15 Secrets and Spies - My Sister the Vampire (13 page)

Lillian’s expression turned wistful. ‘I just wish I could be creative here, that’s all. That’s the only reason I even considered taking the
Wanderer
job –
because there’s not much creative outlet in Franklin Grove.’

Olivia gave a hiccupy laugh. ‘I’ve heard that before,’ she said, ‘from Camilla.’

Her friend had always said that Franklin Grove wasn’t cinematic. In fact, Camilla would probably tell Lillian that herself, if she ever worked up the nerve to speak to her. Maybe at the
exhibit on Saturday . . .

That’s it!

Too excited to be creeped out, Olivia reached right into the coffin to give her stepmom a big hug.

‘Whoa! What was that for?’ Lillian asked, laughing.

Olivia grinned with delight as she bounced back up and headed for the door. ‘I can’t explain right now, but I’m getting an idea!’

‘What kind of idea?’ Lillian called after her.

But Olivia was already hurrying out of the room. ‘If it’s a good one,’ she called back over her shoulder, ‘you’ll find out all about it . . . on
Saturday!’

I
vy felt Brendan’s hand tighten around hers as the Lincoln Vale mall rose before them, glass-walled and impressive.

Ivy pointed at Maya, standing just by the entrance. ‘There she is.’

‘Come on,’ said Maya, hurrying towards them. ‘Let’s not go inside. There’s someone I want you to meet.’

Ivy and Brendan followed her down the street to a small, family-style diner half a block away. The décor was quiet, cosy and completely unsuited to the glamorous woman who sat at a table
near the back. Her long black hair rippled down the back of her stylish black trouser suit, an elegant gold choker surrounded her slim neck . . . and even with contact lenses disguising her real
eye colour, her resemblance to Maya was unmistakable.

She might look just the right age to have a daughter in high school, but she had to be at least one hundred years old . . . and she was Brendan’s aunt.

‘Oh!’ She gasped, raising one hand to her throat as she rose to greet them. Her gaze went straight to Brendan. ‘Are you really my nephew?’

‘This is Brendan, Mom,’ Maya said.

‘I can’t believe it!’ Carla wrapped her arms around him. ‘It is so amazing to finally meet you!’

Brendan patted her back awkwardly. ‘Um . . . you, too.’

Carla’s eyes glistened with unshed tears as she pulled him down to sit with her at the table. ‘This is awful,’ she said. ‘I don’t know anything about you –
what you like, what you don’t . . .’ She swiped at her eyes and smiled brilliantly. ‘But I promise: if you write out a list, I will buy you gifts for every missed birthday and
Christmas!’

Brendan laughed, visibly relaxing. ‘That’s really not necessary. Getting long-lost family is enough of a gift.’

Carla pressed her lips together for a moment, obviously filled with emotion. ‘It’s like looking at my brother a hundred years ago,’ she whispered at last.

‘Whoa.’ Brendan whipped his head around, his eyes darting around the room. ‘We need to be careful about saying things like that in public.’

‘Of course.’ Carla gave a guilty smile. ‘It’s funny – since I haven’t had any of
our kind
around day after day, I’ve found it much easier not
to let anything slip, because I don’t normally
have
these conversations any more!’ She sighed, sitting back in her chair as Maya and Ivy took their own places at the table.
‘That’s something our community doesn’t really take into account – that maybe, we get
too
comfortable among our own company.

‘Not that I don’t miss it.’ Her smile drooped. ‘I really, really do.’

Ivy felt a wave of sympathy as she saw the loneliness in Carla’s eyes. She couldn’t even imagine being parted from Olivia for so long.

Then she tuned back into the conversation and stiffened.

‘. . . but of course there’s no point talking to those hoity-toity Transylvanians who only care about the “rules”!’ She scowled. ‘Trust me, I could do without
their
kind forever!’

Ivy took a deep breath, forcing herself not to take offence. As she looked down at the table, Maya cleared her throat.

‘Um, Mom?’ she whispered. ‘Ivy’s family are actually
from
a highborn Transylvanian bloodline.’

‘Really?’ For the first time, Carla looked directly at Ivy. Recognition passed over her face. ‘Oh, of course! I can see it in your bone structure now. You’re a Lazar,
aren’t you?’

Ivy shrugged awkwardly. ‘Yup.’

‘Ohhhh . . .’ Carla’s face lit up with interest. ‘You must be one of the twins who were profiled in
VAMP
magazine! I still have my subscription –
it’s about the only part of my identity that
wasn’t
taken away from me.’

The bitterness disappeared from her voice, though, as she leaned forwards. ‘Yes, of course. You’re the daughter of a vampire father . . . who broke an older, far more serious rule
than I ever did.’

‘That’s right.’ Taking Carla’s hand, Ivy met her gaze full-on. ‘I know it’s not fair,’ she said, ‘and I’m here to help in any way I
can.’

She opened her mouth to say more, then stopped, biting her lip. If she mentioned that her dad was planning to talk to his royal connections, she might get Carla’s hopes up . . . and if
anything went wrong, Brendan’s aunt would be crushed.

Carla sighed, sliding her hand away. ‘I’m sorry for what I said before,’ she said. ‘This whole situation has just made me really emotional. Being so close to Franklin
Grove, after so long away . . . well, I’m homesick.’

