“We’re all here for Fiona,” Gareth said. “We’ll do everything we can to keep her safe. And to keep you safe too.”

  She appreciated that Stasio’s cousins were there for her and her brother also.

  Justin lifted his chin. “If I were a vampire, I could help her, protect her better, protect myself better so others won’t have to waste their energy trying to protect a human.”

  Arman sighed deeply. “It’s a big change to make.”

  “I know. But I mean, if I don’t become one, then what? I’ll be like the staff here? Humans who do your bidding?” Justin sounded annoyed.

  “We pay them well,” Levka said. “Better than they could get at other households for the work they do. They get lots of time off, more than other places would give them. They do well.”

  “I just mean they know what you are. I can’t unknow this stuff. I’m like them now is all I’m saying. But I don’t want to be them. I want to feel in control of my life, like I thought I had been before I knew all about vampires and hunters and that I was only…only a lame human. No disrespect to humans, really. But I want to have more of an impact with my life.”

  “Sometimes it’s a pain to be a vampire,” Caitlin said. “When I feel undernourished and sluggish, weak, before I have to feed again. That I have to hide that I’m drinking blood. That I still can’t do everything that a vampire can do. It’s not like it’s an automatic cure all for life, though to be sure there are a lot of benefits.”

  Fiona was glad Caitlin spoke up, being the most newly turned vampire. She would know what it felt like as compared to the others who had been turned during the Black Death or born to vampires.

  Arman suddenly vanished from his seat and Fiona wondered what was up. Then Levka left in the same way, and she hoped there wasn’t trouble. “Arman, is everything okay?” She might not be able to travel like they could, but at least she could still telepathically communicate with the others.

  “Yeah, Levka and I are coming. We have…some new guests.”

  Could Fiona even chance hoping they were her parents? “Mom and Dad?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Arman.” Fiona had had enough secrets in her life, she didn’t need any more, but because he didn’t say no, she assumed her parents had arrived. Her hands were clammy and she felt shivers trail down her spine all at once.

  A pretty blond of about thirty with riveting green eyes walked into the dining room, who totally resembled Fiona in height, her large eyes, and her heart-shaped face. She was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt that featured a wolf with vampire fangs. Fiona raised her brows.

  “I was turned against my will,” the woman said to Justin.

  Fiona assumed she had overheard the conversations about Justin wanting to be a vampire. Fiona heard the hurt in the woman’s voice, and she couldn’t imagine the terror she must have felt, or even the guilt she might have felt for turning her own beloved husband after that. To protect him, sure, but still, they’d been hunters.

  “Are…are you my mother?” Fiona’s eyes filled with tears.

  The woman turned and smiled sweetly at Fiona, her own eyes filled with tears.

  Fiona immediately got up from her chair, hesitant to give her a hug in the event she was wrong or that if the woman was her mother, she wasn’t a huggable type or wasn’t ready to share any intimacy with Fiona.

  “I am, Beatrice Fairhaven, and I love you, Fiona,” the woman said, pulling her into a hug. “It was the hardest thing for me to do—to give you up to a human family to save you. We knew Tobias would take you hostage and keep you until you turned eighteen and then turn you. All Nat and I could do was pay for things for you and Justin. We thought you were safe. That your human parents would keep you safe.”

  “Where is my father?”

  A blond-haired man walked into the dining room and smiled at Fiona. She recognized him from her dreams/visions. “You are…”

  “Nathaniel Fairhaven, your father. We have longed to see you all your life, but now it’s time for us to stand united with the others here to fight the ones who⁠—”

  “Turned my mother?” Fiona asked, giving her father a hug.

  He warmly embraced her back. “Yes.” Then he glanced at Arman.

  Everyone had risen from their seats and welcomed the couple, shaking Nat’s hand, embracing Bea.

  “You’ve come just in time for Fiona’s birthday,” Arman said.

  “And to protect her during the blood moon,” Bea said, taking hold of Fiona’s hand and squeezing it. “Have you thought of being turned, Fiona?”

