06 Love Bites - My Sister the Vampire (6 page)

‘These shoes are impossible!’ Ivy declared, stopping.

Olivia turned back a few steps below her. ‘Just remember, toe first, not heel.’

‘I’m trying!’ Ivy replied.

What’s more embarrassing?
Ivy thought, wishing Olivia had let her wear her own shoes.
Boots with formal wear or falling flat on my face?

‘What if I get it all wrong?’ Ivy said. ‘What if I embarrass Dad in front of everyone?’

Olivia looked up at her. ‘You won’t. Besides, I’ll be right by your side the whole time. Now, come on.’

‘Good evening,’ Horatio said from the bottom of the last staircase, making Ivy jump. ‘May I show you to the drawing room?’

‘Yes, please,’ Olivia said.

More like show me to the firing squad,
Ivy thought
but followed anyway.

‘The guests have already arrived, including the Queen.’ Horatio led them back through the entrance hall and down one of the other long corridors.

Olivia gasped. ‘The Queen?’

Ivy stumbled in shock and nearly twisted her ankle.

They passed a fierce-looking suit of armour that was standing to attention, holding a huge battleaxe. Ivy half-expected it to come thumping after her, shouting, ‘Intruder!’

The sisters walked past a pretty young girl, a little older than them, with long, black braided hair wearing a white linen apron and black dress. She was heading in the opposite direction but paused to curtsy.

Ivy stopped. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I’m Ivy.’

‘Um.’ The girl glanced from Ivy to Olivia to
Horatio. He gave her a small nod, as though granting her permission to speak. ‘Hello, miss. I’m Tessa.’

‘Hi, Tessa,’ Olivia said. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘I love your bracelet,’ Ivy said, admiring the black eyelet ribbon wound around her wrist.

Tessa smiled. ‘Thanks. It isn’t technically part of my uniform, but Madam doesn’t mind.’

Horatio coughed lightly.

‘Ah, yes. Your guests are all waiting.’ Tessa curtsied again and hurried away.

‘She seems nice,’ Ivy said to Olivia as they walked after Horatio.

A few minutes later, Horatio paused in front of a doorway with two footmen standing on either side.

Stop worrying, Ivy,
she told herself.
This is no big deal.
She paused for a moment and closed her eyes, wishing Brendan was with her.

The two footmen opened the doors at the same time and thirty pale faces turned to stare. Black dresses and sparkling jewels or dinner jackets and shiny shoes adorned people who were definitely from a different generation to Olivia and Ivy. This was the society that her grandmother wanted to introduce them to, the very top of the vampire food chain.

Chair feet scraped against polished floorboards as all the men stood up. Someone was playing the piano softly in the corner.

This is so much more formal than anywhere I’ve been,
Ivy thought, wanting to scurry back upstairs to the safety of her room.

Ivy’s glance was drawn to one woman who was sitting in a chair, wearing a silver dress. She wore several strands of pearls in a choker at her neck and watched the twins closely. Ivy could see right away that she was the Queen.

‘I present Olivia Abbott and Ivy Vega,’ Horatio said with a bow, and Ivy had no choice but to walk into the room. There was a moment’s silence, and then everyone broke into smiles and applause.

What are they clapping for?
Ivy thought.
We haven’t done anything.

Olivia dropped into a curtsy and gave Ivy a nudge to follow suit. Ivy copied her sister, and hoped she wasn’t going to topple over, but the skirt of her borrowed dress got tangled up in her legs.
It’s eating me alive!
she thought desperately.

The Count came over and led the sisters into the middle of the room. Ivy tried hard not to wobble in her shoes.

‘This is your great-uncle Dragos and your great-aunt Elisabeta,’ said the Count, introducing an elderly man in a military uniform and a lady wearing long white gloves and sparkling
sapphires. ‘Your great-uncle and aunt are the Viscount and Viscountess of Kolozs.’

Olivia struck up a conversation right away about the house but Ivy felt tongue-tied by all of the assured, elegant people.

‘How are you doing?’ the Count whispered.

‘It’s a little . . . um . . . more elegant than I expected,’ Ivy whispered back and his grey moustache twitched up into a smile.

‘Just wait until the Valentine’s Day ball.’ He winked at her.

Ivy gulped.
Uh oh,
she thought.
What am I going to wear to a ball?

