A Destined Death (26 page)

****

The house felt warm when I woke up. Easy enough to fix if your fiancé’s a vampire but I wasn’t having any of that! Armando and Draven were nowhere to be found, and for the first time, I was glad. Not only was I still upset that he had put me to sleep again, but I also knew he was hiding something from me. It didn’t set well, and I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I had to work up my anger so I could withstand his soothing kisses. Throwing open the door in the kitchen, I welcomed the breeze into the house and smiled in satisfaction. Voila, no vampire needed.

The refrigerator and cupboards were packed full with food so I started breakfast. I was in the middle of the eggs when Candy rushed into the kitchen, shrieking. “Milady! Oh no. I’m so sorry. I must have overslept. Please forgive me.”

“Candy, relax. You were up late, and I wanted to make you breakfast to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

“No, no, no.” She dropped down on her knees in front of me, genuinely upset. “I am
your
servant, Milady. Please let me finish breakfast. I will have failed you if I don’t. It will not do if the servant sleeps while her mistress cooks!”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Too stunned to say anything, I stared in awe when Tina opened the screen door and waltzed inside in a short, yellow dress.

She smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Well, well, well. Going the other way these days, Dear Cousin?”

“Tina?” I cocked my head, certain I was seeing things.

“No, I’m sorry. That was me,” Candy said coolly. She rose to her feet and brushed off her knees. “Elizabeth promised to help me with my lines for a play I’m in next month, but I can see how that might have looked…well, odd. Hi. I’m Candy, and you must be Tina. I’ve heard wonderful things.”

Tina attempted a mock smile and then turned to me. “What?” she finally spat at my stare.

“What? What in the hell are you doing in South Dakota?”

Tina laughed easily. “What do you mean? I’ve come to visit my favorite cousin. Did you think you were immune to family just because you moved a thousand miles away? I thought you knew our family better than that.”

Rising smoke sent Candy running to the stove to remove the eggs. “It’s all right. I’ll take care of this if you two want to go catch up.”

Tina’s eyes were glowing with delight when she sat down on the porch swing. “She’s still in her skivvy’s! Your parents are both going to have heart attacks when they find out you moved to South Dakota to shack up with a girl!”

I sat down beside her and rolled my eyes. “Who is he? Whose life did you ruin so badly that you need a place to hide out?”

Her return smile was unnerving. “That’s why I love you so much, Dear Cousin, we understand each other. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Sighing, I sat back against the swing. “The upstairs is haunted. Help yourself to a room up there.”

“Thanks,” she replied, undaunted. “So, first things first, are there any good-looking Cowboy’s out here or haven’t you been looking?”

I stared at her, realizing that she was seriously planning to stay. An image of her running down the street screaming “vampire” immediately set off an alarm. “How long did you plan on staying?”

Tina folded her bottom lip in a pout. “What are you saying? That I’m not welcome?”

“Of course not,” I lied. “I’d love to have you. I was more thinking of you and if you needed money or something. I’m sure you’d rather spend your vacation somewhere other than here.”

Tina smirked mischievously. “How much are we talking?”

“Candy,” I called through the open door. “How much cash do you have on you?”

Candy appeared at the door. “Fifty thousand dollars…and twenty-five cents.”

I smiled at Tina. “Is that enough?”

Tina let out a high-pitched cackle. “Yeah, like she’s just going to hand over fifty…” The smile left her face, and she stopped talking when Candy handed her a backpack full of wrapped bills. Tina stared at the money anxiously. “Well, I suppose I could go to––”

“Good morning, ladies.”

Candy jumped on the alert when Armando moved to the shade of the living room. “Armando, we have a guest. Will you inform Draven please?”

Armando nodded with a solemn understanding and headed up the stairs to divert the disaster. I felt an ominous shiver run up my spine when Tina chucked the bag into my lap like it was a basketball.

“Who is
that?
” she asked with robust interest.

“I hear Hawaii is nice this time of year,” I continued, pretending I didn’t hear her.

“Hm!” Tina scoffed. “Are you trying to keep him all to yourself? Or is it Candy here who’s afraid of a little competition?”

Candy started to giggle but then bit her lip and went inside.

Tina’s eyes were devilish when she turned on me. “Fifty thousand dollars and a quarter to leave
him
alone? Really? Is that what this is about? Is he yours? Are you afraid my beauty will steal him away from you? Tell me what’s going on here if you want me to reconsider your offer.”

“No, he’s not mine,” I admitted, “but he’s not your type.”

Tina smirked at me. “Is he Candy’s then?”

“Well, no, but––”

“Ahh…so he’s single, you say?”

I could tell by the look in her eye that she’d made her decision. I sighed with defeat and accepted my good hostess role in accordance with my family’s unwritten laws. “Well, I’m glad you’re staying then. Why don’t you come in and meet everyone?”

Draven and Armando had assembled in the living room, and they both stood when the girls entered. Tina flashed a glare at Draven, indicating she still remembered him
and
the way he’d blown her off. Then she smiled sweetly at Armando who responded by mumbling in French. One of Tina’s hair flips later, and the large vampire crumbled at her feet.

