Family Secrets (Young Adult Edition) (Davenport Manor (Young Adult Edition)) (9 page)

She came up with a lie on the spot,
“Ever since my family was killed, I guess you could say I have
commitment issues. I’m afraid to let myself get too close to anyone
because I fear I will lose them.” So, it wasn’t a total lie, she
always had some sort of a guard up with each generation of her
family. She loved each one, she protected them as she could, and
every one of them knew what she was and kept her secret. But, she
wouldn’t let herself get too attached as she knew she would lose
each and every one of them through the years. Daniel was the
closest she had been to a family member since her immediate family
was alive. She loved him more than she did her actual brother,
Christopher.

Todd’s face softened and he gave her a
sympathetic look. “I can completely understand that,” he said as he
squeezed her hands. “I can’t imagine what you went
through.”

You have no idea what I’ve
been through
, she thought. The last time
she got too emotionally attached to a human, Zachariah became a
vampire. She did to him exactly what was done to her—he had no
choice.

“We can still have fun together,” she
said cheerfully. Fact was, she couldn’t help but want to spend time
with him.

“Of course we can!” Deep down, he was
hoping that by spending time with him she would change her mind
about falling for someone. “Is that the reason why you and
Zachariah aren’t together? I get the feeling that he’s a lot more
into you than you are to him.”

“It is,” she lied again. Full of lies
tonight! She had never been asked so many questions by a human
before. She changed the subject as smoothly as she could. “Would
you want to go horseback riding on your next day off?”

“Yeah, absolutely! I don’t know if
you’re busy tomorrow, but I’m off from filming.”

She grinned from ear-to-ear, “I just
have to run into Barrington tomorrow morning to pick up some stuff,
but we could go when I get back. How does that sound?”

He smiled with his eyes full of
adoration, “Sounds perfect.”

She tucked a stray hair behind his
ear. “You’re exactly how I thought you would be, you know that? I
have to admit, I’m still a bit star struck by you. I have been a
huge fan of yours for years, and now that you’re really here and
I’m sitting with you having this conversation…”

He ran his fingers through
her hair and lingered with his hand gently on the side of her head.
He wondered if what he was about to do would be welcome to her and
searched her eyes for an answer.
Screw
it
, he thought. He glided his hand behind
her head and tenderly guided it towards his. He slowly leaned in
and she closed her eyes, lips slightly parted.

She could feel his nervous breathing
coming through his mouth, erratic and warm on her face. His lips
grazed hers in a soft kiss, shocking her was the warmth of his
skin. She parted her lips more and kissed him back with slightly
more force. He put his other hand on her waist, she could feel it
trembling as he pulled her closer to him. She put her arms around
his neck and followed his lead.

While he was ecstatic to finally be
kissing her, it was an odd and startling sensation. Her lips and
tongue were cool, as if she had just taken a drink of a chilled
beverage. His nervous trembling relaxed and his hands were moving
around her waist and head with urgency, he couldn’t touch her
enough. He felt as though he had been waiting forever just for this
moment.

His lips moved down her jawline and to
her neck, where he softly kissed her cool, white skin. The feeling
of his lips on her neck caused her fangs to begin to descend.
Fearful that he would find out her secret this way, she gently held
his head against her neck while she got her fangs under control and
back up into her gums. It was something very difficult for a
vampire to control while in the heat of the moment.

“
Emma,” Todd started as he
pulled away. “Would you want to sleep in my room with me tonight?
You have to be exhausted from your trip.”

As much as she would have loved to
stay with him, it sounded insanely boring as she hadn’t fallen
asleep since the year 1815. She couldn’t even remember what it felt
like to close her eyes and fall unconscious. The thought of just
lying there for eight hours was a definite ‘no’.

“
I totally would, but I
have a few more things I need to do before I turn in and I kind of
missed my own bed! Maybe next time, okay?”

He came out of the bathroom in just
his pajama bottoms, exposing his lean torso. He was tall and could
be lanky if he didn’t work out, but he had muscle definition
throughout his shoulders, chest, and abdomen. “Okay,” he replied, a
bit disappointed.

“I’ll find you tomorrow after I get
back and we’ll go riding.” She walked over to him and gave him a
kiss, lingering and savoring it. “See you tomorrow, sleep
tight.”

She looked back at him as
she walked out, closing the door behind her. She smelled the air in
the hallway, Zachariah wasn’t in their bedroom. After her make out
session with Todd, she was thirsty.
Very
thirsty and she wanted
company—preferably of the undead and female sort. She went
downstairs and looked for Vivienne in the parlor, where she was
curled up on the sofa with Declan.

“Hey guys,” she said as she walked
over to them. They were on one of the couches watching television
together. “Viv, you fancy a drink with me in the kitchen? I need
some girl talk,” she said with a sly twinkle in her eye.

“Yeah!” Vivienne replied
enthusiastically as she got up and patted Declan’s knee. “Be back
later!”

The girls scuttled down the winding
lower hallway to the large, restaurant-style kitchen. Emma looked
around to make sure no one else was present and walked over to a
shelving unit built in to the wall. She reached under the lower
shelf for a secret latch that unlocked the hidden door in the wall.
She opened it and unveiled a refrigerator in the wall that was used
to store gallon jugs of human blood. There was just one left and
she planned to go into Barrington the following day to restock the
fridge.

She pulled out a jug, poured some into
a couple of large wine glasses, and heated them up in the
microwave. Vivienne took her glass and drank like the civilized
vampire she was. Emma, however, didn’t realize how thirsty she was
and immediately gulped down half the glass. She wasn’t used to not
being able to bite during moments of passion.

“So, what were you up to in Todd’s
room?” Vivienne asked with a smirk. “Must have been hot and heavy,
which would explain you chugging that blood like a sorority
girl.”

