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“Just a few questions, Stacey. Then we’ll watch.”
She huffs and crosses her arms, but ultimately allows me to continue.
I understand her need to do something normal, but our lives aren’t normal anymore.
We need to embrace the change and uncover everything we can. If we don’t, there is no hope of her returning home someday.
“Tell us, please.”
He seems to consider my request for a minute. Is he forbidden from talking about vampire legends?
“Every Born has a familiar—or so they say.”
“A familiar?” My eyes squint in confusion. “What’s that?”
“It’s a vampire’s one true blood match. If I were to find mine and drink from her, I’d come into more of my powers—what those are, I haven’t a clue. It is said if my match drank from me, she’d have all of my abilities as well. That’s really all I’ve been told.” He narrows his eyes. “Why the interest in familiars?”
I can’t tell him I was snooping and uncovered his father’s journal, yet I don’t want to get Julian in trouble either. What if he wasn’t supposed to tell me about it? While I’m contemplating what to say, Stacey opens her mouth.
“We have reason to believe your father might’ve been stalking Marina and her sister, Maggie. The only thing that makes sense—because she’s still breathing—is that she has something to do with this legend.”
I shoot daggers in Stacey’s direction, but I don’t miss Lawrence’s reaction. His eyes widen before he schools his features.
“I don’t know. It seems unlikely. If, for example, Julian was your match, he would be drawn to you in ways you couldn’t understand. Besides, you’re not a triplet. Our perfect matches would have to be triplets.”
Stacey’s eyes meet mine.
The air whooshes from my body.Triplets.My stomach turns while my mind races with the possibilities. This whole time, were we being watched by their father because he thought we were the legendary familiars to his sons? No. It’s ridiculous.More ridiculous than seeing vampires?Nothing about my life has ever made sense. It’s not too far-fetched to believe that a vampire could’ve mistaken us for the key to his family’s survival, but he was wrong.
I don’t hold any special powers, and Maggie is dead. If the legends were true and we were the legends, another brother would be broken, just like Marcellus. Yet, here is a perfectly sane Lawrence, and Julian doesn’t appear to be affected.
Law sets up the television in my room and Stacey watches with rapt attention, not saying another word. Perhaps she desperately needs to process all of this. Or maybe both of them have forgotten that I am a triplet. I can’t concentrate on anything other than what Law has said. The truth is, a part of me aches to be something special—something more than a mundane human.
Stacey appears to be in her happy place, curled up in my bed, watching the television. All the while, Law’s steady gaze never wavers from me. He sees too much.
“Marina... Marina!” Stacey yells across the room, garnering my attention. “Look.” She nods her head toward the TV screen.
A news reporter with long dark hair, wearing a tight black pencil skirt and white blouse, talks animatedly into a microphone.
“Jerry, I’m here just outside of Toledo, Ohio, where a small village has banded together to look for clues in the disappearance of a third young girl this year. The town’s population is only twelve hundred, so this string of bizarre events has rocked their small community. They are now in search of a serial abductor, and Mayor Callum Stahl urges residents to stay vigilant.”
I listen to the reporter, but my eyes are fixed on the photo on the screen. My abduction has made the national news.
“Marina Drake went missing almost two months ago, only six months after the disappearance of her twin sister, Magdalena Drake, who was last seen jumping from Widow’s Peak—a cliff overlooking the river.”
My heart thumps as Maggie’s picture flashes across the screen. Still, after everything I’ve been through, the loss of her cuts deep. The screen goes back to the reporter.
“Just last week, the town suffered yet another shocking disappearance, when twenty-four-year-old Shannon Cline went missing after visiting the home of Maggie and Marina Drake. Shannon’s mother, Susan Cline, said she went to check on her friends’ parents, Lena and Michael Drake, and never returned. Investigators are asking for any tips in helping locate Marina and Shannon. Local law enforcement believes that the fall from Widow’s Peak took Maggie’s life, although a body was never recovered. This is Annabel Starr reporting live from Liberty, Ohio. Back to you, Jerry.”
I’m numb.Shannon is missing.This can’t be happening.
“Marina, do you know her?” Stacey asks in a whisper.
I nod, unable to speak the words. Why? Why would anyone take her?
My head turns to Law. “Could this be the auction? Law, you have to find out. She’s my best friend. Please.”
His eyes are narrowed on the screen; he’s no longer looking at me.
