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Tony’s eyes were still focused on me. Looking down, I could feel his stare on the top of my head. It was so weird.

What’s he thinking? Why is he staring at me? Look at Cassidy or Nora or the view outside, for crying out loud.

I took another bite of my dinner, but the food had lost its flavor. I washed it down with a gulp of the restaurant’s famous spring water.

“Sorry.”

I glanced up and saw Tony leaning toward me.

He shifted nervously in his chair, then said again, softly, “Sorry.”

“F–for what?” There was something going on here that I didn’t understand.

“For staring at you just now. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Okay,
now
I was uncomfortable.
How perceptive is this guy, anyway?

“Very,” he muttered.

“Excuse me?” I gasped.
Had I said that last thought out loud?

Tony jerked back like I had slapped him. “Uh—very.” He looked around nervously, then shook his head and grimaced. “Look, I’m very sorry, okay? That’s all.”

Oh, he’s very sorry? For a minute there I thought he’d . . .
I looked back up. He was staring at me again, watching me intently. His eyes were lighter than any brown eyes I had ever seen before, and they simmered with emotion.

Holy cow.

That’s when it hit me—spinning five hundred feet in the Washington sky—and everything clicked into place.

Anthony Russo was a vampire.

My Own Twilight

“Are you out of your mind?” Cassidy nearly shouted, loud enough to rock the cottage while she paced in our bedroom later that night.

“Shh!” I hissed, instantly regretting that I’d told her about Tony.

“Claire, you can’t go around declaring that people have sold their souls to the devil and not have me freaking out! What gave you such a crazy idea, anyway?”

“Vampires are not evil. They don’t—”

“They’re blood-sucking people who feed off other life forms, mainly humans! Living, breathing humans. How is that not evil?”

She was blowing this way out of proportion. “Look—”

“No, you look. This is ridiculous. You’re ridiculous. Oh my gosh!” She whipped around and headed straight for the bed where I sat. “Please tell me you haven’t told anyone else about this. Please, please, please tell me I’m the only one who knows you think Tony Russo is a vampire.”

I rolled my eyes.
Like I’m that stupid.
“Of course you’re the only one who knows. Come on, give me a break.”

“Claire. Do you have any idea what type of ‘break’ this would be for our family if word got out you were accusing the son of the director of Northwest Academy of being a stupid vampire?”

That was it. She’d gone too far. “Vampires are not stupid, Cassidy!” I stood up and glared at her. “And excuse me, but I believe I would know if I met one or not.”

She walked over to her bed and collapsed. “Are you kidding me? You actually believe in them?
Them?
As in, you think there are more? Ugh. And I thought this babysitting thing was going to be easy.”

“Of course I believe in them. Vampires are real, Cass.”

“Why me?” She rolled over on her side and stared at me before she shook her head. “Claire, fine. You win. I’m sure—I’m positive—that there are some pretty sick people in this world. Even sick enough to drink human blood. So in a sense, they’re vampires. But if you think for one minute that—”

“But Stephenie Meyer says—”

“Stephenie Meyer? Is that what this is all about?” Cassidy sat up and rolled off the bed. In two seconds, she was rummaging through my side of the dresser.

“Hey!” I ran over to her, but I was too late. She had already found my
Twilight
book. “What are you doing with that?”

“This is a book, Claire. A book. This isn’t real.” She shook it above her head for emphasis.

I jumped up and tried to get it, but she was taller than me. “I know that. What do you think I am, a baby? Duh. Everyone knows
Twilight
came from a dream.” I jumped again and snagged the sleeve of her pajama top, pulling her arm down with it. “Give me my book.”

Cassidy sighed and released her hold, letting me take the book from her. “Do you really know it’s not real, Claire?”

“Yes.” I stomped over to my bed and set the book carefully on the nightstand.

“Then what makes you think Tony’s a vampire?” she asked warily as she headed back to her bed.

I sat down and shrugged. “Everything.”

“And?”

I crossed my legs. “Okay, did you happen to notice how he knew what I was thinking?”

“Uh, no. I must’ve missed that.”

“Did you feel how strong he was? He felt like steel.”

Cassidy’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait. You touched Tony’s muscles?”

“Yeah. And he’s a whole lot stronger than he looks.”

“You touched his muscles? When did this happen?”

“On the Ride the Duck tour. Why?”

“Well, where was I?”

“Right next to him.”

“Oh.” She blinked and then asked, “So this is what makes you think he’s a vampire—he’s strong? And he knows what you’re thinking?”

“And he wouldn’t eat his food, because he said he was sick. Except, then his mom said he never gets sick.”

