but he continued, “I’m surprised it happened so soon. No one knows the House is occupied yet, Colby. The Tribunal’s official position has always been that Psi Phi won’t be inhabited by half-bloods for another two weeks.”
“So what are you telling me?”
“I think we have a leak somewhere in the system,” he said somberly.
“A leak? You mean a spy?” I whispered fiercely, looking around.
He nodded. “Either someone in our department is leaking information or one of the girls is not who she appears to be.”
“Do you really think it could be one of them?” I was incredulous to say the least. I mean, did Carl ever bother to speak to any of the girls? They didn’t seem the type.
“No, it’s got to be someone in the department, Carl. I can’t believe it’s someone in the House.”
“Are you saying that because you can’t believe one of your own would turn against you?” he enjoyed mocking my naïveté.
“No, I mean none of them are smart enough to be a spy. Think about it, Carl. Tina wants to be a vegan vampire, for goodness’ sake. Each candidate is as unlikely as the next.”
Carl found himself nodding in agreement. It did seem unlikely. “We have to contact Thomas immediately,” he said.
I knew he was right, of course. Thomas was senior in charge and needed to know about this threat. However, I was the one who’d averted disaster and saved the half-bloods. Surely that counted for something?
“Fine, go ahead and call him. I’ll go downstairs and hang with my sisters. Maybe I’ll learn a little more about their circumstances and get a better idea who’s who down there.”
I turned to leave but Carl stopped me by placing a hand on my shoulder. “Colby, you did well tonight.”
I was shocked by his praise. Did Carl just compliment my Protector skills? I nodded, afraid I would cry if I tried to verbally respond. If only Thomas could see me the way Carl did, as a competent Protector instead of a weak half-blood sidekick. I straightened my shoulders and shook it off. This was no time to bemoan my relationship with Thomas. I had a spy to catch.
Being a half-blood, I had many abilities that the average vampire didn’t have, such as being able to go out in the sunshine, as long as I didn’t overdo the sun exposure and wore a very high SPF. I discovered that several of my new housemates did not possess this mutated ability. For instance, Angie and Lucy were anti-sun. Ileana seemed happy to remain inside and awake during the day but didn’t mention if it was personal preference or basic survival.
I had incredible strength, but only at night. None of the other girls claimed such ability. For the most part, I seemed to have more vampire attributes than my sorority sisters. They couldn’t hear any better than a regular person (but then neither could I) and certainly couldn’t distinguish odors the way I could.
“What about eye color, did any of you change eye color when it happened?” We were all hanging out in the basement, talking about the day we became Undead.
“My eyes have always been green, but I think they might be a deeper green now. I can’t be sure. It’s hard to remember,” Ileana confessed.
“Hard to remember?” Angie questioned. “It’s not like it happened a hundred years ago.” And the group laughed.
Ileana smiled tightly in response, becoming silent once more when everyone else seemed to let information flow freely.
“Well, as you all know, my eyes are yellow now. They used to be gray. I have colored contacts my mom helped me pick out so I can go out without drawing too much attention.”
“Your mom helped you pick them out?” Lucy asked, incredulously.
“Sure, she’s pretty cool with the whole Undead thing.”
The group was astounded that not only was I still in contact with my family, but they knew all about my vampire traits.
“My mama thinks I’m el diablo, the devil,” Angie admitted softly, wiping a tear from her eye. “She told me to leave and never return, like I did something wrong, but it wasn’t my fault.” Her voice cracked but she pulled her composure together and said more forcefully, “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t,” Sage rushed to assure her. “We didn’t ask to be different, to be Undead.”
Tina piped up and stated, “I did.” Effectively shocking the group.
“You did?” Lucy gasped.
“Yeah, I was hanging out at Cookie’s a lot and I met this guy who surfed at night, which was way cool. Anyway, we started dating and I found out he was a vampire and I remember wishing in my head, ya know, that I could be like that. When I woke up, I was different, like a vampire but not.”
I caught Sage’s attention. She looked away quickly and I knew there was more to that story than Tina was revealing or even knew herself.
“What about you, Lucy?” I changed the subject and directed my question to the meekest one of the group. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, I guess it was my fault, really. I was walking home from work. I was trying to earn more money for college by working two jobs, you know.” We nodded in agreement. Who didn’t want more money? “Anyway, I worked at Starbucks during the day and took evening shifts at Dairy Queen. So I was walking home after the night shift, because I didn’t have a car and we lived really close to the DQ. Anyway, this guy asked if I wanted a ride home and since he came into Starbucks all the time, I thought he would be safe, you know? I thought I knew him. But I guess I really didn’t. Know him, that is.”