  “Everyone’s talked to me about it,” Fiona said.

  “I want to be turned,” Justin said.

  “It will change you forever, and you might not need to be, though to us, you are our adopted son, Justin,” Bea said. “We love you just as much as we love Fiona. You have been good for her all these years.”

  Fiona was so glad her mother had said that about Justin.

  “I’m ready. Really. If I can help my baby sister in this fight with the evil vampires, I’m ready for it,” Justin said, sounding as serious as could be.

  “Do you realize if one of us bites you, that you are controlled by that person? Not that we would make you do what we want, but it’s just there is a condition to it,” Bea said.

  “Like Tobias bit you,” Fiona said.

  “Yes. So I can’t kill him. And if he were here, he could try to have me do his bidding,” Bea said.

  “I trust you to bite me,” Justin said to Bea. “I just want to have a fighting chance. I won’t otherwise. I would be easy pickings.”

  “It’s for life, however long that is,” Nat said.

  “Then one of you, any of you, do it.”

  “I’ll do it,” Shelly said.

  Fiona shook her head. “Turn me, Arman, and I’ll turn my brother.”

  Justin laughed. “And then you would control me.”

  Fiona smiled. “You don’t want to wait until a woman who could be your mate comes for you?”

  “There’s no time for that. I trust you or Bea to do it. Or Nat. Really, any of your friends.”

  “Like I said, I’ll offer,” Shelly said, smiling.

  Fiona wanted to ask him if he was sure of doing this, one more time, but she knew he wanted to be close to the others and felt he would be if he made the change. And she knew he wanted to help her like he couldn’t as a human. She gave him a quick hug before he was no longer just her human brother. “Love you.”

  “I love you too. I’m going to help you the best way that I can.” Then Justin gave her a hug back and said to Bea, “Will it change me so much that I can’t go shopping with the others for Fiona’s birthday party? We were going to go after breakfast.”

  “No, but you can wait to do it after you return,” Bea said.

  Fiona hoped Justin wasn’t making a mistake. Not that she thought being a vampire was all bad, but he might decide he really didn’t like being one after all and there was no changing his mind after her mother turned him.

  “Yeah, I’ll wait until after I return,” Justin said, “just in case.”

  “Okay.”

  Then Caitlin, Jasmine, and Justin took their dishes into the kitchen. Arman gave Fiona a hug and kiss. “Be back in a little while to practice sword fighting. Just stay with the others. Don’t go anywhere by yourself.”

  “I’ll be with the others at all times. I want to get to know my parents too.”

  “I would go with you to shop,” her mother said, “but if Tobias got a hold of me…”

  “No, we understand,” Fiona said. She wanted to eliminate Tobias for that reason alone. Her mother didn’t feel she was safe around her and Fiona wanted to do things with her to make up for lost time.

  “Of course.” Arman hugged her again. “Be back soon.”

  Fiona knew he was worried about leaving her for any length of time, but she also knew he wanted to have some input into her birthday celebration and she loved him for it. Then Arman and the others left the house.

  Arman didn’t want to leave Fiona home alone for a second, but celebrating her eighteenth birthday was so important and he really wanted to take part in the planning of it. Besides, he knew his friends would be there for her and he wouldn’t take that long. They had to get back to sword practice.

  “Are you sure about being turned, Justin?” Jasmine asked while they were driving to the shopping center.

  “Yeah. I think Fiona’s mom would be a good choice, don’t you?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah. She wants to be your mom too,” Caitlin said.

  “That’s another reason I want her to do it. I think we’ll bond through the experience, and I really care for her. I mean, I thought she was my aunt and that she and my uncle were so cool. I always cared about them and wished Fiona and I could get in touch with them and thank them for everything.”

  “Okay. I think she’s a good choice too,” Jasmine said.

  Arman was quiet. He couldn’t quit thinking about Fiona.

  Caitlin sighed. “Levka and the others will take care of Fiona.”

