I looked at myself in the mirror, hardly able to believe the girl staring back at me was the same Bellame Rose I had been all of my life. Things had changed drastically since just the day before. I was still Bellame, but I was so much more. Bellame Rose… Christoph… Jackson, princess of the vampires, and vampire slayer. A princess, I thought as I leaned forward to put on my eyeshadow. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d worn a dress.
Sighing, I applied mascara and then picked up my coverup with the intention of putting it over the new addition to my arm. I’d seen the way my mother looked at it. With disbelief, fear, and something close to horror. I was afraid the rest of my family would act the same. And what would Salena think? People like the Jacksons had been hunting vampires for centuries. It sounded as if the Jacksons themselves had. Would she hate me now?
I looked down at my arm, at the tattoo that said I was to be a huntress of my own people, smiling wryly to myself. Wasn’t that a contradiction? Although, technically, I already was. I’d been training to hunt rogue vampires for years. I’d killed my first three last night before even knowing it was part of my ancestry on my biological mother’s side.
“Don’t.”
I swung around, almost dropping the bottle. Trey stood in the doorway watching me. I wondered how long he’d been there. I’d been so lost in my thoughts, I had no idea.
“Don’t,” he said again, moving forward to take the bottle from me.
“How did you know what I was going to do?” I said, wiggling my eyebrows teasingly. “Maybe I just need a little bit more to cover up the blemish on my chin.”
“You don’t get zits,” he replied, placing the coverup on the counter. “And you don’t need to hide who, or what, you are, Bel.”
“I just didn’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable,” I admitted, my hand going to the tattoo. “From what I was told, this is the mark of a vampire slayer.”
“So what?” Trey asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You are a slayer. You took out those vamps last night. Saved Salena and her daughter. I’d call that something to be proud of, not to hide from.”
“I know.” I sighed, taking one last look at myself in the mirror before walking past him to my bedroom.
“Talk to me, Bellame,” he said quietly, following me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Bel.”
Picking the crown up off my bed, I crossed the room to the full-length mirror beside my closet. I stood with it in my hands, unsure if I really wanted to put it on. “I’m scared,” I finally admitted to the one person I knew I could.
“Of?”
“Everything.” It slipped out, so low at first, I thought maybe he didn’t hear me.
“It’s a lot to take in, but I have no doubt you can handle it all.” Closing the distance between us, he stood behind me, our eyes meeting in the mirror. “You are one of the strongest people I know, Bellame Rose. Also one of the kindest and most generous. If anyone is worthy of that crown you are holding, it’s you.”
“You’re my cousin, you have to say that.”
His lips tilted up into a grin, his eyes dancing with mirth. “You know I never say anything I don’t mean.”
It was true. He was honest to a fault. “Trey, will you go with me? To Angel’s Pass?”
“Sounds like a party I don’t want to miss,” he teased, turning me around to face him. Taking the tiara from my hands, he set it on my head. “Just like you don’t want to miss the one that already started downstairs.” He grinned, cocking his head to the side. “You look like true royalty, cuz.”
Hesitantly, I turned to look in the mirror, tilting my head to the side as I raked my eyes over my image. Tall and curvy, with blonde hair that hung over my shoulders and partway down my back. Makeup on point, with three different hues of color on my eyes, some light blush, and my signature dark red lipstick. A light purple top adorned with lace, dark jeans, and dark red heels that matched my lips. Not exactly princess attire. No flowing ballgown, but I had added the heels at the last minute. I already missed my boots. I stared at the crown on the top of my head for a moment before reaching up and removing it, careful not to mess up the two intricately woven braids on the top of my head.
“Bellame, it looks great.”
“It’s not right,” I said, sliding it back into my hair, with the top of it resting against my forehead. “There,” I whispered, moving it slightly until the pearl that hung down like a teardrop was positioned right in the middle. “That’s better.”
“It’s perfect.”
With one last look, I turned to Trey. “Thank you, Treyton.”
“For?”
“For always being here for me,” I whispered. “For sticking by my side through all of this. For still loving me, even though I don’t even know who that person is anymore.”
Pulling me into his arms, he hugged me tightly. “I will always love you, Bel. No matter what.”
The room became quiet when Trey and I entered, and Salena’s eyes misted over when she saw the crown I was wearing. Setting the paper plates she was holding onto the counter, she walked over and bowed low in front of me. “Happy birthday, your highness. I hope you are blessed with many more.”
“Thank you,” I said nervously, unsure how to respond.
My mother bowed in a low curtsey next to Salena. “You are so loved, Princess.”
“Mama.”
