Free Dance With a Vampire by Ellen Schreiber Page A

rolled off his tongue like smooth chocolate dairy soft serve being licked off a spoon. “How was your day?”
    “Same as every day—dreadful until sunset,” I replied.
    The only thing that kept me going through the day was knowing that atop Benson Hill was the most handsome guy I’d ever seen, my very own vampire-mate, sleeping in a coffin in the dusty attic of a creepy old mansion.
    “Should I meet you at the Mansion or are you going to pick me up?” I asked eagerly.
    There was silence on Alexander’s end.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    “I hate to do this to you…,” he said, his voice suddenly serious, “but I have to cancel tonight.”
    “Cancel?” It hit me like a closing coffin lid. “What’s wrong?”
    “Jameson has the car…and I want to check out the cave and cemetery for Valentine.”
    “I can ask my mom to drop me off instead.”
    “I want to do it alone,” Alexander said in a grave tone.
    “Alone?”
    Alexander didn’t respond. I knew he didn’t want to put me in harm’s way again, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
    Not only would I be missing a nocturnal adventure, I’d be missing precious time with Alexander. It was bad enough I had to be away from Alexander in the sunlight; I couldn’t face being away from him in the moonlight, too.

    “I’ll make it up to you,” he said in a bright voice. “I still haven’t given you the surprise I was going to give you at the cave.”
    For the next five minutes I tried whining, protesting, and attempting my tried-and-true manipulation tactics, but nothing worked. Alexander put his foot down, before he put the phone down.
    Then I tried arguing with my mother, but she wouldn’t let me borrow the car. I figured if I used Billy Boy’s bike, which had thicker tires than mine, I could meet Alexander at the cemetery before he started for the cave.
    I knocked on my brother’s door.
    “Go away!” I heard my annoying brother say.
    “I need to ask you for a favor,” I said sweetly.
    “I’m busy!”
    I slowly cracked open the door. My brother’s normally bright room was dark, except for a single desk lamp gently illuminating the room. He was sitting at his computer desk typing away on his keyboard with one hand and holding a gravestone etching in the other. To my surprise, there was someone sitting in a chair next to him—and it wasn’t Henry.
    I froze. Seated next to Billy Boy was a slightly smaller boy with powder white hair.
    I gasped.
    As if in slow motion, the vampire boy turned to me.
    Two glassy green eyes stared through me.
    Valentine looked like he’d been dead for more years than he’d been alive. He had a sullen, cadaverous, and almost handsome ghost white complexion, with soft bloodred lips. His long white shaggy hair hung over his face. He exuded an inner strength and, at the same time, a hint of frailty. Though he was only three-fourths my size and seemed like he could blow over with a gentle breeze, something told me he had the power to withstand the force of a storm.
    “What are you doing in here?” my brother asked, rising.
    “I didn’t invite you in.”
    “I need to speak with you,” I said sternly in a low voice.
    Valentine’s eyes bored through me. Chills ran down my spine like tiny jabbing icicles.

    “Get out. I have company,” my brother ordered.
    Billy Boy charged toward me. He braced the door with his skinny arms and tried to close it. I stopped it with my combat boot.
    “What is he doing here?” I whispered.
    “He’s spending the night.”
    My heart skidded to a stop. Spending the night? My brother obviously didn’t realize who—or what—he’d invited to share his bedroom.
    “He can’t stay here,” I warned softly.
    “I don’t tell you when Becky can come over. Since when did you become my mother?”
    “Where’s Henry?” I asked, stalling. “Shouldn’t you have invited him, too?”
    “He’s staying at his grandmother’s.”
    I glanced back at Valentine, whose green eyes glistened