  “You really care about her, don’t you?” Justin asked.

  “Yeah. It’s like we’re connected.”

  “Then you’ll have to turn her,” Justin said.

  “If she wants me to do it, I will, but she has to want it.” Arman wasn’t sure that she wanted to do it.

  Then Caitlin changed the subject as they arrived at the shopping center. “Okay, balloons, party hats, strobe lights, a fog machine, music for a DJ party? What do you think? Fiona isn’t going to be going to a prom night at a high school, so maybe a dance party?”

  “Yeah, she would love that,” Justin said. “Her favorite colors are blue and green.”

  “What would she like as gifts?” Jasmine asked. “We can have a cake made at this store and return in an hour.”

  They went inside a bakery and Justin said, “Oh, she would love this topper: 18 and Adultish with the crown on the 18 and the butterfly sitting on the crown. It’s perfect. And she loves the water, so an ocean scene with the mermaid sitting on the rock?”

  “That would cover the blue and green she loves,” Caitlin said. “I love the topper too. And the ocean scene is beautiful.”

  They all looked at Arman. He smiled. “Yeah, that looks great.”

  They ordered a cake that could serve up to thirty people.

  “Chocolate cake,” Justin said. “That’s her favorite.”

  Arman was glad that Justin was here because he knew so much about his sister! “Gifts, then?”

  They bought her books, clothes, some games that they could all play, puzzles. They really needed to have some fun things to do once they were no longer worried about Tobias coming for Fiona.

  “Do you think he’ll come for her tomorrow?” Justin asked as they dropped back by the bakery to pick up the cake after shopping for presents.

  “I believe so,” Arman said. “He went after Fiona’s dad, turned her mom, Regina took her hostage, and then introduced Tobias to her. So yeah, I figure they will try to get to her tomorrow night. Or even before. So we have to make sure Fiona is being watched at all times.”

  Justin sighed. “Well, that’s why I have to make sure I’m a vampire then. Tobias won’t expect it.”

  “You know you’ll be newly turned,” Jasmine said.

  “Yeah, the whole business with the fangs coming down can be problematic,” Caitlin said.

  “But at least you can vanish and reappear in a different place,” Justin said, getting into the van with the others.

  “Right. That would help you to get out of his path if Tobias came after you, and that could give someone else the chance to fight him,” Caitlin said. “You’re getting pretty good with a sword too. You have a really powerful swing.”

  “That’s for sure,” Jasmine said. “You absolutely were wearing me down and no vampire has ever fought me with that much power.”

  Justin beamed.

  Arman smiled. He figured Justin would make a powerful fighter someday when his fighting skills were further honed.

  “You need to turn my sister,” Justin repeated to Arman. “She’ll have more abilities, be safer, and the rest of the family will all be vampires as well.”

  Justin had a valid point. But it was still completely up to Fiona as to what she wanted to do.

  18

  “Tell me about yourself, uhm, uh, Dad?” Fiona was going to have to get used to calling her parents mom and dad. She wanted to. “My foster mother said you were CIA or something, but I guess that was a cover for why you weren’t able to see us and had no address. Justin and I wanted to thank you for all the gifts you had given us over the years.”

  “That’s the story we gave them. We could have wiped their minds of even knowing about us, but we had to make sure they used the money to take care of the two of you,” her dad said. “Even though Justin wasn’t our son, we wanted the two of you to be brother and sister growing up, and to do that, we needed to give both of you equal funds to take care of you.”

  “I appreciate that you did. His dad had problems.”

  “We didn’t know that until we learned they had died and then we were on the search for where you had gone to. We knew Justin was away at college. We were paying for his tuition,” her dad said. “Thankfully, Shelly and Michail came to his rescue so that Regina and Tobias didn’t eliminate him too.”

  Great. Fiona finally had confirmation that Shelly and Michail weren’t bad guys. Though she thought it was odd that they didn’t greet each other when they first arrived, like they had been fast friends. All her friends seemed friendlier to her parents than Shelly and Michail had been. They were smiling, a little standoffish, but maybe that was because they already knew each other and didn’t need an introduction.

