Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

“Sewing needles, mostly. Tweezers.”

“Oh, darling.” Mother burst into tears. “I’ve failed you as a mother!”

“No, you haven’t. I did this to myself, not you.”

“We should see Dr. Julia.”

“Mom-“

“Sarah, Reese is right. These do look and smell infected. I can smell the infection from here. I will pick up some antibiotic ointment, and I want you to apply it to your breasts every day and night. Am I clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Very good. Thank you for informing me, Reese. You are now my favorite child.”

“Yeah, right. We all know she’s your favorite.”

Mother said nothing and straightened up the pillows on the bed.

Sarah hid her face behind a book.

“What’s that book about?”

“It’s about an angel who falls in love with a human.”

“That’s taboo.”

“To angels, it is. To humans like me, it’s kind of hot.”

“Do you wish I was an angel?”

“No, I like you the way you are. I don’t want to be the reason for your damnation.”

“No, you can blame my parents for that.”

“You’re not damned, Reese.”

“Not because I’m a vampire, but because I am a product of rape. Remember, my father practically raped my mother.”

“Does that mean Cirino is damned?”

“No, he’s just a baby.”

“I hope none of my babies are damned. I had another dream about the kids. Caitlin this time. She was so beautiful, Reese. She’s going to have your eyes and my hair. And Cynthia, she’s going to be beautiful as well. She will have blonde hair and green eyes, and Enna will have your black hair and my eyes. Joe’s going to look like you.”

“I can’t wait to meet them, especially Jojo. My only son.”

“Who knows? We might have more.” She shuddered. “They’ll be worth it, though.”

“What?”

“The labor pains.”

“I’ll be there the whole time to ease your pains. I don’t care if you break my hand, even.”

“Like I could.”

“As a vampire, you could.”

We got word a week later of our guards. Toby survived, but Spencer was hanging on by a thread. Toby spent all his time with Spencer, not even eating or sleeping. When I went to the hospital room to check on him, Toby was holding Spencer’s hand and staring at him.

“I don’t know what I’d do if he died,” he said. “Spencer, please live. I’m sorry I’m such a bad guard.”

“It’s not your fault, Toby,” Uncle Soren said, replacing the dead flowers in the vase with live ones. “It’s mine. I should not have left. I should have had more guards present.”

I noticed tears glistening on Toby’s cheeks. Clear tears with a slight red coloration. Sarah entered the room, sipping her Starbucks coffee.

“I made this,” she said, handing Toby a homemade get-well card.

“Thank you, Sarah,” he said, opening it up. “Spencer, Sarah made us a card. Do you want to thank her?”

Spencer stirred, his mouth opening slightly. Then it closed, and his eyes did not open.

“She’s here, and so is Reese and Prince Soren,” Toby said. “They came to see you, and to replace the flowers. They love and care about you, Spence. As do I. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it before, but we are soulmates. You’re mine, and I’m yours. Please wake up.”

Spencer’s head moved. His mouth opened again, then closed. His eyes remained shut.

“I love you, Spence,” Toby continued. “I’m glad you refused to take no for an answer.” He winced and glanced at Sarah, who was playing with the label on her coffee cup.

When we got home, we saw a horrid sight. Louis and a female vampire, staring each other across the yard. At first I thought it was Chris, because of the blonde hair and leather jacket, then I saw that it wasn’t Chris at all; it was a new vampire with short blonde hair in a pixie cut and bright blue eyes. Scars dotted her face and neck, her skin was pale porcelain.

Louis was clearly smitten. He was smiling in that dopey way that he does whenever he meets a pretty girl.

“Hello, cousin, Father, Sarah,” he said. “This is…um…”

“My name is Samantha,” she said, offering her hand. “Samantha Sanderson. I’m Chris’ younger sister. I was sent here as extra protection.”

“May I see some ID?” Uncle Soren asked. She flipped open a billfold. “That seems to be in order. I’m glad you’re here at last; the boy needs protection. Both boys do, actually. Chris has charge of Sarah.”

“My sister speaks highly of you,” she told Sarah. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You, too. Chris talks about her sisters all the time.”

“Good things, I hope?”

“Of course.”

“She’s lying,” Louis teased. “Chris tells me you’re single. I need someone to keep me warm.” He gave her a roguish wink, and she glared at him.

“I am here for the sole protection of you and your family,” she said. “I have no time for other entertainment.”

“Other entertainment?” I said aloud. Uncle Soren smacked me upside the head.

“Quiet, Reese. Welcome to our home, Samantha. Your accommodations are upstairs, to the south wing. My other guards also have bedrooms in that wing. One of them is taken, but you are welcome to choose another.”

“Thank you,” she said. She grabbed a couple of suitcases which I had not seen earlier, slung a crossbody purse over her shoulder, and went into the mansion.

“Just one bedroom is taken?” I asked.

“Yes, didn’t you hear? Toby moved into Spencer’s room.”

“Not much space in that room.”

“Yes, but they’ll manage. If need be, they can move into the guest house.”

“Do you trust her?” I asked.

“I trust no one at the start,” Uncle Soren replied. “Except Mitra.”

“He eats a hearty bowl of suspicious for breakfast,” Louis teased. “Seriously, though, Dad, why didn’t you stop me?”

“Hush, you. She will be given a one-month probation period. If she has proven trustworthy and fulfilled all her duties, then we will keep her, my knuckleheaded offspring.”

Louis frowned at him, then went back into the mansion.

“I will mark our territory,” Uncle Soren said, unzipping his pants. He sniffed the air. “Vampires have been here recently, and I don’t just mean Bartimaeus and Isaiah. Want to help, Reese?”