We all stared at her, caught up in the story she was telling. It could have been any of us. Lucy wasn’t frivolous or stupid. If anything, she was the most cautious of us all. She thought she knew this guy because she saw him at work all the time and he seemed so nice. It sounded like something I might do.
“What about you, Colby?” Ileana asked.
“How does one become the Protector of half-blood vampires and start a revolution?” Lucy added.
I was surprised she knew I’d started a revolution. It didn’t seem like something the vampire guards would tell her while she rotted in a cell, but then, she could have easily picked up bits and pieces of the story around the House.
The girls all moved forward, eager to hear my tale. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting for since they first arrived. My moment to shine and finally accept the accolades I so richly deserved but when I started my story I realized it wasn’t so unusual or unique. It was much like their stories, it just happened to me first. So I told them a revised-on-the-fly version instead.
“Well, actually the story of becoming Undead is not very exciting. I was stupid and walked home alone after a school game and was attacked by a rogue vampire. The real story lies with the victim before me, Jill Schneider. Now Jill was attacked a week before me and after that was visited by two very hot Vampire Investigators.”
The group giggled and Angie blurted out “Carl, right?”
I nodded in her direction and Ileana added, in a singsong voice, “Thom-as.” Which caused another round of laughter.
I winked at the group and continued, “So, Jill was taken in front of the Vampire Tribunal for the crime of being Undead without a license and she convinced two of the three leaders that she should exist and have a license.”
“No,” blurted Lucy, then she clapped a hand over her mouth.
I nodded in her direction. “She absolutely did.”
Angie looked confused. “Why did she need a license? What was her crime?”
Tina interjected, “It wasn’t her fault she was Undead, was it? She didn’t ask to be a vampire, right?”
“Hmm, how to say this?” I thought aloud. “Once upon a time…” The group groaned but I silenced them with a look. “Vampires were a savage and primal species. The older the vampire, the more paranoid and crazy they became. They couldn’t trust anyone because they thought everybody was out to get them. Eventually, blood wars between clans started to kill off the population and vampires wouldn’t create more vampires because they were worried anyone they created would kill them. They were dying at an enormous rate.
“So, a few ancient vampires who still had most of their marbles decided the only way to save their kind was to create a more civilized ruling body—”
“The Tribunal!” Tina interjected and I nodded in agreement.
“Called the Tribunal. The three most powerful vampires would rule together. They required licenses to create new vampires and blood wars. You couldn’t just go killing your vampire neighbor ’cause you felt like it. Investigators were hired to enforce the laws. Slowly, vampire populations started to stabilize. Other countries took notice and established their own Tribunals. The regulation of vampire creation is crucial because any vampire too many generations removed from the original bloodlines cannot become sires. If they did, the half-bloods that were created were instantly killed. The Tribunal wanted only pure vampires to keep the race strong.”
“So this girl convinced two of the most powerful vampires on the Tribunal to give half-bloods a chance?” Sage asked in awe.
I nodded.
“Then why are you the Protector and not her? What makes you so special?” Lucy questioned curiously.
“Jill was killed by our sire because she wanted to take her chance with the Tribunal and not join him to start his own clan. I simply picked up where she left off. I killed our Creator and convinced the third member of the Tribunal that half-bloods deserved a chance. That we were strong.”
There was more to it of course, but I was hardly about to reveal the inner workings of my deal with the Tribunal and the role of Mr. Holloway in emancipating half-bloods. They knew as much as they needed to know.
“So you earned a license?” Angie asked.
“I did indeed.” I put my right hand out for inspection, appreciating the “oohs” and “ahhs” from my fellow sisters.
“Can I try it on?” Tina asked eagerly.
Before I could reply Ileana answered in shock, “Of course not! A vampire never removes their license, ever. Only when they are dead does it come off.”
The group gasped a collected “Ohhh!” and took a closer look at my ring but I wasn’t paying any attention to them. I was staring at Ileana. Our eyes met for an instant, then she broke contact and pretended to make a great show of looking at my ring. How did she know that? Only a vampire would know that—wouldn’t they?
After our gab session I was no closer to discovering a spy in the house than I was before, with the exception of Ileana, who seemed to know more about vampire politics than any of the others. But did that make her a spy? Who knew what kind of information she had access to in England. Maybe she had full reign of the vampire libraries back there.
I wandered upstairs after some of the girls decided to go to bed. Whereas I was used to sleeping a few hours at a time, everyone else seemed to prefer a good uninterrupted eight hours (or more).
I checked my e-mail and surfed the Internet for information about Ileana Romanav. She was mentioned on several royal genealogy sites. I reviewed her noble bloodlines and read brief excerpts pertaining to each generation but didn’t come up with anything solid.
