A Bite's Tale Part 3

What did that have to do with anything? "I guess he's not interested in traveling?" I suggested.

"Definitely not. And the king is p.i.s.sed off. You want to know what his father's doing to punish the wickedly hot prince?"

I didn't pay attention to the royal family or any of the daily gossip, but the level of my cousin's enthusiasm made me a little curious. Besides, it kept my mind off other things. "What's he doing?"

Beatrice's eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip. If she didn't tell us soon, she'd probably burst. "The king says that if his son won't go to school, then his job of raising him is done. It's time for him to choose a wife. Prince Remy has six months to find the girl of his dreams and get engaged or he gets disinherited."

I blinked. What a letdown. Now the only thing hooking my curiosity was why on earth she or anyone else cared. There was a reason I didn't pay attention to the gossip magazines or watch much TV. "So he finds a girl and gets married or he doesn't. Either way, what's it to us?"

"Are you kidding me?" Beatrice squealed. "The king is looking for the future queen. He's throwing b.a.l.l.s and making the prince attend them until he chooses a wife."

My eyes would probably glaze over before Beatrice stopped. If she had it her way, she'd give us every excruciating detail about the prince, then move on to what she planned to wear. I had to distract her. "Maybe it's not even true. Where did you hear that, Bea?"

"Deanna's mom knows someone who works in the castle. She hears all the juicy gossip." Beatrice grinned.

Lifting the can of soda to my lips, I took a sip and inwardly scoffed. I had real problems to deal with, which did not include the king's silly ball disguised as a dating service for his son.

"The ball this Sat.u.r.day will probably be the first of many, since the prince isn't cooperating at all." Beatrice beamed. "That gives us plenty of time to get his attention."

"Us?" I exhaled and fought the urge to make a caustic remark about the royal family. Instead, I took another sip from my soda.

"Every eligible girl whose eighteenth birthday is within the next six months. Cydney, that includes you and me!"

"I listened to all this only to learn I'm not eligible?" Winnie groaned and began organizing the food on her tray.

"Actually, the entire island is invited. But the boys won't be presented to the prince. Same with any girls who are too young."

"A royal ball." Winnie grinned. "How exciting."

"Yeah... have fun," I said, giving Beatrice a barely-there smile.

"Aren't you dying to go?" Beatrice asked.

My eyes bugged. "Are you crazy?"

"You have to go," Beatrice replied.

I raised one brow. "It's mandatory?"

"Well... no. Not that I know of." She scowled and crossed her arms over her stomach. "But you're seriously telling me you wouldn't want to be a princess?"

My mouth dropped open. "Not in a million years. Bea, you're supposed to eliminate the compet.i.tion, not bring it with you." I didn't think I was much compet.i.tion though. Apparently, neither did Beatrice or she wouldn't be trying to get me to go.

"The king is inviting other girls, royalty from other countries. The compet.i.tion is already stiff. But if I don't make the cut and you do, I'd still get to hang out in the castle." Beatrice's eyes sparkled.

As if I stood a chance. "That doesn't make any sense. You're really pretty and popular. He'd have to be blind not to notice you. It won't make a difference whether I'm there or not."

"You caught me." Bea giggled. "I called Mom between cla.s.ses to give her the scoop on the ball and make sure we were going. She said she'd take me car shopping if I could convince you to go to the ball."

It was my turn to groan. If Beatrice thought she had any chance of getting a car, she wouldn't let up until she got me to the castle, even if I wore rags. "Why does Aunt Mina care if I go or not?"

"She's worried about you. She wants you out living life, not hiding in the bas.e.m.e.nt all the time."

"I'm not hiding," I mumbled. "And I'm not going to the stupid ball."

She narrowed her eyes. "Which means I'm not going car shopping, because you can't do one itty bitty thing for me?"

Winnie giggled and squirted ketchup on her plate. "Just give in, Cyd. Her mind is made up. Just think how much fun it'll be shopping for a new gown. When you're a huge hit with the prince, we'll all have to call you Your Highness."

"That's not funny." I scowled at Winnie, then switched to Beatrice. "No freakin' way."

"Unbelievable." Beatrice's face flushed. "It's not always all about you, Cydney. For once, can't you think about someone besides yourself?" She spun around and stormed off, leaving me staring after her.

"You should go to the ball." Winnie kept her voice light and her eyes on her sandwich, then casually took a bite.

"Why would I want to do that?" To avoid eye contact, I reached for the ketchup and mimicked Winnie. It was something to do.

"Since you got here, it's been all about you and Gavin," Winnie said gently. "What you two want, how you're feeling. It's normal since you guys just lost your mom, but..." Winnie set her sandwich on the napkin and shot a quick glance at her sister. "I know Bea gets kinda weird at school, but she's been super nice to you at home. C'mon, she really wants this. What's a few hours at a party if it makes her so happy?"

Guilt crept up on me and I sighed. "I'll have to find another way to make Bea happy."

"But you already have an easy way." Winnie dipped a fry in the ketchup, then popped it into her mouth. "And I'd have so much more fun if you were there. What's the difference whether you're home or at the ball if you're not going to be happy either place?"

I stared at the tray of food I'd barely touched and no longer wanted to. "I'll think about it."

"Awesome. On another note, I was wondering..." Winnie picked up her ham and cheese sandwich again. "Mom doesn't talk about this much. You know, your situation. I mean, she used to tell us a little, but not since Aunt Celeste..." Her eyes darted to mine. "Even then, Mom wasn't big on sharing. Now, she won't talk about your mom at all - about any of it."

