Chapter Twenty-One

My father had thrown a party and invited everyone he knew. Basically, every supernatural creature in the United States.

He had to have known that an invitation from the leader of the Paranormal Activities Committee was an order, not an invite, but it didn’t seem to bother him a bit.

We were expected for pre-dinner drinks, but the wardrobe decision part of the evening had taken longer than expected, so our group hurried to the hotel ballroom.

One of the workers approached us. “Queen Tansy, can I get you and your guests something to drink? The cocktail hour has just begun.”

Thorn scowled at him. “We’re all minors.”

“Ms. Alicante, I didn’t see you. My apologies. Would you like a glass of something red?”

Gross? “No thank you,” I said. “We’ll get our own drinks.”

The ballroom had been sectioned off into two parts. Several bars were set up, and the guests had already started lining up; others stood in groups while servers wove between them with platters of appetizers.

Even though it was nighttime, several vampires stood in a group the farthest away from the windows. Probably just habit. Or maybe it was because it was also the farthest away from the werewolf contingent.

Vaughn waved to a group of broad-shouldered guys and their dates.

“Vegas pack,” he said. “I should say hi.”

“You go ahead,” I said.

He frowned, looking like he didn’t want to leave me, but he and the rest of the guys eventually went over to “say hi,” which actually involved a lot of back-slapping and high-fiving. The tallest guy said something to Vaughn, and then they all looked our way. I gave a little wave, and the guy cracked a wide smile.

Vaughn motioned us over, but Rose and Thorn stayed where they were. “Dad wants us on security tonight,” Thorn explained.

“Does that mean you can’t socialize with hot guys?”

“That’s what it means,” Thorn replied.

Skyler and I went over to hang with the guys in the pack, and Vaughn wrapped an arm around me. “This is my girlfriend, Tansy,” he said. “And Connor’s girl, Skyler. These are the guys from the Vegas pack.” He reeled off their names, but I was too nervous for any of them to register.

“Nice to meet you,” I said. I wanted to ask them if they’d heard anything about my mother, but decided it wasn’t the right time. And I didn’t want to remind them that I was the biological daughter of a woman who’d killed werewolves in order to appear human.

Connor lifted his head and sniffed the air. “Food smells good,” he said. His stomach growled.

“I can ask them to bring you something,” I said.

“We’ll just grab an appetizer tray or two,” Connor said. The other guys grunted out agreement, and then the werewolf pack that included our boyfriends disappeared along with the Vegas pack into the crowd, obviously in search of sustenance.

Skyler and I giggled as we rejoined my sisters, who’d moved to a spot where they could watch the crowd without being noticed. We stood observing the partygoers. Truthfully, I was trying to avoid the curious glances, but it wasn’t working. Word had spread that Mason Alicante’s long-lost daughter was the queen of the California vampires. Supes really liked to gossip.

“Dad loves throwing over-the-top parties,” Rose said.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Because he loves to rub his wealth and power in other people’s faces,” Thorn said.

“It’s harder than you’d think to throw a party for the paranormal community,” Rose said mildly. “There are so many things to consider.”

“Like what?” Skyler asked, her eyes alight with curiosity.

“Like vampires never want glasses of water at their tables,” Rose replied. “And no silver for the werewolves.”

“Catering to the paranormal might be lucrative,” Skyler said. She seemed to be turning something over in her mind.

“No, Skyler,” I said. “First get the bloodsicle thing off the ground. Then you can think about conquering the catering world, supe style.”

She laughed. “You know we’ll be graduating in a few months,” she said. “I need to make plans.”

I needed to make some plans, too, but first, I needed to get my grades up so I could graduate. Missing school wasn’t exactly helping my GPA.

The guys finally came back.

“Did you get enough to eat?” I teased.

“Enough to tide me over until dinner, at least,” Vaughn said.

Mason came up and put a hand to my elbow. “Tansy, there are some people I’d like to introduce you to.”

“I’m going to go find my dad,” Vaughn said, not fazed by my father’s rudeness.

Mason stared at my boyfriend as he walked away.

“It’s interesting that you two are together,” Mason said.

“Why is that?”

“Vampires hate werewolves,” my father said.