She looked at me, smiling through her tears. “I will always be your mama, but you have a destiny to follow, my sweet girl. You are royalty and should be treated as such.”
Trey sounded as if he were choking on something next to me, and I slanted a look at him. “Something funny, peasant?”
He burst into laughter, pulling on my hair before walking over and sticking his finger in the icing his mother was fixing for the cake. When Aunt Gina smacked his hand away, he laughed. “Hey, just testing it to make sure it’s good enough for a princess.”
“I’ll show you good enough,” his mother sputtered, raising the wooden spoon she was using to stir the sugary concoction and pointing it at him. “You get to help with dishes later now, young man.”
I laughed when Trey’s expression turned to a pout. “Ah, Mom, I was just joking.”
“I wasn’t.”
I giggled, slapping a hand over my mouth when my aunt’s gaze turned my way. “You think that’s funny, do you, Bellame? Good, because you’re on kitchen duty, too.”
“But… it’s my birthday,” I sputtered, barely controlling more giggles that wanted to slip free.
“Maybe you should have thought about that before you snuck out with my son last night, huh?” Gina said, one hand going to her hip. “Princess or not, you are in just as much trouble as he is, in my opinion.”
Guilt swamped me as I realized that my cousin had gotten in trouble for my choices. “Aunt Gina, it was my fault, not Trey’s. I talked him into coming with me.”
“Bellame Rose, do you think that boy isn’t capable of making his own decisions? It may have been your idea, but he could have said no. He’s going to be eighteen next month. He knows right from wrong.”
“Now, Mama,” Matthias cut in as he slipped around me and entered the kitchen. “Treyton was protecting his cousin, just like he’s always been taught to do. Would you rather he had stayed home and Bellame went by herself?”
“I would rather they both stayed home,” Gina sniffed, turning her head away from my uncle when he leaned down to give her a kiss. “They are both too stubborn for their own good.”
Matthias chuckled, sneaking in for a quick kiss before she could avoid him again. “They are Roses, my love, what do you expect?”
Aunt Gina huffed, going back to stirring the icing, but I swore I saw a twinkle in her clear blue eyes.
“So,” I started out tentatively, knowing what I was about to ask wasn’t going to go over very well with anyone in the room. “After the party, I thought maybe Trey and I could go into town for a bit. Maybe go to a late movie or something.”
“I second that,” Trey said, stealing another swipe of icing before coming over and throwing an arm around my shoulders. “I heard there’s a new vampire one out.”
“Shut it,” I growled, jabbing him in the side with my fist as I bared my teeth at him, knowing he could see the tips of my fangs.
To my surprise, my father nodded in agreement as he stole a cookie from the cookie jar in the corner of the counter. “I think that sounds like a fine idea.”
“Me too,” Uncle Matthew agreed, snatching his own cookie before Dad put the lid back on the jar. “I say we all go. It will be fun.”
“Oh, yes!” his wife said, clapping her hands together. “I love vampire movies.” Leaning toward my uncle’s neck, she snapped her teeth together and growled, “I want to suck your blood.”
“Really, Aunt Kerri?” I groaned, unable to hold back my grin. “When are you all going to stop with the vamp jokes?”
Kerri grabbed the cookie from Matthew just before he took a bite and stuck her tongue out at me. “When they stop being funny. So… never.”
“Just a bunch of comedians,” I groused, secretly loving every bit of the conversation. My family had a way of making me laugh almost all of the time. Even Aunt Gina was smiling, shaking her head at us.
“Dinner’s ready,” Mom said, opening the oven door and removing a large tray of garlic bread. I inhaled deeply, rubbing my stomach as the scent of lasagna reached me. I’d been so focused on the conversation, I hadn’t paid any attention to what was cooking. My mother made my favorite, and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into all of the cheesy goodness that was coming my way. “After we eat, Bellame can open her presents and then the kids can go to town for a couple of hours.”
Excitement filled me as I realized they were going to let Trey and I go alone, even after the stunt we pulled the night before.
“They have dishes to do first.”
I wanted to laugh at the stubborn look on my aunt’s face. Gina was not going to let us out of what she considered was our punishment for disobeying the rules. “We will,” I promised, snatching a piece of garlic bread as mom walked by. She just shook her head and smiled, heading into the dining room.
“Bellame.” I paused in the doorway, glancing back at my father. “Tonight is your night. Tomorrow, we start planning.”
I nodded in understanding, before turning to follow my mother.
“Planning for what?” I heard Aunt Kerri ask.
“War.”
A shiver ran down my spine at the hard edge in my father’s tone. He was right. It was going to be an all-out war. The question was, who would I be fighting with, and who would be against me?