Free Fang Girl by Helen Keeble Page A

sort of massive feud going on, because he’s like the vampire Godfather or something, but Lily managed to escape from his evil organization—”
    “Um.” Ebon half raised his hand. “I really—”
    “And she vamped me in the hospital because she felt sorry for me, but Hakon doesn’t like that, so she thinks they might want to get me too. But it’s okay!” I said hastily as both my parents drew sharp intakes of breath. I waved my hands at Ebon. “See, she sent Ebon to protect me!”
    “ Actually ”—Ebon finally managed to jam a word in edgewise—“Hakon sent me.”
    Silence fell. We all stared at him.
    “Um,” he said. His ears were turning pink. “The situation is not quite as you think.” He sighed, running one hand through his spiked hair. “ Ma chérie , I’m afraid that your sire has not been entirely truthful with you. There are no, ah, evil vampires out to kill you. Only the hunters, who always plague us.”
    I remembered the way my attackers hadn’t recognized Hakon’s name, and my stomach lurched in sudden uncertainty. “But … Lily said …”
    “Your sire,” Ebon said, “is a liar. And very dangerous. Madame, monsieur.” He turned to my parents, his face grave. “I think you will agree that a virtuous individual would not bring a young girl into this life without her parents’ consent, let alone encourage her to then run away from her own family.”
    Mum was nodding. Dad said nothing, his expression neutral, but his artist eyes were scrutinizing Ebon as intently as if preparing to paint him. Zack just looked utterly thrilled with everything.
    I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling. “And I suppose you’re going to say that Hakon is actually the good guy here.” Despite my sarcasm, I was badly shaken. In retrospect, Lily’s voice was starting to sound a little too smug, a little too unnecessarily mysterious. And it was hard to doubt the sincerity of someone who’d confronted two armed men for me.
    Ebon hesitated. “Hakon is … Hakon. I cannot claim that he is the gentlest of souls. He was born a Viking, which gives him a perspective sometimes at odds with current mores. But his greatest desire is simply for order and peace. It is he who keeps us hidden and safe from mortals—and who keeps mortals safe from those Blood who would otherwise prey indiscriminately upon them.Which is why your sire is adamantly opposed to him.”
    “Hmm.” Dad’s tone was noncommittal. “And you work for this Hakon? Is he your sire?”
    “Alas, no. My own sire is … currently in retreat, forcing me to find an alternative patron.” Ebon spread his hands, palms up. “It may perhaps stand as a testament to Hakon’s character that it is he that I chose to swear myself to, and although I am not of his Bloodline, he accepted my oath.”
    “So … that kind of makes you my adoptive cousin or something?” I had a sinking feeling that vampiric social relations were going to prove even more complicated than school cliques.
    He cocked his head at me. “No. Why?”
    “Lily said Hakon was her sire’s sire.”
    “I see.” Ebon rested his elbows on his knees, his face pensive. “So she does indeed seek to conceal her true name and nature from you. She is not Hakon’s descendant, ma chérie . She is more ancient than that. She is more ancient than my own sire’s sire, who once fought in the great Colosseum at Rome. She is, in fact, the very oldest among us. She is a Bloodline unto herself. She has always walked alone, seeding war in her wake but creating no descendants … until you.”
    “Why?” Mum said, her voice sharp with anxiety. “Why Xanthe?”
    Ebon shook his head slowly. “We do not know. But it can mean nothing good. When Hakon learned of this, he dispatched as many men as he could muster to hound your sire, to keep her from returning to complete whatever plan she has.”
    I swallowed. “You keep saying ‘your sire.’ What’s her real name?”
    Ebon hesitated again. “Perhaps