Nancy A Collins-Vamps 02 (2 page)

“There’s no reason to get upset,” Cally assured them, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible. “We out-number her, right?”

“Girls like Lilith
never
shop alone,” Melinda said, her eyes darting warily about the store. “They’re like cobras—if you see one, assume there are others nearby.

See what I mean?”

Cally saw Carmen Duivel, in all her red-haired glory, headed in their direction followed by two other girls. The first girl was stork tall and built like a stick insect, with long, strawberry-blond hair drawn back into a partial upsweep. The second was short and curvy 7

with sleek black hair worn in a Dutch bob that framed her oval face and accented her Cupid’s bow mouth.

“Who are they?” Cally asked.

“Armida Aitken is the tall one, and Lula Lumley is the short one,” Melinda whispered. “They’re from established Old Blood families, although nowhere near as powerful as Lilith’s. But then, that’s how Lilith likes it. It’s good to be the queen bee.”

“I think we’d better leave,” Bella said anxiously.

“We have
every bit
as much right to be here as she does,” Cally replied firmly. “We’re still in America, even if we are at Bergdorf’s. I’m not going to run away simply because Lilith and her posse are in the same building. . . .”

“Well, well, well!” Lilith’s voice was loud enough that nearby customers looked up from their shopping.

“It’s Three-M: Monture, Mauvais, and Maledetto!”

“Shouldn’t that be Four-M?” Armida Aitken asked, counting on her fingers. “There’s two Maledettos. . . .”


No
, because they’re interchangeable as far as I’m concerned!” Lilith hissed over her shoulder, irritated at having to explain her joke to someone who was supposed to laugh at it regardless of whether she got it or not.

As Lilith approached, Melinda and the twins stood firm behind Cally, flanking her on either side. Even if they wanted to back down, there was no way of doing 8

so without appearing weak-blooded.

“I didn’t know they allowed mongrels in Bergdorf’s.” Lilith sniffed, looking at Cally as if she were something she’d just scraped off her Fendis.

“They must, because there’s a pack of bitches right in front of me,” Cally replied.

“Watch your tongue, Monture,” Carmen growled.

She stepped forward, glaring menacingly, only to freeze as Melinda moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Cally.

“This isn’t school,” Lilith snarled. “There aren’t any teachers here to intervene on your behalf, New Blood.”

“That’s funny, I was about to tell
you
the same thing,” Cally shot back.

Lilith’s eyes narrowed into slivers of blue ice. “You don’t belong here, just like you don’t belong at Bathory.

We’re not interested in sharing our territory with a pack of losers, are we, girls?”

“Bergdorf’s is
ours
!” Carmen said with a contemp-tuous toss of her head. “Beat it while you still can.”

“Save the Queen of the Damned act for the spods you bully at school,” Cally said. “You don’t scare us. What are you and your little clique of Vampire American Princesses going to do? Fly around the fragrance counter? Piss on the rugs in the shoe department to mark your turf? Besides, I don’t scare easy.” Cally turned and pointed a finger at a mannequin 9

dressed in a cashmere sweater. A spark of bluish-white electricity arced from the tip of her index finger, leaving a scorch mark the size of a dime on the nineteen-hundred-dollar garment.

Armida and Lula gasped and exchanged nervous looks, while Carmen flinched and took an involuntary step back.

“Now, if you don’t mind,” Cally said, pushing past Lilith and her entourage, “as much as I would
love
to continue our little conversation, my friends and I are going to check out some shoes.”

Cally was on the escalator before she stopped holding her breath. “Praise the Founders that’s over with,” she gasped.

“You were
incredible
!” Bella and Bette chimed in unison.

“I’ve never seen
anyone
stand up to Lilith like that!” Melinda laughed. “And
she
hasn’t, either!”

“Do you think the reason she hates me is because she blames me for that friend of hers getting killed—

what was her name again?”

“Tanith Graves,” Melinda replied. “No, I don’t think that’s it. Lilith and Tanith were tight, but they weren’t
that
tight. If you ask me, I think she’s scared of you.”

“Scared? Of
me
?”

