Almost Everything Read online

  Anyway, trust me as far as me and Nik—it’s too complicated by far. Romeo and Juliet had it easier.

  Speaking of theater, the other guy vying for my attention is Matthew Thompson, former hockey star turned lead actor. See, ever since we did the spring play together, Thompson has been trying to get me to date him. He’s nice enough, I guess, though we come from different cliques at school. He’s a popular jock—the homecoming king type—and I’m … well, I’m a theater geek with two differently colored eyes and a reputation as a spooky witch, and I’m an honor student.

  Different worlds.

  Especially since Thompson is a mundane. If I told him I couldn’t bring him over to the house because a vampire lives in the basement and Mom practices True Magic, he’d think I was kidding. That made social situations kind of dicey. Oh, yeah, and when I was discovering I was the vampire princess, I kind of licked blood off his face after a floor hockey accident in gym—in front of everyone.

  Awkward.

  You wouldn’t think Thompson would be all that interested in me, given that particular moment in our history, but, thanks to the forget-me spell Bea had cast, he remembered it as a kiss. He thought I’d been so sorry to see him hurt that I’d risked crossing our social cliques to peck him gently on the cheek.

  I still knew the truth, though.

  So, as far as I was concerned, my options were limited. And the least complicated one would rather talk ancient history with my mom.

  It sucks to be me.

  “Elias! Good to see you. Come sit.” I heard Mom’s singsong greeting through the window. Then she shouted to me, “Anastasija Ramses Parker, stop sulking! Time for tea!”

  The full-name treatment, eh? Just for that, I’d sit here for a few extra minutes.

  I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared down the street. Three people were out walking, heading in my direction. I probably wouldn’t have given them any notice except that one of them was wearing a cloak.

  Did I mention it was ninety degrees in the shade?

  I sat up and watched the approaching trio with new interest. Was there a vampiric jaunt to their step? Who else would be so impervious to the weather? Because, even though I wasn’t, full vamps were.

  Draining the watery lemonade in a gulp, I set the empty glass underneath the porch swing. With the sun setting behind them, they presented only a shadowy silhouette. The cloak-wearing figure was shorter, and I thought there was something protective and Praetorian Guard–like about the way the other two flanked him. Yes, they definitely trailed one precise step behind, their heads swiveling every so often to scan the area for threats.

  The streetlamps lining the boulevard flickered on.

  They were less than half a block away now, and I could make out more details. Dark, unruly curls framed the shockingly pale face of the leader. Despite the whiteness of his skin, his features suggested to me that he might be Latino. The guard on the left was black, though his flesh had that strangely drained hue of a vampire. A gold earring flashed in one ear, and he had thick, puffy hair and muttonchop sideburns that reminded me of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, that Quentin Tarantino movie. His partner was the palest of all three of them. His long straight hair was tied back neatly at the nape of his neck, but otherwise he bore no resemblance to John Travolta’s character in the same movie. In the artificial light, his auburn hair glowed almost bloodred, and his sharp, cruel expression reminded me of a gentleman pirate … or something much worse. I found myself the most wary of him. I stood up.

  “Ana, I’m about to cut the cake!” my mom shouted through the open window. I jumped. I’d been completely absorbed watching the strangers, who were now standing at the gate looking directly at me. “Are you coming in?”

  “In a minute,” I answered distractedly. I heard my mother clucking her tongue and making excuses for “moody teenagers” to Elias.

  I moved to the edge of the porch steps and peered nervously around a column at the men at the end of our sidewalk. The leader had his hands on the gate, but he didn’t push it open. I could see now that he looked to be close to my age or younger. There was the hint of stubble on his chin, but his cheeks still retained a lot of baby fat—in a cute way. In fact, when he smiled at me, he looked downright charming. “Anastasija Ramses Parker?”

  Wow, I’d heard my full name twice in ten minutes.

  But why did I get the feeling that hearing it now meant I was in a whole lot of trouble?

  “Yes, that’s me,” I agreed cautiously. “Who are you?”

  It was the mean-looking guard who answered. Even his silken, Cajun-accented voice gave me the creeping chills. “I present His Royal Highness, Luis David Montezuma, prince of the Southern Region.”

