15 Secrets and Spies - My Sister the Vampire (11 page)

‘. . . but, you see, to me, the deletion and reinstatement of Laws eleven, fourteen and nineteen is one of the key moments in all of vampire history!’

If I don’t do something, I’ll be stuck here all night
, Ivy realised.
And we won’t even get to the Twenty-First Law until dawn!

Finally, as Pierre paused to draw a breath, Ivy seized her chance. ‘What do you know about the Twenty-First Law of the Night?’ she blurted.

The Librarian did not hesitate. ‘
A vampire must never taste earthstuff when the moon is full
.’

Ivy shook her head blankly. ‘Um . . .
what
?’

Pierre smiled kindly as he translated: ‘Eating vegetables on a full moon.’

‘
What?
’ Ivy laughed. ‘You have got to be pranking me.’

‘Not at all, my dear.’ Pierre shook his head, twirling his fountain pen idly between his fingers. ‘The Law was introduced several hundred years ago, and has never been
changed.’

‘So . . .’ Ivy could barely even say the words out loud. ‘What you’re telling me is that someone could be banished from their own hometown, for . . . eating a Caesar
salad?’

‘Well,’ Pierre shrugged, his crimson scarf shifting stylishly against his shoulders. ‘Vampires are known to take their Laws very seriously, no matter how silly they may seem in
retrospect.’ He sighed nostalgically and leaned against the desk. ‘You can’t have hindsight in the present, can you? If we could, I certainly would never have made that terrible
mistake with the pirate and the . . .’

But Ivy didn’t hear the rest of his story. She was too stunned to take it in.

How could Brendan’s dad have gone along with that crazy rule when it meant kicking out his own sister? And more to the point, how many other vampires had been punished over the years for
issues that were . . . well . . .
silly
?

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, interrupting Pierre. ‘It was really great to meet you, but I have to talk to my dad. Now.’

‘Then I’ll wish you
au revoir
.’ Pierre straightened, sweeping his scarf dramatically over his shoulder. ‘But not goodbye. You are welcome to return to my library
any time.’

Ivy nearly ran out of the echoing library. By the time she’d made it back to her dad’s display room, she was shaking with outrage.

Charles didn’t even notice as she stomped in. He was too busy lecturing Olivia, who looked glassy-eyed with hopelessness as her dad prattled on . . .

. . . and on.

‘. . . But of course the
really
fascinating thing about the history of the Triptychs is –’

Balling her fists and squaring her shoulders, Ivy marched inside. ‘Dad!’ Her voice rapped out, cutting off her father’s words. ‘I need to talk to you
right
now
.’

‘Ivy!’ Still balancing a small, three-panelled painting in his gloved hands, Charles gave her his full attention. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Wow,’ Olivia whispered, in obvious awe. ‘I really need to work on
my
Stern Voice.’

Ivy crossed her arms, focusing on her father. ‘I met someone new recently,’ she said. ‘Someone who had a very interesting story to tell . . . about Carla Daniels.’

‘
What?
’ Charles gave a full-body start – and the triptych fell from his hands.

Without his vampire reflexes, it would have smashed on the marble floor. As it was, he caught it just in time. Then he walked over to the closest display case and placed it back inside with
visibly trembling fingers.

‘Right,’ he said, turning back to his daughters. His pale face was tight, looking strained as he stripped off his gloves. He needed two attempts to get them off.

Ivy wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her father so nervous – this wasn’t helping her own nerves!

‘We’d better all go to the break room,’ he said, ‘for safety’s sake. I have a feeling that, if we’re not careful, this conversation could cost millions of
dollars’ worth of damage.’

Even after they’d retreated to the staff’s upstairs break room, filled with ancient couches and tables, Charles still looked as stunned as if Ivy had hit him with
one of his heaviest artefacts. He handed both of the girls glasses of blood-orange juice as he joined them at a small round table, but his hands were trembling so hard the glasses clinked
dangerously against the table.

‘Dad?’ Ivy stared at him as she took her glass. ‘I don’t understand. Why is this such a big deal? I mean, come on – we are talking about
vegetables
,
right?’

Charles sighed as he sank down on to his chair. ‘It sounds absurd now, I admit, but times were different then. Of course, I wasn’t even living in Franklin Grove when it all happened,
but Marc told me the story after I came here.’

Ivy traded a look with Olivia.
How many other
secrets have the grown-ups been hiding from us?

‘You girls have to understand,’ Charles said, ‘the vampire community is a global community, with many far-flung smaller groups throughout the world. These small groups have
always had to develop ways of blending in with the ordinary humans around them – but it’s also been the responsibility of the Transylvanian vampires to figure out ways to watch over our
kind, even from great distances. One way to do this . . . well . . .’ He paused.

Fresh from her conversation with Pierre, it was easy for Ivy to fill in the blanks. ‘The Laws of the Night,’ she said.

Charles nodded. ‘The Laws were developed to make sure that vampires all over the world shared a common set of rules and values.’

‘I understand how important safety is,’ Ivy said, ‘but come on. The Twenty-First Law is a bit ridiculous, don’t you think? I mean, who cares whether anyone eats
vegetables on a full moon?’

Charles sighed. ‘I don’t disagree with you,’ he said. ‘But you have to remember, the vampire community is rather a superstitious one. The Twenty-First Law was not set
down because some vampire higher up simply had it in for veggies. It was probably based on a
genuine
belief that eating vegetables when the moon was full would bring bad luck to
one’s family.’