“You can summon lightning just like that!” Melinda said, snapping her fingers. “No one else our age can do anything close! Of
course
she’s scared of you!” 10

Cally glanced back over her shoulder, a worried look on her face. “I dunno, Melly. I think there’s more to it than that, but I can’t figure out what. . . .”

“The
nerve
of some people!” Carmen hissed. “Melinda
knew
we’d be here today for the trunk show! It’s all her doing, I just know it is! She orchestrated this whole thing!”

“I agree,” Lilith groaned. “Imagine! Common, low-life trash like Monture and the Maledettos in Bergdorf’s.

Is
nothing
sacred?”

If Lilith Todd wrote down a list of all the things she hated, it would be a very long list. It would include, in no particular order: school, not getting her way, sharing, her mother, ugly people, poor people, and spods.

But there was no doubt as to what would be at the very top: Cally Monture.

As she watched her archenemy and demi-sister ride the escalator to the shoe department in the company of her clique of pathetic losers, Lilith wasn’t surprised that her father had kept his illegitimate daughter unaware of his true identity all this time. Looking back at her own childhood, Lilith realized he had treated her pretty much the same. They had both been brought up like mushrooms: kept in the dark and raised on a diet of bullshit. Now that she had a chance to think about it, Lilith had a new thing to add to the top of her hate list: dear ol’ Dad.

11

Lilith had hoped spending the afternoon shopping for a gown for the Grand Ball would take her mind off her problems, but instead it was rubbing her nose in them. Although her knowledge of who and what Cally really was had shaken her to her very core, Lilith didn’t dare reveal the truth to anyone, not even Jules.

Nor could she let anyone know just how deeply she had been affected by the revelation. The moment any of her so-called friends sensed weakness on her part, they would turn on her like jackals taking down a wounded lion. And that included her new “BFF,” Carmen Duivel.

Carmen had been bucking to take over as her con-fidante and first lieutenant even before Tanith’s death, and now it seemed Lilith couldn’t turn around without being badgered by the redhead.
What are you doing?

Where are you going? Is Jules going with you?

Carmen was proving as irritating as a burlap thong, and almost as far up her butt. Still, it was important that Lilith maintain an entourage, and with Tanith’s death and Melinda’s defection to the Dork Side, Carmen was the sole remaining member of her original posse. And two people are
not
a posse, which was why she was “test driving” Armida Aitken and Lula Lumley. So far, it was rough going.

“We’ll be late if we don’t hurry,” Carmen said. “I heard Gala will only be there for the first hour or so of the trunk show. I don’t want to miss her!” 12

There were already at least two dozen women mill-ing about in the section of the store set aside for the trunk show. The group of socialites, trophy wives, and celebutantes chatted among themselves as they sipped complimentary cocktails and idly examined the racks of clothes rolled out for their inspection.

Lilith glanced over at the catered refreshment table, laden with fresh fruit and cheese trays, trying to hide her revulsion. The sight of what clots called “food” was enough to make her stomach turn. She wondered how they could bring themselves to eat such slop.

The store’s fashion director held up her hands for silence. “Ladies, we here at Bergdorf Goodman are pleased to introduce a new designer to our collection this coming spring. Here to speak to you about their upcoming ready-to-wear line is Maison d’Ombres’

North American executive representative.” Carmen nudged Lilith as a tall, well-built man in his mid-twenties stepped forward. “He makes Ollie look like a waiter at Applebee’s.”

“He’s cute”—Lilith shrugged—“but Jules is hotter.”

“Jules
is
smoking hot,” Carmen agreed.

“What do you mean by that?” Lilith said suspiciously.

“Nothing, Lili,” Carmen replied quickly. “I was just saying, you know.”

Seemingly oblivious to the discussion of his relative hotness, the young exec smiled at the women assembled 13

before him. “Ladies, allow me to introduce to you the bright young face of Maison d’Ombres—the incompa-rable Gala!”

From behind one of the racks stepped a stunningly beautiful girl with high, rounded cheekbones, pouty bee-stung lips, sparkling aquamarine eyes, and long hair that spilled down about her shoulders like warm butterscotch. With her long, shapely legs and surfer-girl tan, she looked fresh off the beach at Malibu.

