“How much longer do I have to say I’m sorry?” Michael grumbles.
“A few centuries should do it, but no promises.”
Michael sighs and continues. “As you can see, librarian, Freddy is one to hold a grudge.”
“Where have you been this whole time?” I ask Freddy, thinking that surely someone would notice two Michaels running around. As far as vampires go, he’s a celebrity. And handsome. Not the kind of guy you easily forget.
“In the Alps at a monastery,” Freddy replies. “The monks there are great at keeping secrets. They don’t talk much. I also protected them from several massacres. Kings in those days didn’t just go after the monarchy when they tried to take over.”
I find it so very interesting that a group of monks would knowingly keep a vampire on the premises. “Why didn’t they try to burn you or stake you or something?” I ask.
“They understood that it was my dick of a brother’s fault I’m like this.”
“I said I am sorry. Drop it already.” Michael folds his arms over his broad chest, shaking his head.
Freddy smiles with satisfaction. He seems to like aggravating his brother.
Michael grumbles for him to shut his mole hole and then continues, “I knew where he was, but after what I did to him, I put him out of my mind, like he never existed. He said he never wanted to see me again, and I figured the least I could do was leave him be.”
“Then the Uprising happened.” Freddy picks up the story. “I started hearing stories of wild animals attacking the nearby village, and I knew. It was vampires. So I hunted the group down and killed them, but before one died, she called me Vanderhorst and said Clive would make me pay. After much prayer and reflection, I decided to look for Michael and tell him his maker was trying to kill him.”
“We started talking, and then, after I told Freddy about everything going on—the Uprising, the threats to humans—he asked how he could help.”
There’s a loud knock on his office door. Everyone freezes and goes silent.
“Vanderhorst,” says a female voice, “I have an urgent call for you.”
“It’s Gretta,” Michael says.
Gretta? “I don’t think I’ve met her.”
“She’s an old friend. Trustworthy. One of the very few.” Michael goes to answer the door, and I see her through the crack.
Wow. She looks even younger than Michael—maybe seventeen—but I suspect if Michael says she’s an “old” friend, she’s far from being a teen. Also, she’s dressed like a woman who knows what she wants: jet-black hair straightened to a flat sheen, tons of smoky eye makeup, and no shirt or bra under the blazer. Kind of a chic dominatrix.
“What is it?” Michael says to her.
“Sir, I need to talk to you for a second. It’s urgent.”
Michael steps out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“What’s going on?” I ask Freddy. It had better not be about Nice.
Freddy shrugs.
Michael pops his head in. “Freddy, a moment, please?”
Freddy leaves, and I hear a bit of mumbling on the other side of the door. Then Michael says, “Do another sweep. I want to be absolutely sure our friend isn’t planting explosives again.”
Both men return, and Freddy looks a little concerned. Not Michael though.
“What is it?” I ask.
“One of the alarms was tripped. Gretta is handling it. We are perfectly safe, I assure you,” Michael says in his usual overly confident way. “So where were we?”
Freddy chimes in, “He was about to tell you that I thought my brother was a monster, but now I believe Michael was turned for a reason: to protect human life. Now I believe it is my calling, too.”
“Okay. I guess I understand,” I say, “but why lie to everyone? Why lie to me? Just tell everyone you have a twin.”
“Because,” Michael replies, “thanks to all of those ridiculous teen vampire shows, the vampire world actually believes in things that are not exactly true. Doppelgangers? Really? Even you bought it, librarian.”
Oh. I guess he’s right.
He goes on, “In the public’s mind, Freddy is my weak, useless cousin, a newbie vampire, who was given a job out of pure nepotism. And after tomorrow, he will have no value to anyone whatsoever,” Michael says.
“You lost me there.”
Michael flashes a disapproving look, like I’m daft for not divining his master plan. “As everyone knows, I am no longer the vampire you fell in love with. I am cold, heartless, and cruel. So you are going to fall in love with my weak, foolish cousin and run off with him right after I administer the serum to both of you.
“No one will attempt to come after you or use you as leverage against me, the king, because I will disown you both for your betrayal. You will live out your human lives in peace and raise Stella. Mr. Nice will remain here as our prisoner. We all end up exactly where we should be.”
My mind spins. Is Michael saying he planned all this so I can be free of this vampire world? I thought he didn’t care. Have I been wrong this entire time?
“It’s not entirely a horrible plan,” I say. “Only one big issue: I’m not going to run off with your brother.”
Michael lifts a brow and looks at Freddy. The two exchange knowing glances.
“Freddy is going to take my place on the throne. I want out. But more importantly, I want you and our child to be safe, and that is impossible unless you are of no value to anyone. As for me, I believe being human again and raising our daughter is right.”
“I don’t understand, Michael.” I lower my voice for Stella’s benefit. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with us.”
Michael scoffs. “I have no feelings, librarian. But that does not mean I do not care. I am still a vampire, and I protect what is mine.”
“I’m
