Bad Blood (23 page)

“My costume’s a bit skimpy,” I say, pulling out my wedgie for the thousandth time. “But I think I’ll live.”

Jayden laughs. “I think you look hot,” he tells me, making me blush furiously.

“You know, in a friend way,” he adds, a teasing sparkle in his green eyes.

“Of course!” I agree. “Well, you look pretty good . . . in a friend way . . . yourself.”

He grins. “Okay, I’m going to tell the lighting director we’re ready to start. Break a leg!”

“You, too! But not, you know, like literally. You’ve done enough damage to yourself this weekend.” The doctors hadn’t wanted to release Jayden this morning, saying he was still weak from his transfusion. But the guy insisted, saying the show must go on.

And so it does. The dancing girls whirl and twirl as Jayden takes center stage, singing about his long-lost love. I watch, impressed, as he embraces his new role. He’s so talented—he really should move to Hollywood and try to start an acting career. Or maybe Broadway, he’s such a good singer and dancer. Of course, then he’d miss his animals—the dogs and cats who need him. Maybe he’s exactly where he should be, after all.

Lost in thought, I barely notice that act one has ended and act two has begun. The stage manager pokes me, telling me to get into position. Forcing myself to concentrate, I slip out onstage, heading toward Jayden. The audience roars its approval and for a second, I’m confused at all the attention. Then I look out and realize the whole place is packed with vampires from the consortium, come to cheer on my performance. (Let’s not forget, I’m their new hero!) Magnus waves to me from the front row and I smile back at him. So far he’s lived up to his promise of being hopelessly devoted and I’m enjoying every minute of it, even if I have decided to put the whole sex thing on hold—at least for the time being. Once we work on our issues, and are able to completely trust each other again, then, and only then, will we be ready to take our relationship to that next level. Right now, it’s just something to look forward to. Like a thousand other things we’ll be able to share in the future. Neither of us are going anywhere, after all. And, as Magnus pointed out, vampires live a very long time. As I walk forward, I scan the rest of the auditorium. Next to Magnus sits Rayne, followed by Heather, Stormy, and . . . Oh my God . . . is that Mom and Dad? I almost trip over my platform shoes. What are they doing here? And sitting next to one another, nonetheless?

“Psst, Sunny, come over here so I can bite you,” Jayden hisses. Oh yeah. In my shock at seeing my parents I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I glide over to “Dracula,” raising my hands over my face in mock panic. “Please don’t hurt me,” I adlib, deciding suddenly that Mina should speak. After all, a girl needs to stand up for herself, even to a vampire.

“I would never hurt you, Mina,” Jayden says huskily, in a grand English accent. Then he swoops down and takes me in his arms, pretending to bite me on the neck. His lips burn my skin and he presses his mouth down on me and I can’t help a little shiver.

Boys that bite, it’s all so much déjà vu.

After the play is over, I change quickly and head to the theater lobby, dying to know what’s going on with my family. They’re all there, waiting to greet me with open arms.

“You were awesome!” Rayne cries. “Totally awesome.”

“Amazing,” Mom agrees, kissing my cheeks. “I’m so impressed.”

“As am I,” Dad adds. He pulls me into a big bear hug—the type he always used to give us when we were kids. It feels good and I feel all my anger toward him slip away. “I’m so glad we didn’t miss it.”

“So you’re back?” I ask, after he releases me from the hug. “Your business trip is over?” I turn to Mom. “And what are you doing here?”

She blushes. “It’s a long story,” she says. “But let’s go somewhere quiet to talk.”

“Why don’t we head back to our place?” Heather suggests. “Then Stormy here can go to bed.”

“Mo-om!” she protests. “I’m so not tired!”

But her mother insists and so we pile into a couple of taxis and head back to the Strip and over to the apartment. Once inside, Heather puts Stormy into bed while Mom brews a pot of green tea and we all settle down in the living room. Well, maybe settle down isn’t the right term. Rayne and I are positively antsy, wondering what this could be. Why on Earth would Mom come to Vegas? Why would she be making tea in the other woman’s house? And why doesn’t Heather seem the least bit upset about it all?

Mom and Heather bring over mugs of steaming tea and hand them to each of us. The tea warms my insides but isn’t able to quite stop the trembling. Despite her cheery attitude, something is definitely wrong and I can’t relax until I know what it is.

“So, guys,” Mom says, settling down in a small, white leather chair. With her long skirts and multicolor scarves she looks completely out of place in this modern décor. “You’re probably surprised to see me in Vegas.”

“Um, yeah,” Rayne says, before I can find my questions. “Just a little bit. What’s going on? Did you miss us too much? ’Cause we’ve really only been gone a couple days. But I know how you can be about your daughters. Unlike some relatives, I know,” she adds, glancing over at Dad, who at least has the decency to look embarrassed at her jab.

Mom shakes her head, looking drained and tired all of a sudden. “I wish that were it, Rayne. But this is actually a lot more serious than me just being an overprotective mother.”

It is? My pulse kicks up a notch as I worriedly wait for what she has to say. I remember what Rayne told me just before we left. About Slayer Inc. getting information on a new threat sweeping into town—one that might be after our mother, for some odd reason.

There’s more to your mom than you know
, David had told Rayne.

“Mom, what are you trying to say?” I ask, finding my voice at last. “What’s going on here? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

She glances over at Dad. He gives her an encouraging look. Then she turns back to us. “Look, let’s just say things aren’t exactly . . . safe . . . for us in Massachusetts anymore,” she says slowly, choosing her words with care.

“That’s why I was so willing to have you two come out here this week. I figured it’d keep you out of harm’s way, until I figured out our best move.”

“Mom, you’re scaring us,” I say, my whole body trembling. “What’s going on?”

Mom swallows hard. “You have to believe, I never wanted to involve you two in this. In fact, that’s why your dad and I left the commune and moved to Massachusetts when I became pregnant with you. I didn’t want you to grow up in the world we did. I wanted us to be a happy, normal, everyday family. And they left us alone for so long, I’d really begun to think that we’d actually escaped them for good.” She sighs deeply. “But now they’ve returned. Civil war has broken out between two families and they’re demanding I return home to aid them in their fight. And if I don’t, they have promised to make things very difficult for us all.”

“I don’t understand,” I say, trying desperately to make sense of it all. I’ve never seen Mom look so scared. “Some family feud? Why do they need you for that?”

“Dear, you’re speaking to them in riddles,” Dad chides our mother gently. “It’s best if you just tell them the whole story, no matter how hard it will be to believe at first.” He turns to us. “Look, guys, we’ve always told you that you come from Irish and Scottish ancestors, right? Well, there’s a little more to it than that. Our families—and Heather’s, too—actually descended from a people living on a small island off the coast of Ireland, known as Tír na nÓg.” He pauses, then adds, “Some know us as the Sidhe.”

“Sidhe?” I repeat, confused as all hell at this point. “What the hell is a Sidhe?”

This conversation is getting weirder by the moment and I don’t like it. I mean, Sidhe? That’s not . . . I mean . . . No, it couldn’t be!

“The term you might be more familiar with,” Dad says gently, “is fairy.”

Or maybe it could.

Rayne and I stare at our father, then our mother, unbelieving our ears. I mean, fairies? Freaking fairies?

My sister finds her voice first. “So let me get this straight,” she says, sounding remarkably calm, given the situation. “You’re trying to tell us that we’re descended from fairies? Actual fairies?”

“We’re not just descended,” Mom clarifies. “We’re full-blooded fairies. And now the royal court is demanding we all return to fairyland immediately.”

“Or else,” Dad adds, “they have promised to kill us all.”