“We did some kissing,” she replied
with sheepish smile. “It started off with just talking and getting
everything out in the open. He’s really into me and I’m into him. I
can’t help it, there’s something about him that I just can’t stay
away from.”

“And then?”

“And then, he held my hands and
commented on how cold I was. I lied and told him I had a heart
condition that caused poor circulation…” she raised an eyebrow and
shrugged. “He bought it.”

Vivienne laughed, “That’s the best
answer for when someone realizes you’re cold all the
time.”

“So, I let him kiss
me…
wow
, could he
kiss,” she said as she looked up at the ceiling wistfully, reliving
the moment. “I haven’t done much with a human since Zachariah was
one.”

“They’re so boring.
Very
vanilla
.”
Vivienne made a face.

“I know, right? You have to be so darn
careful when you get into it.”

Emma gave Vivienne the
run-down of everything that had happened; it felt great to be able
to spill it to another girl, another
vampire
girl, who completely
understood. Vivienne would take up with the occasional human, but
usually preferred to be with fellow vampires. Emma told her how her
fangs began to descend and she had to get them under control.
Vivienne applauded her for having the willpower to do
that.

“Anyway, he wanted me to stay in his
room for the night, but I couldn’t fathom just lying there for
eight hours, I’d go insane from boredom. I don’t know how I’m going
to get out of it if there is a next time.”

“Do you think you’ll ever tell him the
truth?”

“You know, I thought about it. But,
the reality is that in less than three months he’ll be headed back
to London.”

“You could always charm him to
forget…”

“I know…I don’t like using it though
and I especially don’t want to use it on him. I’ve admired him from
afar for so many years and now, he actually knows me and likes me.
I don’t want him to be afraid of me.” She fidgeted with her
almost-empty glass and contemplated a refill.

“But, if you tell him, you’ve already
proven to him that you won’t hurt him.”

Zachariah appeared in the doorway
looking a little worse for the wear. He quietly walked over to the
hidden refrigerator to grab some blood for himself to heat up. As
he took the jug, he said in a monotone voice, “We’re almost out. Do
you want me to go get more tomorrow?”

“No love, I’m headed to Barrington
tomorrow to restock. You okay?” Emma replied, watching him
carefully. She glanced at Vivienne, who shrugged.

“I’m fine. I just went out for a run
through the woods. I didn’t feel like listening to you and Todd.”
He answered without looking at her.

He poured blood into a glass and
warmed it in the microwave without giving Emma one look. Once it
was ready, he took it and walked out of the room without saying a
word.

“I’ve never seen him act like this
before,” Vivienne said quietly, although he could certainly still
hear her. “Why is he so jealous?”

“Because Todd is a human,” she began.
“And until now, Zach was the only human that I have ever been
interested in.”

“Ah, I see…tough situation. Do you see
yourself starting a relationship of sorts with Todd?” Vivienne
asked while sipping her glass of blood.

Emma looked at her glass and hesitated
before answering. She gave a frustrated groan and tilted her head
back, “I wish I was human. Then I wouldn’t have this
problem.”

“If you were human you’d be in that
crypt out in the cemetery.” Vivienne answered matter-of-factly and
raised her eyebrow.

“I don’t know what will ever happen
between Todd and me, but I’m just going to have fun with it while I
can without getting too attached.” She gave Vivienne an impish
smile and shrugged.

After a moment of being lost in
thought, Emma asked, “What do you think your life would have been
like if you had stayed human?”

Vivienne, who was still considered a
young vampire, was turned in 1925. She was a Ziegfeld Follies
chorus girl in New York City at the age of 21. Her specialty was
singing and dancing, but she had also begun to dabble in some
acting in silent movies. Her career had just taken off when she met
her immortal fate at the Ziegfeld Ball she had attended with the
other performers. There was a man there, wearing a black tuxedo and
defined debonair. Wealthy and alluring, he spoke with an Irish
accent and had the ability to charm the panties right off of
her—which he did. She invited him to her home after the party and
during their romp, he got carried away and bit her. He didn’t
intend to drink from her; he made the rash decision to turn her
because he found her so enchanting. She remained completely
enamored with Declan ever since.

“I’m sure I would have kept
performing, maybe even have made it big in the silent movies. I
stayed with Ziegfeld for a few years, but ultimately had to quit
because I wasn’t aging. I wanted to marry and have children, but I
was having the time of my life when I was twenty-one! I adore
Declan, though…I think I was born to be a vampire. It suits me,”
she winked at Emma. “Since I never became famous back then it has
been easy for me to pursue films now. Although, I know my time is
limited on the big screen…I’ll have to fake my death or become a
recluse for another eighty years.”

“Well, you’re welcome to be reclusive
here because goodness knows we have plenty of room!”

“Thanks, girlfriend! I just feel lucky
that I was able to get back into performing. It’s a tough
business.”

“Please! I never doubted you,” Emma
waved a hand at her. “You have more talent in your pinky toe than
most of these kids in Hollywood these days. They don’t make them
like you anymore, Little Miss Triple Threat.” She raised her glass
and gave Vivienne’s a little ‘clink’.

Vivienne smiled proudly and scooted
off the stool she was sitting on. “I’m going to get back to Declan.
I think you need to go and nurse Zach’s heart.” She gave her a
pouty lip and left the kitchen to rejoin Declan in the
parlor.

Emma felt guilty even though it really
wasn’t in their nature. She adored Zachariah and for that reason he
wasn’t six feet under a headstone. Vampires were never monogamous
creatures; that would be considered tiresome after long. They
craved excitement, spontaneity, and lust for others. It was the
thrill the attention, of a first kiss, and the first intimate
encounter that they hungered for. They had the capability to charm
humans if they so desired.