Impassioned |Book 1|

Chapter 14

I had gotten up the next day and found Grayson gone, probably in the basement since the sun was out. Mom hadn't gotten home yet, and I assumed Dad was already at work. Blaine and I got up, fixing breakfast, deciding that day would be a good day to skip class. The day was slow, neither of us doing much but lounging on the couch, occasionally watching something on tv. I didn't want to disturb Grayson or Preston, figuring they were probably sleeping the day out instead of just sitting down in the dark basement.

Early in the afternoon, Mom arrived home, and I introduced her to Blaine, explaining why he was there.

"Oh my God! One of those things attacked you?" she practically screamed, looking me over for injuries.

I shushed her, glancing at the basement stairs. "Umm, Grayson and his brother are kinda in the basement too." I said, giving her a small, guilty smile.

Her eyes widened, her head turning sharply to the door. "Why are they in the basement?" she asked, looking back at me.

"They, umm, kinda can't be in the sunlight." I said, gauging her reaction. "It'll kill them." I quickly added.

Mom stared at me with wide eyes, processing everything. "Okay. So, essentially what you're saying, is that we have a half vampire hunter, and two vampires in our house? I mean, I already knew about Grayson, but now there's two of them? And, you got attacked by a vampire last night? And killed it?" she asked me slowly.

I nodded, my lips going into a tight line. Blaine coughed behind me, his eyes adverting to the ground at the tension in the room. Mom swallowed hard, running a hand through her hair. "Okay. This is okay." she said, trying to convince herself. Her eyes widened even more after a moment, grabbing me by my arms dramatically. "Oh God, your Dad! What do I tell him?"

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "Grayson said he'll talk to him. But he wants you there to help him. We think Dad needs to know the truth about everything." I said, partly asking her what she thought about it.

She thought for a moment, biting her lip nervously. Finally, she nodded, her eyes not as wide and alarmed. "Yeah, he deserves to know the truth. Just, umm, don't tell him about the whole 'vampires in the basement' thing when he gets home, okay? I'll find a way to bring it up once the sun goes down."

I nodded, sighing in relief. "Okay, that sounds good."

She nodded once, forcing a smile. "Okay, great."

We just stood there a moment, the three of us not really knowing what to say. Blaine finally cleared his throat, smiling awkwardly. "Well, that went well. How'd you react when you found out your daughters a queen?" he asked curiously.

My eyes widened, and I turned to look at him, shaking my head. His eyes widened also, moving quickly between me and my mom. "Umm, I-I was just joking-"

"You're a what?!" Mom yelled, and the basement door slammed open, a loud hiss coming from Grayson as he accidentally stepped into the light. Mom's head shot to his figure, her eyes wide as she saw a burn appear on his arm. "Oh my God! We're fine, Hun! I'm sorry." Mom rushed out, knowing she had scared him.

Grayson glanced at us after moving back into the shadows, his eyes alarmed as he had probably just woken up hearing my mom yell. "It's fine, sorry. I just heard you yell and freaked out."

Mom gave him a worried look, rushing over to the blinds and hurriedly closing them, giving the room a little shade. "Are you okay? Do you need something for the burn?" she asked, both of us going over to him.

I stepped down to the steps, taking his arm gently into my hands. "Gray, you know you can't come up. We're fine, I'm just explaining everything to her."