Sleeping Beauty (23 page)

She did a good job of sounding confident and hoped these vampires wouldn't see through her bravado.

“Make her let us go!” the one facing down whined. “It's almost dawn.”

“Fine,” the one pinned on the bottom said. “Let's get out of here. The money's not worth it.”

Lucette jumped off. Walking backward, both stakes up, she moved quickly toward the back of the barn. Thunder reared up and whinnied. “And stay away from our animals, too. Go feed in your own country!” she shouted.

One vampire helped his injured friend to his feet, and they stumbled out of the barn. Lucette advanced behind them, prepared to attack if they went anywhere near the house, but they raced toward the mountains and—she hoped—out of Xandra, forever.

The sky was now tinged with pale pink, and she raced for the house, wondering if she'd get inside before falling asleep on her feet.

A few nights later, Lucette found envelopes addressed to her on the kitchen table, sealed with wax. Her hands trembled, wondering what
her parents would say. The night after the vampires came, she'd written letters to both of her parents.

If they hadn't already figured it out, they had to know that the three of them were the main targets of these vampires. But she'd decided against telling her father that the vampire queen was directly behind the attacks. It wasn't as if he could declare war on Sanguinia while the curse was still upon their country, so what was the point of him knowing? With the curse in effect, the vampire army could wipe out Xandra in one night, while everyone slept.

Perhaps taking over Xandra at night had been the original intent of the curse. It seemed an awfully convoluted way to go about conquering a kingdom—and why keep only her awake? But Lucette wouldn't put that past the vampire queen. From everything she'd heard about the woman, she sounded not only cruel, but also insane.

In the letters to her parents, she'd suggested that she and her mother return to the palace. Hopefully her mother had agreed. At least it would be easier to barricade themselves in there and, if her family were all under one roof, Lucette had some chance of keeping both of her parents safe.

She opened her mother's letter first, and the air rushed out of her lungs. She and her mother would leave for the palace at daybreak. She should be happy that her mother had granted her request, but now she felt the pressure of wondering if she'd been right. The palace would be swarming with vampires and she'd be the only slayer awake.

The next night, Lucette woke with a start and quickly reached her hand to the side to steady herself. It bumped into something hard.
Panicked, she tried to sit upright, but her head also struck something hard, sending a sharp pain through her entire body.

Lucette lay stunned for a few seconds, head throbbing, and then, as her mind cleared, horror filled her heart. She flipped her head to one side, then the other, trying to figure out where she was. She knew that today had been the day her mother had planned to travel back to the palace, but she certainly wasn't in her old bedroom.

She banged on the enclosure, then ran her hands everywhere, trying to make sense of it, wondering if it was just a bad dream. She found a small button and pushed it. Gaslights flickered to life around her, and she discovered she was dressed in a frilly white gown and enclosed in a long box that appeared to be made from glass.

She felt around the virtual coffin, but couldn't find anything to smash the glass with, so she rolled onto one side, braced herself, and kicked one leg back, striking the side of the coffin with the sole of her slippers. Her only reward was a throbbing pain that shot up her leg to her hip.

The enchanted fairy glass! That had to be it. Tears of frustration rose in her eyes. Her mother had brought her home as she'd asked, but then her father had locked her up. Locked her up right in front of the glass prison her mother had shown her before they left for the country. The box she lay inside was perpendicular to the wall of the glass cell, butting right up to the glass. How was she ever going to keep her parents safe from inside a glass box?

She heard a sound and twisted her head to see light climbing toward the room's entrance from the tower staircase. Lucette pushed the button to turn off the gaslights and pretended she was asleep.

Someone was coming.

Will Lucette survive alone in the dark?
To find out, turn to section 6: In the Dark (page 183).

U
nable to sit up straight in her coffin of glass, Lucette craned her neck toward the top of the stairs. A figure appeared in the doorway. She snapped her eyes shut, but then watched the figure through half-closed eyes, pretending to sleep.

As the figure entered and the candlelight grew brighter, she noticed a piece of paper above her on the outside of the coffin, but before she could read it, a face appeared next to the note.

She gasped. Alex! The vampire she'd met in the woods as a kid. His bright red hair and wide, infectious grin were unmistakable. She'd never forget that face.

“Hey,” he said, his voice slightly muffled through the glass.“You look a little cramped in there.” He picked up the paper and read, “
Dearest Lucette.
” He peeked over the top of the letter. “Sweet opening.” He winked and then returned his attention to the letter. “
I'm sorry you had to wake up alone in unfamiliar surroundings, but the idea of my daughter out among vicious vampires is more than I can bear.
”

Alex peeked over the letter again and made a face. “Vicious? Oh, please.” He turned back to the note. “
I must keep you safe, my darling
daughter. I hope you had a good day's sleep in your case.
” Alex looked up again. “Case? Even vampires recognize a coffin when we see one.”

“Is that all it says?” she asked. Surely her father didn't expect her to spend all her nights trapped in this case.

“There's more,” Alex said, and he continued. “
At your feet you'll find a trapdoor that will let you enter your safe room. Behind the glass partition you'll be protected at night. Once you're in your safe room, make sure you don't close the trapdoor to your sleeping case. It only opens from the case side. It was designed this way so that, if a vampire climbs the tower and comes in through the window, you can escape to your protective sleeping case, shutting the trapdoor behind you.
” Alex looked up. “To be clear, when he says case, you known he means coffin, right?”

“Just finish the letter,” she said, dread creeping through her. “Or put it back down on the glass so I can read it myself.” Her father must have written the letter after trapping her inside.

“Sure thing.” He grinned before turning back to the letter. “
For this nightmare to end, you must find true love, so I'll bring every young man in the kingdom up here to see you. I'm confident one of them will love you. I know I do. Your loving father.
”

Alex dropped the paper and leaned over, his face near the glass and his fangs glinting in the soft light. “He's parading boys up here to look at you while you sleep? That's messed up.”

It
was
messed up and Lucette cringed at the thought, but right now, being face-to-face with a vampire—even through glass—was even messier.

“Do you remember me?” Her voice echoed off the glass.

“Of course. Nice to see you again, Lucette. When we first met, I had no idea you were a princess.” He bowed mockingly.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from wavering.

“I heard that everyone in Xandra was asleep except one girl.” He backed away from the glass and studied her from head to toe. “Based on the description, I thought it might be you.”

“How was I described?” The last time they'd met, she'd been so gangly and awkward.

He shrugged. “Beautiful, tall, big blue eyes, high cheekbones, long curly black hair, alabaster skin . . . You really want me to list it all?”

His grin really was infectious, and if she didn't know better, she'd almost think he was blushing. “I thought you might need some help.” He set his candle on the floor. “Looks like I was right.”

She twisted in the coffin to keep her eyes on him. “Help? You're a vampire. This glass is supposed to protect me from you.”

“Look,” he said, “it seems to me like you're trapped in there.” He ran his hands over the sides of the coffin. “And that cell you can climb into isn't much better. But if you don't want my help. . . ” He turned to leave.

“You can't help,” she called out. “You couldn't get me out of here, if you wanted to. The glass is enchanted so it won't break.”

“That's harsh,” he said as he turned back. Then he studied the coffin, presumably trying to find a way out. “Didn't they even give you lights?”