Blood and Snow 6: Masquerade's Moon (3 page)

Cindy shook her head and continued to pet Gatsby, who sat on her lap, purring nosily. She still wore her jeans but had a strapless nude bra on top.

The party was in a half hour, but we’d agreed to meet at Professor Pops’ twenty minutes ago.

Cindy’s hair was in three loose French braids that came together in the back, near the nape of her neck. She’d curled the ends and pinned them into a bun and put little baby blue flowers in between the curls. Her makeup was a little darker than normal. “Dramatic,” was what she called it.

My eye makeup was similar. On her lips she had a light pink gloss. On my lips was a dark red that matched my dress. Cindy spent an hour using different sizes of irons to put curls all over my head. Then she teased and backcombed until my dark hair was like a curly cloud. She left my bangs straight and used some kind of goop to make it stay to one side. I looked like me, only different. Older. More sophisticated.

“You gonna get dressed?” I asked turning to face her.

She nudged Gatsby off her lap and stood. “Yep, right now. Will you help zip me?”

“Sure.”

She slid off her jeans and walked over to my opened bedroom door where she’d hung her dress. Beneath was a box, and she removed the most gorgeous, but dangerous-looking pair of shoes I’d ever seen. The heels were thin, like glass, but probably six inches tall. Gunmetal beads adorned the band across the foot and the cuff that went around the ankle.

“You’re going to wear those?” I asked, wondering how she’d walk.

“Of course, silly.” She slid them on and buckled the cuff. She looked taller than me. “Wow,” I said as she unzipped the black garment bag.

“Wow, good, right?” Cindy asked sliding a strapless sequined dress out. “My legs appear slender, and my ass looks toned?”

“Definitely,” I said. Who was I to question the girl who lived, breathed, and ate fashion? Certainly not me.

She stepped into the dress and I zipped it up. It was sleek, and clung to her every curve. Each sequin was the size of a penny, and the exact shade of her shoes. Underneath the sequins was a baby blue material in the same color as the ruffled bottom of her dress. She looked like a mermaid. The most dazzling mermaid I’d ever seen. “You look amazing, Cin.”

She walked over to the mirror, pulling and tugging on the dress until it was just so. She turned to check out the back. “You think?” she asked, though she knew I knew it was fact. She would be the best looking girl at the ball.

“Since you’re the birthday girl, we ought to get you there before everyone else, right?” she asked, walking to the door.

“I suppose,” I said, suddenly nervous. I sat on my bed, as though a heavy weight pushed me down. My shoulders turned in. I hadn’t had blood in a while. Professor Pops gave me more of the bloodlust tea, and I drank it, but we both agreed it probably wasn’t doing any good now that I was no longer a revenant. At this point even Cindy’s blood, which wasn’t all that fragrant, caused my canines to quiver with need. If she offered, I’d take it, but I really wanted Gabe’s, or Christopher’s…

Or Dorian’s, my inner voice cooed.

“What’s wrong? You shouldn’t sit. You’ll ruin the lay of your dress.”

“Fine.” I stood, and reorganized my ruffles. Swallowing, I searched Cindy’s face, listened to the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat, smelled the lilac scent of her skin. Nothing about her spoke of fear or worry. Cindy told me she was a witch. If I told her my secret, that human blood was my new food of choice, she would understand.

“Cindy,” I cleared my throat.

Chapter 7

“What is it?” she asked, smiling brightly.

“I—why didn’t you use your locator spell to find me?” I asked surprised that’s what came out of my mouth. I hadn’t meant to go there with her tonight.

She grabbed my hand, and squeezed. “I’m so glad you brought it up. I didn’t know how.”

“Oh?”

“I tried to find you. The spell,” she coughed. “For some reason it didn’t work.” Her impeccably plucked eyebrows crunched together in concentration.

See, her magic isn’t strong enough, my inner voice huffed.

I moved toward the door. No reason to make her feel uncomfortable. “No biggie,” I said.

Cindy followed. “It was a biggie. I was worried sick. Several times I sensed your presence, but for some reason your location was concealed. I asked my grandmother about it, whether or not I did something wrong.” She frowned.

“And,” I encouraged.

She shook her head, her face filled with a strange expression. Her heart rate increased.

Nerves, I thought.

