Sleeping Beauty (22 page)

Slowing near the bottom, she stuck out her arms and legs to stop herself and then sprang to her feet. “That was fabulous!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. The sheep scattered at the startling sound of her voice. Looking up, she saw that the shepherds had spotted her now. She waved at them, and one waved back.

A lamb wandered toward her on wobbly legs, so she crouched down and reached toward it. Another sheep bent to grab a mouthful of grass, and Lucette realized that food might be a good way to lure the lamb. She pulled a handful of grass and clover and held it out for the animal.

She remained patient, and soon the lamb was in front of her, munching. Feeling a smile spread through her entire body, Lucette looked into the lamb's eyes and stroked its wool. Maybe killing that
vampire had been justified if she'd protected this sweet animal from bites.

She bent down and buried her nose in the lamb's wool—it was so soft—and another overwhelming desire took hold. She wanted to touch the wool—just once, just for a second—without her gloves. Just for a moment, she wanted to trace her fingers through the wool and pretend she was normal.

Her heart rate increased as she used her teeth to tug on the strap that held her glove tight. Excitement flowed through her as she used her left hand to slowly pull the glove from her right, then set it on her leg, careful not to let a stray piece of grass get inside. It would be ironic if, after removing her glove to pet a sheep, she pricked her finger on a blade of grass that had sneaked inside her glove.

She shook her head—she worried too much—and stretched her fingers toward the lamb, now happily sitting in the grass near her feet. She touched the wool between its ears. It was so soft and almost oily, better than she'd ever imagined it would feel.

She ran her fingers lightly over the animal and the lamb shook as if she'd tickled it, so she grew braver and dug her fingers right down into the wool to the lamb's warm skin.

Her finger struck something hard. The lamb jumped up, and she reached to calm it before looking down at her bleeding finger in horror. It was the last thing she saw.

Lucette woke with a start. Where was she? She spotted a quilt hanging over the end of the bed, woven in a multicolored diamond pattern. At the
foot of the bed was a plain chest made of a light wood with big brown knots, and next to it was her own traveling chest, metal covered in leather, the royal crest embossed on top.

She was in her bedroom at her grandparents' house.

A candle burned on the table beside the bed, and her sleeping mother's arm was draped across her. The last thing she remembered was petting that lamb. Foolishly, stupidly petting that lamb—with a bare hand. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but there must have been something sharp stuck in its wool—a thistle, perhaps.

She'd done it. She'd brought the curse down, not only on herself but on every citizen of Xandra. Fighting tears, she carefully lifted her mother's arm off of her, and then realized that no matter how rough she was, her mother wouldn't wake up.

After setting her mother's arm under the duvet, she kissed her sleeping face.“I'm so sorry, Mom. So sorry.” She got out of bed and spotted a note left for her next to the candle.

 

 

 

 

Lucette fought back the tears welling inside her. She would not break down—not on the very first night. But as reality sank in, her insides trembled. At this hour, she was the only person awake in the entire kingdom and vampires might at this very moment be rushing over the border. Her mother and grandparents—and presumably their ranch hands and friends—had been prepared for sundown. Would others in Xandra have collapsed in the streets? Would they wake tomorrow where they fell, some with bites on their necks?

A shiver ran through her as she thought of her father. Her knees crumbled and she dropped to the floor beside the bed. Vampires were targeting the palace specifically, targeting him. How could he possibly survive the night without a bite?

Allowing herself a few moments of despair, she pulled herself off the floor. So far away, there was nothing she could do for her father tonight. She had to hope that he was inside and safe. She picked up the candle and looked around. Someone, presumably her grandmother, had placed strings of garlic bulbs around the room. She shook her head. According to Tristan and what he'd passed on to her from his physiology classes, garlic was not a reliable defense against vampires.

She turned back to her sleeping mother, kissed her cheek, and then left to explore the rest of the house. In the kitchen, she discovered some food left out for her, and all over the house, more of the so-called vampire protection. Garlic was strewn everywhere, and on every windowsill and doorway was a line of what she first thought was sugar, but after tasting it realized was salt. Salt to deter vampires? Even
she
hadn't heard that one and doubted it worked.

The house was quiet save the tick of the mantle clock, so Lucette decided to go out to the barn to make sure the animals were okay,
wondering if they'd be asleep, too. She'd been told to stay inside, but the garlic and salt wouldn't keep her any safer than she'd be outside. At least outside she might see what was coming for her before it struck.

She stepped out into the cool night air. The moon hadn't yet risen above the mountains in the distance, and it was so dark that Lucette decided to retrieve a candle from the house before walking to the barn. From the rustling sounds she heard as she approached, and the braying and mooing as she opened the door, she realized that the curse affected only the people of Xandra and not their animals. She shivered, realizing that if more vampires like the one she'd killed in Thunder's stall showed up, without her protection, the poor farm creatures would be exposed to the beasts' undeterred appetites.

