had become eerily silent except for Amelia’s clapping and laughter. Everyone in the room was staring at me and I became really self-conscious. After straightening my ponytail and stole, I rubbed my finger on my teeth to make sure that no food had been left there. I had no idea what was going on and that was a feeling I was starting to resent. Amelia’s jubilance was joined by Rachel’s and then Pleasant’s. I watched as my grandmothers clapped and laughed and danced about the room hugging anyone in their path. There was one person who didn't join in the celebrations. Violeta. She was introduced to me as Zander's fiance, although Chloe used a different word for it. Vampire relationships were a bit more formal than those of humans. Violeta, who was as quite possibly the most gorgeous person I had ever seen, simply stared at me from the far corner of the room. Her attention felt different than the others, less joyful. She simply wasn't happy that I had been reunited with my family. Maybe she was jealous that my brother's attentions were to be divided between yet another sister. Chloe and Zander sat next to me as I continued to wonder about Violeta.. “ Well, that was something,” Zander said. I thought I heard a bit of pride in his voice. “ What was something?” I asked, still completely lost. “ She doesn’t know yet, Zander. Remember, no one has told her anything. And I don't think she made it that far in the Historia Lamia” Chloe sat there shaking her head. For as young as she was I believed that she was the only person who understand how lost I felt. “ My apologies,” Zander inclined his head in a gesture of repentance. “You were very angry a moment ago, correct?” “ Yes. I was thinking about my foster mother…how she basically sold me out.” “ Yes, well, that anger filled the room and began to suck the air out of it. All of the St. Clairs are Elementals of some sort. It is our attribute. Each of us with varying degrees of power. Once you are Embraced you may be able to stop air circulation all together but we can’t be sure. It is a very rare and dangerous gift.” Here we go again, I thought. Another wild tale I was supposed to buy into. I didn’t think I could take anymore. Shaking my head, I began to stand up and walk away when I felt the air rush out of my lungs. I tried to inhale but there was almost no air to be found. I grabbed at my throat trying to rip it open to let oxygen in when my lungs suddenly inflated again. I fell to my knees for the second time in as many days, gasping for breath. Zander put a hand on my arm to help me up and I looked straight into Chloe’s eyes. “ See?” she asked. “See how dangerous we can be?” It wasn’t that Chloe had caused me any pain. My physical body hadn’t been touched at all. She had changed the amount of oxygen in the air by merely thinking about it. There was definitely more reading to be done because that shouldn't have been possible. I was wondering how she could have pulled off that trick when Artemis and Apollo came in followed closely by several people in red uniforms. Each person went up to a member of my Vampiric family and took off their chokers to exposed their necks. Red was not just the color of their uniforms, it was symbolic of what they were. Food.
Chapter 8
Chloe walked me back to my rooms after the reception. She stayed close to the door, as if she was not quite ready to leave. I recognized the loneliness in her eyes and held my arms open wide. We both fell onto the couch as she hit me with an embrace that could have downed a line backer. Several minutes passed and we were still on the couch holding onto each other for dear life. Her silence had allowed me to think about the night’s events. “ You want to know what’s going on, don’t you?” Chloe asked, breaking my reverie. “It’s easy to explain but hard to believe. If you want to know, I’ll tell you. I don’t care what Efia thinks.” Her