Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

in my family can. However, we can communicate telepathically, and my father gets flashes of the present. We also have the ability to hypnotize others.”

“Can I see your fangs?” Caden asked.

I obligingly grew my fangs, amused by my classmates’ shock.

“Have you ever bitten anyone?” Tiffany Schulton asked.

“I have. I turned Evan Byrd into a vampire.”

“Do you have soulmates?” Elliot asked.

“Yes. Sarah is my soulmate. Each person on Earth has two or more potential soulmates, but only one true soulmate. Sarah is mine.”

“And you’re okay with this?” Elliot said to her.

“Well, I can’t say that I won’t miss the sun, but I think I’ve mostly accepted my fate.”

I was happy to hear that.

“Does the sun burn you?” Caden asked.

“Yes. I can only spend a few minutes in the open sun, and then I start to feel nauseous and my skin burns. I can handle cloudiness, but nighttime really is the best time for us. We can see in the dark like a cat. And yes, I sleep, but not in a coffin. In a regular bed.”

“Do all vampires wear black?” Tiffany asked.

“That, like most things, varies with the vampire. I recently met a female vampire who dresses sort of tomboyish. She calls herself a guardian of the Lenape tribe.”

“You didn’t tell me about this,” Sarah said.

“I have no excuse. Her name’s Mitra, and she’s a member of the Lenape. My uncle is taken with her.”

“Are werewolves real?” Dante asked.

“Yes. They’re big, ugly, and stinky.”

The door opened again, and in came Ariella Spears and Damon Sage.

Damon immediately kicked the door, which did nothing.

“Fuck,” he said. He turned around and looked at me. “Oh, it’s you. What are you dorks doing here?”

“Watch it, wolf,” I warned. Ariella looked at me wide-eyed. “They already know. We’ve been telling each other secrets. You already know mine.”

“I’m so tired,” Sarah complained, leaning against me. I kissed her hair.

“Try to sleep. I’ll wake you up when my father gets here.” She held herself and put her head in my lap. I pet her while Ariella and Damon sank against the wall.

It didn’t take long for us to be rescued, though. The door opened, and there stood my uncle, looking surprised.

“You are all free, children,” he said. “The police would like statements from each of you.”

“Damn vampires,” Damon said. “Damn cops.”

Sarah woke up and grabbed her shoes. I carried her out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Several students from Martin Luther King Jr. High School have been charged with kidnapping and imprisonment of several students from North Hampton High School. Each of the students from Martin Luther King claim they only did it as a Halloween prank. The parents of the North Hampton students, however, don’t find it funny. One parent, Mordecai Emerson, had this to say:”

“I’m appalled at the sheer gall of these students. If my son hadn’t gotten a cell phone signal, I would have not known until it was too late. Upset does not even begin to cover my emotions. I’m glad my son and the other children are okay now. I think there needs to be consequences.”

“Mordecai Emerson was not the only parent upset about the incident. The mother of another student said that her daughter was forced to tell the other students her secrets because the only way that they’d escape, they were told, was if they told each other their secrets. One student was only pretending to be a vegetarian. The female student in question had a crush on another female student in the room. One student even claimed to be a vampire.”

“I’m not happy with you,” Grandfather told me for the tenth time.

“For the last time, Father, it was not his fault,” Uncle Soren on my behalf. “He was forced to tell the truth. Somehow, one of the King students found out who Mordecai is.”

“When I find out who did it, I’ll rip his throat out,” Father said for the zillionth time.

“As will I,” Apollo said.

“It was the Other Reese,” I said.

“Even if that was true, how can we know?” asked Louis. “None of the assholes showed their faces. They were all in costume.”

“Can’t you do a facial recognition software thing?” I asked.

“It doesn’t work like that, little buddy. Their faces were just too obscured.”

Father hugged me. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.”

“It’s not your fault,” I told him.

“Still, I should have been there. Shit…”

A gorgeous reporter appeared on the TV again.

“A video of what happened in the room has just been released. Here is the video.”

It started when I was shoved into the room with Duke and Noah. It played the whole conversation, including the part where Sarah entered, and including the part when I admitted that I’m a vampire prince.

“The Council is not going to like this,” Father said.

“Council?” I questioned.

“The Council is responsible for the vampire world when all of us are unavailable,” Louis said. “Grandfather is sick right now, and my father and your father are taking care of him. My dad doesn’t think I’m ready, and you’re too young. Those assholes think they run the world.”

“I’m not fond of them, either, but they are a necessity,” Father said.

“This is the first I’m hearing about it,” I said.

“Another piece of your father’s weak attempt to protect you from his world,” Uncle Soren said, folding his arms across his massive chest. Father’s lip twitched, and he gave his older brother a look that said he wanted to kill him. “Your fault, not mine, Mordecai.”

“Go to hell, Soren.”

“Be nice,” I warned him.

“I’ve been faking niceness since before Louis was born. I know how to be nice.”

“Clearly,” Uncle Soren said sarcastically.

“Arm wrestling contest?” Father asked him.

“You’re on.”

“It’s useless, he wins every time,” Louis muttered. Both our fathers ignored him and sat at the dining room table.

Shadowfang sat on my lap and watched the proceeding arm wrestling contest, in which Uncle Soren was once again the victor.

“Is this what vampires do to settle scores besides kill each other?” the big cat asked.

“It must be a vampire thing,” said Mishka. I did a double take. “Yeah, I can talk, too. Get over it. All of us cats can.”

“She’s not lying,” said Frodo.

“How…what…?”

