Birth of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Realm) Read online

  “Because,” Jessie said, scowling at me and then launching into the air, “I would rather starve to death than harm one hair on her head.”

  Rolling my eyes, I followed after him, rising into the night. My cousin had always been overly romantic, in my opinion. That only ever led to trouble.

  We rose high above the roofs and treetops before making our way across town. People rarely looked any higher than the streetlamps when out at night, unless it was to stare like a werewolf at the full moon. But it was always best to be cautious.

  I followed Jessie as he alighted near some trees. We began walking down a street lined with houses. His mortal had apparently arrived earlier in the day to help the hostess prepare for the event. Because the party was in the backyard, there was no bother over receiving a direct invitation to enter a mortal’s home. It was just the matter of opening a gate around the side of the house and walking in. It was that simple. I had to assume the mortal children had no real concept of all the dangerous creatures that could be lurking in the night, or they wouldn’t have left themselves so open to attack.

  “Holy crap!” I heard a young woman gasp as the guests in general became aware of our presence. “Is there a male model convention in town or something? Who the hell are they?”

  “That’s my boyfriend and his cousin,” a delightful-looking creature with a mane of dark curly hair replied. There was a hint of triumph in her voice.

  The party, which had been lively enough as we’d approached, with music and young people chattering, quieted down in an instant. Everyone just stared in our direction. I saw a few mouths hanging open. It was almost embarrassing—if I ever bothered to feel embarrassed. I really hadn’t expected such scrutiny.

  The beauty with the dark curly hair hurried over, her eyes glued to Jessie’s. I could practically see the love brimming in her heart, and I found it almost touching that so much emotion was directed at my cousin. I’d forgotten how intense mortals could feel. And usually with very little encouragement.

  They exchanged some whispered lover’s words, my cousin bestowing her with a brief yet tender kiss. It all felt a bit intimate for a backyard soiree. Not because they were ripping at each other’s clothes, but because their passion for each other was so plainly written on their faces.

  Jessie turned to include me in the conversation. “Miss Aurora Keys, I’d like to introduce you to my cousin, Mr. Dorian Vanderlind. Dorian, this is Aurora.”

  “I’ve heard so much about you, Aurora,” I said, taking her hand and bending to kiss it. I could feel the vitality pumping through her veins. I could tell that I frightened her a little. She wanted to yank her hand away, but I held it firmly in place, my lips hovering above her maiden flesh. “I’m sure everything I’ve heard is true.”

  “Easy there, cousin,” Jessie said, putting one hand on my shoulder and using the other to gently release my grip. “We’re not at court, you know.” Turning to his lady love, Jessie added, “Dorian has always been a fan of intrigue.”

  I could barely suppress a smirk. “Especially if it’s of my own creation.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” the girl said, although I could tell that wasn’t really how she felt. She was desperately in love with my cousin—that much was obvious—but she didn’t seem to know what to make of me.

  “I’m so glad I was included in your invitation,” I told her. “I have to admit, I find your situation quite fascinating.”

  The girl colored a little, a pale pink blooming across the skin of her cheeks. “You mean someone like Jessie being with someone like me?” she said, unwilling to utter the word vampire with so many children standing nearby.

  “Well, yes. There’s that,” I had to admit. “But really what perplexes me is the institution of love in general.”

  “Institution?” Jessie asked, cocking an eyebrow in my direction. My cousin had heard my opinion on love many times before.

  “I’m being serious,” I insisted. Turning my attentions back to the girl, I said. “You love my cousin, then? You’re willing to admit to it openly and freely?”

  Her cheeks turned a deep scarlet, and I was grateful I had no appetite. “Yes,” she said in a quiet yet firm voice. “I love him.”

  I couldn’t help but give her an incredulous look. “Jessie said the same thing about you not half an hour ago.” I shook my head and shrugged. “I just can’t understand it. The whole notion is so provincial.”

