Vampire Beach: Legacy (12 page)

‘No.’ Bianca waved her hand dismissively. ‘I’m fine. I’m simply thinking about the future. At some point, you and Danielle will need to undergo the transformation. So why not now? If you became a vampire now, the Devereuxs will have no reason to object to your relationship with Sienna. It seems like perfect timing.’

‘I guess it does . . .’ Jason murmured, still trying to get his head around the idea.

But Aunt Bianca lit up as if he’d given his wholehearted agreement. ‘You can’t imagine how happy it will make me to see you join me as a vampire!’ she cried, her eyes shining once again with that eerie light.

Jason ran his hand through his hair. ‘I can’t believe you know,’ he murmured. ‘All this time, I thought you had no idea that I . . .’

‘That you were aware of the vampires?’ Aunt Bianca finished for him. ‘Well, I didn’t know for a while. But once Sienna’s parents told me about your heroics with Tamburo, I figured it out pretty quickly. How did you discover us?’

‘When we first moved to Malibu, there was a vampire with the bloodlust,’ Jason said. ‘I fought with him. That’s when I found out about the vampires.’

‘Hmm. I hadn’t heard about that part,’ Bianca said with a little chuckle. ‘I knew about Luke Archer, of course, I just didn’t know you were involved. But when Tyler stole the Lafrenières’ chalice, you knew I was one of the vampires then, didn’t you? You knew I was on the High Council.’

Jason didn’t answer. Just hearing her say Tyler’s name sent chills up his spine. The last time she’d spoken about Tyler, she’d been planning to kill him.

‘You tricked me in order to save your friend,’ Bianca said lightly, reading his face, even though he hadn’t said a word. Thankfully, she didn’t seem angry.

‘Yes.’ Jason took a deep breath. He was a little afraid to ask his next question, but he had to know. ‘Is Tyler safe now?’

Aunt Bianca rolled her eyes. ‘He’s fine,’ she snapped, sounding irritated now. ‘As long as he minds his own business, he’s inconsequential.’

Jason frowned. One second Bianca seemed so warm, so much like her usual Aunt Bianca self. The next there was that
edge
again. He’d never seen his aunt so changeable before.

‘Tyler never knew that the chalice belonged to vampires,’ Jason told her. ‘He had no idea—’

‘Yeah, yeah, I heard the whole story.’ Bianca shook her head. ‘The stupid kid shouldn’t have taken the chalice regardless.’

‘He was desperate,’ Jason argued. How dare she call Tyler stupid? ‘And besides, I got the chalice back.’

‘Right. Using money from your college fund. As if your parents weren’t going to figure that out!’ Bianca said harshly. ‘Luckily, I found out in time to put the money back before they noticed.’

‘
You
did that?’ Jason blurted.

‘Who else?’ Bianca asked. ‘I’m your aunt. I’ll always be looking out for you.’

That was kind of . . . creepy. The idea that Bianca kept such a close watch over him.

‘Aren’t you going to thank me?’ Bianca asked, oozing sarcasm.

‘Yes. Of course. Thanks,’ Jason said in a rush. Except it was hard to feel grateful for her help when she was being such a bitch.

‘You’re welcome. Now let’s talk about something more interesting. Your future. As a vampire.’ She put her hand on his arm. ‘Think about it, Jason! You’ll have long life, wealth, power. And you’ll get to be with Sienna.’

Her eyes were shining and she wore a huge smile like a kid at Christmas. Jason just stared. She’d flipped back to Happy Bianca. This was more like the aunt he’d always known. More like the aunt he loved. Maybe it was just talking about Tyler that made her act strangely. Maybe she felt like she’d handled that situation badly.

Well, she did handle it badly
, he thought.
And it makes me wonder how much I can trust her at all.
‘I’m not sure,’ he said aloud. ‘I’ll have to think about it. I mean, it’s a pretty major decision.’

‘I guess it is.’ Bianca shrugged. ‘OK, you take some time and mull it over. I have other things to attend to in the meantime.’ She grabbed her umbrella.

‘Wait,’ Jason said. ‘What about Dani? Have you talked to her about this?’
Please say no
, he pleaded silently. Dani was so besotted with Ryan right now, and so in awe of Aunt Bianca all the time, that she’d probably jump at the chance to become a vampire without a second thought.

‘Of course not,’ Bianca said, stepping out into the rain without opening her umbrella. ‘I think Danielle would find it a little odd, considering that she doesn’t even know vampires exist!’ She stood there talking to him, seemingly unaware of the rain soaking through her hair and clothes.