“I can see you’re confused. Come on, you’re a smart guy, for a teenager. You knew we weren’t ordinary cats. Heck, Shadowfang is your familiar.”

“Why can’t he be my familiar?” Louis whined.

“I thought only witches had familiars,” I said.

“Not quite, Reese,” Apollo said, looking amused. “Humans, vampires, witches and warlocks, Elves, aliens all have familiars.”

“Aliens?”

“Don’t act dumb,” Louis said. “Only everyone on Earth has known that aliens exist for thousands of years. I met a pretty Pleiadean once. Damn, she was good in bed. Unfortch, her man had a thing or two to say when he caught us.”

Uncle Soren shook his head at Louis, muttering about whores and how Louis can’t stay away from anything with a vagina.

“Where’s my breakfast?” Shadowfang asked.

“You’ve already had it,” I told him.

“No, I meant my third breakfast of the day. Three breakfasts, two lunches, and three dinners. That’s how it goes.”

“Spoiled cat,” I muttered, grabbing some treats from the side table. “One of these days you’re going to get so big that you’ll be able to mop the floor with your belly.”

“Hey, I may not be as skinny as those cats on the litter commercials, but at least I’m not as fat as, say, Soren.”

“Hey, I’m not fat!”

“The scale begs to differ, brother,” Father teased him.

“Anyway, aliens?” I said.

“Don’t be stupid,” Shadowfang said. “Even I’ve seen them. I saw one at the Night Market when you and Soren went.”

“Huh? You were at the Night Market?”

“Yes. Of course, I could barely keep track of you, and a troll did try to eat me.” He shuddered, his black fur rippling. “How was I to know that you dingbats would nearly get yourselves killed? So I helped out in a few little ways.”

Father looked at him, then shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

“Elves,” Louis said.

“Yes, Elves are real,” I told him.

“No, I mean…do you remember the half-Elf who tried to keep you prisoner last year? Uriah Dreschler?”

“How could I forget?” I said sarcastically. Then something clicked. “Wait, you’re saying that what happened to me then and what happened to me a few days ago are related?”

“That’s exactly what he’s saying,” Shadowfang said. “I gave you too little credit, Louis. You’re not as stupid as you act.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

“What he’s saying makes sense,” Father said.

“Care to enlighten me?” Apollo asked. I gave him a brief description of the half-Elf half-human guy who tried to kidnap me last year.

“That’s also how we met Ethan Potter, who is the family nurse now,” I said.

“Interesting. A vampire working at a hospital. His control must be astounding. I understand the Elf working there, they have a penchant, a need, to nurture and care for others.”

“We have to question Dreschler,” Uncle Soren said. “I think I see the point you’re making, son.”

“I still don’t completely understand,” I said.

“Elves and vampires don’t like each other, little buddy,” Louis said.

“Wait, so you’re saying that Dreschler kept me hostage because he wanted to kill me?”

“Not necessarily. He could have wanted revenge.”

“For what?”

“Anything. Vampires have been killing Elves as long as we’ve been around. Their blood tastes even better than human blood, but the magic in their systems can have adverse effects. Not only that, but they’re more attuned with the planet, themselves, and other beings.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Father said.

“Go? Where?” I asked.

“To the hospital, to talk to Uriah Dreschler,” he said.

“Father, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s got the entire hospital security behind him.”

“Don’t be a wuss puss, Reese,” Louis said.

“I resent that,” Shadowfang said.

“Cats, bats, rats,” Louis replied.

“I think I remember mentioning that I don’t like rats at all. They’re disgusting little creatures intent on destroying all races.”

“Typical cat gibberish. Anyway, Uncle Mordecai and I will talk to this Dreschler guy. See if we get anywhere. We might bring him back for you, Reese.”

“I don’t think so,” Father growled.

“Dad,” I said, “I need to talk to Uriah. I’m old enough now to handle torture sessions, and I have. I’ve fought warlocks, crazy witches, a ghost, other vampires, and my own family for the past year or so. I can handle it.”

“Well…if you insist. My little boy’s growing up.”

“In Atlantis, boys were considered men at the age of sixteen,” Apollo said. “When I was king of the world, I had men to do my every bidding.”

“Yes, and look where that got you,” Uncle Soren muttered.

“Even a thousand years ago, I would have had all Elves killed if I’d known what was to happen.”

“You killed your wife because she had a sick baby,” Louis reminded him. Apollo frowned at the memory.

“Yes, I made a mistake. That will never happen again.”

“Well, we must go,” Father said. “Reese, stay here until I call you. Soren, if anything happens to Reese, I’ll rip your head off.”

“Such a sweet brother,” Uncle Soren retorted.

Father and Louis left to do their mission, while I sat on the couch and pet Shadowfang.

“Behind the ear…oh…little lower…by the tail…”

“Tell me about yourself, Reese,” Apollo said, sitting beside me.

“Okay, um…I have a girlfriend. Sarah Cresley. She’s a human. You might have met her. She’s a cute little brunette with green eyes and smooth brown skin. She has amazing curves, and she’s so sweet, and smarter than she gives herself credit for. Um, my favorite color is black, it’s pretty much the only color I wear. I really like hard rock, heavy metal, and goth rock. My favorite band and song varies depending on my mood. I like to read. I read almost every day. I like the classics, but I also like horror and thrillers and mystery. My favorite type of blood is type O, and my favorite book right now is David Copperfield. Tomorrow it will probably be something else. My favorite author is Stephen King. I apparently have a sister, but I’ve never met her. I didn’t even know about her until recently. I’m still trying to wrap my head around