“Werewolves or any kind of shifter?” I asked. I already knew that vamps and werewolves weren’t the friendliest with each other.

I caught his slight flinch, but he covered it well. “What do you mean?” He smoothed out his tie.

I waved my hand. “You can’t seriously tell me that the hidden world is made up only of witches, vampires, werewolves, and the occasional snake shifter.”

“I didn’t say that,” he replied. “You’ll meet plenty of snakes tonight and not all of them are obvious ones.”

“Have you heard the old saying about a snake in the grass?” A male voice interrupted our conversation. I hadn’t been aware someone was listening in. Curse that supernatural hearing. “That’s Mason to a T.”

I thought my father would throw him across the room or something, but he stuck out his hand instead. “DeWitt, I didn’t know you were going to be able to make it.”

The man was short and blond. He was deeply tanned and wore white slip-on sneakers, no socks, and a deep fuchsia shirt and white blazer, no tie. He also wore sunglasses, which was a little odd, since we were inside.

“DeWitt’s a psychic,” Mason continued. “And one of my best friends.” DeWitt was dressed like an eighties throwback. That was usually a vamp thing, to dress like the era you were in when you were turned, but I didn’t sense any vampire. He looked like he was in his late twenties, but there was something nonhuman about him. He was definitely of the hidden world.

“I was the only person who warned him about getting involved with…” DeWitt took off his sunglasses. His eyes were deep brown with little yellow flecks and fixed on me. He trailed off as he got a closer look at my face. “Jesus. You’re the spitting image of her.”

I sighed. “Tansy Mariotti,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

DeWitt turned to Mason. “She’s your daughter?” he asked. “How did you find her?”

My eyes narrowed.

“We thought you were dead,” DeWitt explained. He was lying. My father might have thought that, but his old pal DeWitt had known of my existence. There had been a total lack of surprise in his gaze.

“So I heard.” I said. “Interesting that a psychic couldn’t figure out I was alive and well in sunny Orange County.”

His mouth opened and then shut. Mason’s gaze flew to his bestie’s face.

“Did you know my mother?” I asked.

“Of course,” DeWitt said immediately. “Mason’s my best friend. I know all about her. I warned him about her.”

“What do you mean by that?” My hackles were up. I did not like this guy at all.

“DeWitt is a kind of magical…facilitator,” Mason explained. “He helps people find what they need.”

“Like a drug dealer?” And jeez, where was this guy when I needed help finding Mr. Sheridan?

“No, not a drug dealer,” Mason replied.

“Then I don’t quite understand,” I said.

DeWitt groaned. “You may as well tell her, Mason. You’re making it sound worse than it is.”

“He’s a matchmaker,” Mason said. “He warned me off Vanessa, but I didn’t listen.”

“I would be happy to help you find a match,” DeWitt said politely.

“I don’t need your help,” I said. This guy was irritating me. My skin was getting hot and my fangs had grown long and sharp. “Especially not with my love life.” I touched the symbol on my neck, pointing it out to DeWitt, just in case he’d missed it. “Do you know what this is?”

He stared at the crescent moon tattoo on my neck for a moment. “Yes, but I’ve never seen one.”

“Well, I have,” I said, “On my boyfriend.”

DeWitt turned to Mason and explained. “It’s a true love tattoo.”

“And you should really rethink your career,” I said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because if you couldn’t find Mason’s true match, you really aren’t very good at your job, are you?” What had my father been thinking? I didn’t trust DeWitt at all and Mason thought of him as his best friend?

Someone coughed. I turned to see who was behind me. I was so angry I hadn’t realized that Vaughn and his dad had joined me.

“How much of that did you hear?” I asked Vaughn.

His dimples flashed. “Pretty much all of it.”

“That’s so embarrassing,” I groaned.

“Tansy, I didn’t need a tattoo to tell me you’re my true love,” Vaughn replied. “I already knew.”

I couldn’t help myself. I gave him a long kiss in front of everyone. Vaughn let out a surprised little huff and then wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back.

At some point, I was vaguely aware that DeWitt and my father had walked away, but I didn’t care. I finally broke the kiss and then beamed at my one true love.