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For a hundred miles.
The rest of the trip was dedicated to Maybell’s exhausting lists of all the things she wanted to do with Daddy when we got home. Camping, fishing, amusement parks—all the things she missed doing with him.
“Oh! And just wait ’til Mamma hears, Masie! She’s gonna flip her fritters!” Maybell clapped in the passenger seat. “I’m gonna do a big surprise—invite her to visit and then…ta-da!”
“Maybell, no. You’ll probably kill her if you do that.”
She shrugged. “Then Daddy can make her a vampire. I bet she’d love that—having all the time in the world together.” She sighed contentedly.
“Maybell, did those vampires drop you on your head or somethin’?”
Over my dead body would I let anyone turn my mamma, Maybell, or me.
No more vampires.
After we got to Leiper’s Fork, I left Maybell at her apartment and went home. After texting Jimmie to let him know we were okay, I slept for twenty hours straight.
Unfortunately, I spent those twenty hours reliving the death of five vampires in my dreams. I know they didn’t deserve my pity, but I still felt awful. Maybe the guilt I harbored was because I didn’t believe I was much better than those miserable creatures. I’d lied, I’d played their game, and I’d killed five beings to save my own skin and my sister. Worse, I’d betrayed myself by not fighting back when Lazlo made me his wife.
All my life, I’d dreamed of marrying my soul mate, of giving myself to him, and of him giving himself to me. We would build a life together. In my mind, our union would be a magical moment where the real world melded with the fairy tale in my head. My invisible destiny would manifest into something tangible.
I knew why I’d given all that up, and I couldn’t change the past, but there was no getting around the loss I felt deep in my heart. A piece of my soul died that night.
My only saving grace was that I’d been through worse and survived. I’d survive this too.
The following day, I showed up to the Flaming Rooster for work, and Uncle Jimmie greeted me at the bar.
“Maybell told me everythin’. You okay?”
No, and until I was, I’d have to keep busy—anything to avoid the dark stuff in my head.
I shrugged. “As okay as I’ll ever be.”
“If you want to talk, I’m here, darlin’.”
What was the point in sharing my pain? So everyone could pity me? No thanks.
I smiled weakly. “I’m good.”
“At least the cat’s out of the bag. Your mother’s the only one in the family who doesn’t know about your dad.”
“Maybell hasn’t told her yet?”
“I warned her about the rules. But you could change that,Anna.”
I flashed a sour look. “I’m not her.”
“Shhh…I know,” he whispered, “but you have a lot of power now.”
“What’s that got to do with tellin’ Mamma?”
“Their rules are clear; only the humans who are about to be turned can know. Otherwise, the person’s gotta be critical to their survival.”
“How come you knew about them?” I asked.
“I help them launder money.”
My jaw dropped. “And you planned to tell me this when?”