“My grandmother said she didn’t understand it either. That there was only one reason it wouldn’t work.”

I giggled, unexpectedly. What would she say? What was the reason? I didn’t think I wanted to hear the answer. Turning I walked down the hall and to the stairs, but before I could take a step down, she grabbed my hand.

“Snow. Wait.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. Could I tell her? Just blurt out the truth? Say, “Cindy, I’m a vampire, but don’t worry I won’t kill you, or suck your blood, or anything. I’ve got it under control.”

“My grandmother said the locator spell works based on whatever you’re looking for. A human is one way. If it’s an animal, I must change up the spell a little. For a plant, I do the spell even more differently.”

“That’s weird,” I laughed, a wave of sickness washing through my stomach.

She studied my face. “Yes, it is weird. I tried the human spell three different times. Just to be safe I did the spell for an animal and for a plant as well. None of them worked.”

I pulled my arm from her grasp and started down the stairs. “Maybe you still did something wrong. You know you struggle with that sciencey stuff in Biology.”

She trailed me. “No, that isn’t it. I did everything right. My grandmother said—” she stopped.

I opened the front door, but a fragrant wind blew it from my grip and the door slammed shut. “What?” I asked, knowing Cindy had used magic. I would have to tell her.

“My grandmother said the only reason the spell didn’t work was that you aren’t human, but something born of magic. She gave me a quick lesson on all the different magical creatures in the world, even explained that my favorite stuffed animal—Mr. Unicorn—remember him?” She stopped, waiting for me to answer.

“Uh-huh,” I prodded.

“He’s based on a real creature my grandmother knew a long time ago. At first I was freaked out, but figured, hey if I could have a spell book with a dragon’s eye on the cover, surely I could handle the knowledge that fairies and unicorns are real.” Her breathing came more rapidly now. I sensed she was about to figure out what I was for herself.

“Go on,” I whispered, clutching the door handle.

“Well you’re too big to be a fairy, and you’re certainly not a gremlin or an elf, so what are you?” Cindy placed her hands on her hips and waited. “Tell me.” Lowering her voice, she added, “Please. I can handle it.”

“No, I’m not a fairy. Closer to a gremlin, I guess.” For some reason I got choked up. With the brothers, they knew. Professor Pops prepared them. Christopher was the one who bit me, so I hadn’t had to tell him. I hadn’t had to come out and tell anyone yet. “I am a vampire.” Those words stuck in my throat. They wouldn’t go from my brain and out of my mouth. I guess the biggest part of me worried she wouldn’t like me anymore once she found out the truth. Gabe said vampires were evil. What had Cindy’s grandmother said about my kind?

She moved so that we were practically nose to nose. It was weird having her so tall. One of her fingers touched my cheek, and she said some words in a language I didn’t understand.

I gulped.

My skin tingled, and I wondered if she cast a spell.

You should’ve used your power of persuasion to make her no longer care about what you are, or forget you were gone, or something, my inner voice cautioned nervously.

I still could, but that didn’t seem fair. Cindy told me she was a witch. I had to tell her what I was.

“Cindy, it’s um… you see… well, the truth is, I’m a—”

She sucked in her breath and stepped back. “You’re a vampire. The spell worked. I can see you for what you truly are.” Her eyes grew round like two giant saucers.

I nodded. “Yes.” I looked away, scanning anywhere and everywhere that wasn’t her.

Chapter 8

She sat on the couch and I knew she must be stunned.

“What about your dress? You’ll wrinkle it,” I said quietly, copying what she said to me upstairs.

She waved away my worry. “My grandmother mentioned vampires.” Cindy paused and seemed to be mulling over the word, working out what she now knew to be the truth.

I grabbed her hand. “Still warm, see? I’m still me.” I resisted the urge to cry, to pity myself, or feel bad. I couldn’t change what happened, couldn’t go back and get unbitten, undrink Christopher’s blood, or Gabe’s, or any of the other humans. 

Her eyes squinted in bewilderment and she placed a hand on my chest. “Your heart still beats.” Cindy shook her head, surprise shining in her features. “My grandmother said vampires were creatures without a heart—that their internal makeup was completely different from other living creatures. How is this possible?”

“I’m not sure.” And that was the truth. Maybe it was because I was one of the Chosen. Maybe the Vampire Queen’s magic did something to me, the way it did for Christopher.