Candy excused herself first, saying she had work to do.

“And we’ll be upstairs…cleaning the attic,” Draven said. He took my hand and hastily led me out of the room.

I lay in his arms, trying to remember what I had been mad at him for but it didn’t come to me. Tina’s sudden appearance had me too distracted. “Is this safe?” I finally asked.

“Armando and Tina?”

“Yes. I mean, what if there is screaming and running through the streets?”

“The streets around here would probably be okay,” he teased. “I don’t know, but he is about ninety. I’m not going to be the one to tell him not to go for it.”

I giggled at the thought. “Yeah, I guess. So what do we do? Cross our fingers and wait?”

Draven smiled seductively. “We could do other things.”

“Yeah, but you’re just a tease.” When he leaned over to kiss me, I suddenly remembered why I was upset. Sitting up, I pushed away from the kiss. “What was wrong last night? I thought we had everything worked out but the look in your eye told me there was something else. That’s why you made me sleep.”

Draven sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed. “It’s nothing. It’s just a feeling, a very bad feeling.”

I swallowed nervously. “It’s about the Elders, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know if it’s about the Elders or about Coty. All I know is that it involves Armando.”

“Could it have been a premonition about Tina?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything to you. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Well, don’t get upset. I just wanted to know. Hey, weren’t you just about to kiss me?” I pulled on his hand and returned to his air-conditioned arms. After the promised kiss, I fell restlessly asleep.

Lissa called to me frantically from a scenic picture on the wall in the attic. “Hello! Remember my letter! You cannot marry Draven until you go to France. You cannot go to France until you have looked into the eyes of the Lord of the Underworld. The answer lies there! Why haven’t you done it yet? You have to listen to me! Draven will die if you don’t! And not only Draven, but Armando, Coty, Tina, Candy, and you!”

I snapped awake and reached out. “Draven?”

“I’m here,” he said, turning from the dark window.

“Draven, I need to go back to the mansion.”

He looked at me curiously. “You didn’t like it there.”

“I know but it’s important.”

“All right. Come and see this first.”

Curiously, I stumbled to the window. Tina and Armando were dancing very close under the yard light. “I guess that’s good, right?”

“I hope so.”

“You bitch!”

The high-pitched squeal pierced my eardrums at dawn, causing a bolt of pain to shoot through my head. I sat straight up and blinked in the dim room, trying to focus. Tina stood at the end of my bed with her hands on her hips. She wore the same yellow dress, and her day-old makeup had started to run.

“What’s wrong?” I groaned.

“Vampires?”

After my initial shock, I lay down and buried my head under my pillow.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

I pulled the pillow off and raised my head, trying to think of what to say. “Uh…don’t tell anyone,” I offered innocently.

“How could you not tell
me
?” Her anger made two deep lines form between her brows.

“Armando! Draven!” I yelled, hoping to put the explanation off on someone else––anyone else.

“They’re not here. They fricken disappeared. One second they were here, the next they were gone!”

With a sigh, I sat up and looked at my own day-old clothes. “Can I shower before we do this?”

“No!”

I rolled my eyes to pretend she was overreacting. Without caffeine, I wasn’t ready to deal with my hysterical cousin. “Why are you mad at me? I told you he wasn’t your type.”

Her face twisted in disgust. “The hell he isn’t!”

My mind spun with her contradiction. Confused, I stared at her. “What?”

“You could have told me about him two years ago, but noooo,” she drawled like a teenager. “You wanted to keep the sexy vampires all to yourself!” She folded her arms over her chest before she smirked and added, “Bitch.”

Laughter poured out of me as I covered my mouth with my hand. I’d never seen my cousin show so much emotion or call me anything but Dear Cousin. I figured bitch was a step up. “You were right, you’re a great actress. Are you always so theatrical in the morning?”

Tina’s anger melted away, and she laughed with me. Pushing her disheveled hair off her face, she plopped down beside me on the bed. We both lay on our stomachs when she stared at me seriously. “I love him.”

“What?”

“I can’t explain it. No one’s ever been that honest with me, no one’s ever been so caring and tender.”

Ignoring the creaking steps on the stairwell, I shook my head. “Vampires can affect your moods, Tina.”

“He told me that too. That’s why they left. So I could see how I felt about him when he was gone.”

I sat up, one brow rising. “What else did he tell you?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

“Breakfast is ready,” Candy said, stepping into the doorway.

Tina grinned smugly and sat up. “He told me about her.”

Candy took an uneasy step backward.

“If she knows, she knows,” I told Candy. “Please don’t go.”

“Yes, Milady,” she said as she entered the room and leaned against a wall.

I glanced at Tina when Candy used the servant girl term but she didn’t appear to notice or care. “What else did he tell you?”

“He told me about his surrogate in France, his castle, his money, his every wish, and…and then he told me about Coty.”

“Wow.” Though astonished, I was grateful that I wouldn’t have to explain everything. “Where did they go?”

“To break up with his surrogate.”

“What?” I gasped at her satisfied smirk.

“Well, he can’t have two women in his life,” she explained matter-of-factly.