Blood Candy (21 page)

She scrambled out of bed, surprised she had
fallen asleep and even more surprised to find it was well past
morning. The sun blazed through one of the bedroom windows and the
digital clock on the nightstand read 10:33.

Candy shuffled over to the door. Then she
turned around to face the bed. No one was there. She could have
sworn Blake had been lying next to her. “What’s with these dreams?”
She was content that it hadn’t been Rupert.

Renaldo waited on the other side of the door
with his hands held politely in front of himself. “Your breakfast
is ready, Miss Candy.”

“Oh, okay.” Candy ran a hand through her hair,
which was super messy because she had fallen asleep with it still
somewhat wet. She looked down at her crumpled dress and felt a
little stupid. She thought about changing, and then decided she
didn’t care. The handsome manservant escorted her down to the
kitchen with messy hair, crumpled dress and all.

“I didn’t know how long you wanted to sleep,”
Renaldo said in an apologetic tone. “I hope I didn’t wake you too
late. Or too early.”

Candy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “It’s
fine.”

Several maids were busy in the kitchen, which
smelled of fresh bread and coffee. Renaldo led her to a table off
to the side where they could see everyone hard at work. As the
manservant stood there ready to wait on her, Candy thought she
could get used to this.

“What would you like to eat?”

“What are they cooking?” Candy
asked.

“They’re making their breakfast at the moment.
They’ll make you anything you want.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

Candy thought it over for a moment. She
remembered the simple breakfasts her mother used to make before
school when she was a little girl—the simple comfort food she
always desired. Those were the days before her mother fell off the
wagon after her father ditched them for a younger woman.

“Can I suggest something?” Renaldo said. “The
eggs Benedict are very good and we have bacon and sausage, unless
you’re a vegetarian, in which case they can cut up some fresh
fruit.”

“Can I get a bowl of hot cinnamon raisin
oatmeal with a touch of milk?”

Renaldo’s brows scrunched. “Cinnamon raisin
oatmeal? You can have anything you want, Miss Candy. Are you sure
you don’t want something else?”

“Call me Candy, without the ‘miss,’ and yes
that’s what I want. Cinnamon raisin oatmeal with a touch of milk.
Hot.”

“Very well, Candy. What would you like to
drink?”

“Orange juice is fine.”

Renaldo joined the other four servants in the
kitchen. They all looked confused when he told them what Candy
wanted. He had to argue with them before they set about making her
breakfast. After about ten minutes, he returned with her food on a
silver tray.

“I took the liberty of adding some toasted
muffins with butter and jam,” he said. “I hope you enjoy it,
Candy.”

“Thank you.”

The servants took their breakfast into another
room at the back of the kitchen. Candy ate alone, hoping she hadn’t
held up everyone else from eating at a normal time. Renaldo had
also included the morning paper on the silver tray. Candy dug out
the funnies. Before she was done eating, Renaldo
returned.

“Is everything well, Miss Candy?”

“Just Candy.”

“Candy,” he said in a drawn out huff, as if
being informal was a burden.

“Yes, it was fine. So what’s there to do
around here?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m at your disposal,” Renaldo said, looking
both humble and less than enthusiastic. “Whatever you want, I am
here.”

Candy stared at him for a moment; did she
really have a servant for the day? She didn’t know how she felt
about that; it had been a long time since she wanted to be a
princess with servants. She asked if they could go to the
city.

He said yes.

She asked if they could go to the
mall.

He said yes.

The amusement park?

Yes.

The zoo?

Yes.

Burrito Trumpet?

“I will take you anywhere you want to go so
long as we return for dinner.”

Candy didn’t know what she wanted to do. The
mall sounded promising.

“Might I suggest a movie?” Renaldo said.
“There’s a nearly endless selection in the viewing room. We even
get the popular movies a week or two before they are released to
the public. Master Chester is fond of cinema.”

It had been a long time since she had seen a
movie and she decided she could begin the day with one of her
favorite animated movies from her childhood. Renaldo set up the
viewing room, complete with snacks and drinks. After the movie
started, he checked in to make sure she was comfortable. Candy
insisted he watch with her. He did so reluctantly.

They spent the whole afternoon watching
animated movies together. Renaldo fell asleep during the best part
of the third one, right when the bunnies rose up against their
weasel overlords.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t start another film since
dinner will be ready shortly,” Renaldo said.

“Okay.” Candy shrugged. “Am I going to sit
there and watch them cook again?”

“If you’d like.”

“Will the Mullins be awake by
then?”

“Probably.”

“So what’s the deal with them? Do they have to
sleep during the day? Will the sun hurt them or
something?”

“I’m not sure,” Renaldo said, frowning. “And
it’s not my place to reveal their secrets should I know
any.”

Candy rolled her eyes. On their way down to
the kitchen she was surprised to see Anastasia sitting in one of
the armchairs reading the paper. She was dressed in a black
polyester skirt and a pink mesh half-shirt that revealed a more
than appropriate amount of her flaming white skin. Flip flops and
blue toenail polish completed the outfit. She folded the paper and
set it on a table.

“Good evening,” she said. “I hope you had a
pleasant day.”

“Yes, Madam,” Renaldo said with a touch of
sarcasm. He scampered off after Anastasia excused him.

“What did you do? Tell me about your day,”
Anastasia said.

Candy stared at the weird vampire girl wearing
an outfit inappropriate for a grown woman. And yet, the way
Anastasia sat there inquiring about how the day had gone reminded
Candy of those pointless “fill the time and pretend I care”
conversations with her mother after school. Though Anastasia scared
Candy to her core, she found the situation so silly she had to
suppress laughter.

