Page 90 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
In his free time when he was supposed to be sleeping after working all day?
“That’s what you’ve been doing in your room? With the door locked?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding.
“What is it? Some kind of extra-thick sunblock?”
“Not really. I mean, yeah, there is some zinc oxide in it like normal sunscreen. But it’s more than that. In a, you know, magickal way.”
“Like what?” Pandora asked, mind flashing back to the esoteric shop she’d visited with Lucy. Had Dante been there too? Talked to the same woman she had?
“Ground moonstone, activated charcoal, herbs picked under a full eclipse, infused nightshade … lots of things.”
“You’ve been working on making your own vampire sunblock? So you can swim and lifeguard?”
“So I can have a normal life, yeah,” he said.
“How did you know what to use in it?” Pandora asked, taking the stick and rubbing it on her fingers so she could use them to put the sunscreen on her face.
“Trial and error. Alotof trial and error,” Dante said, looking exhausted even at the mention. “I did a lot of research. Went to some shops for obscure supplies. Burned myself thousands of times.”
“Does it always work? How long have you been testing it?”
“All summer,” he told her. “I’ve been tweaking it here and there, wanting to see if I could improve it just a little bit more each time. I especially wanted to see if I could get it to be more waterproof.”
“But you’re still all covered up,” Pandora said, looking at her brother’s absurd outfit.
“When I started here, I may have kind of told them I’m a little allergic to the sun.”
“Not a lie, really,” Pandora said with a laugh.
“Exactly. But I can’t just be like, ‘Oh, hey, by the way, I’m not allergic to the sun anymore,’” he said. “And it really isn’t completely waterproof, which wouldn’t be so bad if I was sure I would always get a chance to reapply, but things can get crazy around here sometimes. I mean, not so much right now.” He waved at the pond, empty, save for a set of kayakers. “But in the summer for sure.”
“This is so cool, Dante,” she said, sticking her hand out again, feeling the comforting warmth the sun supplied. Without all the burning flesh and bursting into flames.“How difficult is it to make? And how obscure are the supplies?”
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s doable. Worth it, at least. Some of the supplies are harder to find than others, but none of it is stuff I would run out of.”
“So, what is your plan? Just keep this for yourself, so you can try to live more of a human life?”
“Originally, yes.”
“But?”
“But now I’m wondering if there is maybe a market for it. Not for every vampire,” he rushed to add. “I don’t think it’s right to take away the only protection humans have. But for vampires like you and me. Ones who don’t want to feed on humans. There’s more of us than you’d think.”
“How do you know that?” Pandora asked, always having felt very alone in her desire not to eat humans.
“There’s some forums for vampires like us. Ones who don’t want to use humans like that, who wish we could all coexist peacefully.”
“You want to see about marketing this product to them?”
“It’s risky,” Dante said. “There’s always the chance of it falling into the wrong hands. I just … I feel bad for everyone like us who can’t live the lives they want because of what we are.”
“I wonder …” Pandora said, trailing off as her mind wandered.
“Wonder what?”
“I wonder if maybe you could … spell it?” she said.
