Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season Book 1) (5 page)

“What?”

He moved over to the couch and patted a pillow. Dust erupted in the air like a puff of smoke.

“No one
can know who you are.” His eyes connected with mine. They radiated sympathy, but also finality.

I felt my mouth drop.
“But why?” That totally sucked.

“Because if they know who you are they could tell you
r mom and dad, which would ruin your wish.”

I sank into the overstuffed chair. That made sense. I wanted to live like a
typical teenager, but if my uncles or Professor Pops knew who I was they would have to tell my mom and dad. Of course they would, because their loyalties were to them first and foremost. My uncles had shared enough stories… sleeping out on something called a trampoline, hanging out until all hours. I knew what the brothers, Pops, and my mom and dad meant to each other.

“You get it, right?”
Laeddin rested a hand on my shoulder, filling the air around me with his scent.

“I guess so.” I took a
small breath. “At least you’ll be here with me.”

Laeddin cleared his throat.

“Wait, you won’t?”

He knelt beside the chair. “Think about it. How would it look if a teenaged gi
rl and unmarried guy lived together? People might get the wrong idea.”

I jumped up and started to pace. “I’ll be all alone. Where are you going? I don’t know what to do. I need help. I can’
t do this without you. Besides what if I want another wish?”

He stood. “What do you suggest?”

I tried to pull on my wing like I usually did in stressful situations and then remembered they were gone. For some reason it made me sad. “I don’t know. But you can’t leave. You can’t,” I cried, full of desperation.

Laeddin snapped his fingers. The tattoos around his wrists lit up momentarily
and suddenly the entire room was dust free and totally clean. “That’s better.” He snapped his fingers again and a figurine appeared in his hand. He set it on the empty glass shelf. “Look, it’s your twin.”

When I was young, my mom
told me about a movie in the human world called
Aladdin
and that they chose my name from that movie. She said I looked a lot like the animated character. Cindy, my mom’s best friend, snuck me a book about the movie. For weeks I read it at night after my parents tucked me in. I knew the characters’ names by heart.

Another snap of
Laeddin’s fingers and the tiger, the genie, the monkey and the boy from the market appeared on the shelf next to Jasmine.

I came up beside him and touched the ceramic figurine. “My mom told me my stepmother had dozens of these when she lived here
. She also said that her stepmother was kind of a cookoo crazy collector.”

Laeddin laughed
, bringing me out of my thoughts, and I joined in. It eased my stress. Now slightly more relaxed, I reached past my namesake to pick up the figurine of the tiger, Raja. “What if you became my tiger?”

“I might scare the neighbors or get shot. Tigers aren’t
exactly indigenous to the area.” His bright eyes glittered with humorous sarcasm.

“Fine,” I huffed. “You’re right.” Behind
the Jasmine figurine and the tiger was Aladdin and his monkey, Abu. “A monkey?”

“
Again, I’d be shot or taken to the nearest zoo.” He faced me. “Why an animal? How about your twin?” Suddenly looking at him was like looking in the mirror. He’d changed into my exact duplicate.

“Whoa. That’s cool.” I touched his face. “Okay, more freaky
than cool. I don’t know if I could deal with this.”

He switched back to himself. “Well, I look too old to go to school. I guess I could play your father?”

“Gross,” I said, trying to contain the strong attraction I held for him. It wouldn’t do for him to play my dad when my body responded to him the way it did.

“Why gross?” He reached out a
nd grabbed my waist, pulling my body against his.

I stopped breathing. My mind stopped thinking. Everything froze and all that was left was Laeddin, his lips, and his very sexy body touching mine.

“Jasmine? What’s wrong?”

I pushed hi
m away. He was toying with my emotions. He obviously knew what he was doing. “Nothing. Just no to the parental idea.” I meandered into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. It was bare, as were the rest. I flipped a switch but the light didn’t turn on. I tried to call upon my power to turn on the light but nothing happened.

“
No wings. No magic, remember?” Laeddin walked into the kitchen.

“
Right, a regular teenager with a craving for blood.”

“Correct,” Laeddin smirked.

I pulled open the refrigerator. A pungent odor wafted out. “I’m going to need electricity and groceries and…” I spun in a circle. “I’m going to need a lot of stuff.”

“
Nasty.” Laeddin wrinkled his nose at the smell. He snapped his fingers. The smell instantly vanished. Fruits and vegetables appeared on the refrigerator shelves; as did the light.

“Nice,” I said,
taking an apple and pressing it to my lips. Before I bit, I asked him, “So I’m regular, right? I don’t need blood to sustain me anymore?”

Laeddin looked away.

“Come on. What kind of genie are you?”

Laeddin chuckled. “It has to do with your wish. What you asked for.” He took the apple and bit into it. “Delicious.”

I crossed my arms. “So what? Do I need to wish that I’m no longer a vampire?”

He threw the apple
’s core in the trash. “You could, but I don’t think you should.” He looked away. “I mean it isn’t my place to tell you how to wish or what to wish for.” Laeddin bowed low at the waist. “I am simply your humble servant.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t bow to me.” Laeddin’s scrutiny seemed to tear into my soul. “You aren’t my servant. We’re
going to be friends.” I patted his cheek, ignoring my pangs of desire. I wanted us to be more than friends.

Laeddin took my hand. “I appreciate that
’s what you might think, but the truth is, until your three wishes are granted, I am your servant.”

I gave an exasperated sigh.

“I like you too. But if you knew anything about genies, you’d know we can’t consider ourselves equal when one does the wishing.” He pointed at me. “And the other,” he smacked a hand against his chest, “must grant it.”