“Watched some movies,” Candy said.

“Interesting. The game is tomorrow night, are
you ready?”

“I guess.” Candy thought about asking if they
had to go through with it, if she couldn’t stay with them until the
whole thing blew over. “Is there something I’ll need to
do?”

“Aside from never leaving my sight? Nothing at
all, my dear.”

Chester came down to join them. “Hey, Mom,” he
said. “Have you seen Blake around?”

“No. I’ll be leaving for a business meeting
shortly. Do me a favor and keep an eye on things while I’m
away.”

Candy wondered what kind of business meeting
Anastasia was going to dressed like that, and furthermore what kind
of business meetings vampires attended in general. Chester nodded
his understanding then Anastasia exited the room. Candy couldn’t
hold back her curiosity.

“What kind of business does your mother
have?”

Chester thought a moment. “The boring kind,”
he said, smiling. “Vampires need to make a living, too.”

“Oh,” Candy said, frowning. It didn’t come as
a surprise that vampires needed to make money, especially
considering the Mullin’s lifestyle. She couldn’t imagine any kind
of a business arrangement made with what appeared to be a fourteen
year old girl, unless her partners knew she was a
vampire.

“It’s not interesting stuff at all,” Chester
said. “I help Mother with some of our business ventures. I’m happy
to have a few days away from it now.”

For some reason, Candy had a feeling he wasn’t
being completely honest and all sorts of things started running
through her head. She’d make a point to ask Blake about it, maybe
he would be more revealing. Just then Blake came downstairs,
dressed casually in a plain blue shirt and jeans, and also wearing
a wide grin. He went to her side and looked her up and
down.

“I like that dress on you,” he said. “But why
is it so wrinkled and why are you wearing tennis shoes?”

Candy shrugged. She didn’t really care for the
heels in the bags upstairs. “These are comfortable.”

Blake reluctantly accepted her answer. “Are
you hungry? There’s still some time before sundown. We’re going to
get some practice in.”

They went to the kitchen together while
Chester headed off to the den. Candy hadn’t noticed the lack of
windows in the kitchen before. As a matter of fact, there weren’t
any windows in the antechamber, though she had noticed the frames
and shutters on the outside. They must have been bricked over on
the inside.

Renaldo waited on her again, asking what she
wanted to eat as if he was her personal waiter. She didn’t know and
didn’t much care, so she told him she’d have whatever the servants
were having. Blake sat with her and not long later the manservant
returned with a silver tray—steak with a mushroom and onion sauce,
spiced potatoes and buttered bread. He also put a bottle of red
wine and two glasses on the table.

“You’re not eating anything?” Candy asked
Blake.

“No,” he said, glancing distastefully at her
food. “I don’t need to eat.”

The food smelled good. Candy cut into the
medium-rare steak while Blake poured wine into each of their
glasses.

“That’s not blood, is it?”

Blake laughed. “No.”

“I really don’t like wine.”

“You’ll like this. You can’t eat a fine meal
like that without wine. It would be a travesty.”

Candy sipped it. Blake was right, it was
better than she had expected. She took another bite of steak and
then washed it down with a huge gulp of the earthen wine. It was
without a doubt the best thing she had ever tasted. She pulled off
a piece of warm bread to clean her plate with, paying little
attention to Blake though she felt his eyes on her the whole time.
She finished her wine and tipped the glass. Blake refilled
it.

“How do you like it here so far?” he
said.

“Are you kidding me? It’s perfect and you know
it.”

“It can all be yours, you know. My family
thinks you’re wonderful, me most of all.”

Candy gazed at him for a long moment. “What
are you saying?”

“Stay here a while. Renaldo will take you to
the city tomorrow and you can buy whatever you want. There are two
huge closets to fill.”

That obviously sounded awesome. Like any other
American girl, the offer to go on a spending spree was pretty much
irresistible. Candy could get lost thinking about all of the things
she could fill two closets with.

“Think about it,” Blake said.

Candy put her fork down and sat in thought.
For the life of her, she wished Blake wasn’t a vampire, then this
would be so much easier. She told herself this was exactly what she
always wanted, and who wouldn’t? But that word clung in her mind,
along with Tinch and the Misfit’s voices of warning:
vampire
.

Blake wasn’t anything like those British
vampires. He was handsome and kind and rich. And he had saved her,
Jimmy, and Medium Dave. Even still, she knew there was more to him
than she could see. She barely knew him.

“What happened the other night with Rupert?”
she asked him.

“He’s mostly all talk. Rupert and Vivian saw
the writing on the wall; four against two weren’t odds they cared
for and he knew a fight in my domain would look bad with the
Magister. They took off.”

Candy thought about the night before when
Blake said the Brits are faster and stronger. Blake seemed
concerned, more than just a little worried, as if the Brits had
been an ongoing problem for him and his brothers.

“Why don’t you come watch us practice?” Blake
suggested.

Candy agreed. On their way to the backyard,
they found Chester talking with Nigel over a game of pool in the
den; there was four hundred dollars sitting on a side rail. Nigel
didn’t appear to know his way around the pool table and the
billiard he hit didn’t go anywhere near a pocket.

“I never did get the hang of this bloody
game.” He looked up when Candy and Blake came in. “Hello, Blake.
Hello, Candy. Feeling good about the game tomorrow?”

“No doubts whatsoever,” Blake said. “As a
matter of fact, we’re about to go out back to practice.”