Page 26 of Night of the Vampire
"Not just us. You, too," Alex said.
My arms fell to my sides as I barked out a short laugh. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm no witch. I can't even keep a cake from collapsing in the oven."
"There's a spell for that," Alice told me.
I stared at her, half wondering if they were all crazy and half wondering if the spell would really work because I really liked cake.
"Ever set fire to anything without matches?"
I met Angel's hostile look with one of my own. The question wasn't hypothetical.
Motherfucker. She knew about me. Knew what I'd done in New York, and apparently to my own apartment last night while I was sleeping. I looked at each of them in turn. None of them were surprised by the question. "You all know about me." But that was impossible. I'd never told anyone anything about the fire in New York, and my apartment had just burned down last night.
Alice and Alex exchanged frowns. Then they did the same with Talin before she shook her head. "We didn't know anything about you until just today."
"If we had, it might have made all of this easier." Although the statement was directed at me, Talin was looking at my...our aunt.
She didn't rise to the bait. "No one knows anything about you, Lizzy. Not even me. Not really. Your mother took you away from us before any magic you might possess became apparent. And that's exactly what we're here to discover."
"I don't understand how my mother knew about all of this. About all of you," I pointed to my newfound cousins. "And never told me."
"She did," Talin told me. "I remember my parents talking about her. I use to wonder about this 'secret' cousin of mine." Leaning back against the table, she crossed her arms over her chest. "At least when I was a kid. Honestly, I'd forgotten about you."
"Thanks."
She shrugged. "I was thirteen. I had other things to worry about."
"Like what guy you were going to fuck that weekend?" Angel asked her.
"Fuck off," Talin responded. The words were said almost automatically, like they'd had similar exchanges so many times before the passion behind it was gone but she still told her off out of habit.
Alice smiled at me. "I'd love to get to know you now, Lizzy."
Her sincerity was a bit overwhelming for me. To stabilize myself, I focused on my aunt, but she was watching the others.
"We're getting sidetracked here," Angel said. "You never answered my question."
"Or, did she?" Talin asked her.
"Lizzy?"
I looked back at my aunt. There was no way in hell I was going to admit what had happened in New York. I didn't trust any of these people. I didn't even know if I trusted my aunt after all of this.
As if she could see my indecision, she said, "You need to tell us, Lizzy."
No. No, I didn't. I would end up in jail. Or worse. A mental facility.
I was suddenly angry. "If you're so concerned about all of this, why are you waiting until just now to say anything?" I asked my aunt. "I would think if you were so worried about me and what I could or couldn't do you wouldn't have waited until I was almost forty to throw all of this at me."
"Lizzy..."
"You know what? I think it's time you all got out of my store. And I'd like my spare key back, please."
No one moved.
"I mean it. I own this store now. It's mine. And I want you all out."
My aunt studied me for a moment. "Do as she says," she told them.
