“There’s something wrong with Sky,” I said, stating the obvious. Vaughn placed Skyler on the blue velvet chaise. “I think she’s in thrall to a vampire.”
She just lay there panting until Granny crossed the room to examine her. Granny didn’t even flinch when Skyler, who’d somehow managed to work an arm free, tried to claw her face.
“Tell me what happened tonight,” Granny said. “Quickly, now.”
The story came out in a rush. When I was done, Granny didn’t say anything, just went into the kitchen. The bungalow was small, with no walls between the kitchen and living room, so I watched her as she got out a copper pot and began throwing herbs and other ingredients into it. She turned the stove burner on high and then occasionally stirred it, muttering under her breath as she did.
“Can you help her?” I asked.
Skyler was quiet, busy trying to use her sharp incisors to gnaw through the rope.
“I’ll try,” Granny said. She sniffed the concoction. “This will ease the symptoms. Think you can get her to drink it?”
“Maybe.” I tried to coax Skyler into trying some of the frothy purple liquid, but in the end, Vaughn had to hold her while I pinched her nostrils closed and forced it down. She spit the first bit out, right into my face, but I managed to get the rest into her.
“I will tear out your heart and have it for breakfast,” she said in a low voice I almost didn’t recognize.
“No, you won’t,” I said. “You never eat breakfast.”
Vaughn choked back a laugh while Skyler snarled at me.
I did my best to ignore her, but it didn’t exactly feel great when she started muttering about how she wanted to bathe in my blood.
“That’s probably really unsanitary,” I said calmly.
It took a few minutes, but Skyler eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.
Evelyn studied Skyler critically. “Fascinating,” she said. “I’ve read about it, of course, but I don’t think there’s been this kind of hidden world sighting since the eighties.”
I almost expected her to whip out her lab coat and microscope, but instead, she reached into her purse and took out a spiral notebook and pencil and started scribbling something down.
“Hidden world?” Vaughn asked.
“The first rule of the hidden world is you don’t talk about the hidden world,” I said, knowing he’d get the movie reference.
Vaughn gave a little snort in acknowledgment, which was adorable.
“Vampires, werewolves, ghosts,” Edna said. Her long black hair was tied up in braids, which highlighted the perfect skin of someone twenty years younger. She was a dermatologist, after all.
“Vampires, werewolves, ghosts?” he repeated. “That all?”
“Not even close,” I said. “Maybe if I’d been paying attention, this wouldn’t have happened to Skyler. I’m a witch, and it took me way too long to recognize a vampire when he was standing right in front of me.”
Granny frowned. “How do you think vampires have managed to remain hidden? They’re sneaky and secretive, and they manipulate their victims to help themselves stay undetected. Skyler was probably deliberately concealing things from you. Unless this was the first time they’d met?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so,” I said. “She mentioned they’d been talking for a few weeks.”
“So the hidden world means vampires and witches?” Vaughn asked.
“The hidden world includes any of the supernatural, really,” Edna said.
“I thought vampires were just legends,” Vaughn said. “Myths. Made up.”
I nudged him. “You believe I’m a witch but don’t believe in vampires?”
The older women were all shaking their heads. “Not made-up. Real. Rare, usually hidden—hence the name—but real enough,” Edna said.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just a lot to take in.”
“After I get Skyler settled, I want to read up on vampires. Do you have suggestions?” Books were librarian catnip. Granny would have a stack of reading material for me before the end of the night.
I turned to Vaughn. “Can you carry Sky to my room?” Then I turned back to Granny. “We’ll be back. We need to talk.”
Vaughn carried Skyler to my bedroom, and I pulled down the RBG quilt Granny had made for my seventeenth birthday.
“Still a fan, I see?” Vaughn nodded at the quilt. My love for Ruth Bader Ginsburg was well-known. When I was younger, I’d dressed like her for Halloween.
“Always and forever,” I replied. I was nothing if not loyal.
Vaughn set Skyler down gently. I noticed my floor was covered in dirty clothes. Vaughn grinned at me when he caught me kicking my sturdiest bra under the bed.
“Sky’s been acting secretive for weeks,” I said softly.
“She’ll be okay,” he said.
“I need to get her out of those bloody clothes,” I said.
He nodded and then left the room.
I clicked on the bedside lamp. Its soft glow made Skyler look younger somehow. I eased the stained dress over her head and replaced it with a long T-shirt, then tucked her in and tiptoed out of the room.
Vaughn was sitting on the sofa across from Granny, so I plopped down next to him.
“What a night,” he said.
He smelled so good. He must be using a new cologne now that he was single because I could barely restrain myself from snuggling into him. I fanned my face, ignoring the twinkle in Granny’s eyes. She’d caught me checking out Vaughn and his hotness, but I played it off like it was the heat making my cheeks flushed. We didn’t have AC. That was my story. Sticking to it.
“What do you think is wrong with Skyler?” I asked.
I wound my hair up into a bun and secured it with one of the hair ties I always kept on hand. My hair was thick and unruly.
“Where’s your necklace?” Evelyn asked. She and Granny exchanged a look.
“Sky’s wearing it,” I explained. “She was upset she didn’t have hers.”
To be honest, my neck felt bare without it, but Skyler had needed it more than I did.
“What’s that on your neck?” my grandmother said. There was a strange note in her voice.
“That asshole Travis sniffed me, and then he bit me,” I said indignantly, not wanting to think about what that might mean. “Without my permission.”