GRAVEYARD GLAM
I never expected that I'd have a "girls' night" with Mrs. Sterling. Becky-always a given. My mom-when we both were in good moods.My aunt Libby-when I'd visit her in Hipsterville .But Mrs.
Sterling?The mother of my true love? I couldn't have dreamed of this night, even with my outlandish overactive imagination. And it was about to take place.
I had to wonder what her motives might be. Was she trying to get the scoop on how I really felt about Alexander? Or was this a chance to get the scoop on me?
Either way, I didn't care. I was preparing to go out with the most fabulous, ghoulish mom on the planet. Everything was working out after all. I got to meet Alexander's parents, have some adult vampire time, and would soon get lull reign of the Mansion again.
I parked my bike at the Mansion's gate at dusk and knocked on the door. Instead of being greeted by Alexander, Jameson bid me welcome.
"Hello, Miss Raven. Mrs. Sterling is looking forward to your visit. If you'll wait in the parlor room, she will be with you shortly."
I was leafing through Romanian Castles when I felt a presenceat the doorway.
Mrs. Sterling, in a black floor-length V-neck dress and a lovely hat secured with a lavender lace scarf, extended her hand to me. Glistening jewels sparkled on her long medieval purple fingernails. "I've been waiting for a night like tonight for centuries."
"Me, too," I said.
"There is something I'd like to show you." She held out an antique photo album.
Jameson brought us a tray of drinks and set them on a side table. There was a tall red drink with a celery stick garnish and a Coke with an umbrella.
"You remind me so much of someone I know," she saidin a sultry voice."Who?" I asked. "Alexander's grandmother," she answered.
"Really?"
"Here's a picture of her." Mrs. Sterling opened the weathered photo album. "This is my husband's mother." She showed me a picture of a thin woman with high cheekbones and Alexander's soulful eyes.
Some of the pages were fraying away from the binding and a few pictures were coming unglued. "This Mansion meant everything to her. And so did her family. As you might know, she and Alexander's grandfather were barons. They kept company with heads of state and other royalty, such as kings and queens acrossEurope ."
I knew it! She is going to tell me that I'm not of royal blood-therefore I'm not worthy of her son.
"But they escapedRomania ," she continued, "when the family was being persecuted. She saved them, really. If it wasn't for her quick thinking, there would never have been a safe Constantine and never an Alexander. She kept the royal bloodline alive. And that is very important to all of us."
"Wow- she sounds very brave," I began to say.
"When it was safe,Constantine went back toRomania . His mother remained here."
I hung on her every word.
"Did Alexander tell you why he moved here?" she asked.
"Yes, but he may have left something out. He can be mysterious."
"Our family had an arrangement with the Maxwells - another prominent and noble family inRomania
-with their daughter, Luna. We wanted to carry on our royal bloodline. It was very important to Mr.
Sterling, you see. He's spent so much time worrying about his mother, isolated in this mansion, away from our own kind. He wanted someone for Alexander who would be like us-who would make us all happy.
What we didn't realize was that on the big day the one person whomattered the most wasn't happy: Alexander.
"Luna was a fine girl and the Maxwells are a wonderful family. But when Alexander rejected them, it sent our world into chaos. The only safe haven was for Alexander to come here and live in the Mansion.
Away from the Maxwells .
"My heart broke that day. Alexander has been so far away from me. And now that we have returned for him, there was something else we didn't plan on: You."
I didn't know what to say.
"I was a lot like you when I was your age."
"Were you an outsider?" I asked.
"Yes, and I dressed in wild outfits and danced at parties until sunrise."
I wondered what could be wilder than the attire she was already sporting.
"When I met Mr. Sterling everything fell into place. However, his mother was unlike all of us. She was courageous and regal-and mortal. I never could live up to her image. Mr. Sterling and Alexander think you are like her."
"Courageous?"
"Yes. And she was a true outsider.In her world and in ours. But she was hot-blooded about the Underworld. You have a passion for our world that we don't even have. And that you share with Alexander's grandmother.
"I just wanted you to know that by dating Alexander-there are concerns we have. We wouldn't be responsible adults if we didn't look out for you - just as we would for our own son," she went on.
Do you want me to be turned?I wanted to say. Just say the date. But I knew it wasn't that simple.
And Mrs. Sterling didn't appear to be heading down that path.
"Now, enough serious talk," she continued. "I'd like to have a little girl time."
"Fine by me."
"Are there any tattoo parlors?" she asked with a whimsical laugh.
"Not around here."
"Soothsayers?"
"A few towns over."
"Any snake charmers?"
"Only once a year, when the carnival comes to visit."