Page 15 of What Happened on Roslyn Street?
“Fine. There were multiple reasons.”
I should drop it, but no matter how much I want to stop caring, it still hurts. Margaux may think she was protecting me, but it feels like I never knew my best friend.
“Why haven’t I met your parents before?” I ask in a soft voice. “You’ve met mine a hundred times.”
“More than a hundred times,” she says. “But if you think I was bringing my friends home to a house full of vampires, you’re sorely mistaken. My family isn’t normal. They’re not like yours.”
“You couldn’t pretend to be a normal family for a day or two?”
“No,” she says. “We’re not a family at all—we’re a coven. I have siblings who aren’t mysiblings—they’re people my father turned. And if you think I’m a piece of work, wait until you meet my mother.”
“Does that mean I get to meet her too?” I perk up, grinning.
“No!” She tosses an arm over her eyes. “You cannot, and you do not wish to. Besides, she’s traveling.”
“Whatareyour parents?” I’m probing, but if I can press anyone, it’s Margaux. Not only does she like listening to herself talk, but I think she still trusts me. “Are they dhampirs like you, or are they… turned?”
“My father is a dhampir,” she says. “He’s from a long, powerful line. Dhampirs aren’t usually given immortality, but he was. Do you want to guess how old he is?”
“And ruin my fantasy?”
She groans. “Tobey! Stop! That’s my father!”
“Sorry.” My lips twitch. “How old is he?”
“He is over three hundred years old. Too old for you.”
“A little, but considering my track record with partners my age, I may want to try something new.”
Margaux silences me with a glare.
“As for my mother,” she says, “she is a full, turned vampire.”
I pause, processing the information. “Are you telling me your father…?”
I can’t put it into words. Turning someone may be romantic among vampires, but I’m new to this world! It’s so,socreepy.
I’ve known a few people who were obsessed with the idea. They would loiter around the gatesto Strode, waiting for someone to swoop them up. To me, it always seemed like a good way to end up dead in a ditch.
Poppy was found on Roslyn Street, just outside of Strode. She wasn’t one of those desperate people waiting around for a vampire to take them and give them a new life… was she?
There’s no way of knowing. We were drifting by the time she died. I was living in Portland, and Margaux was hiding half her life from us. I didn’t realize how far we’d drifted until it was too late.
I’m going to make up for that now.
“He turned her,” Margaux says, confirming my thoughts. “I know what you’re thinking, and…”
“Doyou know?” I lean forward, inspecting her. “Will you ever turn someone?”
“I can’t,” she says. “I’m not an immortal dhampir. It’s not an option for me.”
“But it can be someday?”
She nods, avoiding my gaze.
“What will you do then?” I ask.
“I don’t know! I haven’t thought that far ahead, but—what am Isupposedto do if I find someone to love and they’re going to die? Do I just let them?”