She had never heard of a vampire going after anyone's pets or animals back at the village, but she hoped everyone in Xandra had thought to coax their dogs and cats inside before sundown tonight. More likely, it would take a few days—rather, nights—before people developed routines and found ways to keep themselves and their animals safe.

Walking through the barn, the same as ever, her heart rate slowed and calm settled over her. The animals were fine, and better still, they were quiet. They had no idea of the horrible curse that had befallen the kingdom. Lucette set her quiver of stakes beside her, crouched down, and reached out to feel the straw on the barn floor with her bare hands. There was no point in wearing gloves anymore.

After a few hours spent petting and talking to the animals, boredom set in. As much as she loved sheep and horses, they weren't exactly gifted conversationalists, so she returned to the house to
make sure it remained vampire-free. After checking on her mother and grandparents, she had a small snack of homemade bread and strawberry jam, then returned to the barn. At least
there
she wasn't the only one awake. Some of the animals were sleeping, but not all, and stroking them, pressing her cheek into their warmth, gave her comfort.

Lucette left the barn door open for light—it seemed safer than candles with all the straw and dry wood scattered about—and she hoped the animals weren't getting cold.

Her instincts snapped to attention as a shadow stretched into the beam of moonlight reaching down the center of the barn floor. Another appeared, and she ducked her head and pulled out a stake. A cow mooed and shifted restlessly.

From inside the cow's pen, Lucette crept along the wall, her back to the barn entrance. Her position gave her the advantage of being hidden from whoever—or whatever—was making those shadows, but the disadvantage of not being able to see back toward the barn door. Was it possible that someone other than vampires was awake? Perhaps a werewolf from Lupinland, or one of the fairies? Had they come to help, after all? Lucette didn't see any wings on the shadows and really had no idea how to spot a werewolf, especially since she knew they could appear in human form.

“She's not in here,” a deep voice said.

“Could be hiding,” another voice said. “She wasn't in the house.”

Lucette held her breath.
They'd been in the house.
Guilt grabbed her and she hoped that her mother and grandparents had remained bite-free while she'd hung out in the barn instead of guarding her family.

“Let's go back and take some blood from the queen, then,” the first voice said. “We'll get at least part of our reward.”

Vampires.
And they were after her and her mother. They'd been found.

Fighting fear, Lucette readied herself to attack.

“I dunno,” the second vampire wavered.“I've heard drinking from a sleeping creature makes you tired.”

“How would you know?” the other one snapped. “And anyway, if you're worried about it, spit her blood out. We just need to make sure we've transferred some venom and grab a blood sample.”

A chill shot down Lucette's spine. From the shape of the shadows, the two vampires weren't far from the cow pen's entrance. If they took another step or two, she'd see them—and they'd see her. It was time to act.

Moving carefully, she stashed her stake in her quiver, grabbed a rope hanging from a beam high on the ceiling, and climbed. Now her shadow appeared, too, but it was on the floor of the opposite stall and the vampire facing that direction seemed not to have noticed it yet.

She climbed until she was above both vampires' heads, then looked up the beam holding the rope. For an instant, she considered continuing her climb; if she hid on that beam, it was possible they'd never spot her. But that was out of the question. She had to get out of the barn before they attacked her sleeping mother.

Holding the rope with one arm, she grabbed a stake and then arched to swing back so her feet touched the top of the stall wall. She pushed off and swung forward, launching into the air. The first vampire spotted her just as Lucette planted a hard kick to the back of his friend's head.

She knocked one into the other and the two vampires landed on the barn floor, one on top of the other, their chests pressed together. Lucette planted her feet on the sprawled arms of the vampire who'd landed on top, pinning them both to the ground, then in one swift move, she plunged her stake through his shoulder.

She chided herself for not going for the kill, but after her first experience, she wasn't sure she could do that again.

“I think you broke my wrists!” the vampire said.

The second vampire started to wriggle out, so Lucette plunged another stake into the dirt next to his neck. “Keep still, or the next one goes in.”

“Okay, okay!” The vampire snarled and flashed his fangs. “We're just trying to earn a living! No need to be cruel.”

“Cruel? Me?” Her blood started to boil.“I heard what you two were talking about. Who's behind all this? Who's sending you over here to attack us? And why are they targeting the royal family?”

The top vampire groaned as more blood flowed from his shoulder.

“We don't know,” the one on the bottom claimed, but something in his face said he was lying.

“Tell me, or this stake goes straight through both of your hearts.” She had no idea if she had the strength or the will to follow through on that threat, but from the look on his face, it didn't matter.

“There's rumors, that's all,” he insisted.

“What kind of rumors?” Lucette shifted her weight, and the top vampire groaned.

“Some say the queen herself is behind it,” the bottom one said. “She's the one who made human blood consumption legal. But I don't know why she's got it in for the royals.”

This information tasted like bad medicine. Why was the vampire queen so determined to destroy her?

Lucette pulled out another stake and glared at the vampires. Outside, it was getting lighter. None of them had long. “I'll let you go... this time. But one move toward me or the house and you'll both have stakes through your hearts! There isn't a vampire alive I can't take down.”