“And because he was sick, you concluded that he was a vampire?” I could tell my sister thought I’d totally lost it.

“Yes, because being sick was just an excuse not to eat. Vampires don’t like to eat regular food. And . . .” I fiddled with my hands.

“And?”

“And he stared at me a lot.”

“Oh my gosh,” Cassidy mumbled under her breath. “Are you for real?”

“Yes, Miss Know-it-all, I am.”

Cassidy started to giggle.

“Ha ha. Very funny.”

She laughed harder.

“You know I’m going to prove you wrong, right?”

Her laughter turned to snorts. Very stupid-sounding pig snorts, I might add. It wasn’t funny. “I
will
prove you wrong!”

She fell off the bed. My sister was literally rolling on the floor laughing. And she thought
I
was the idiot.

“You know, you can stop now,” I decided to add after another minute of listening to her hilarity.

“I know!” She gasped. “But—but—b–b–but it’s j–j–just soooo fu-nnyyy!”

“Ha ha.” I got up off my bed. “You know, knock yourself out, okay? Have a good li’l party down there, thinking all about Tony being a vampire.” She burst into more laughter. “I’m gonna go wash this gunk off my face.” I pointed to my makeup in case she was watching. She wasn’t. With a huge sigh, I stepped over my lunatic sister. Then I walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. Peals of laughter vibrated off the walls, and I willed myself not to roll my eyes again.
I will prove her wrong. Tony Russo is a vampire, and I know it.

I waited until Cassidy had calmed down completely before I ventured into our room again. She was reading
Twilight
,
propped against her pillows and the headboard.

“Hey, that’s off limits.”

She smirked. “Just brushing up on my vamp knowledge. I’ll give it back when you need it.”

Like I need it.
I practically had the thing memorized. “Don’t worry. Go ahead and use it.
You’ll
need it.”

She snapped the book shut.

Ooh. That got to her.

“So, what are you going to do if he lures you away from everyone else and bites you?” she asked with a smirk.

“I thought you were through.”

“So did I!” She giggled and raised her hands in a defensive pose. “Okay, okay. I promise I’ll stop now, okay?”

“Promises, promises,” I mumbled, then climbed between the sheets and turned off my lamp.

Cassidy’s lamp was still on. It illuminated her bed and made her light blonde hair glow like a halo around her head. She set the book on the nightstand, and I watched her climb down to say her prayers.

Sheesh. I totally forgot.
Grudgingly, I pushed the covers off and knelt on the floor by the bed. My bare toes wiggled against her sock-covered ones before I started my prayer.

Cassidy had gotten back in bed and turned off her lamp before I’d even finished. I had a lot to thank the Lord for. She would’ve started laughing again if I gave her a rundown of my silent prayer, so I kept it to myself.

She waited until I was all snuggled in before she asked, “You know what I think it really was?”

“What
what
was?” I asked.

“All those signs with Tony.”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Well . . .” I heard her roll over in her bed to face me. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I think he likes you.”

I turned on my lamp. “What?”

“I’m serious.” She smiled. “Why else would a guy let you feel his muscles?”

“He didn’t let me feel them. I—”

“And why else would he be watching you all the time?”

He was worried I was onto him?

“Or why else do you think he was too nervous to eat in front of you? So much so, it made him sick.”

Now it was my turn to snort. “Whatever, Cass.”
Like I’ve ever made a guy too nervous to eat in front of me.
“Probably because he doesn’t prefer to eat food.”

She ignored that. “I also think that’s why he knew what you were thinking.”

“Because he likes me?”
Is she high?

“Yeah, because he was really into you and watching your reactions and stuff. It let him know what you were thinking.”

“Oh, puh-leeze!”

“You are pretty easy to read, you know.”

I leaned over and turned off the lamp. “You need to get some more sleep. Obviously, you’re still jet-lagged.” I sounded calm enough as I said it, but I had to wonder if my heart could still beat properly at the speed it was racing.
Holy cow. Could Cassidy be right? Could Tony be into me? No way.
Just the thought of finding my own Edward nearly drove me over the top.
And to think, it’s all happening in Washington!

***

The next morning I awoke bright and early, eager to get a start on the day. Despite my crazy dreams and only sleeping half the night, I was amazingly refreshed and full of happy energy. The night before, the Hadleys had mentioned to the Russos that we’d hoped to go to church while we were in town. Our new friends were quick to tell us the direction of their building and the time the service started, so we were all set to go to service with them.

I couldn’t wait. It was amazing what twenty-four hours could do to a girl’s outlook toward a family. It was like Cassidy and I had done a complete one-eighty. The more I thought about the Russos, the more excited I became.