All I could find out of the ordinary was for the last four generations, the Romanav women married, had a daughter and then lost their mate shortly thereafter in some grisly catastrophe. One lost his head in a carriage accident, another was shot while hunting and a third died from a staph infection originating from a bug bite. Nothing by way of staking or puncture wounds to the neck.
I decided that since Piper was in England, she could do some checking for me. The Romanavs had several family estates and a few were open to the public for tours. I copied and pasted the ones I wanted Piper to go to and sent them in an e-mail. Hopefully she would have time to visit at least one or two and get any information that might be relevant. If Ileana was a spy, maybe Piper could uncover any local vampire lore surrounding the family.
After I sent the e-mail to Piper, I read and answered mail from Marci and Rachel. They were both going to college out of state and though we weren’t nearly as close as we used to be, we still kept in touch. They thought I was tremendously cool to be starting a new sorority at PSU and both decided to rush this year at their prospective colleges. I wondered if other houses had similar setups as Psi Phi House but giggled at the thought. I doubted the feeding of its members would be as complicated as ours.
The bed seemed to beckon me and I changed into shorts and a tank top covered with cartoon fish that said “Sushi” and climbed into bed. I was very tired and knew Thomas would be home any time. I really didn’t want to think about how that was going to go over. Sure we were fighting as a couple but it was the work thing that would make him the most upset.
I imagined the confrontation with Cookie was anything but pleasant. Suddenly I had a horrible thought. What if Cookie turned her vampire goons on him and he was attacked? Or worse, dead? I left him alone to face her and he could be chained in the basement at this very moment.
I jumped out of bed and raced downstairs to talk to Carl. I had to make sure Thomas was all right. I was in such a hurry, I practically stepped on Ileana’s maid, sleeping on the floor outside Ileana’s room.
“What the heck?” I muttered, awakening Sophie with my clumsiness.
“Mum?” she asked sleepily.
“What are you doing sleeping in the hallway?” I demanded, totally confused why she would do such a thing.
“I have always slept at my lady’s door. It’s my duty.” She seemed to be a little more coherent.
“It’s your duty? I thought it was your duty to take care of her. How can you do that if you don’t get a good night’s sleep?” I reasoned.
I wasn’t going to take the “you deserve more” stance like before. This chick was way too brainwashed to think of herself as a separate entity.
“I can hear her better if I am close at hand,” she stubbornly insisted.
“Whatever,” I muttered, stepping past her to the stairs. I would worry about that wigged-out relationship later. Right now I had to make sure Thomas was okay. Carl was nowhere in sight, which shouldn’t have surprised me because it was almost dawn. It was hard to remember other vampires couldn’t be out in the sun, when I could.
I debated calling Thomas on the phone and decided against it. I didn’t want to have our first conversation after such a big fight over a phone line. My puppy dog eyes and practiced pouty face would be far more effective in person.
I opted to call Carl instead.
“Carl here,” he answered tersely.
“Hey Carl, it’s me. Did you speak to Thomas yet?” I asked, pacing the living room.
“Why? Is something wrong?” Carl quickly jumped to the wrong conclusion.
“No, no. Everything’s fine. I just… just wanted to know if you spoke to Thomas yet. Is he…” I paused and felt like an idiot checking up on him. He was a Tribunal Investigator, for crying out loud. A big boy who could take care of himself. “Is he aware of our situation?”
Boy, that didn’t sound lame at all. Duh.
“Is he aware of our situation? Colby, are you sure you’re all right?” Now Carl sounded very concerned.
I sighed heavily. Why was I so worried? Thomas could take care of himself way better than I could. Now I sounded like a mom obsessing over her little boy. Yuck, that was a really bad analogy and it totally creeped me out. I did not have motherly feelings toward Thomas at all. Blech.
“I just wanted to make sure he was safe, is all,” I finally admitted.
Carl paused a moment and replied, “He is safe and will be home tonight.”
“Good.” Relief flooded me.
“And Colby?”
“Yeah?”
“He needed to know you were safe as well.”
I suppose that was supposed to make me feel all gooey inside but it had the exact opposite reaction. It was okay for me to worry at Thomas because I stranded him in California with no backup. It was not okay for Thomas to call Carl and check that I was safe back home at Psi Phi House. I mean, I managed to free two half-bloods without his help and he still felt the need to call and check up on me in my own House. As though I couldn't muddle through a couple days without him by my side, overseeing my every move?
I was upset with Thomas all over again. Yeah, I saw Piper’s point and Carl made a good argument as well, but couldn't anyone see my side of the story, just this once? I looked out the window and thought I could catch the last remnants of sunrise if I hurried outside. Then maybe I could walk around and try to cool off.
I unlocked the door and stepped onto the porch. I ducked just in time to dodge the fist that came flying my way.