I went to
the bar stool and slumped over, resting my head in my hands. “Why should you be my servant…” I shrugged. “Or whatever, if I didn’t call upon you… or something.” It was confusing. “Wasn’t I supposed to rub a lamp? Where is your lamp?”

Laeddin sat beside me. “The cave you and Sabrina often visited. That was the inside of my lamp. Basically from the moment you found it, I’ve been your servant. I was just
worried about showing myself to you.

“Why me and not Sabrina?”

“Simple. You brought Sabrina into the cave. You found the cave. It’s been you for a long time.”

“Oh,” I said, lifting my head and looking at him. “And I shouldn’t wish to no longer be a
vampire?”

He shook his head, a strange emotion flitting across his face. “No, please don’t do that.”

I bit my bottom lip. “Okay. So, I guess I’m wingless and I can’t do any magic, but I still have to drink blood?” That was upsetting. There was nothing ordinary about a girl with the need for a liquid diet.

“Now you get it.”

“I guess,” I said, straightening up. I had my wish. I’d figure out the blood situation later. “So what are the fruits and veggies for? Just part of the typical teenager show?” I asked, giggling not unlike a little girl.

Chapter 7

“Well that.” He paused
and patted his stomach. “And I’m a vegetarian. You’ll need to feed your servant, don’t you think?” He bowed low.

I giggled. “
How very manly of you.” Then I got serious. “So you’re going to stay around? You won’t leave me in this house alone?”

Laeddin picked up my hands. “Correct.”

My fingers found the tattoos and I traced them with my fingers. That seemed to make him nervous. He gently pulled away, taking another bite of apple. “But you’re only allowed to boss me around when you have friends over. And then only within reason.” Laeddin smirked. “Treat me like family.”

“Fine,”
I said. That reminded me. “Do you know where my mom’s dad and stepmother are? They won’t come back to the house while we’re here, will they?” Part of me was excited by the prospect of seeing my grandfather. My mom hadn’t told me much about him, but I still wanted to meet him.

Laeddin’s face fell. “Didn’t you know? Your grandfather died a couple of
years ago. It was very sudden. The doctors couldn’t figure out what happened.”

“Oh.” Sadness ripped at my heart. “My mom didn’t tell me. I wonder if she knows.”

“She does. She arranged for his funeral and took care of the other necessities required. She kept the house but recently put in on the market. We’ve officially purchased it. So it now belongs to you.” He went to the front room and touched a green and white For Sale sign leaning near the door. 

“Okay,” I said, feeling bad that my mom neve
r mentioned such a sad moment in her life. She must’ve felt something at the loss of her father. I knew it would break my heart to lose my dad. “And my grandfather’s wife?”

“Soon after your grandfather’s death, Vivianne disappeared. No one has seen or heard from her for months.”

I got off the stool and went to the stairs. “You know where she is though, right?”

He shook his head. “I can’t see her. I’m not sure what happened to her. It’s
as though she vanished.”

“That’s weird.” I started climbing
the stairs to see what was on the second floor. Laeddin followed.

The house smelled of Laeddin, like warm spic
es and zesty orange. I inhaled deeply. When I reached the top of the stairs I looked over the railing, down into the living room.

“It is very weird,” he agreed.

“Should I be worried?” I glanced back, waiting for his answer.

“I don’t think so. She never really liked your mom or this place, so it
’s highly unlikely, if she is still alive, that she’ll return here.”

I nodded
. “You’re probably right.”

“Of course I am. Besides
we own the property now. She’d be trespassing.” He moved to the first closed door and pushed it open.

“Okay
,” I said, stepping around him and into the bedroom. It was big. I guessed it was my grandfather’s and his wife’s room. It was nice.

“I want to see my mom’s
old room,” I said, continuing down the hall. When I came to the only other bedroom door, I froze. The door was closed, but I knew that it had to have been my mom’s. Suddenly I felt like I was spying. She hadn’t shared a lot about living in the house or living in the human world. It reminded me that I didn’t even know what her favorite color was.

“You going in?” Laeddin asked.

I turned the handle and pushed open the door. Purple. Every inch of the room was covered in purple. “I never would’ve guessed,” I said, stepping inside.

“Me either,” Laeddin agreed walking over to the dresser.

I followed him and leaned in, checking out the pictures pinned to the corkboard above. There were photos of all seven of Professor Pops’ adopted sons, including my father, Dorian; as well as my aunt Cindy and my mom. Even though my mom still looked the same, she seemed younger in the pictures. She dressed like a tomboy. Her hair was short and she wore no makeup. “Wow.” I took down a picture of Cindy and my mom.

“Yeah,” L
aeddin added.

“My mom
looks so young.” I glanced at Laeddin. His closeness took my breath away.

“She’s lovely.”

For some reason his comment made me jealous. “I guess.” I put the picture back and pulled open the top drawer. It was empty, as was the next. I went to the closet and pulled it open. It was empty too. “What am I going to do about clothes?”

Laeddin smiled. “Well,” he walked into the bathroom. I followed. “I could just snap my finger
s and you’d have more clothes than you knew what to do with.” He caught and held my eyes in the mirror.

“Yes, I suppose,” I said.

“Or,” he turned and leaned down so that his cheek touched mine, his lips next to my ear. “We could go shopping.” His breath tickled my neck and I shivered.

I grinned so big I thought my cheeks would break.

“You cold?” he asked. But I felt him smile. He knew the effect he was having.

“No,” I said turning slightly so that I could see his eyes. My bottom lip brushed against his and a bolt of electricity shot through my body. “Oh,” I gasped.