Braced to Bite (Book 1: Half-blood vampire series)

Chapter Sixteen

The doorbell rang insistently. I didn’t want to see anyone; I had reserved this evening to wallow in self-pity. A week had passed since I was granted my license and now it was Homecoming night—and I still had no date and no Thomas. He hadn’t spoken to me since the final hearing, when all he’d said was congratulations. He must have been pretty disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to “relieve me of my Undead status.”

     When I reached the door, I could smell cookies. I opened the door quickly, stating bluntly, “Go away,” and shut it again in Thomas’s surprised face. Thomas looked so handsome in the quick glimpse I’d gotten that I should have slammed the door harder than I did. Great, now he would know I was weakening and try to worm his way back into my affections.

     “I have a gift for you,” Thomas said. My heart constricted. He sounded so good.

     I replied, “I don’t want a stake through the heart, thank you. Now go away.”

     I could hear him sigh deeply, though we were separated by a good inch or two of wood.

     “Colby, you’re going to have to see me sometime. I’m not going anywhere until you open this door.”

     “Oh well, if you put it that way, I can wait all night. Until the sun comes up. Gee, can you say the same?”

     He swore under his breath and then I heard a rhythmic sound. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. “You. Are. Driving. Me. Crazy,” he said between thumps. He was banging his head against the door and I smiled.

     That made two of us. Why did he have to be so cute? Be such a good kisser? Be here in general?

     “You’re going to crack your head open doing that,” I finally told him after a good thirty seconds of head thumping.

     “Then. Open. The. Door.” Thump, thump, thump.

     “Oh for heaven’s sake,” I muttered as I flung open the door. “You’re the most stubborn bloodsucker!” I announced, glaring at him.

     It took me a moment to realize that Thomas was dressed in a black tuxedo. I blinked at him several times but the image did not fade. Yes, he was standing at my door in formal wear. Seemed a little extreme to dress up just to stake someone and I told him so.

     “I am not going to stake you, Colby. I’ve been telling you that forever. I have something for you from the Tribunal.” He held out a small box.

     It wasn’t Tiffany’s turquoise blue, but a box that size screamed jewelry—and being the weak half-blood mutant vampire that I was, I really wanted to see what was inside.

     I accepted the box with a great show of exasperation, as though I was doing him a huge favor by taking it off his hands and really had no interest as to what lay inside, which we both knew was a huge crock of crap, but he allowed me the illusion, at least.

     I snapped it open and gasped at the gleaming ring. It was my license. A very modern-looking, delicate crest set in white gold, just for me. I slipped it on my right hand and it fit perfectly. It felt warm and accepting against my skin. I closed my eyes for a moment, squeezing my hand into a fist. I belonged.

     Thomas cleared his throat and brought me back to the present. He was holding out a manila envelope.

     “What’s this?” I asked, taking it from him.

     “Open it and see.” Thomas was a man of mystery, but his eyes sparkled and a hint of a smile played on his lips. Why was he so darling?! It was unfair and just plain mean!