Maybe it has to do with you, my inner voice chided. Kenmei said the magic within the Seal of Gabriel was created for me.

I shook those thoughts from my mind. I didn’t fully believe the magic in the necklace would work for me alone. If any of the Chosen possessed the necklace, surely it would work for them as well. But I did need to find the pendant. Christopher’s life depended on it.

“You haven’t seen a necklace, have you? The chain is silver and a red gem in the shape of a teardrop is attached?” I blurted the question before my mind had a chance to filter.

She shook her head. “Not in person, but I saw something about a necklace, it was called the Seal of Gabriel, in my spell book. Is that the one you’re talking about?” As she spoke her voice raised an octave. She obviously knew that it contained magical properties. Her people—witches or whatever—probably wanted the necklace as much as everyone else did.

“Yes, that’s the one.” I nodded, a combined feeling of hope and dread throbbed against my temple.

She went over to the door, grabbed the bag she’d chucked next to it, and pulled out her spell book. The eye on the cover blinked, watching. I held back a shudder.

Scooting closer I waited while she flipped through the pages until she arrived at a picture of the necklace.

“It says—”

A horn blared from the driveway.

“Are you expecting someone?” Cindy asked.

I shook my head, but remembered Professor Pops mentioned someone would bring over my mask when it was ready. “It could be my mask.”

She closed her book, and I opened the front door.

In a whisper she asked, “Do you want some of my blood?”

I laughed. “Are you offering?”

“Nooooooo,” she said, but laughed as well. “So you aren’t some bloodthirsty fiend?”

Dorian stood near the passenger door of a large, black limousine. He bounced up and down.

I quickly regarded Cindy, checking to see if she was all right. No point telling her I was a bloodthirsty fiend. That was beside the point. My thirst remained under control. “I’m just me. Snow White, the girl you’ve known since kindergarten.”

She blinked. “Yes, you are,” she gently responded, and I knew our friendship was good.

“Hurry up, you two, I’m freezing my butt off out here,” Dorian shouted.

“Keep your teeth in,” I uttered.

Cindy used magic to retrieve her mask. It sailed down the staircase and landed gently in her outstretched hand.

How does she do that, I wondered.

To her, I said, “You’re awesome.”

“Duh.”

I lifted my dress, as I took the two steps off my porch, and carefully walked toward the limo. The November night was chilly. I breathed in, enjoying the crisp scent of the pine needles, and the way the frozen air clung to everything in the shape of tiny snowflakes. It dawned on me I felt happy, momentarily satisfied. The feeling radiated with a glow I could almost taste. In that instant everything hung right with the world. Gabe loved me. Cindy knew what I was and hadn’t run away. The brothers and Professor Pops cared for me without judgment.

What about your dad and your stepmother? What about Christopher, my inner voice sneered. I deflated. My dad and stepmother I couldn’t do anything about. They chose, with great effort, to stay away. Christopher was different. At least I hoped so. I needed to find the Seal of Gabriel.

Dorian opened the door, and waved us inside.

Cindy moved at a slower rate. The walkway was in serious need of repair, and Cindy in her six-inch heels nearly toppled over a few times before Dorian jogged over, and came to her rescue.

“What the hell are you wearing? Stilts?” he asked in mock distain.

“Very funny,” she replied, but clung to his arm.

Dorian’s close proximity caused my heart to lurch. He looked handsome in his black tuxedo with a burgundy and black striped tie, a white shirt, and burgundy vest, but his blood smelled even better. My canines pricked against the inside of my mouth. I swallowed, and held my breath, forcing myself to calm down.

Cindy and I climbed in, and Dorian closed the door for us. A man sat in the driver’s seat. Dorian climbed in next to him. “To the ball, Georgio,” Dorian said, pointing toward the mansion.

Georgio said, “You got it.” He checked the rearview mirror and held my gaze. Something about his eyes seemed familiar. I couldn’t think why though. In the next second he looked away, shifting the limousine into drive.

Cindy leaned close and whispered in my ear, “Tomorrow, you and I are going to have a big, long chat, and you’re going to tell me everything. Deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed.

Dorian turned to face us. “What are we agreeing to?”

Cindy and I glanced at each other and laughed.