  A vampire prince? Oh crap.

  “Ana?” The screen door squeaked, and Elias stepped out onto the porch. “Your mother wants …” He stopped the moment he saw Prince Luis and his entourage at the end of the walk. I felt a breeze and, in a blink, Elias stood protectively in front of me.

  His movement made the redhead snicker.

  The prince shot his guard a dark look. To me, he put on that smile I’d found so charming a moment ago. However, now it seemed more like a politician’s—a bit oily and forced. “We have traveled some distance, Princess.”

  I got the hint, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to invite Luis and his goons in. Besides, why was he here with me and not in the underground cave courts of my father? I tried to catch Elias’s eye so I could ask him what to do, but he was busy staring menacingly at his counterparts.

  “For Goddess’ sake, what is going on out there?” my mother shouted. “Come in and have tea!”

  I knew that the stalemate had been broken with Elias’s soft curse and the chuckle of the goons, who reached around the gate to let themselves in.

  “Don’t mind if we do,” said Luis with a grin.

  Chapter Two

  And I thought tea was awkward before.

  Mom fumed over having accidentally invited three new vampires into her house. She’d tried to kick them out right away, but Elias had pulled her aside and whispered something about royalty and duty. It hadn’t calmed her much. She flounced off to the kitchen to get a few more plates and cups for tea. I could hear her angry mutterings about upping the wards as we directed the prince and his entourage into the sitting room.

  Luis swept the cloak off his shoulders and tucked it under his arm. The shirt he wore was a rich indigo color and clearly pure silk. His pants, more correctly classified as slacks, had been tailored to a perfect fit. Everything from his ivory-studded cufflinks to his polished black shoes smelled of old money.

  Meanwhile, I was acutely aware of the tiny holes in the threadbare, too-tight fabric of my tank top that, no doubt, showed off my contrasting-color sports bra. The tiny hairs I hadn’t shaved off my armpits this morning prickled in the heat. I bet Princess Kate never had days like this. She’d at least have some kind of awesome hat.

  Thank the Goddess for Elias. He swept in, took coats, and made everyone take places around the table. He pulled out my chair for me, which was nice, but it made me feel especially grubby. If I’d known visiting dignitaries would be dropping by, I’d at least have put on a better shirt. Or pants! At least no one would see my naked legs under the table.

  We now sat in the stuffy, dusty room staring silently at one another.

  I should probably have said something dignified and welcoming here, but all I could think of was that most of my “gilty pleasure” bronze nail polish was half-chipped and missing. So I took the opportunity to look around at anything other than Prince Luis and his looming goons.

  The room, at least, suited the prince. It was expansive, with oak flooring and pressed tin on the high ceiling. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was sparsely decorated and neat. It was like that because we almost never used it. Mom and I had inherited our house from my grandparents, and it was much too large for the two of us. Before the tea ritual with Elias started, we kept
this room shuttered. It still had lace doilies and pale blue painted dishes on the plate rails that were vestiges of my grandparents’ lives. Odder still, there were no books anywhere in the room, not even a half-finished paperback tucked into the windowsill or resting open, spine-bent on a coffee table. That was damn near unnatural for a house with two word nerds like Mom and me. I always felt like a guest in this part of my own house.

  Having made their tour, my eyes returned to Luis, who was smiling patiently at me. Expensive cologne hung in the air, and I had to hold back the urge to sniff my underarms. I couldn’t even exchange glances with Elias since he refused to leave my side, even to sit. He stood behind my chair like a sentry. Though my back was to him, I could picture the formidable image Elias presented. Even in his simple black T-shirt and jeans, he was lean, hard, and infinitely dangerous—even among his own kind. If he was angry or spoiling for a fight, his eyes would turn yellow and catlike, and his fangs would drop. Otherwise, he’d measure them with ice-cold, utterly ruthless gray eyes. His black hair was cropped short, his face clean shaven, and everything about him was perfectly crisp and precise.

  The Samuel L. Jackson clone and red-haired guy likewise stood at attention behind Luis. Their eyes watched for any movement from Elias. The tension was thick.

