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I gave him a wink and started for the door.
"That would totally rock!" I heard him say as I headed out of his room.
Chapter 17 Indecent Proposal
For the next few days, Billy continued to want to know all about the Sterlings, the Mansion, and their family lineage. For years, he had seen me as the outcast rebellious older sister, and now I was suddenly the coolest sister he could have imagined in the world.
"You have to swear not to speak a word of this," I said to him one day after school. Our parents were still at work, and he found this an opportune time to hound me while I was eating a snack in the kitchen.
"I just want to know more ... about vampires," he pressed while I sat at the dinette table picking at some chips. "What will happen?"
"Nothing."
"Will Stormy bite me if I see her again?"
"Uh ... no. But I may if you keep bugging me."
"Will Alexander bite you and turn you into a vampire?"
"I hope so."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
"I know you want to be a vampire," my brother said, leaning in. "But really be one?" he asked. "Really?"
"Yes. What's it to you?"
"You wouldn't dare do it. Not for real."
I rolled my eyes and turned away. "Let me eat," I said.
"You would," he insisted. "You really would?"
I turned back. "Why not? It's what I've always wanted. Wouldn't you be a Jedi Knight if you could?" He looked at me affirmatively.
"Listen, the way I dress and the things I like," I began, "that's me. I'm not going through some phase. This is who I am. Get used to it."
"So you will get turned?" he pressed, wide-eyed.
"I'm not sure it will happen, no. But it would be cool."
"My sister, the vampire," he said.
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it now," I said. "I don't think it's happening anytime soon."
"You mean Alexander won't turn you?"
This time I looked at him affirmatively, but not with glee.
I took his once-bony arm that was now getting more muscular. "This secret remains between us. Everything you know and everything I've told you. If you tell..."
"I know... I won't live to see the next sunrise."
He withdrew his arm, and I returned to my chips. He left me in peace as he headed upstairs mulling over a world he'd only imagined existing in folklore, which was now his n wa, aew reality.
A few nights later, Alexander took me and Stormy to the Crypt. We all danced until exhaustion set in. Luna asked to have a bop with Stormy, and Alexander headed to the bar for a drink while I headed to the restroom to freshen my makeup.
On the way, I was stopped by Jagger.
"Having a good time?" he asked.
"Of course. This place is amazing," I said truthfully. I couldn't imagine that I'd lived so long in Dullsville without such a great place to hang out at. No wonder I'd always been so miserable.
"Can I show you something?" he asked.
"What? Me?"
"You've always been so into the Coffin Club and now this club. I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Let me tell Alexander."
"It will only take a moment." He stared at me, his blue and green eyes glistening. My curiosity was piqued and, before I knew it, he had his arm linked in mine.
He unlocked the small door that opened to the Covenant - the private club below the Crypt. He lit a few candles and led me down a staircase.
"Here, sit down," he said, offering me a chair.
"I think I should go back upstairs. Alexander will wonder where I am."
"This will only take a second. Besides, is he your keeper? Or do you make the decisions about your own life?" I wasn't sure what he was driving at, but I didn't like him implying that I was a doormat, either.
Jagger sat down next to me and scooted close. "I want a partner. And the perfect person is you." I wasn't sure what Jagger meant. "Your partner in the club?" I asked. "I thought Sebastian was your partner. Besides, I don't have money to invest."
"You don't need money," he said cryptically.
"To be part owner?" I asked.
"Yes. I have the key, and I will give it to you. I want to have you as part of my team. I want you to help me run the Crypt. You understand vampires better than most vampires do, and the same goes for mortals. And your style is amazing. Your passion and fearlessness are qualities I haven't found before. I could use them -
you - to helpyoa se me."
His proposal was exciting to say the least. I felt like I was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. The keys to the factory? The ruler of the Magic Kingdom? The Wizard in the Land of Oz?
"I can make decisions?" I asked.
"Yes."
"About the club?"
"Yes."
"And help with future decor?"
"That's what I want."
It sounded like a dream come true. "And I can come here anytime?"
It sounded like a dream come true. "And I can come here anytime?"
"Yes, you'll have your own office."
An office? I marveled. Like my dad had in our home - and the one he had at work? I only had my bedroom underneath my parents' roof. An office at the factory meant I'd have a place of my own, in the coolest place in Dullsville.
"In fact, you can sleep here, too, if you want. I think you'd fit in very well." His words were macabre music to my multipierced ears. I could only imagine how much fun it would be, sleeping in the Crypt. Hanging out all night with Scarlet and Onyx, being by their side. Maybe I could even have my own coffin bed. Jagger seemed to really get me - genuinely understand what I wanted out of life and feel that I was the one who could help him even further with the Crypt. He'd get my morbid mortal expertise, and I'd get a set of keys to the cryptic kingdom.
"So what do you think?" he asked.
"I'm so flattered! I'd love to be a partner!" I said. "For the whole Crypt?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "And for everything else." He placed his hand on mine.
"I don't know what you mean," I said.
He flashed his fangs at me. "Listen, we both want things. And why not marry them together?"
"What?" I was shocked.
"That's right, I'm talking about us."
"Us?" I asked. "There is no 'us.'"
"That's what I'm talking about. There should be an us. Only it should have happened sooner."
