Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“I really must go now,” he said. “Please let me know how I can be of assistance after you’ve had time to rest.”
“Tell me how to get you to keep runnin’ things.” I wanted nothing to do with these bloodsucking clowns.
“Sorry, ma’am?”
“I’ll be an advisor or whatnot—anything to help keep vampires in the shadows—but there’s a lot of work to be done before y’all come out of hiding. You’re not ready. We need a plan that pushes education. You know, the dos and don’ts of going public and not scaring the ever-livin’ daylights outta humans. Otherwise, we’re doomed to fail.” That was a lie. I didn’t think they should ever come out.
The lord looked relieved. “Of course, my queen. I will draw up a proclamation to begin work immediately.”
“No, no. Take your time. Except, I would like to order all vampires to vacate Leiper’s Fork immediately, except for my father. I need absolute peace, and my family isn’t to be bothered.”
“Yes.” His voice sounded perky. “I will be in touch.” He zipped away in a blur.
Maybell stared for a long moment. “Insane.”
“I know.” I squeezed her arm. “Vampires are real. It takes a minute to choke down.”
“No. I meant his hair—all the way down to his ankles. How does he keep it from getting all tangled up when he runs around like the Flash?”
I frowned and shook my head. That was Maybell. She never took anything seriously.
“You ready to go home?” It wasn’t going to be a short drive if we were all the way down in Mississippi.
“Hell yeah. Hey, you think they got any Waffle Houses ’round here? I could go for some grits.”
Maybell and I took turns driving. I wanted to make it home before sunset. Five hundred miles. I refused to stop along the way except to buy gas, food, and less revealing clothes from a drugstore—an Ole Miss tee and matching red sweatpants.
Now that I knew vampires were literally everywhere, I didn’t feel safe being out on the highway at night in unknown places. Leiper’s Fork was the only sure bet.
The one silver lining was that Maybell and I had plenty of time to talk. She told me how Lazlo had pretty much ignored her the entire time. So much so that they’d forgotten to feed her. She’d drunk water from her sink in an equally disgusting bathroom, which she complained about for over two hours. I don’t think she had a clue that her life had been in peril the entire time or what I went through to keep her alive.
Halfway through the drive, I finally broke the news that our daddy was still “alive,” and that shut her right up.
For a hundred miles.
The rest of the trip was dedicated to Maybell’s exhausting lists of all the things she wanted to do with Daddy when we got home. Camping, fishing, amusement parks—all the things she missed doing with him.
“Oh! And just wait ’til Mamma hears, Masie! She’s gonna flip her fritters!” Maybell clapped in the passenger seat. “I’m gonna do a big surprise—invite her to visit and then…ta-da!”
“Maybell, no. You’ll probably kill her if you do that.”
She shrugged. “Then Daddy can make her a vampire. I bet she’d love that—having all the time in the world together.” She sighed contentedly.
“Maybell, did those vampires drop you on your head or somethin’?”
Over my dead body would I let anyone turn my mamma, Maybell, or me.
No more vampires.
After we got to Leiper’s Fork, I left Maybell at her apartment and went home. After texting Jimmie to let him know we were okay, I slept for twenty hours straight.
Unfortunately, I spent those twenty hours reliving the death of five vampires in my dreams. I know they didn’t deserve my pity, but I still felt awful. Maybe the guilt I harbored was because I didn’t believe I was much better than those miserable creatures. I’d lied, I’d played their game, and I’d killed five beings to save my own skin and my sister. Worse, I’d betrayed myself by not fighting back when Lazlo made me his wife.
All my life, I’d dreamed of marrying my soul mate, of giving myself to him, and of him giving himself to me. We would build a life together. In my mind, our union would be a magical moment where the real world melded with the fairy tale in my head. My invisible destiny would manifest into something tangible.
I knew why I’d given all that up, and I couldn’t change the past, but there was no getting around the loss I felt deep in my heart. A piece of my soul died that night.
My only saving grace was that I’d been through worse and survived. I’d survive this too.
The following day, I showed up to the Flaming Rooster for work, and Uncle Jimmie greeted me at the bar.