‘Um, right,’ Jason answered. ‘Aunt Bianca, you’re getting wet.’

Bianca glanced up and seemed to notice the rain for the first time. ‘Oh, I’d better run inside, then. We’ll talk about this again soon.’ She gave him a little wave and dashed for the main house.

Jason watched her go, frowning. He wasn’t sure what to think. At least his aunt didn’t know about Dani and Ryan yet, so he could weigh the pros and cons of becoming a vampire without having to worry about his sister.

Wait
, Jason said to himself.
Am I actually considering this?
Was he really thinking about becoming a vampire? His heart beat faster at the very thought of it. To be like Sienna or Zach, to have that kind of power – it was an incredible idea.

So why did he have such an uneasy feeling about this? Why did he feel a strange reluctance to go through with it? Why did everything about Bianca and her suggestion make his brain scream
Danger!
?

‘
BEE
!’
JASON HEARD
his mother squeal half an hour later. ‘You didn’t tell me you were coming!’

Jason got up and made his way into the house. He’d hung around in the pool house until the rain stopped, but that hadn’t been nearly enough time to come to any conclusions about Aunt Bianca’s suggestion.

In the kitchen, Mrs Freeman was hugging her sister.

‘I only found out this morning that I have a meeting in L.A. this week,’ Bianca said. ‘My new assistant keeps messing up my calendar. I never know where I’m supposed to be.’

Jason’s dad frowned. ‘I didn’t know you had a new assistant.’

‘What happened to Jacinda?’ Mrs Freeman asked.

Bianca shrugged. ‘I fired her.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I wanted to,’ Bianca snapped. She turned toward Jason and smiled. ‘Here’s our swimming sensation!’

‘Um . . . hi, Aunt Bianca,’ he said. Was he supposed to pretend he hadn’t seen her already today? He could see why she’d want to keep their conversation in the pool house private.

‘Where is my beautiful niece?’ Bianca asked.

‘She went out with some friends,’ Mrs Freeman said. ‘Who was it again, Jason? Kristy and Billy?’

He wasn’t sure what to say. Dani was with Ryan, but obviously his parents didn’t know that. And he didn’t want to mention Ryan’s name in front of Bianca. She’d know Ryan was a vampire, and it wouldn’t take her long to figure out that Dani knew it too. Still, he hated lying to his mom. ‘I’m not sure,’ he fudged. ‘I didn’t see her leave.’

Mr Freeman took out his cell phone. ‘I’ll give her a call,’ he said. ‘I’m sure she’ll want to come right home when she finds out you’re here, Bianca.’

‘It’s true. She worships you,’ Jason’s mom said. ‘Everything
you
do,
she
wants to do.’

Bianca shot Jason a secret smile. He pretended not to see. That was exactly what he was afraid of – that Dani would turn herself into a vampire just to be like her aunt. And that was not a good enough reason to make such a drastic decision.
Do I have a good enough reason?
he wondered. He was in love with Sienna. But was that enough?

Dani arrived home about ten minutes later, just as Jason was sitting down to banana splits with his parents and Bianca.

‘Aunt Bee?’ Danielle called the second she stepped in the front door.

Bianca jumped up and held out her arms as Dani bounded into the dining room and flung herself into the hug. ‘What are you doing here?’ Dani cried happily. ‘Where have you been lately? I’ve missed you so much!’

‘That’s true. You haven’t told us why you’ve been out of touch,’ Mrs Freeman put in. ‘I was starting to get worried, Bee.’

‘Look at your hair,’ Bianca gasped, grabbing a lock of Danielle’s dark red hair. ‘You changed the color.’

‘Yeah, I went a little darker. Do you like it?’ Dani asked. ‘It’s almost as dark as yours, now that I look at it. Just with more red highlights.’

‘I told her I didn’t want her coloring her hair,’ Mrs Freeman said.

‘Oh, Mom, everybody at school does it,’ Dani retorted. ‘You should see Kristy – hers is practically black now! This will wash out in a few weeks, though, don’t worry.’

‘But your natural color is so pretty,’ Jason’s mom said wistfully. ‘But let’s get back to you, Bianca. Where have you been?’

‘You know. Here and there.’ Bianca waved her hand dismissively. ‘Nowhere interesting. I’d much rather hear your gossip. Any new boyfriends, Danielle?’

Jason nearly choked on a piece of banana. ‘Aunt Bianca, you’re not allowed to ask that!’ he said quickly. He didn’t want her getting into Ryan territory.

Thankfully, Dani backed him up. ‘Yeah. Love-life gossip is off limits,’ she laughed.

‘At least while we’re around, right?’ Mr Freeman joked.