“Sure,” I said. “A mixture of our scents could scare them off more efficiently.”

I unzipped my pants. I went into the edge of the woods and marked the territory. I went around the territory, going as far as the cemetery, but it felt wrong to urinate in a cemetery, so I just urinated around the borders.

Vampires don’t normally urinate or have bowel movements-we don’t eat solid food, so we can’t. But we can “urinate” our own mixture of blood and DNA to mark our territory. It’s generally more effective than simply spreading around our scents outward from our skin and hair.

Sarah came around later in the afternoon, flanked by Chris, who greeted Samantha with a hug. Samantha and Sarah were introduced, and they talked about drawing, which Sarah was good at and Samantha apparently enjoyed doing. Sarah showed her a few pictures she’d drawn- of Sabine, Selena, Cirino, Kieran, Spunk, Coffee, flowers, a deer skull, which Sarah said she and Selena had found while on a walk one day.

They seemed to like each other. I found out that Samantha was in fact bisexual, as well, and we had a lively discussion about things we wished people would understand about bisexuality.

“I actually hate shopping,” I told Samantha. “Even if I’m just shopping for myself, I really hate shopping. Mostly, I buy books and music.”

“I buy clothes and makeup,” Sarah said cheerfully. “Speaking of which, how do you like these new skinny jeans, Reese?”

“They look good on you,” I said. “But the point is, when Ariella first found out I’m bi, she wanted to take me shopping. She actually managed to drag me to the mall, and we spent two hours going in women’s stores. The only store we both liked was Hot Topic. Ari bought some Pokémon shirts, and I bought a bottle of black nail polish.”

“You used to wear nail polish?!”

“And eyeliner. I still have a MAC eyeliner that’s probably no good anymore. You can have it. I probably still have the nail polish, too.”

“Where’s my vampire goth prince?” she teased.

“Oh, he’s here. He’s just matured.”

“Do they always banter like this?” Samantha asked Chris.

Chris chuckled. “You should hear them talk about books and music. He’s really into heavy metal and goth rock, and she prefers pop and soft rock. Even their bookshelves are a mix-horror books next to chick-lit. They’re total opposites, but they do have some things in common, and that makes them all the more perfect for each other.”

“How did your father react when you told him you’re bi?” Samantha asked me.

“He was totally supportive. He’s bi, too, but whatever you do, don’t mention his love life. Faolan hates him right now, because I made a mistake involving his adopted daughter, Sadie, and she killed herself after I got back with Sarah.”

Sarah stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. “I’ve already forgiven him, and her, for it. He is pretty darn gorgeous.”

“I’m technically half-werewolf,” I said. “I was bitten by one months ago, but I take a potion for it.”

“And you’ve never been able to get rid of the infection?”

“It’s funny-the first time I was bitten, one of my uncle’s witch friends was able to get rid of the infection, but I haven’t seen her since I was bitten again.”

“You saw a witch?” Sarah’s eyes narrowed.

“Well, yeah, babe, I kind of had to. She was supposedly the best. And she was able to get rid of the infection.”

“What about Mason?”

“What about him?” I asked darkly.

“Go see him, or Krauvas. Get rid of the infection once and for all.”

“I don’t trust him.”

“Reese, please.” I leaned on the table, and she stood behind me, her hands on my back. “Baby, please. Go see Krauvas. Make up with Mason.”

“He likes you.”

“He also liked Scarlett, and look how that turned out. Please, baby.”

“Oh, all right. I’ll call him. But I don’t trust him.”

“Reese Mordecai Emerson, he’s your friend!”

Just then, as if he was summoned, my father entered the room.

“Father, you’re back already!”

“Yes,” he said happily. “Oh, hello, Sarah. Hello, Samantha. I see you’ve met my son.”

“Yes, we were just having a discussion about bisexuality,” she said. “Mostly complaining about the stigmas and myths attached to it.”

“I see. Well, everything went well. Soren told me about what happened with Bartimaeus. That was enough to seal it. The Council has decided to retire Bram, and Cecilia Flam is taking over as Head.”

“I know her,” I said. “She said I looked like my mother once.”

“Yes, she and your mother are friends. It was a majority, eleven to one. The only one who disagreed was Bram himself. They’ve decided to abolish his suggested laws, and come up with new, better laws. Soon, hunting will become a thing of the past. Blood from bloodbanks will become a worldwide thing. And guess who owns all the vampire bloodbanks? Me! And your uncle, of course, and Louis, and yourself.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Sarah said.

“Sarah, it’s a wonderful thing! Alexander will get a portion of the profits, and so will Marina, which in turn will get you more profits.”

“More money for shopping?” she brightened.

“Whatever you want. But personally, I’d invest a few thousand dollars, buy some stocks. Amazon and Facebook are doing well right now.”

“Even richer?” Her eyes widened. She looked at me. “Reese, how much did you say your family earns in a year?”

“About a hundred billion. This new investment will double, no, triple that.”

“That is nice, but I still want to work.” She looked at my father.

“You’re always welcome to work at Emerson’s Electronics. I’ll give Richard a call if you want me to.”

“Nah, Richard likes me. I’ll call him myself. But I like working for Lucy.” Her brow furrowed.

“You could work two jobs,” I said.

“I could, but I have so many other activities, including cheerleading and the study group. And Sabine wants me to teach her how to play piano.”

“I could do that,” I said.

She grimaced. “No, offense, Reese, but you kind of scare her.”

“She didn’t seem scared when I first met her.”

“Yes, but that was before