“Okay so I’ll ask the girls and see what they think, but I’m not happy. I wish it was you, Fletcher.”
He looks sad but resolute. “I know mum, but I can’t be.”
He calls the girls in, using a witch trick that he won’t have for much longer.
“Girls, how do you feel about being head witch? Together?”
Thea laughs. “Both of us?”
Fletcher nods.
“What about our mum?”
Elodie clears her throat. “If I see her, if she tries to cause trouble, I will kill her. But I think I could lead you and guide you to be excellent head witches.”
“What about Fletcher?”
“I’ve asked John to turn me, so I can be with Ellis.”
“I haven’t said yes, yet,” John says.
“But you will. When Ellis asks you.”
John laughs and nods.
The girls hug their aunt Elodie, who they both love, who they have lived with for all their lives. “We promise to make you proud.”
“I know you’ll try,” Elodie says, unsure of what to say or how to feel.
Lincoln takes over, experienced at investments and matter of fact with things.
Instead of a feeling of anger and sadness and hopelessness in the air, suddenly they are smiling and feeling lighter.
It takes only ten minutes, but they invest Talia and Thea as head witches. Job done, Lincoln is quick to say his goodbyes and leave them to it.
Ellis takes Fletcher’s hands. “I want to see my family.”
“I know.”
“Mum. Can we go to see Ellis’s family while you sort out the council? I’ll need my magic.”
Elodie nods. She’d rather have Fletcher by her side for support and help, but she knows that she has to let him help Ellis. Poor Ellis, who is only in this terrible predicament because of them.
“Yes. I’ll take the head witches with me. I’ll ask the council to put out a call to any rebels they might know, or any they don’t know, and tell them there’ll be an amnesty. They just need to come forward and hear what we’ve done, hear what’s happened and they’ll be forgiven. Let us all go back to normal, let us all get along again. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“That’s an outstanding idea, mum. There’s nothing to fight about anymore.”
“I hope they’ll listen to me.”
“They will. I love you mum. Do you forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive, my boy. Nothing to forgive.”
Ellis
Nothing to forgive.
If Fletcher hadn’t turned me into a vampire, I’d be dead.
How can I be angry about that?
I’m happy that I’m alive. I’m heartbroken that I’ll have to leave my family. I’m giddy that Fletcher wants to be with me forever. I’m gutted I’ll be seventeen forever. Why didn’t this happen when I was twenty-one – when my boobs had grown a bit more, when my spots were gone, when I had better hair?
I’m grossed out with the blood thing, and panicky at the thought of wanting to suck on human blood, of animal blood not being enough to satisfy my dark new desires.
Dark new desires. That sounds dodgy as fudge.
This whole palaver has been crazy off the charts.
But we’re getting to the end.
The end of life as I know it. The end of me as I know me.
I was a girl, then a witch, now a vampire.
What’s next?
I won’t be able to go home; I’ll live with Fletcher. That’s an enormous step. Okay, so I know he wants to be turned into a vampire so he can spend eternity with me, but we still haven’t seen each other naked.
Not that that’s my biggest concern at the moment. And at least if he’s a vampire too, I won’t want to bite him. Well, I won’t want to drink his blood at least. I can’t promise on the biting thing.
Gross.
See, off I go down the crazy rabbit hole of my thoughts again.
I’m a vampire and I have to say goodbye to my family. I don’t even know how it will work. I feel too sick to ask.
We hug Elodie, and then I quickly hug the twins. Will they really be excellent head witches? Selfishly I don’t care, I just had to make sure that Fletcher didn’t change his mind.
“Mum, you’ll be fine, but let me know if there’s any trouble. We’ll come and help. John, will you stay until we’ve seen Ellis’s family?”
John nods, I know he’ll help me. He likes me and he won’t refuse to turn Fletcher, even if it isn’t his first choice.
“I’ll go with your mum. Just in case.”
I like that. I like that he’s a gentleman.
We part ways outside, after checking for signs of trouble. Fletcher’s mum holds onto John ready to fly off and he gives me a cheeky look with a raised eyebrow which makes me laugh. He hasn’t got a hope of bagging Elodie. Though he is a charmer, and it seems like Adam wasn’t as charming as Fletcher has always believed.
I slip into Fletcher’s arms with the ease I always have. It feels like where I belong. I feel a brief flutter of panic when the thought of his blood comes into my head, but I push it away. I will not kill my boyfriend. It’s not the done thing.
Outside my house, we hunker down while I get my nerves under control. “How will this work?”
“I’ll use my magic to take away the memory of you going off on the trip to Paris and let them think you’ve been here all along as normal. Then you’ll go in, spend time with them, take photos of them.”
“Do I show up in photos?”
“Yes.”
“Evolution?”
He shrugs. He has as little clue as I do. “We’ve seen photos of John, remember.”
“Yes. As a bat and a man. That means I can turn into a bat?”
“Not right now.”
“Well, I didn’t mean now.” I sigh. Of course, I didn’t mean now. How would I explain that to my parents and Isaac? He’s thick sometimes.
“Then when you’re done, I’ll wipe their memory of you away.”
“Just like that, huh?”
He nods. What can he say? But I know I can’t hold this against him, hold this over him, not