  Mom, meanwhile, paced around like a caged animal, ostensibly setting cups and forks in front of the new guests’ places.

  I desperately wanted to know what Luis expected from me, but we seemed to be following some kind of protocol I didn’t know. Perhaps we would start talking when Mom finished fussing. Not knowing what else to do, I folded my hands in my lap and tried to think princesslike thoughts.

  That was hard since I was sweating in a very unladylike fashion. My hair had stuck to my face again, despite the fan’s humming from its perch on the windowsill. Occasionally, I’d feel a bit of night air on my forehead, but it disappeared too quickly to offer much relief.

  “Who are you, again?” Mom asked bluntly, plunking an extra plate down in front of the vampire prince and glaring at the two goons standing in her way. Mom, like me, wore as little as possible because of the heat. She had on a white spaghetti-strap top and cutoff jeans. “And why are you in my house?”

  “You invited them in,” Elias said quietly, though unnecessarily.

  Mom cast him a dark, angry look. “Well, I didn’t know they were out there, did I?”

  Luis raised his hand with a gentle smile. “It’s quite all right. The Queen Mother has every right to be properly introduced. My name is Luis Montezuma, and I am the prince of the Southern Region. I’ve come seeking restitution for a grave loss.” At this, Luis turned to stare pointedly at me, as if I should have some clue as to what he meant.

  Only I didn’t.

  Plus, I found myself struck dumb by the sudden revelation, in the low glow of the electric lamplight, that Luis had one green eye and one brown.

  He had two differently colored eyes.

  Just like me.

  Did that mean we were the same in other ways? I’d never met another half vampire. Were his differently colored eyes accidental or an indication that he was a dhampyr too?

  Luis cocked his eyebrow at my confusion. “Did you not release Khan from her betrothal, Your Highness?”

  Oh, um, who? Had I? I shook away my questions about Luis’s eye color and tried to remember. A vague memory surfaced of a vampire sneaking into my school last year and asking me to cancel her betrothness or whatever, and Elias and my dad telling me there’d be serious fallout for what seemed like such a common-sense decision. Come to think of it, her name was Khan. “Uh, yeah,” I admitted hurriedly; I had a bigger question on my mind. “Hey, like, are you a dhampyr?”

  Everyone on Luis’s side of the table looked shocked, as if maybe I’d used some kind of racist slur. Luis’s cheeks colored. Since I couldn’t catch Elias’s eye, I shot a look at Mom. She shrugged. “Dhampyr” was the only word we knew for what I was: half vampire/half witch.

  “About Khan …,” Luis prompted quietly. It was clear I was supposed to drop the subject.

  So I did. I guessed being a dhampyr wasn’t something to be proud of in the Southern Region, if, in fact, that was what he was. I could feel myself blushing now too, but I managed to stammer out something I remembered about Khan. “She was in love with some other guy. What else was I supposed to say?”

  Luis gave me a highly skeptical look. “What does love have to do with confarreatio?”

  “I don’t know what that is.”

  Everyone on that side of the table looked completely stunned. Even the two otherwise immobile guards actually exchanged a look. I tried to look at Elias, but his gaze and expression remained unchanged.

  “What do you think betrothal ends in?” Luis asked.

  “Marriage?” Didn’t that seem like the obvious answer?

  “Oh, I see why you released Khan. You’re one of the modernists.”

  My mom snorted and started cutting the cheesecake. “We’re full of those up here. After our confarreatio, I made Ramses marry me in front of a judge.” She handed me the biggest slice with a wink.

  Luis shook his head, frowning deeply at my mother for a moment. Then he shook his head as if dismissing her from his thoughts. To me, he said, “Your foolishly romantic action has caused a great deal of strife for my captain here.” He indicated the mean-looking vampire—Captain Creepy, apparently. I suddenly understood Khan’s hesitation at the idea of hooking up with this guy. “The dissolution of the contract leaves the fate of our empires unresolved. Without the bond, peace cannot be guaranteed, you understand.”

  “Not really,” I admitted.

  Luis blinked at me. I don’t think he was used to someone admitting this much stupidity in one meeting, but, seriously, I still had no real idea what he was talking about.

