The Dragon Breathers (Re-Vamped)

Chapter Ten

Cassidy floated into her room after her date with Tyler. They had been officially dating for two weeks and she'd spent almost every minute of it with him—well, him and Grace. Ever since Tyler kissed her, Cassidy had been living in a bubble; every moment felt free and simple, like the past few months hadn't happened yet. It was a soft but amazing feeling.

Midway through her homework, Cassidy heard her phone buzz on her bed. With an excited smile, Cassidy scrambled to grab her phone, figuring it was Tyler again. She unlocked her phone and her face immediately dropped at seeing the name: 'HOLDEN THE ASS'

*I may be mistaken but I do remember you begging me to teach you abt vampires*

Before Cassidy could reply, her phone buzzed again in her hand. *but then again that was weeks ago so I might be imagining the entire thing*

"So dramatic," Cassidy tsked under her breath. With an eye roll, Cassidy quickly typed a reply. She did relentlessly ask Holden to teach her, and she not only wanted to know but felt she needed to know what she was up against...but she had a date tomorrow with Tyler. Vampires could wait one more weekend, right?

*sorry your royal highness but I forgot. Can't make it today but I'll come tmr after school*

Holden's reply was immediate. *tomorrow is saturday, Cleo. I thought humans didn't have school on saturdays and sundays*

Busted. Cassidy huffed in resignation. *coming* Then, before she could think about it, she sent another text. *And stop with tht stupid nickname.*

Holden sent her a smiley face emoji and Cassidy could practically see his smug face at catching her in a lie. She forced herself to get up and leave her house, deciding to take her sweet time to reach the mountains. When she finally made it to her destination, she found Holden standing in front of Axle's house with crossed arms and a hard glare.

"Sorry," Cassidy apologized sheepishly, scratching her head nervously. Holden didn't say anything. "I just completely forgot."

"...Come on," was all he said before turning on his heel and going into Axle's house. Cassidy made a face behind his back and followed him inside and down into the basement. Cassidy plopped onto the couch while Holden went straight to a bookshelf.

"Here." Holden tossed Cassidy a thick book and she barely caught it with an oof. "Turn to page three hundred twenty-one."

Cassidy opened the book and began flipping through the pages. After a few seconds, Cassidy heard an impatient huff from above her before Holden came up beside her and took the book, her skin humming as Holden stood so close to her. Well, that's something new, Cassidy mused to herself as Holden handed her the book back, now on the correct page.

"Thank you, Mr. Impatient," Cassidy snarked with a smile. "What are we gonna go over first?"

Holden shrugged, leaning against the table in front of her. "To understand something, you must understand its origin."

She nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that makes sense. So what's the origin of a vampire? A bat?"

"No," Holden said with a chuckle. "The origin of the vampires is a coven of witches."

Cassidy blinked. "A witch?"

"A coven of witches," Holden corrected. "Vampires are a fairly new species. In fact, Vampires didn't come about until early 200 B.E.W.—"

"Um," Cassidy interrupted hesitantly, wincing at the stern look Holden gave her. "Sorry, it's just, uh, what is B.E.W.?"

"Oh. I forgot you wouldn't know even the basics," Holden said brusquely. Cassidy glared at him. "It's a way we divide up time periods. Each area has their own way to do it but this is the general way. It's like, what do humans say, B.X. or something like that?"