Vampire Secrets: Book 2 (Blood and Snow Season Two) (6 page)

I nodded. “Okay. What about Drake?”

“There’s nothing you can do about him either, right?”

“True,” I said. “Fine, smarty pants, what about my parents? What should I do about them?”

A deep rumbling shook Troy’s body. “They are good people and as Peter and Zoe you have the chance to truly get to know them. I think it would be cool. If I had any kind of chance of spending time with my parents, I would.”

I realized what a total jerk I was being about them. Troy was right. It was better to have them around
than not at all.

I lifted my head
. “You’re right,” I said softly, caressing his head. Telling him with my touch how sorry I was. The peculiar purring sound echoed through him again.

“Good. Then it’s settled. You, me, Peter, and Zoe—”

“You. Me. My mom and dad,” I corrected.

Troy snickered. “Let’s call them Peter and Zoe though since we’re going to school with them. Deal?”

“Fine.” I slammed by cheek against his head.

Troy kept laughing. “We’ll make our nightly rounds searching for Akuma, questioning the ones we find and capture. You’ll try to find a guy
to date that’s around your age instead of one who’s old enough to be your great-great-great-great-great-great… well, you get the idea. The dude is old and you need one who’s closer to your age. And I’ll try to stay calm and trust Grand Pops knows what he’s doing when it comes to Cole. Maybe between the two of us we might be able to find some happiness.”

We’d arrived back in our neighborhood. Troy landed and walked back into the shadow of the tree.

“Are you with me?” he asked.

I climbed off
his back, sad the flying was over, but so incredibly grateful he’d given me such a gift in the first place. “Yes,” I agreed, stepping off his tail.

Troy shook. “Cool. Now excuse me while I get naked again.”

“Oh.” I blushed as I quickly turned away. The ground shook slightly. A minute later I heard a jangling, and I knew he was putting his belt back on.

“You can turn around. I’m decent.”

I did and immediately saw that he was shirtless. The green shirt he’d been wearing hung in his hand. “Serious?” I asked. “Waiting for me to compliment you on your perfect abs?”

Troy smiled big. “You think my abs are perfect?”

I blushed again. Then tried to cover it up with a shrug. “They aren’t bad.”

He winked. “That’s good enough.” He pulled his shirt over his head.

I kept my eyes on the driveway until Troy stepped into my personal bubble and lifted my face with one of his fingers. His eyes were hazel. His lips were full and gorgeous, just like the rest of him. “Thanks for taking me flying. It was exactly what I needed.”

“Thank you, Jack,” he said, his voice hushed.
He was so close I could smell his minty breath and the sandalwood scent of his skin.

“I didn’t do anything,” I shrugged.

“Oh, you did. I’ve needed to talk to someone for a long time, but there just wasn’t anyone who would understand. Until you.” He leaned down and I instantly realized that he was going to kiss me.

Did I want that?

I didn’t have a chance to debate it further because his lips were on mine. They were soft, light.

I thought I would be repulsed by a kiss from anyone but Laeddin, but
as Troy’s lips moved against mine, the barrier I’d built around my heart slowly began to melt and I did something I never thought I would. I kissed him back.

Troy responded by grabbing the loops of my jeans, pulling me closer.

My heart raced and my body felt like it’d been shocked to life by an erotic electricity. I was buzzed, excited.

When Troy finally lifted his lips from mine, he smiled.

For some reason I thought of the girl he’d been making out with my first day of school. Their kissing hadn’t been like the one I’d just shared with Troy. Our kiss had been chaste compared to theirs. But I liked it.

“That was amazing, Jack. The whole night rocked. Thanks.” He kissed my cheek and took off toward his house. When he was nearly halfway there he turned back. “Totally rocked,” he yelled and waved good-bye.

A huge grin spread across my face. I waved back, enjoying the view as I watched him run the rest of the way home.

When I could no longer see him, I headed toward my house. It was time I had a
n honest talk with my mom and dad.

“Jasmine?”

“Who’s there?” I stopped, trying to see without my vampire abilities. It couldn’t be Troy.

“It’s me.” Christopher stepped into view
, the vampire who’d bitten my mom all those years ago, the one who’d betrayed her. He’d been her Hunter and was now the seventh member of the council.

In Sharra he always wore the common dress, which was brown or black trousers made of soft, breathable material, boots that went to his knees, a long-sleeved linen shirt and a leather vest. Tonight he had on jeans and a tight white tee shirt
, which said he was just another teenager. Even though I knew he was old. Totally gorgeous and old. If I hadn’t been nervous about him being at my house, I would’ve laughed. 

“What
do you want?”

“Something’s coming. It’s big. Last time,” he paused and glanced at the ground, “I chose Sharra because I wanted power and I thought she would win. This time,” he looked up, his features serious, urgent even, “I choose you. Since I met you on the road those many years ago, I’ve known we—”

“Jasmine?” Laeddin called from the front door. I hadn’t heard it open.

“We what?” I asked.

Christopher’s features looked pained, like he desperately wanted to say more. “Later,” he said and took off.

“Coming,” I hollered.

Chapter 4

When I got inside, Laeddin
was back in the living room with Peter. He had a look on his face that said we would discuss what he’d just witnessed later. The TV was still on and Peter was focused on it. I glanced around, then remembered my mom had left. The serious conversation I had planned couldn’t happen tonight after all.

I thought about her in Sharra, curious about whether she changed back and forth between herself and Zoe. If not, she would totally freak out Ciana, the vampire who’d help
ed raise me. I loved Ciana. She’d taken care of me. We’d played together during my mom’s long meetings.

