After Daybreak by J. A. London

this case the heritage of one Maximillian Montgomery. I’m not surprised. By this point, there would have been so little vampire blood in Maximillian that his father would’ve worried that no one would have believed he was a vampire. So he wanted to make sure he had a Confirmation Decree. And in order for this to have any weight in the vampire world, it must be signed by a vampire from another family.”
    “Why?”
    “Because no one would believe a Montgomery if he said his son was an Old Family vampire with the same rights and privileges as other Old Family. By having another family put their reputation on the line, it makes their heritage claim legitimate. It’s a dangerous undertaking. If you sign one of these and are proved wrong , then you’re practically exiled, never to be trusted again in the vampire community.”
    Wow. Someone stood up for my family? Someone risked his life to make sure that Maximillian’s heritage as an Old Family vampire was forever legitimized, as were his children’s heritage?
    “So who signed it?” I ask, needing to know who this one friend among the sea of adversaries was.
    Victor traces down the page but can’t find what he needs. He starts looking through the other papers on the table. I’m about to lose hope when he pulls out the second page and continues reading. And then he stops, his finger on the name.
    “Lilith Ferdinand.”
    “Who’s that? And why did she sign this?”
    “You can ask her yourself,” Victor says. “She sits on the Vampire Council.”

Chapter 8
    “ T hat’s absolutely impossible,” Faith says calmly.
    We’re in the car, racing toward New Vampiria. While I was sitting here in a daze, trying to puzzle things out, Victor explained to Richard and Faith about my heritage and the documents.
    “Old Family are tall, elegant . . . beautiful,” Faith continues.
    “Dawn’s beautiful,” Victor grounds out.
    “She’s short.”
    “I’m not short,” I say sharply, “and don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
    “Are you even five and a half feet?”
    I clench my teeth.
    “Most women are short compared to you,” Richard says.
    “Which is my point. If she had Old Family blood in her, she’d be tall or at least taller .”
    “She also has human. So that’s where her height comes from.”
    “Okay, maybe, but she has no fashion sense. She wears cotton and flannel and . . . and hoodies.”
    In rebellion, I draw my hoodie up over my head and slouch down in my seat. The tone in her voice indicates that the only thing that could be worse would be if I wore clothes I took off dead people. I feel like my world is crumbling around me, and Faith is worried about my wardrobe?
    Richard laughs, clearly amused. “You can teach her all she needs to know.”
    “I don’t know that I have enough to work with. Remember those makeover shows they had on television years and years ago, before the war? Did you ever see one, Dawn? Maybe the Denver archives had an episode.”
    “No.”
    “The ones doing the makeovers were mostly vampires. We have such extraordinary fashion sense. But you have none. I just don’t see Old Family in you.”
    “Really? That’s where you’re taking this? Victor tells you what we discovered and all you can focus on are things that don’t matter?”
    “Better than focusing on your death.”
    That has me tossing the hoodie back, sitting up, and twisting around. “What are you talking about?”
    “Have we forgotten that there is a death warrant out on the Montgomerys?”
    “I haven’t forgotten,” Victor says. “It’s the reason that I told you and Richard what we found—so you’d be prepared for what we might face.”
    “What? You think they might try to kill me? That death warrant is archaic.”
    “Archaic—the very definition of Old Family,” Richard says. “At least this explains Murdoch Valentine’s interest in you. He knew what you are.”
    “As well as his interest in my father. Maybe that’s why he