  The mortal drew breath, and I could tell she intended to contradict me, but then a few more mortal girls fluttered over, and we had to turn the conversation to less-intriguing topics.

  Chapter 12

  Haley

  As we walked into the party, I felt a little sick. This wasn’t how I’d imagined the evening. Tommy didn’t have his arm around me. His friends wouldn’t call out greetings and then do a double take before accepting me as one of their own. Instead, I was an interloper.

  The party was on the back patio of a house. We didn’t even go inside; we just entered through a side gate. It was pretty damn cold to have a Christmas Eve party outside, but there were heat lamps set up and twinkle lights strung across the yard. A bunch of kids had already arrived, and there was music coming from somewhere. Everyone was chatting and looking relaxed. No one appeared to have their guts clenched up inside them like they were going to vomit up the few carrot sticks that they’d munched on while a new friend did their makeup.

  I had to wonder if I had some kind of social anxiety disorder or if I really was just a total loser. Because even though I’d entered the party with a group of giggling girls, I still felt uncomfortable. I knew I didn’t fit in. Erika had done her best to camouflage me as a member of the in crowd, but I felt like every guest could see right through me for the unwanted loser that I was.

  It didn’t help that some random girl immediately stormed up to me and demanded, “What the hell are you doing here?”

  I had no idea what she was talking about. My heart was in my throat, but I managed to shrug and said, “It’s a party.”

  “Yeah, but it’s an exclusive party,” she told me.

  “Relax, Sheila,” Erika said, walking over to stand by my side. “She came with us.” I really was starting to absolutely love Erika.

  Ashley whipped her head around, a horrified expression on her face. I guess she hadn’t realized that there was going to be an announcement that we’d all arrived together. “Well, like, she has a car and no one else had a ride, so …” She gave a cutesy little shrug like that explained everything. She obviously didn’t want to be seen with me, but a ride was a ride, after all.

  Erika rolled her eyes and shook her head, flashing a disgusted look in Ashley's direction. “She came with me,” she said to the confrontational girl, who was apparently the notorious Sheila. “We’ve been hanging out all afternoon.”

  “As if that’s an excuse,” the other girl said. She opened her mouth to share more of her opinion about my attendance when the hostess of the party hurried over.

  “Erika, hi,” Blossom Coster said, inserting herself between Sheila and me. “I’m so glad you could make it. Who’s your friend?”

  “You know Haley,” Erika said. “She moved here a couple of months ago.”

  “Haley. Oh, hi.” Blossom flashed me a big smile. “I’m sorry. Of course I know who you are. I just didn’t recognize you.”

  “Hi,” I said, immediately feeling grateful toward the hostess for elbowing Sheila out of the way. “I know I wasn’t exactly invited, but thanks for having me.”

  “It’s not exactly a fancy invitation-type party,” Blossom assured me. “You go to Tiburon and you’re friends with Erika, so that’s good enough for me.” She gestured toward a table with an actual tablecloth that was ladened with food. “Help yourself to something to eat. There’s punch, but watch out because it has a special kick. And I think some of the guys brought beer, but you’ll have to ask them if you want one of those,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, sca
nning the party for Tommy. I couldn’t see him, but there were quite a few guys running around the backyard, so I couldn’t tell if he was already there.

  “Okay, well, have fun,” Blossom said, then darted off to welcome some new guests.

  As I walked over to the refreshments table, I could feel Sheila was staring at me like I was something gross stuck to the bottom of her shoe. It came as a surprise, but it turned out that I had a nemesis. I didn’t know why she was my nemesis because before her trying to get me booted from the party I hadn’t even exchanged two words with her, but that was beside the point. She apparently liked Tommy, and I was dating Tommy, so that was reason enough, I guess. That kind of behavior was something I really hated about a lot of girls.

  I was starting to place Sheila in my mind. I was pretty sure we had English together. Because I was new, I didn’t know everyone in every class. But one new student in a small-town high school is easy enough for everyone else to memorize.