  Ruric had slipped away, she realized, but then he returned with a platter of chocolate chip cookies. “Who wants dessert? It’s not like the fancy pies Chef makes us, but we had the ingredients and it’s the only dessert I know how to make.”

  “Oh, I love chocolate chip cookies. And double the chocolate chips. These are great.” Fiona took three of them. “It’s like an early birthday treat.”

  Ruric smiled. Everyone else grabbed a couple and Stasio made black tea to drink with the cookies.

  “I’ll clean up the dishes after we eat dessert.” Fiona had planned to because the guys had all made the meal.

  “We’ll help,” Ruric said.

  And that was just what happened. After tea and cookies, they all had a soap suds party in the kitchen, cleaning dishes. Now this was fun.

  “I want you to turn me,” Justin said to Arman on the trip back to the estate in the van, surprising the hell out of him.

  He thought Bea was going to turn him.

  “You don’t want Bea to do it?”

  “I want to do it now. Before we have the next sword practice. The sooner I can be changed, the sooner I can train as a vampire and not be so new at it.”

  “Well, alright, if you’re sure.”

  “I am. How do we do this?”

  “I can bite your wrist, and when your fangs come down, you can bite mine and it will be done. Unless you want to ask Fiona if you’re alright with me changing you.”

  “Nope. It’s my decision.”

  “Alright then. No changing your mind after it’s done.”

  “Right. Got it.” Then Justin rolled up his sleeve and offered his arm to Arman.

  Caitlin and Jasmine were quiet. Arman just hoped he was doing the right thing by Justin. Arman extended his canines and Jasmine pulled over into a parking lot to make the exchange go more smoothly. If he did it right, Justin wouldn’t feel any pain, just pleasure. He just hoped that Fiona wouldn’t be pissed off at him for doing this to her brother.

  Then he bit into him and glanced up to see Justin’s eyes closed. Arman sucked on Justin blood, and then he sealed the bite. “My part is done.”

  Justin opened his eyes. “What? That was it?”

  “You need to concentrate on extending your canines,” Arman said.

  They waited for what seemed like forever while Justin was frowning, trying to do something with his teeth. Then suddenly his eyes widened, and he smiled, showing off his extended canines. They were baby teeth compared to what they would be when he really got used to releasing them.

  “Now?” Justin asked.

  Arman pulled up his sleeve. “Drink some of my blood. I’ll tell you when to stop and you stop. You’ll have to get some control over it. You can have blood from the fridge when we return to the estate if you need more.”

  Justin eyed the blood pulsing in Arman’s veins in his wrist. “I hear your heart beating. Jasmine’s and Caitlin’s too.” Then he looked up at Arman. “Are…are you ready?”

  Arman smiled. “Yeah, I am. Go ahead. You’re halfway there.”

  Then Justin leaned over and licked Arman’s wrist. His warm tongue tickled Arman’s skin and he wanted to laugh. Then Justin sank his baby fangs into Arman’s wrist, and he began to suck his blood. After Arman felt he’d had enough, he said, “Okay, that’s it. There’s more at home if you need it.”

  Justin hesitated, but then he released Arman.

  “Lick the wound and it will seal it so there’s no blood dripping from the wound. It will heal quickly,” Arman said.

  Justin licked the wound and stared at the bite marks that he had made and how they appeared to begin to fade.

  Caitlin handed Justin a tissue. “You need to make sure you don’t have any blood on your lips after you’ve had blood to drink.”

  But Justin just licked it off.

  “Do you feel any differently?” Arman asked Justin. He hoped he felt only good things.

  “Everything is so loud,” Justin said.

  “Welcome to our world,” Jasmine said, starting up the van and heading home again.

  “It’s going to take some time to get used to it,” Caitlin said.

  “I’m trying to vanish. It’s not working.” Suddenly Justin was floating on the ceiling of the van.