History of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Castle Series Book 4) by Gayla Twist

New York would be a tremendous test of my self-control and I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge. The word “test” made me think of my grandfather. This was just the kind of thing he would set up in order to help me “build character”. He felt that Daniel and I were too soft; that our mother coddled us. He also felt that I was ungrateful for my undead transformation. I looked upon being turned into a vampire as a hardship, but he viewed it as the greatest gift he could bestow on another human.
    After giving it a bit of thought, I decided that disposing of the blood was probably Grandfather’s way of punishing me for my ingratitude. I quickly became convinced that he had hired someone to break into my cabin and get rid of my food. He probably told the criminal to rob me as well, as a measly cover story. Or maybe that was just something the thief thought up on his own, since he was already in my cabin and pawing through my things. Grandfather apparently did not warn the thief not to open the oversized trunk. Or, knowing my grandfather, he had instructed his minion to search the trunk for some nonexistent item. That would serve the dual purpose of forcing me to take a mortal life and probably save Grandfather the couple of coins he’d promised in payment. Thankfully that last part of the plan was foiled.
    Hurriedly, I checked my valise and was relieved to find that the two pints I had stashed in there had not been disturbed. That was a small blessing. I was already feeling edgy from not having eaten and I needed to slake my appetite before I attempted to send word to my mother about what had happened. I knew she had packed enough blood so that sharing wouldn’t cause her any hardship.
    Emily tapped at my door and then let herself in. “We’re going up to dinner soon, if you’d like to join us,” she told me. And then stopped short, catching sight of all the empty bottles. “What happened?”
    “I don’t know,” I told her. “Someone broke into my room while I was resting and this is what they did.”
    “But who would do such a thing?” Mrs. Denkler asked. She had walked into my cabin behind my sister.
    If I had been speaking to my mother, I would have voiced my suspicions. But Denkie was loyal to our family’s patriarch and I knew any words that passed from my lips would go straight to my grandfather’s ears. “I have no idea,” I said. “Someone who didn’t understand that they were putting everyone on this ship in mortal danger, I suppose.”
    Mrs. Denkler’s mouth twitched. “It will be a test of your fortitude,” she told me. “Would you like me to check the ship’s passenger list to see who is likely to be traveling alone?”
    Emily gave our housekeeper a startled look.
    “That won’t be necessary,” I assured her. “I’ll have to think things over, but I might just ask you to get a message to my mother.” I looked between the two of them. “For the moment, let’s just keep this incident to ourselves.”
    Frowning, Mrs. Denkler said, “Of course.”
    Was the Vanderlind housekeeper aware of my grandfather’s plan? It seemed very unlikely. I knew Grandfather confided in her about many things, but he was too wily to share this type of plans with a mortal. I took a few, careful pulls of blood from one of the pint bottles. It allowed me to focus on solving my predicament rather than thinking about my hunger or allowing my anger to take control of me.
    I didn’t want to upset my mother unnecessarily. I knew she would come to the same conclusion I had about the disposed of blood. And she already had an adversarial relationship with her father as it was. None of the passengers would benefit from witnessing two vampires battling on the deck of the ship. Plus, my grandfather was much more powerful. If he truly lost control of his temper, then he might actually stake my mother in the heat of battle.
    No, the best thing I could do for the health of my family was not mention the loss of my