‘That’s OK.’ Ivy smiled reassuringly. ‘I know a little bit about how that feels.’ Just the memory of her time at the snooty Wallachia Academy, so far away from her
family and friends, made her wince.

Carla caught the movement. ‘Oh?’ She cocked her head. ‘When were you sent away?’

‘It’s . . . a long story, for another time.’ Ivy looked over Carla’s head at the service door of the diner, which was just swinging open. ‘And look, here comes the
waitress.’

All four vampires went silent as the smiling waitress approached. ‘How can I help you folks today?’

‘Ah,’ Carla picked up a menu. ‘I’ll have a steak, please. Extra rare.’

‘Sounds good, ma’am. Now, would you prefer that with potatoes or artichokes?’ The waitress waited expectantly, her pen hovering above her notepad.

As everyone else turned to look at her, Carla gave a tight smile. ‘Potatoes,’ she said. ‘Trust me. I’m allergic to artichokes.’

An hour and a half later, Ivy was walking hand-in-hand with Brendan down his street, heading towards the Daniels house without any hurry. As Brendan swung her hand in his, he
looked more relaxed than she’d seen him in days.

‘Well, that went a lot better than I was expecting.’ He grinned, his dark hair falling over his forehead. ‘Although, I could definitely see in Aunt Carla the same stubbornness
that I’ve seen in my dad this week. They are
so
related!’

‘Absolutely.’ Ivy sighed. ‘I hope we can figure things out for them soon. Ever since I got a sister of my own, I’ve
never
been able to understand how siblings
could ever fall out. It must be miserable for both of them.’

‘Yeah.’ Brendan echoed her sigh as they came to a halt in front of his house. ‘Well . . . here goes.’

Ivy squeezed his hand. ‘Do you want me to come in with you? If your dad’s still angry, it might be good for you guys to have company, to give him some time to cool off.’

‘Ivy Vega, you are the best.’ Brendan pulled her in for a warm hug. ‘I would love for you to hang out for a bit,’ he whispered into her hair, ‘but you don’t
have to worry about my dad. He seemed pretty calm this morning.’

But when they stepped inside a moment later, the house looked as if it had been turned inside-out.
Uh-oh
, Ivy thought, as she looked at the books and papers scattered around the living
room.
What’s going on?

Loud clattering noises sounded in the next room, along with the sound of a busy printer in the office. Brendan’s dad swept into the living room a minute later, his arms full of maps and
guidebooks. ‘Brendan! Ivy!’ he said warmly. ‘What do you two know about a town called Pine Wood?’

‘Um . . .?’ Ivy shrugged. It rang a
vague
bell, but –

Brendan frowned. ‘Wasn’t there a girl from Franklin Grove who moved there over the summer? Debi something?’

‘That’s right!’ Ivy said. ‘She was a cheerleader – Olivia would know.’
Aha!
Now she remembered. ‘Actually, Olivia’s going to do some
filming there just before Thanksgiving!’

Brendan frowned. ‘But, Dad, why are you asking?’ As he looked at his dad, suspicion gathered on his face.

Before Marc Daniels could say a word, a loud ringing sounded from the computer in the study.

‘Here, take these!’ Mr Daniels bundled the maps and guidebooks into Brendan’s hands. ‘I have to answer this call!’

Juggling his armful, Brendan followed straight after his dad. Ivy followed Brendan into the small study, where even more maps were being printed as they entered.

A video-messaging programme was blinking in alert on the computer screen, and the ID on the caller read:
Boss-Man.

Ivy raised her eyebrows at Brendan as the two of them stepped back, out of sight.

‘Dad’s boss,’ Brendan whispered.

Then they both went silent as the call clicked on.

On the screen, a hearty-looking, silver-haired man nearly bellowed his words. ‘Daniels! Have you thought any more about my suggestion? You know I need an answer soon!’

Mr Daniels smiled broadly. ‘I’m thinking about it,’ he said, ‘and in fact, I’m doing a bit of research about Pine Wood right now.’

Oh, no!

Ivy and Brendan shared a look of equal horror. So much for trying to fix things between Mr Daniels and his sister!

Was he actually thinking of following through on his threat to
move away
, just in case Carla ever moved back to town?

Dread tingled in Ivy’s chest as she looked into her boyfriend’s face.

Too many people threaten to leave Franklin Grove. It needs to stop – right now!

A
s Olivia walked towards the Franklin Grove Museum that Saturday, she shook her head in wonder.

Wow. Dad really pulled it off!

A long, snaking line of visitors stretched all the way out to the street, waiting their turn to come in. The small groups of people who’d already seen the exhibit looked almost giddy as
they walked back out of the building.

One man stopped to yell back to the whole line of waiting visitors. ‘Don’t give up. That display is magical. Those artefacts . . .’ He shook his head, looking almost tearful.
‘I’ve never seen anything like them. Charles Vega is a
genius
!’

Oh, really?
Olivia raised her eyebrows as she walked around the museum to the side-entrance reserved for special guests – or in other words, for vampires (and their bunny
relatives!). The brisk October air rustled through her gauzy pink cashmere shrug and the darker rose-pink silk wrap dress she wore underneath. Olivia sighed as she thought back to the museum
visitor’s words. She was proud of her bio-dad, but she had to admit, he really hadn’t been acting all that smart this week. Would a
real
genius completely fail to notice the
problems his new wife was having?