Valentine left, and after we dropped Billy off at home, Alexander drove me and Stormy back to the Mansion. When we got inside, Alexander talked privately to Stormy in her room while I waited in the library. When they were finished, he went to get a drink and I found her hanging out on her chaise longue, cuddling Phantom. She wasn't smiling.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Alexander doesn't want me to see your brother or Henry anymore."
"Well, I'll talk to him."
"I keep letting Alexander down. I hate disappointing him."
"Me too. I think he brings that out in people."
"He'll want to send me home if someone finds out about us. The garlic, the mirrors. Bringing blood to Hatsy's Diner."
"I don't think he'll want you to go home so soon. Are you homesick?" I asked.
"No," she said. "Just the opposite. I want to stay here forever."
"I want you to stay, too," I said sincerely.
"You'd like that?"
"Yes."
"But I thought I was getting in the way of you and Alexander."
"No, I like doing stuff with all of us."
"You are just saying that."
"I am not, silly."
"But I know he's really frustrated with me. We came so close to Billy and Henry finding out about Valentine and me. That's why he wants me to stay away from them and only hang out with Valentine - because I can be myself with him."
"That's not right," I said. "Besides, I don't think my brother thinks you are a vampire," I reassured her.
"It's one of the reasons my parents keep me at home and only let me spend time with other vampires. Everyone's afraid I'll spill the family secrets."
"Well, that's no way to live."
"But if people find out about us, they will fear us and persecute us. Like they did when my grandmother moved here to this Mansion. And she was just a mortal married to a vampire. Not everyone understands," she said. "Why do you?"
"I don't know," I said. "I was just born that way."
"I guess I was, too."
"It would be hard for me not to tell the world if I were a vampire," I said.
"Really? That's how I feel!"
"Yes, I'd want to shout it from the rooftops."
"You would?" she asked. "I just want to be myself."
"I know that must be very difficult."
"I don't like to hide away in our Mansion. I want to live and breathe. I want to explore the world and have friends."
"But someone as cool as you must have a lot of friends."
"I only have vampire friends. And not too many of those. Luna was one of my friends. Even though she was older and even when she was mortal. She understood because her family members are all vampires."
"Then maybe you should see her here," I said. "I guess Alexander and I wanted to be with you so much we didn't give you enough time to spend with her."
"Really?" she asked. "You wanted to hang out with me?"
"Of course! I've had a blast."
She smiled sweetly.
"And I know my brother has had a great time, too," I confirmed. "You should have friends your own age."
"And Billy, he looks at me oddly sometimes. Like he's trying to figure me out."
"He's probably looking at you because he thinks you are pretty."
"He does? He said that?"
"Yes."
She sat up, excited. "What did he say?"
"That someone as pretty as you shouldn't be afraid of mirrors."
Her soft brown eyes widened. "That's the sweetest thing I ever heard!" She beamed. "I want to see Billy and Henry. I want to have friends that are mortals." She looked at me desperately.
Really?
"You will," I said. "I'll make sure of that."
"Really?" she said.
"Yes, I'll talk with Alexander."
She leaned in and wrapped her arms around my waist. She squeezed me so hard I could barely breathe. Then she laid her head on my lap. "I felt differently about you when I first met you. I didn't think I'd like you. I was mad that you weren't Luna. And I was mad that Alexander stayed here and didn't return home to our family. I blamed you."
"I know," I said, stroking her hair.
"Are you angry at me for that?"
"You'd have to do a lot more for me to be angry with you. Besides, I'd be mad if someone kept me away from Alexander, too."
"You really like him, don't you?"
I nodded my head.
Even though there were a few more hours to sunrise, her eyelids were fighting to stay open. The pain of the evening wore on her.
"I want you to be a vampire, like me," she said.
"I want you to be a vampire, like me," she said.
"I do, too," I said to her, but she had already drifted off to sleep.
I found Alexander in the TV room watching Dark Shadows.
"We can't keep Stormy away from Billy and Henry," I said to him.
"I think it's for the best. What else can I do? Send her home?"
"No, let her have fun. Let her spread her bat wings," I said lightly. "She really is starved for friends as much as she is for blood. You said that yourself."
"I know. But tonight, when I thought she'd eaten garlic... I'm still shaking."
I gave him a hug. "I know it's hard for you. You want to protect her from the mortal world. You want to protect me from the Underworld. And in the end, it will only make all of us unhappy."
"But what can I do?" he asked. "I can't watch her twenty-four seven. At least when she's with Valentine or even Luna, they know all the secrets. I don't have to worry about that."
"But there are things she's missing. She can't live in your parents' mansion in Romania forever. Someday, like you, she'll gro, sidth="2ew up and move. She has to adapt and she has to learn how. You can help her do that."
Alexander realized that he could be the one to be instrumental in his sister's growth. This time he hugged me. "You are really a great friend to me, besides being my hot girlfriend."
"I try," I said, kissing him long.
"So what are we going to do now?" he asked.
"I can think of a few things," I said with a coy grin, "but they don't involve siblings." When Alexander drove me home, we saw Valentine skateboarding down the street away from my house.
When I got inside, I found Billy in the family room.
"What was Valentine doing here?" I asked.
"I've got to talk to you," Billy said urgently.
"What's going on?"
"Valentine told me I had to stop hanging out with Stormy." I could hear the agitation in his voice.
"What? He came over to say that?"
"He asked if I knew about Stormy, and I asked what he meant. He asked if I knew anything unusual about her, and I said, 'Yes, she's afraid of mirrors.'"
"Then what did he say?"
"He seemed relieved at first. But then he got all threatening. He told me that Henry and I shouldn't hang out with her anymore."
"He's not your father or Stormy's."
"I know, that's what I told him."
"And what did he say?"
"That I'm not like her and by hanging out with her I could put her in danger." He laughed. "Me, dangerous?" I laughed, too.
"Then he asked to read my blood."
I stopped laughing. "Did you let him?"
"No. I was angry at him. That's not right for him to come over here and boss me around. Besides, what business is it of his who she hangs out with?"
"Well, I'm glad you stood up for yourself."
"I think I know why he's acting like that."
"You do?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes. I think he's in love with Stormy, and he's threatened by me and Henry spending time with her. They were close friends in Romania, but now she has learned there is more to life than guys with black fingernails and white hair."
I couldn't help but crack a smile. "I think you are right," I said, nudging my little brother in the arm. "Well, there's one person you and Henry won't be hanging out with anymore," I said. "And he just skated down the street."