As the model sashayed out into the audience dressed in a ruff-collar blouse paired with a bow-belted dark skirt and a houndstooth trench with rolled sleeves, a photographer with broad shoulders and a neatly trimmed Van Dyck beard swung a 35-mm Nikon digital camera into action. The preferred customers “oohed” and “aahed” appreciatively.

On seeing the camera, Lilith and her entourage shifted about uneasily. Although they still had a few years before they would totally lose the ability to reflect and be photographed, they had been raised to be cautious in the presence of photographic equipment.

The photographer circled Gala like a satellite, his back to the other women in the room. As she watched the photographer click away, Lilith recognized him as the man who had approached her at D&G a couple of weeks earlier.

“Who’s the paparazzo?” Lula asked.

“That’s no pap, that’s Kristof,” Carmen explained.

14

“You know him?” Lilith asked, trying not to let her interest show.

“Not personally. He’s this hotshot photographer who’s done spreads with Iman, Kate Moss, and Kurkova. He’s been signed to work on the Maison d’Ombres launch. Speaking of which—what do you think of the clothes?”

Lilith glanced over at the racks full of sample clothing. The garments all seemed to be very well made, but they weren’t anything special. “I could vomit something more interesting,” she said with a shrug. “Did I mention that I’m to be the last debutante presented at the Grand Ball?”

“Several times,” Armida replied.

“I’m looking for something that will rivet every eye in that ballroom. After all, being the final presentation of the evening is very important. The Grand Ball can’t begin before I start the first dance of the night. I want a gown that signifies that importance.” As she spoke, Lilith watched some girls come up to the model with paper and pen in hand, seeking auto-graphs. The model scribbled her name, and her admirers eagerly bore the signatures away as if they were as precious as gold.

“I hear Gala signed a million-dollar contract with Maison d’Ombres to be their official model for the next year,” Lula whispered. “Spreads in
ELLE
,
Vanity
Fair
, and
Vogue
. . . that kind of thing.” 15

“A million?” Lilith tapped her chin with a pearl-pink nail. “How old would you say she is?”

“Seventeen, I guess; maybe eighteen.”

“Would you say she’s prettier than me?”

“Uhhh . . .” Lula glanced about, not sure how to respond.

“Definitely not!”
Carmen protested, quickly stepping into the void created by Lula’s gaffe. “You’re
much
prettier than her! Most models would
kill
for your looks!” As Kristof continued to snap pictures, Lilith thought about how her wealth and popularity were not of her own making, but of her father’s. She was like the moon, which has no light of its own but merely reflects the light of the sun. Up until now, she had been content to remain within her father’s orbit, echoing his glory. But now that she knew she was not his only child, things no longer seemed as certain as they had before.

Perhaps it was time she started shining on her own.

16

Chapter Two

Rest Haven was one of the few remaining private graveyards in Williamsburg. Behind its ancient brick wall sat an acre of quiet greenery and sun-bleached marble monuments. At night the wrought iron gate was secured against those who would pro-fane the eternal slumber of its permanent residents.

Of course, that is not to say the dead who made Rest Haven their final home did not receive callers now and then. Indeed, over the last few weeks the old cemetery had been paid frequent visits by a certain pair of young lovers seeking shelter from the outside world.

As Cally wound her way through the tombstones, she took a deep breath, savoring the smell of the autumn leaves. A fingernail moon hung in the clear October sky, signaling the end of what had been, despite the 17

brief run-in with Lilith Todd, an excellent day. She glanced down at the single lavender Bergdorf’s bag she was carrying. Inside it was a matching La Perla Red Carpet bra-and-thong set that cost her almost $350.

When she’d paid for the lingerie, she had done so with cash, handing over a fistful of twenties and tens to the saleslady. From the looks on Melinda’s and the twins’

faces it was clear they had never paid for anything without using plastic.

Still, despite the vast differences in their lifestyles, Cally really liked Melinda and the twins. And they seemed to genuinely like her as well. So it kind of bothered her that she’d spent the whole day lying to them.

Nobody likes getting lied to, but sometimes there’s no way around it, especially if you want to stay alive.

Lying about being invited to the Grand Ball didn’t fall into the survival category. But the biggest lie of them all was actually more a
secret
: her boyfriend was a vampire hunter. And not just
any
vampire hunter, an actual
Van
Helsing.
Peter, to be exact.

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