After Ivy had been introduced to too many people with complicated names and titles – including the Queen – the tinkle of a bell rang out.

A man wearing a dinner jacket and a red cravat announced, ‘Dinner is served.’

Glasses clinked as people put them on tables and stood up.

‘Isn’t this so exciting?’ Olivia whispered, her eyes sparkling even brighter than their great-aunt’s jewels.

Ivy nodded, not wanting to spoil it for her sister.

‘You look so beautiful!’ the Countess whispered to Ivy, taking her elbow and walking her towards a door at the other end of the room. But before she could catch a glimpse of the dinner table, Ivy heard the room behind her suddenly fall silent.

Oh no,
Ivy thought.
Did I step wrong?

She looked back into the drawing room. Her dad stood in the entrance looking as out of place as Ivy felt.

This must be even harder for him,
Ivy thought. Today was his first time back in Transylvania
for more than thirteen years. After he had run away with Ivy and Olivia’s human mother, his relationship had been forbidden and denounced. He had been the centre of a huge royal scandal.

Just as Ivy was about to break away from the Countess and go to stand next to him, Mr Vega strode into the dining room. He smiled at his two daughters and then bowed precisely to a man about his age wearing a grey tie and thick black glasses. The man bowed back and then they both broke into smiles. Ivy guessed that they must be old friends.

At least he’s got some people on his side,
Ivy thought.
And he knows how to handle all the formalities.

As he started to make his way around the room, the Countess touched Ivy’s arm. ‘Those are your seats,’ she said and pointed to places in the middle of a long, dark wood table that was so glossy Ivy could see the reflections of all the
candles in its surface. It was decorated with red rose centrepieces, napkins folded like origami, six glasses at every place setting, plus more knives and forks by her plate than in her entire cutlery drawer at home.

There was only one thought swirling around Ivy’s head:
I am so in over my coffin.

Olivia had to pry Ivy’s fingers off her arm.

‘Don’t leave me!’ her sister hissed.

‘I have to,’ Olivia whispered back. ‘It’s boy, girl, boy, girl.’ Olivia felt awful, but occasions like this required seating arrangements. ‘Insisting on sitting together is worse than confusing the forks, Ivy.’

‘Fine,’ Ivy whispered but Olivia could tell Ivy was the complete opposite of fine.

Someone was already standing behind the chair in between the two empty ones that the
Countess had pointed to. He seemed a bit older than them with spiky black hair and high cheekbones.

‘Ivy,’ he said, ‘and Olivia.’ He bowed.

As he pulled out her chair, Olivia touched the clip holding her hair up, hoping she hadn’t overdone the curls.

‘I’m Alex,’ he said.

‘
Prince
Alex,’ the Count clarified as he sat down on the other side of Ivy. ‘We are delighted you could attend.’

A prince!
Olivia thought as he took her hand and kissed it lightly. She was going to eat with the royal family!

Prince Alex turned to Ivy and did the same. Olivia hid her smile as Ivy’s jaw dropped.

‘Nice to meet you, uh, Your Highness?’ Olivia said.

‘Please, just call me Alex,’ he replied as he sat in
his own seat. His eyes twinkled with excitement. ‘You are the first American – and the first human – I have sat next to for dinner.’

Olivia was surprised. ‘You’ve never had dinner with a human before?’

‘My mother occasionally meets non-vampire dignitaries but she doesn’t say much about them.’ Alex lowered his voice. ‘On the other hand, you and your father have been the subject of much discussion.’

Olivia felt as though a cool breeze had just blown through the room. She realised that maybe some of these vampire guests didn’t approve of her. Olivia knew that there were plenty of separationists – vampires that thought humans and vampires should never mingle, and especially never have relationships. That’s why her father marrying their mother had been such a scandal.

‘I can assure you that I am not biased in my
views,’ Alex said, looking at her intently. He leaned forward slightly. ‘Your eyes are fascinating. I am used to vampire eye colours, but yours are like a sparkling summer lake.’

Olivia blushed.

Suddenly, the household staff glided into the room, carrying individual silver domed trays. Olivia smiled at the girl Tessa that they’d met in the hallway earlier, who was serving the opposite side of the table. The staff placed the plates down noiselessly in front of everyone and, with a metallic ring, lifted the domes off to reveal something the size and colour of a pot of lip balm in the centre of each large, white plate. They stood back against the walls, waiting.