  “You going to have any punch?” Erika asked. I hadn’t realized she’d walked up next to me.

  I looked down at the table. “There’s an actual punch bowl,” I couldn’t help but exclaim. “With matching cups.”

  “Yeah, Blossom’s mom has a catering business, so they have all the gear,” she told me. “But the punch has got a lot of booze in it, just so you know.”

  “Oh.” I had been reaching for a cup just for the novelty of using a punch bowl but stopped. “I hope you don’t think I’m too big of a dork, but I don’t really drink much. I mean,” I amended, “I never have.”

  “Yeah,” Erika said, nodding and clasping her hands behind her back. “Me neither. I mean, I tried some vodka once, and I felt like total crap for like a week. I’ve never really tried anything since then.”

  We both looked at the bowl some more. Finally, I said, “Let’s put some Sprite in the cups and throw in some fruit to make it fancy. We can always have some actual punch later if we want.” Then I thought of something and added, “But I probably won’t anyway because I’m driving.”

  “Great idea,” Erika said in a low voice, grabbing a liter bottle of Sprite off the table and kind of shielding it with her body as she opened it. “I hope you don’t think I’m insecure, but I really hate it when people make fun of me for not drinking.”

  I gave her a smile of understanding. Erika was so pretty. Plus, she was a model. And she somehow thought she was insecure. I leaned forward and said in a low voice, “I seriously doubt you could be more insecure than me.”

  After we filled our cups, one of the girls who were possibly named Laura came bounding over. “Have you noticed there are some dangerously hot guys here tonight?” she asked in an overly bright voice.

  I did another scan of the party for Tommy. Was he hiding behind the garbage bins or what? But as I was scanning, I did happen to notice two ridiculously attractive guys standing to one side of the patio appearing aloof and all male model-y. They looked like transplants from a teen movie where the characters are all supposed to be sixteen, but the actors playing the characters are super buff and obviously more like twenty-four. Besides the fact that they were on the pale side, they both looked like they could model underwear for Calvin Klein.

  One had dark hair and appeared to be dating a girl named Aurora from my class. At least I assumed they were dating because she kept looking up at him with love-struck eyes, and he had his arm around her. His lips were full; his dark hair was ruffled; and he wore a blue-gray cable-knit sweater with dark pants. I could tell from halfway across the party his clothes were expensive.

  The other had blond hair that obviously hung past his chin, but he wore it pulled back in a low ponytail. He wasn’t clean shaven, and he was wearing a motorcycle jacket with some type of old-timey looking white linen shirt underneath that I was sure cost more than my entire wardrobe combined. I guess he was going for some kind of biker look because he had on dark jeans and black boots. It was definitely not the way any of the boys dressed at Tiburon High.

  If given the choice between dark and brooding or blond and brooding, I would have definitely gone blond. He was definitely pulling off the bad-boy look. Not that I would ever stand a chance with either guy, but guys drooled all the time over hot chicks that they never stood a chance in hell of dating, so I didn’t see why I couldn’t play make-believe for a moment.

  “Who are they?” Erika asked, obviously as stunned by their appearance as I was.

  “The one with the black hair is dating Aurora Keys,” Maybe-Laura reported. “The other one is his cousin visiting for Christmas.”

  “Wow,” Erika breathed out in a whisper, quickly running a hand over her long, silky hair. “They are so inappropriately good looking.” And this was from the prettiest girl I had ever met.

  I had to agree. I needed to find Tommy. And make him keep his word. And try to make some kind of life out of my last few months in high school. I didn’t need to feel all self-conscious because there were super-hot dudes strutting around. They needed to just go to New York or Paris or wherever, rather than cruising high school parties in the middle of Ohio. It was kind of weird.

  “You should talk to him,” Maybe-Laura was saying, urging Erika in the blond’s direction. “If you got together, think how hot your babies would be.”

  “They wouldn’t be that hot,” Ashley said, appearing at my elbow from out of nowhere. When Maybe-Laura and I gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look, she hurriedly added, “Well, not as hot as if he did it with me,” and then laughed a little to show that she was totally kidding.