But she’d betrayed me.
My mom and dad. Everyone. Our whole world. She was on Sharra’s side. My mom needed to know what I’d seen. She needed to know about Sharra and Ciana.

“I need to
speak with Mom,” I said, walking over to Peter.

“Okay.”
He pulled me into a hug. I let him hold me for a long time. It felt good to have his arms around me. “I’m glad you’re here, Dad.”

Peter sucked in his breath. “You are?” He held me away so he could read my face.

I remembered what Troy said and took his sincere words to heart. “Yeah.”

A giant smile spread over his face. “I’m so glad. We didn’t follow you because we didn’t trust you. Our only thought was keeping you safe.” He shook his head. “We didn’t do a very good job.”

“Oh, Dad.” I hugged him. “It wasn’t your fault. It was mine. I thought I could do it on my own. I thought I knew better.” The words caught in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

He gave me a squeeze and then shook my shoulders lovingly. “It’s okay. We’re going to get through this. Together.
Deal?”

I nodded. “What about
Mom? Is she gone for good?”

“I’m going to head up to bed,” Laeddin said,
interrupting. He had a smile plastered on his face, but it was sad, laced with unresolved issues. I wanted to say something but held my tongue. He and I still needed to talk, but not while Peter was around.

I touched
Laeddin’s arm. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

I watched him walk up the stairs. When he was out of sight, I turned back to my dad, the handsome boy who looked nothing like my father. And I wondered how he’d done it. How he and my mom made it happen. Was it her magic?

Touching his face, I asked, “How is this possible? Is it an illusion?” I pa
tted his cheek. It was scratchy. He needed a shave.

“It isn’t an illusion. It’s your mother’s magic combined with one of your aunt Cindy’s potions.”

“Ohhh.” Aunt Cindy was the queen of a realm called Polonias. She was also a very powerful witch and my mom’s best friend. “How long does it last?”

“These are our bodies until we take a reversal potion while your mom works her vampire magic.” Peter patted his stomach.

“So it could be permanent?”

He shrugged. “I suppose, though I definitely don’t want this body to be mine for good. I like my original.”

I nodded. “Agreed.”

Peter leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I’m going to go speak with your mom. Find out what she’s learned. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“K. See ya.”

After I closed
and locked the door, I went upstairs. At Laeddin’s door, I paused and closed a hand in a fist to knock. But if Laeddin opened the door what would I say?

I kept going until I reached my room.

***

I opened my eyes and immediately knew I was no longer in Salem, in my bed. All around me were the corpses of dead unicorns. There were dozens or hundreds. Too many to count. The land was dark, as though the realm were going through a lunar eclipse. Some light eked out. Enough to allow me to know I was flying above, seeing everything from the air.

My
gaze swept the landscape. I took in the unusual forest of trees, several long valleys full of black flowers, and a large body of water.

I looked down and saw my reflection. The eyes staring back weren’t mine. They were those of Maleficent.

And as though she saw me, she smiled and started to laugh. “Young vampire, your end is near.”

Gasping,
I jerked myself awake. But as soon as I realized I was in my bed, looking up at my ceiling, I began to relax and fall back asleep.

The next morning
was Saturday so I threw my hair up in a messy ponytail, put on lip gloss and a little mascara. Then dressed in charcoal Zella fitness pants, a teal tank, a matching Zella jacket and matching gray running shoes. I absolutely loved the feel of the casual workout gear. The jacket had thumbholes at the cuff and the color matched the still slightly visible streak in my hair.

Laeddin was in the kitchen wearing loose-fitting jeans and a black tee that fit him like it’d been painted on his broad shoulders, muscled arms and chiseled abs.

“What you making?” I asked, going to the fridge and grabbing the orange juice and setting it on the counter.

“Fresh fruit and scrambled eggs with red peppers, onions, and cheese, and toast. You hungry?” Laeddin glanced over, turning slightly.

“Starved,” I said, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard and setting them next to the orange juice on the counter. He and I had created a morning routine, where he cook
ed, and I got everything ready. I took two plates down and set them on the counter next to the stove where Laeddin was cooking. Then I poured the juice, put the container away, grabbed the strawberry jam and the bowl of fresh fruit, and two napkins, and placed them all on the counter.

The toaster popped. Laeddin buttered two pieces of golden brown toast and
put them on the plates. Then scraped the eggs onto one plate, leaving the other empty. That was because Laeddin didn’t eat any kind of meat, including eggs.

I
sat on the stool and waited while he brought the plates over.

“Let’s eat.” Laeddin scooped some fruit on to his plate and smeared jam on his toast.

I took a bite of scrambled egg. It was seasoned to perfection. And I took another. “These are amazing,” I said after swallowing.

Laeddin nodded, chewing on a strawberry.

I put some jam on my toast but didn’t take a bite. “Are you alright?” It was a generic question but I needed to start somewhere.

He glanced over. “
Worried. About you.” He took another piece of fruit and put it in his mouth.

I knew it was because of Christopher and said, “That was Christopher. He came to warn me that something big was coming.”

Laeddin swallowed. “And what exactly is that?” His tone said he was ticked, which made me mad.

“I don’t know. You interrupted before he got the chance to tell me.” I stabbed a piece of watermelon and put it in my mouth.

Laeddin glanced down at his food. “Think he’ll be back?”

“Probably.”

We ate in silence for a while. I was trying to find the courage to bring up what I’d so rudely blurted out yesterday. Finally, I said, “What I—”

Laeddin put up a hand. “Don’t start. What you said was one of the first honest sentences you’ve uttered since Maleficent took your wings.”