it in a movie,’ Olivia replied. ‘You just work from the outside in. And you’re supposed to curtsy, like, all the time around royals.’
‘I figured that,’ Ivy said. ‘My ribs ache from all your elbowing.’
‘Just trying to help my socially inept sister,’ Olivia said, chuckling. ‘We need to send you to finishing school.’
‘Ha ha,’ Ivy said. ‘They’re probably all talking about me and my uncivilised manners as they go home in their horse-and-carriages.’
Olivia laughed. ‘No one uses horse-and-carriages any more, not even vampires!’
‘Well, they don’t even have cell-phone signal out here,’ Ivy complained.
It was true. Olivia had practically hung outof the window when they’d first come upstairs trying to get even one bar on her new phone, with no luck.
‘You can’t deny that some people in the room really didn’t approve of us and our dad,’ Ivy went on.
Olivia remembered the look that the Queen gave her. ‘You’re right, but we can’t please everyone.’
Ivy grinned. ‘Especially the Ice Queen.’
Olivia laughed. She crossed her eyes, looking down at her nose. ‘My country is too warm. Fetch me a slab of ice.’
‘Fetch me an iceberg!’ Ivy put on a nasal voice and snapped her fingers impatiently.
The girls giggled together. They certainly were a long way from home.
‘But at least Grandmother and Grandfather are so nice,’ Olivia said.
Ivy shifted the mattress on her four-poster bed to reveal the shiny black coffin. Olivia knew that it was how vampires normally set up their rooms – a mattress for studying or, in Ivy’s room, throwing clothes on, with a coffin tucked away underneath.
‘The Count and Countess are just like I imagined them.’ Ivy climbed into her coffin. ‘I’m so glad we’ve been able to start putting our family back together again.’
‘Me, too,’ Olivia said and yawned. She snuggled into her pillow and pulled the blanket over her. ‘Goodnight, Ivy.’
‘Goodnight, Olivia.’
Even though it was the middle of the night, Ivy pushed open her luxurious coffin lid. It was a velvet-lined Interna Three, the best coffin money could buy. But she still couldn’t sleep.
She was so
hungry.
‘Petty fors’ had turned out to be delicious little chocolates. Ivy had only managed to swipe three of them. She could have eaten the whole tray.
As quietly as she could, she climbed out of the coffin and headed downstairs. Now that everyone was in bed, the house was colder, but the light of the moon and her uber-vamp eyesight meant that she could make out everything clearly.
The mansion was silent until her bare foot made a step creak. She quickly hopped to the next one, which creaked even louder.
It’s like I’m walking on a giant, badly tuned piano,
she thought. The portraits on the wall seemed to be frowning at her.
Finally, after four creaky flights she made it downstairs and snuck down the hall into the kitchen.
She paused, listening at the door. There wasno sound inside.
I’m sure I can unearth something in this huge kitchen,
she thought as she went in.
Her head filled with images of the wagyu burgers that Alex had described.
Mmm,
she thought, but then pushed them from her mind.
Nothing fancy, just filling.
She tried the huge walk-in refrigerator. The doors opened to reveal shelves full of delicious-looking things to eat.
Ivy didn’t want to get in more trouble by messing up a recipe or taking something she shouldn’t but, to her delight, she found a box of four pieces of cold meat-lovers’ pizza tucked away behind a jar of Platelet Paste and a stack of sausages. There was a note scrawled on it that read, ‘For N, C mustn’t see.’
Ivy chuckled to herself. Her grandfather Nicholas was trying to hide pizza from her grandmother Caterina.
I’ll never tell,
Ivy thought,
as long as you don’t mind me taking a piece or two.
She pulled off two pieces and grabbed a carton of blood orange juice. Back in the relative warm of the kitchen,
‘I figured that,’ Ivy said. ‘My ribs ache from all your elbowing.’
‘Just trying to help my socially inept sister,’ Olivia said, chuckling. ‘We need to send you to finishing school.’
‘Ha ha,’ Ivy said. ‘They’re probably all talking about me and my uncivilised manners as they go home in their horse-and-carriages.’
Olivia laughed. ‘No one uses horse-and-carriages any more, not even vampires!’
‘Well, they don’t even have cell-phone signal out here,’ Ivy complained.
It was true. Olivia had practically hung outof the window when they’d first come upstairs trying to get even one bar on her new phone, with no luck.
‘You can’t deny that some people in the room really didn’t approve of us and our dad,’ Ivy went on.
Olivia remembered the look that the Queen gave her. ‘You’re right, but we can’t please everyone.’
Ivy grinned. ‘Especially the Ice Queen.’
Olivia laughed. She crossed her eyes, looking down at her nose. ‘My country is too warm. Fetch me a slab of ice.’
‘Fetch me an iceberg!’ Ivy put on a nasal voice and snapped her fingers impatiently.
The girls giggled together. They certainly were a long way from home.
‘But at least Grandmother and Grandfather are so nice,’ Olivia said.
Ivy shifted the mattress on her four-poster bed to reveal the shiny black coffin. Olivia knew that it was how vampires normally set up their rooms – a mattress for studying or, in Ivy’s room, throwing clothes on, with a coffin tucked away underneath.
‘The Count and Countess are just like I imagined them.’ Ivy climbed into her coffin. ‘I’m so glad we’ve been able to start putting our family back together again.’
‘Me, too,’ Olivia said and yawned. She snuggled into her pillow and pulled the blanket over her. ‘Goodnight, Ivy.’
‘Goodnight, Olivia.’
Even though it was the middle of the night, Ivy pushed open her luxurious coffin lid. It was a velvet-lined Interna Three, the best coffin money could buy. But she still couldn’t sleep.
She was so
hungry.
‘Petty fors’ had turned out to be delicious little chocolates. Ivy had only managed to swipe three of them. She could have eaten the whole tray.
As quietly as she could, she climbed out of the coffin and headed downstairs. Now that everyone was in bed, the house was colder, but the light of the moon and her uber-vamp eyesight meant that she could make out everything clearly.
The mansion was silent until her bare foot made a step creak. She quickly hopped to the next one, which creaked even louder.
It’s like I’m walking on a giant, badly tuned piano,
she thought. The portraits on the wall seemed to be frowning at her.
Finally, after four creaky flights she made it downstairs and snuck down the hall into the kitchen.
She paused, listening at the door. There wasno sound inside.
I’m sure I can unearth something in this huge kitchen,
she thought as she went in.
Her head filled with images of the wagyu burgers that Alex had described.
Mmm,
she thought, but then pushed them from her mind.
Nothing fancy, just filling.
She tried the huge walk-in refrigerator. The doors opened to reveal shelves full of delicious-looking things to eat.
Ivy didn’t want to get in more trouble by messing up a recipe or taking something she shouldn’t but, to her delight, she found a box of four pieces of cold meat-lovers’ pizza tucked away behind a jar of Platelet Paste and a stack of sausages. There was a note scrawled on it that read, ‘For N, C mustn’t see.’
Ivy chuckled to herself. Her grandfather Nicholas was trying to hide pizza from her grandmother Caterina.
I’ll never tell,
Ivy thought,
as long as you don’t mind me taking a piece or two.
She pulled off two pieces and grabbed a carton of blood orange juice. Back in the relative warm of the kitchen,
Similar Books