  “I think he can hear us,” I said in a quiet voice, my jaws clenched. The blond hottie started looking in our direction.

  “So what if he can?” Ashley said. “I’m sure he owns a mirror. He probably already knows he’s hot.” My cousin obviously didn’t know the definition of the word “discrete.”

  “Good evening, ladies,” the gorgeous blond said as he approached the food table. “How are you enjoying the punch?”

  “It’s great,” Ashley told him, even though it was very obvious she didn’t have a cup in her hand. “Why don’t I pour you some?” She eagerly grabbed the ladle hooked over the side of the punch bowl.

  “Thank you,” he said in reply. “That’s very kind of you.”

  I could see how things would go if they started dating. Ashley would become his obedient little servant, doing every little thing for him in order to date him. Then, once she felt secure that he cared, she would start complaining that he expected her to serve him, even though she was the one that had trained him that way.

  A few more females showed up from out of the woodwork, including Sheila and the second Maybe-Laura.

  “So you’re a Vanderlind?” Ashley asked, trying to position her body to exclude the rest of the girls, even though I was sure he had headed in our direction to speak to Erika.

  “That’s right,” he said as he accepted the dripping glass of punch she handed him. “But I haven’t visited in quite a long time.”

  “Who are the Vanderlinds?” I asked Erika in a quiet voice. I’d said it so quietly that I knew he couldn’t hear me, but he still glanced in our direction. Probably to check out Erika some more. The twinkle lights were making her look even more gorgeous and exotic than usual.

  “They’re that mega-rich family that lives in that crazy castle on the river,” she whispered.

  I had seen the castle. It was one of the few interesting things about Tiburon. It was apparently a genuine medieval fortress from Europe that had been moved stone by stone to America sometime back in the twenties or thirties. “The family is super reclusive, though,” she added. “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a Vanderlind before this, and I’ve lived here practically my whole life. It’s like spotting a chupacabra or something.”

  I thought I saw the handsome blond smirk. Maybe he could hear us. Did the unusually good looking have super-powered hearing or something?

  I finally spotted Tommy sprinting across the back
yard. A couple of the guys were tossing cans of soda around like they were running plays for football. I was stung that he didn’t come over to greet me. I tried to convince myself that maybe he just hadn’t seen me yet.

  Chapter 13

  Dorian

  I was receiving much more attention from the females at the mortal party than I would have at any vampire ball or pleasure retreat. Not that I didn’t attract the opposite sex of the undead—that had never been a problem for me as a human or an immortal—but vampiresses tended to play it cool, not swarm all over a fellow like the young ladies of Tiburon. It felt a bit like I’d stumbled into a flock of twittering birds.

  There was one mortal female who immediately caught my eye. She wasn’t like the other girls in appearance or manner. She had long, silky black hair—the kind that is so black it almost appears to have blue lowlights underneath. Her eyes were wide and a bright blue, but a slight epicanthic fold to her eyelids indicated that she was a magical mix of Caucasian and Asian. She would have made a wonderful vampiress, and I felt a little quiver of excitement just thinking about the possibilities. Not that I was looking to become a maker any time in the next century, but it was exciting to think about showing such a beauty all the wonders of the undead world.

  Much to the girl’s credit, she was not one of the females vying so desperately for my attention. I wasn’t even using my influence to control their behavior, and yet still there were a few girls dancing around in front of me in hopes of displaying their bodies to the best advantage. None of them were graceful enough to appear enticing, but I appreciated the effort—if only for my own amusement.

  I gleaned that the beauty’s name was Erika. She stood to one side with a friend—part of the group but decidedly on the edge. I watched her covertly as the other girls tried to engage me in conversation. How did such an exotic creature end up in the middle of Ohio? I had to wonder. I yearned to know her better but knew I was just being foolish. Besides this brief moment, our worlds would never touch again. And all the better for her.