‘And I want to hear about you, Bee,’ Mrs Freeman insisted. ‘I called your apartment in New York a dozen times. And I kept leaving messages with Jacinda.’

‘I told you Jacinda was hopeless. That’s why I fired her,’ Bianca said breezily. ‘I’ll have to check that the answering machine is working at home, I guess.’

‘Do you have any new celebrity sightings to tell me about?’ Dani asked.

‘Tons,’ Bianca replied. ‘I’ve been casting a remake of
Saturday Night Fever
, so I have lots of gorgeous guys coming in to audition.’

‘They’re remaking
Saturday Night Fever
?’ Jason asked. ‘That’s a terrible idea!’

Aunt Bianca shrugged. ‘I don’t come up with these ideas, I only cast them. And you wouldn’t believe how much bad dancing I’ve had to sit through.’

‘That’s my cue to leave,’ Jason said. ‘Hearing about actors is bad enough. I don’t want to know about them trying to dance.’ He stood up. ‘I’m going to get some work done on my Faulkner paper.’

As he climbed the stairs, he heard Bianca continuing her casting story.
Looks like she finally found a way to make Mom stop asking where she’s been
, he thought. He couldn’t help but wonder why his aunt was so reluctant to talk about herself on this visit. Usually she was more than happy to tell them all about what she’d been up to.

Jason shook his head. Would he ever be able to stop thinking this way: as if everything Aunt Bianca did was suspicious somehow? He doubted it. She’d been willing to kill Tyler – a kid she’d known since he was little.

I’ll try to forget about it
, Jason promised himself.
I’ll try to focus on the future, like Bianca said. She is my aunt, after all, and I know she loves us.
But then he remembered the look in her eyes when he had argued with her about Tyler.
At least, I think she does
. . .

When Jason arrived at the breakfast table the next morning, his mother was already grilling Bianca.

‘. . . but I don’t understand. You have your cell phone with you all the time. Why haven’t you been answering?’ Mrs Freeman asked quietly.

‘I’m very busy, Tania.’ Bianca replied, sounding annoyed. Last night she’d avoided his mother’s questions, but she couldn’t keep doing that forever. Jason hovered in the doorway, wondering if he should go back upstairs. He didn’t want to interrupt.

‘Too busy for your family? Too busy to just let me know you’re OK?’ Mrs Freeman pressed.

‘Yes!’ Bianca snapped, standing up abruptly and going to refill her coffee cup.

‘Well, that’s not acceptable, Bee,’ Mrs Freeman said, sounding annoyed herself. ‘What could possibly be keeping you so busy that you’d act so inconsiderately?’

Jason turned to go, but the movement caught Bianca’s eye. ‘Jason!’ she cried in a relieved voice. ‘Good morning! Want some coffee? I can make more.’

With a grimace, Jason spun back around. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on you guys,’ he said.

‘Nonsense. We’re not talking about anything important,’ Aunt Bianca said. But Jason saw his mother’s eyes flash, and knew she wasn’t thrilled that he’d shown up when he did.

‘OK. Well, I’m just going to grab a granola bar and head back upstairs,’ Jason said. That way, he could get in and out of the kitchen quickly and leave his mother and Aunt Bianca to talk.

‘Absolutely not. That isn’t a good breakfast. And besides, I’m not here very often,’ Bianca said. ‘I want to see as much as I can of you and Danielle.’

‘Who’s talking about me?’ Dani called from the stairs. ‘You better be saying nice things!’

So much for letting Mom have a private talk with Bianca
, Jason thought. He headed for the fridge to see if there was any steak left over from yesterday’s lunch. Why have a granola bar if he didn’t have to?

‘Morning,’ Dani said, padding into the kitchen in jeans and a T-shirt, with bunny slippers on her feet.

‘Hi, sweetie,’ Aunt Bianca practically sang. ‘Sleep well?’

‘I guess . . .’ Dani went straight for the coffee pot. She wasn’t a morning person.

‘You were telling me what you’ve been busy doing, Bianca,’ Mrs Freeman reminded her. Jason shot his mother a surprised look. Obviously she wasn’t going to drop the subject just because Aunt Bianca preferred to talk with him and Dani.

Bianca sighed. ‘I’m working, all right? Why do you care so much?’

‘Because I’m your sister,’ Mrs Freeman said. ‘And I’m worried about you. First you drop out of sight and don’t return calls. Then you show up looking tense and exhausted. And, strangest of all, when I spoke to Jacinda before you let her go, she told me you’d been insisting that everyone talk only in French! What is going on, Bee?’