  “Let me put it simply,” he said. “There needs to be a marriage treaty, a confarreatio. You must provide a replacement suitor or there will be war.”

  “Marriage treaties are archaic, misogynist crap,” Mom said, plopping a very slender bit of cheesecake in front of Luis. “My daughter was right to deny you.”

  I rolled my eyes. Way to bring up the “patriarchy,” Mom. Goddess, sometimes it was so embarrassing having a women’s studies professor for a mother. More to the point, the only reason I existed was because Mom had agreed to an arranged marriage, though I’d never heard it described as a “confarreatio” before.

  Mom put her hands on her ample hips and stared down at the prince over the bridge of her nose. The look was ruined only a bit by the sheen of sweat on her forehead. I thought Mom seemed especially defensive, as if maybe she was attacking him to make up for the embarrassment of my potential gaff with the whole dhampyr thing. I could feel her magic swelling, like an undercurrent tugging at the edges of my consciousness. She was gearing up for a fight—possibly even a magical attack.

  I had to stop it.

  The only thing to do was blurt. “Why is this my problem, anyway? Why aren’t you down in the underground kingdom talking to Dad? He’s the regional ruler and, like, he probably totally agrees with you. Plus, he knows all the vampires in town.” I gave Captain Scary Pants a glance. “The only person I could recommend is Elias.” I gestured where Elias still stood ramrod straight behind me.

  “Elias Constantine? You would offer your captain of the guard?” Luis looked at Elias, as if for the first time, and as if he suddenly realized he was in the presence of a celebrity. “Yes, this is more than acceptable.” Luis stood up and held out his hand for me to shake. “I didn’t expect to come to an agreement so quickly, or that you would be so generous with your military assets. The papers will be drawn. Congratulations.”

  “Wait, what?”

  I stared at his hand, still extended across the table.

  He smiled, gesturing for me to seal the deal. “You offer. I accept. That’s how negotiations usually work, Princess.”

  “But—but, Elias is a guy.” My mouth hung so
far open, I was having trouble forming words.

  “Indeed,” Luis said with a little chuckle. “In fact, if his reputation is even half deserved, he’s quite the man.”

  “No, that’s just … wrong. What I mean is … your captain is a guy too.”

  “We are vampires, Your Highness; not men. I would think you would already know that some of the greatest alliances in history have been between male vampires.” Luis finally withdrew his hand. “Given what happened with Khan, I’m afraid I must insist that the ceremony be performed before we return to Mississippi. We can do something simple here, now, or you can send your captain off with style. But we leave within the fortnight.”

  “No … this isn’t happening. I didn’t agree to this,” I sputtered, finally finding my feet.

  “Are you stupid?” Mom asked belligerently. “She was obviously joking.”

  “She had better not have been,” Luis said sharply to Mom. As he turned to me, I noticed how captivatingly strange his intense gaze was. Did people look at me like that, wondering which eye to focus on? “Do I need to remind you that this is a matter of regional security? If you renege, the war resumes here. Now.”

  Elias looked at the three of them with the confidence of a man who felt he was evenly matched. “Your army is at hand?”

  A smile cracked Luis’s hard look. “You are certainly bold, Captain Constantine. But, yes, we camp in Hudson, awaiting my word that all is well.”

  I turned to Elias and grabbed his hand. He didn’t look at me; in fact, he stared straight ahead, over my head, his expression completely blank. “You don’t want this, do you?”

  “We may not have much choice.” With a sigh, he dropped his eyes to our hands. His voice was low. “Of course not. I was once happily betrothed to you.”

  But did that still mean what I thought it did? Didn’t Luis just imply that all betrothals ended in this cold, political contract they called confarreatio?

  Not that it mattered anymore; my stupid father had dissolved our bond in a fit of pique—which reminded me that we were supposedly in exile from Dad’s court. “Hey,” I said, dropping Elias’s hand and turning toward Luis, who seemed to be getting ready to leave. “Wait. What if Elias weren’t the captain of the guard anymore, huh? I mean, I probably don’t even have the authority to make a treaty or whatever. We’re banished.”