Fangs for the Memories. Sienna Mercer
shrugged. ‘Whatever you call it,’ he said, ‘Jackson spreading the word about Gleka’s “hoax” certainly helped convince the world that there was nothing of supernatural interest in Franklin Grove – no ghosts, and no vampires. He did us a huge favour, without even knowing it.’
‘Well . . .’ Olivia gripped the counter of the breakfast bar with both hands. ‘He may have helped us to fool everyone else . . . but he’s finally figured out for himself that there is something very strange about this town . . .’ Her voice rose to a near-squeak: ‘And he wants to know what it is!’
She snapped her mouth shut, bracing for her bio-dad’s reaction.
‘Hmm.’ Charles traded a long glance with Lillian. When he finally turned back to Olivia, his voice was quiet and controlled. ‘You don’t want to lie to him any more, do you?’
‘No,’ Olivia admitted. ‘I really don’t. But . . .’ Her fingers tightened around the counter. If only she could read his expression! She couldn’t even tell whether he was angry or not. ‘More than anything else,’ she went on, ‘I really, really don’t want to put you guys at risk! I just don’t know what to do.’
‘You’ll need to think long and hard about telling Jackson the truth,’ Charles told her. ‘Even I don’t know what the rules are about a human revealing the Blood Secret to another human. When I married your mother, Susannah and I went into hiding rather than try to go through the Three Tests ourselves. But that’s not an option for you.’
‘No,’ Olivia agreed softly. As the lead actress in one of the biggest upcoming movies in the world – and the girlfriend of Hollywood’s biggest teen movie star – invisibility was not an option for her.
Charles drummed his fingers on the breakfast bar, lips pursed as he thought things through. ‘I’ll do some research into the matter,’ he said. ‘But now, I believe we have no choice but to bring this to the attention of the Vampire Round Table. I can’t tell you what they’ll say about it, because I’ve never been in this situation before.’
‘But they did let you guys tell me the truth,’ Olivia said hopefully.
‘Yes, but you were told the secret by your vampire sister and father,’ Lillian said gently. ‘This time it would be a human vouching for Jackson, not a vampire.’
‘And . . .’ Charles winced. ‘. . . I’m afraid they won’t like that at all.’
His expression turned grim as he looked back at Olivia. ‘Even if you are granted permission, you know that Jackson will still have to undergo the Three Tests required of non-vampires, to prove to the Vampire Round Table that he can be trusted.’
‘And if he fails,’ Lillian added softly, ‘he’ll have his memory erased. You do understand that, don’t you?’
How could I not? Olivia asked herself, remembering the threat of the memory-erasing concoction ‘offered’ by the Round Table. It had looked so much like a strawberry smoothie that, ever since, she had always been a little bit wary whenever she ordered one in Mister Smoothie’s.
Charles leaned forwards, the most seriously serious look on his face. ‘All traces of you, and even of Franklin Grove, will be deleted from his memory. That means, as far as Jackson is concerned, you will never have been a couple at all.’
Olivia’s stomach clenched. Everything she and Jackson had shared over the last year flashed through her mind. The kisses, the fun, the adventure, the warmth . . .
Even just working together on the two movies they’d made had been some of the best times of her entire . . . ‘Wait!’ she said. ‘Can the vampires really erase The Groves and Eternal Sunset from existence?’ She shook her head in confusion. ‘Would they have to erase the memories of everyone who saw them, too? That’s, like, millions of people! What are they going to do, confiscate all the DVDs of The Groves and then dump them?’
‘Um . . .’ Ivy began.
But Olivia was too panicked to slow down. ‘I can’t believe it!’ she said. ‘Not only could the vamps completely erase my relationship, they could also damage the whole environment !’ She gestured so wildly, she nearly fell off the chair. ‘Who knew that me having a boyfriend could hurt the whole world ?’
‘Olivia!’ Ivy’s hands grabbed her arms, breaking through her daze. ‘Calm down! You’re having a panic attack!’
Oops. Olivia forced herself to take a deep breath as she saw the wide-eyed way her whole vamp family was staring at her.
‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘I guess I . . . kind of freaked out, didn’t I?’
‘That’s OK,’ Lillian said. ‘We understand. Just try to relax.’
‘But you’re right about the problem presented by your movies,’ Charles said, staring at the wall as if thinking hard. ‘I admit, I hadn’t thought about that part. Perhaps we’d better reach out to the VRT and ask all of these questions before we even begin to think about how to present any of this to Jackson.’ He looked back to Olivia, still seriously serious. ‘At the moment, all we can do is keep the VRT fully informed . . . for everyone’s sake.’
‘Right.’ Olivia should have been worried by her father’s straight face and grave tone, but she was actually starting to calm down. If Charles and Lillian weren’t freaking out, then there was no reason for her to. She slipped off her stool. ‘We’ll play this by the book and we’ll totally fix everything,’ she said. Then she shrugged. ‘Just as soon as we figure out exactly what we’re going to do.’
‘Yes.’ Rising to his feet, Charles wrapped his arms around Olivia in a warm and uncharacteristic hug. ‘Everything’s going to be fine.’ His breath ruffled her hair. ‘You’ve done the right thing in being honest, and I’m proud of you.’
‘Thanks, Dad.’ Olivia felt her muscles start to relax as she leaned into his hug . . . but then she looked over his shoulder and saw the concerned expression on Lillian’s face.
Of course, she realised. I may be playing by the vampires’ rules . . . but that still doesn’t mean that Jackson is safe.
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