Horatio bowed to the group and said simply, ‘Pâté en croûte.’

Ew
, Olivia thought. She was relieved to see that on her plate was a fresh garden salad.

‘It looks like a rainbow,’ Alex said, glancing at the vegetables.

Olivia was surprised by the description, but he was right. The red and yellow peppers, the green celery and cucumber, the purple-looking red lettuce – the colours were bright.

‘You certainly have a way with words,’ Olivia commented.

‘Thank you,’ Alex bowed his head a little. ‘I do love poetry. Have you ever read “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”; by Wallace Stevens?’

Olivia shook her head.

‘You must.’ Prince Alex looked wistful for a moment. ‘There are so many ways to see the same thing.’

Like the meaning of Valentine’s Day,
Olivia thought to herself. Despite being surrounded by all these wonderful new things, a part of her heart was still with Jackson, wondering if he was
thinking of her. She wanted to rush upstairs and check her new phone for texts.

As she ate her croutons, Alex said, ‘I hope we will get to spend more time together while you are here in my country. There is so much I can show you, so many places to visit.’

Olivia was flattered but she heard a tut coming from across the table. Directly opposite her, the Queen was watching them with her lips pressed together.

Olivia felt a hot flush creep up her cheeks and she tried to un-blush as she concentrated on her food.
Is the Queen unhappy that her son is fraternising with a human?
Olivia wondered. Alex had kept glancing over at her while they were talking.
Is her Royal Vampness one of the ones doing the ‘discussing’ about vampire–human relations?

Olivia saw Ivy leaning forward on the other side of Alex, trying to catch her attention.

Horatio suddenly appeared at Ivy’s side. ‘What may I do for you, Miss Ivy?’

‘Uh, no, no, nothing,’ Ivy mumbled. ‘I was just trying to . . . um . . .’

‘Ivy and I very much enjoyed our drive from the airport,’ Olivia said to the prince, hoping it would be enough for him to include Ivy in their conversation.

Horatio bowed and backed away. The staff had been so quiet, Olivia had almost forgotten they were standing there.

Alex dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. ‘The countryside here is underappreciated by the world’s tourists, in my view. I can never get enough of it.’

‘And I can’t get enough of this pâté,’ Ivy said. She had already finished her little portion and was munching on the watercress around the edges that everyone else was leaving untouched.
‘Do you think there will be any more of it?’

Alex chuckled. ‘Are you asking if you can have mine?’

Ivy winced. ‘No, no. I just meant . . . I could massacre a burger right now.’

Olivia glanced around the room, suddenly aware of the silence that surrounded them. Twenty-nine other faces were turned in their direction. Ivy’s exclamation had come at just the wrong time. Burgers at a formal dinner?

Olivia could see her sister struggling to swallow and Olivia had no idea what to do to save her sister.

‘Oh, yes,’ Alex said, loudly enough for the whole table to hear. ‘Those wagyu beef burgers from Japan are such a delicacy.’

The Countess, sitting opposite them next to Mr Vega, agreed. ‘When I went to visit the Imperial House of Japan, they served the
most wonderful kobe beef, which is a kind of wagyu.’

Olivia let out her breath as the other vampires nodded appreciatively. Ivy shot Alex a grateful look.

For a prince,
Olivia thought,
Alex seems really down-to-earth and welcoming.
His modesty reminded her of Jackson a little.

She missed Jackson.
Is he even missing me? Will he do anything at all for Valentine’s Day?

Across the table, the Queen snapped her fingers at the maid, Tessa. Olivia noticed Prince Alex watching intently. ‘My water is too warm. Bring me ice,’ she commanded.

‘Yes, ma’am.’ Tessa curtsied and hurried off.

Gosh,
Olivia thought.
The Queen sure knows how to act like a royal.

‘If you like our Romanian countryside, Olivia and Ivy, I must show you our estate,’ said Prince
Alex. For some reason, his face had coloured. ‘Please be my guests at the palace tomorrow.’

Olivia felt a thrill.
The palace!

She glanced across the table and saw the Queen staring back, her face impassive. Olivia gulped. It seemed that the Queen of Transylvania wasn’t happy that her son was mingling with a human. Not one tiny bit.

As the rest of the courses arrived one by one, Ivy tried not to say anything. Every time she had attempted conversation, she’d said something stupid.
Olivia fits in better than me – and she’s the bunny!