‘That’s . . .’ Olivia began. Then she stopped, flushing.

‘. . . Crazy,’ Ivy finished bluntly.

Charles grimaced. ‘Well, now that I’m explaining out loud, I must say that I can see that some of the Laws are quite odd by any standards. There are a couple of later amendments from
the thirties that we all break every day. Perhaps they do need revising.’

Ivy snorted. ‘
Definitely
they need revising. I mean, after all, you and I have both broken the First Law by telling humans that vampires are
real
.’

Charles nodded. ‘You’re right. Perhaps I’ll talk to my parents and suggest that the issue be raised in Transylvania with Queen Stefania.’

‘Really?’ Ivy jumped up and threw her arms around him. ‘Oh, this is fantastic! Can I go to Brendan’s and tell him the good news?’

‘Wait!’ Charles shook his head even as he patted her lightly on the back. ‘Remember, this isn’t “good news” yet. Even if my parents raise the issue with the
Queen, it will take some time before there is any formal change to the Laws, and I can’t promise –’

‘I know, I know. But thank you!’ Ivy gave him one last squeeze before she finally let him go.

She was practically dancing as she and Olivia left the museum five minutes later. ‘I can’t wait to tell Brendan!’ she shouted, leaping down the steps.

Olivia giggled, poking her in the arm. ‘Look at you. That last move was practically a cheerleading high-jump.’

‘Bite your tongue!’ Ivy scowled – for about three seconds, before her happy smile returned. Maybe Brendan’s family situation couldn’t be fixed immediately, but now
that her dad was taking the issue all the way to the top, a happy ending was definitely possible!

Unfortunately, as soon as she approached Brendan’s house, Ivy could tell that his family wasn’t in a celebratory mood.

Raised voices drifted down the street – or rather, one raised voice . . . and it belonged to Marc Daniels.

‘How
dare
you sneak around behind my back?’ he roared.

Oh, no
. Ivy raced towards the house, forcing herself to keep to a human speed instead of a full vampire blur.

If she’d needed any more proof that Mr Daniels was too angry to think straight, the sight of the front door standing ajar would have been enough. Ivy hesitated for a moment on the porch
before walking inside and closing the door behind her.
I have to help!

She found the two of them in the living room, where Mr Daniels paced through the room, red-faced and shouting.

Brendan sat slumped on the couch. ‘I promise,’ he said quietly. ‘I didn’t go looking for family secrets. I couldn’t have, because I never even knew I
had
a
cousin in the first place. Maya found me and told me the story.’

Ivy shifted in the doorway, and Mr Daniels’ head snapped around, his face darkening. ‘Were you in on this, too?’

‘Mr Daniels –’

Brendan’s dad didn’t pause to listen. ‘When you turned up last night, acting like you were going to dump my son, was that all just an act so you could help him sneak around
behind my back?’

‘What?’ Brendan jerked around to stare at Ivy. ‘You were going to
dump
me?’

‘No!’ Ivy gasped.
This is
exactly
why you should
always knock before entering someone’s house
.
Even if the door is already open!

Drawing a deep breath, she turned to Mr Daniels. ‘I had no idea about any of this until
after
I’d come by last night. But I’ve just found out about the Twenty-First
Law, and I have some good news.’ Her smile burst out despite the tension in the room around her. ‘My dad is going to talk to his parents and see if they can’t suggest to Queen
Stefania that the Laws of the Night be updated to better reflect modern times.’

‘Oh, wow!’ Brendan jumped up. ‘Ivy, that’s fantastic!’

But Mr Daniels only stared at her, his eyes burning. ‘What have you done?’

‘What?’ Ivy blurted, feeling herself stepping backwards without meaning to. ‘Surely, you must want to speak to your sister again . . . don’t you? I mean,’ she
licked her lips, trying to regain her smile, ‘a Caesar salad can’t be worth all this animosity, can it?’

‘You have no idea what you’re talking about.’ Mr Daniels swung around, turning his back on both of them. ‘You don’t understand the whole story.’

Brendan turned to his father. ‘Then help us understand.’

Mr Daniels growled out his words without looking at either of them. ‘Maybe you think the Twenty-First Law is silly, but my mother was a very superstitious vampire. Carla knew that Mother
took the rules very seriously. That’s why she did it, even though she didn’t even
like
artichokes – and it was an artichoke, not a Caesar salad, by the way.’ He
shook his head. ‘Carla was always rebellious, for no good reason. She broke that Law out of spite, just to show Mother she couldn’t make the rules.’

Ivy winced. ‘But still . . .’

‘No.’ Brendan’s dad turned back to stare at them, his face grim. ‘Do you think I’d be so stubborn that I wouldn’t forgive my sister for eating an
artichoke?’ He clenched his hands into fists. ‘No. What I couldn’t forgive was that she broke that Law purely to hurt our mother – who was the best person I ever knew. And
if Carla is coming back to Franklin Grove after all these years, then I know one thing . . . I won’t be here to tell her to leave again.’

What?
Ivy went blank with shock. Before she could think of a word to say, Mr Daniels turned and charged out of the living room.

Stunned, she and Brendan stared at each other.

‘Could he really do it?’ Ivy whispered. ‘Would he really take you away from Franklin Grove?’

Brendan didn’t answer her out loud. But she saw the horror in his eyes, and she knew – Mr Daniels was not kidding.

Ivy wrapped her arms around him, and he buried his face in her hair. ‘It’s going to be all right,’ she whispered.

But secretly, she thought:
This is a total disaster.