Page 31 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
“Pandora, darling,” Ophelia called out, making Pandora tilt her head back and fight the urge to run.
Those squeaky floorboards had given her away.
But she’d put off seeing her aunt, uncle, and cousin for long enough already.
“Mum,” Pandora said, plastering a smile on her face as she moved into the sitting room.
Where Lucian, Ophelia, Pandora, and Dante were all dark-haired and robust, Aunt Anastacia and Uncle Alexander, as well as their daughter, Bellatrix, were all fair-haired, wafer-thin, and pale, making them seem to Pandora like specters haunting her home whenever they were around. She half expected to wake up to one of them standing over her in bed, speaking to her in hushed whispers.
“There you are,” Ophelia said, and Pandora could sensea hint of censure in her tone even as she held out an arm to draw her daughter further into the room. Ophelia ran a hand over Pandora’s hair, which had gone a bit frizzy from another rainy day. The Von Ashmore house was ancient and drafty. The moisture had a way of sneaking in through the stone façade and around the window frames, its sole purpose seeming to be to ruin any possible good hair day she might have. “Were you on your way out again?”
She was.
But not to work or on a date with Victor.
She had a pint of fresh blood waiting for her at the butcher’s and if she didn’t get there soon, the place was going to close. Which meant she was going to go hungry. And start doing dangerous things like staring at people’s necks at work later.
She couldn’t, however, tell her mother that, so she lied.
“I was just looking for Dante. I haven’t seen him much lately. Hello, Aunt Anastacia. Uncle Alexander. Bellatrix,” she said, trying hard not to let her voice go hard on that last name.
Bellatrix had grown to be a beautiful woman, with her pin-straight hair that seemed immune to the effects of the humidity in the air, a delicate face, big stormy blue eyes, and a long and lean figure with just the barest hint of curves.
“Hello, Pandora,” her aunt greeted her, offering her cheek for kissing. Pandora broke away from her mother to do just that. First to her aunt, then to her uncle. But she couldn’t bring herself to do the same for her cousin.
“You seem well, Bellatrix,” she said instead, internally wincing at how much she sounded like her parents just then.
“You …” Bellatrix gave Pandora a slow once-over, then clearly decided she couldn’t afford Pandora the same civility, instead saying, “You haven’t changed.”
“Bellatrix was just telling us all about her travels to France and Italy,” Ophelia said as Pandora moved as far away from her extended family as possible. Which put her right next to her father.
Over the rim of his goblet full of thick, fresh blood that made Pandora’s stomach tighten at its own emptiness, Lucian widened his eyes at her as if to say he knew how she felt.
“Really? Fascinating,” Pandora said, watching her father’s lips twitch slightly at her words and tone.
“She has picked up a passion for opera,” her aunt said, sitting up straighter in her chair. If there was anything a parent loved, it was the ability to brag about their child. Even if that child was one hundred and twenty-six years old.
“I’ve heard.” Pandora nodded.
“Brilliant, isn’t she?”
“She has no equal,” Dante said, appearing in the doorway to save Pandora from choking on a lie.
Pandora pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the hidden message behind her brother’s words.
“Dante!” Ophelia rushed over to her son to press a kiss to his cheek. “I’m so pleased you could join us,” she said, dragging him into the room. Even if Dante looked like all he wanted to do was go upstairs and find his bed.
After their parents had relented and let Pandora keep her own bed, Dante had got one for himself as well. Though that, it was clear, was their family’s dirty laundry. Not something they should ever share in mixed company.
“Aunt, Uncle, Bell,” Dante said, making Bellatrix’s eyes go a little hard, clearly not liking the nickname. “Pandy, I’m surprised you’re here,” he said, making Pandora’s brows scrunch, not sure where else he thought she was supposed to be.
“Where else would she be, dear?” Ophelia asked.
“With her boyfriend,” Dante said.
Pandora could have kissed her brother in gratitude.
She knew how hard it was going to be to sell a serious relationship if no one else had ever seen him or heard Pandora speak of him.
