Re-Vamped! by Sienna Mercer Page B

so,” Olivia said. “Why?”
    “That
is the appointed date and time for your initiation.”
    “But
that only gives her one night to prepare!” Ivy objected.
    Her
father studied Olivia’s face. “The best and only way to prepare,” he said
solemnly, “is for you to be ready to bare your true soul.”
    “What
if she doesn’t pass?” Ivy asked in a small voice.
    He
peered down at her, and Ivy couldn’t tell whether his eyes were filled with
hope or hopelessness. “If it is meant to be,” he said in a resigned voice as he
turned away to descend the steps, “then it shall be.”

Chapter 10
    On
Friday evening, Olivia’s mom dropped her off in front of the Vegas’ house.
Luckily, her mom had a bridge game, so she couldn’t even attempt to come inside.
    When
Olivia rang the bell, Ivy opened the door at once. Inside the foyer, Mr. Vega
greeted Olivia with a solemn nod. No one spoke, and then Olivia heard footsteps
approaching briskly from down the hall. Into the light of the foyer stepped a
tall vampire woman wearing a black and red kimono. It took Olivia a second to
realize what was so striking about her. Then she saw what it was. The woman
wasn’t wearing the contact lenses most vampires used all the time to protect
their eyes from the sun and disguise their eye color, and she had red eyes .
    “I am
Valencia Deborg,” the woman declared. There was a ruffle of her enormous
sleeves, and a thick black binder appeared in one hand, while a ballpoint pen
materialized in the other. She clicked the pen meaningfully. “Secretary of
human relations for the Vampire Round Table.”
    “And
I,” said a nasal voice from the darkness, “am Mr. Boros of ASHH.” Olivia half
expected a tall, mustachioed vampire to appear in a black cape. Instead, a
short bald man in a rumpled suit stepped into the light beside his colleague.
    “I saw
that guy leaving ASHH right before we snuck in!” Ivy whispered in Olivia’s ear.
    “And I
saw you sneak in on the security cameras,” said the man coolly, “right after I
left.”
    Ivy
and Olivia both straightened to attention.
    “We
are here to supervise the initiation of Olivia Abbott,” Valencia Deborg said
solemnly. “The trials shall commence in one hour, at the setting of the sun.”
    Casting
a sidelong glance toward her sister, Olivia could see Ivy looked totally worried,
which made her feel even more nervous.
    “Before
we begin”—Mr. Boros held up a stubby white finger—“we must be clear about what
is to occur. There are fewer than a dozen humans in the world who know the
Blood Secret, all under exceptional circumstances.”
    “And
your circumstances,” Ms. Deborg said, training her fiery eyes on Olivia, “are
the most exceptional of all.”
    “Unprecedented,
according to our records,” confirmed Mr. Boros in his nasal voice.
    “The
tests to which you are to be subjected were devised hundreds of years ago,” Ms.
Deborg told Olivia. “They were used only in those rare instances when a human
learned the Blood Secret and there was a vampire willing to vouch for him. Is
there a vampire present willing to bear this burden?”
    “I
will,” Ivy and her father said at the same time. Olivia could see that her
sister was as surprised as she was by Mr. Vega’s volunteering like that.
    Ms.
Deborg and Mr. Boros nodded at each other, and Ms. Deborg continued. “The
original tests were torturous . . .”
    “Hideous,”
said Mr. Boros with a shudder, as Olivia felt the color drain from her face.
    “And
unspeakably painful,” Ms. Deborg concluded.
    “But
now, of course,” Mr. Boros added casually, “the tests are more ritualized.”
    A sigh
of relief escaped from Olivia’s mouth. “In the past,” Ms. Deborg explained, “if
applicants proved unworthy, they were summarily killed. Since the 1926 Vampiric
Accord, that is no longer the way.”
    “So
what happens if I fail?” Olivia asked nervously.
    “Your
memory of anything and everything vampire related will be