I frowned and removed the foil from the top of my yogurt container. My body was all jacked up from stress and adrenaline, which made me feel a little queasy. If I didn't eat, I'd probably feel even worse later. "Anything in particular you wanted to know?"

"Yeah." She scanned the lunchroom, then leaned forward. "Who's who here?"

"Today's my first day. How am I supposed to know who these people are?"

"No." She shook her head. "I mean which ones are werewolves? Which are vamps? I can't tell any of them apart from humans. Never could."

Before I'd found out I was a werewolf, I'd believed myself a normal human, just like anyone else. For me, the supernatural had only existed in movies and books. When I'd discovered they were real, I'd become fascinated. Winnie's curiosity had to be killing her. As much as I didn't like to rat out my fellow freaks, I'd tell Winnie anything she wanted to know.

I slowly filled my lungs, sifting through the different energies and scents. My eyes landed on some of the faces in the room. "A lot of werewolves near the exit." I threw a quick glance toward Beatrice. "She seems to attract shape s.h.i.+fters - not necessarily the werewolf kind. There's several at her table."

"What are s.h.i.+fters like?"

"They're not volatile like werewolves can be and they're cerebral. Big thinkers and they're very creative," I answered.

"Cool." Winnie grinned. "Any vampires here at school?"

"I've never seen one out in daylight." I stirred my yogurt until the blueberries mixed through. "Maybe that's why only a few hundred kids go here. The vamps are probably homeschooled at night or something." My school in Florida had thousands of students. So much easier to blend in and disappear in the midst of thousands.

"Next time you see a vampire, point him out."

"Believe me, I will." I'd never had any real reason to dislike vamps, except they fed off people, which gave me little reason to befriend any of them. Besides, they smelled strange. Not necessarily bad. But when you're used to a fleshy smell and you get a strong metallic scent, it's always weird. "I'm amazed Aunt Mina hasn't told you all this."

"My mother? Please." Winnie took a sip of her juice. "She's not a witch like your mom was, so she doesn't know that much. Besides, her mission in life is to shelter us from the big bad world."

"Then she should leave Ile de Paix. This is the last place anyone should raise a human child." Aunt Mina wasn't loaded or anything, but if she really wanted to, she could afford to live somewhere else. She bought and sold rare books over the internet - they could be s.h.i.+pped from Florida as easily as Ile de Paix.

"According to her, it's the lowest crime rate anywhere," Winnie said. "Ironically, being around supernaturals is the safest place to raise a family."

Just not the safest place for me.

"Besides, this island is sentimental to my mom, since we all spent so much time together here during the summers. Plus, I think she needs to feel that connection to her sister." Winnie paused to take a bite from her sandwich. "Your mom knew your dad was a werewolf when she married him, right?"

"Yeah." I scooped up a spoonful of yogurt. "My mom was a witch so she could feel the energy off other supernaturals."

"My mom said your dad took off before she could tell him she was pregnant with you. Did she know you'd be a werewolf?"

"Yep." I scowled at the ham and cheese sandwich on her tray.

Winnie set her sandwich down and leaned forward. "Ever thought about searching for him?"

I shook my head. "Can't. My mom heard a long time ago that he'd been killed."

Winnie's face fell.

"It's okay." I lifted one shoulder. "I never knew him." It still stung a bit knowing I was an orphan.

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "You wish werewolfism wasn't hereditary, don't you?"

I gave a half laugh. "I'd rather be a witch. No such luck."

"There has to be something good about being a werewolf. You're way stronger than humans and could live forever."

"And I'm more capable of hurting people," I scoffed, dipping my spoon into the yogurt.

Winnie's smile faded with her enthusiasm. "If your mom knew you'd hit maturity and morph, why didn't she prepare you better?" She took another bite of her sandwich.

"She meant to. But she didn't know much more than me. She thought we had at least a couple more years before we had to deal with it. It wouldn't have mattered though, because my dad wasn't around and, outside this island, werewolves avoid witches. They wouldn't have helped us. She would've been as lost as me," I said.

"You know, there was this girl last year who went missing for a couple weeks. Then, suddenly, she was here again and n.o.body knew what happened. One day, I was in the bathroom stall and she came in with a friend. There was this really strong chemical smell, so I guess she couldn't pick up my scent and thought they were alone. Anyway, she started talking about what it was like at obedience school and how they put her in isolation for a week. Supposedly, that's all the time she needed to be able to control her morphing."

I nodded and struggled to keep the impatience out of my voice. "I'm guessing she didn't nearly kill her boyfriend though. Just because it was easy for her, doesn't mean it's that easy for everyone else."

"But did you know it's an elective here? You can skip the isolation part and do the rest of the cla.s.s. I bet the guidance counselor could hook you up."

"Winnie, if he realizes I never did obedience school, he might put two and two together and figure out I was here that summer when... when that happened."

"It was three years ago. You really think-"

"The crime rate here is extremely low. When a kid is attacked and maimed, people remember."

"Maybe someone else can help you, like an older werewolf who's had years of practice controlling the beast. It can't be that hard. I mean, werewolves have hidden from humans for centuries. If they didn't have some kind of discipline, no way could they keep their secret."

How nice would it be not to constantly worry about exposing my true nature to humans or get thrown in jail for what I'd done to Jack? But I didn't want to seek help that could lead to anyone discovering that incident.

"If you learn how to stay human when you need to, you could go out more often without being afraid of what might happen. And you wouldn't miss out on the ball." Winnie bit another chunk from the sandwich and chewed. "Maybe you could make friends with a werewolf here and get some tips."

"Winnie, I can't." I lowered my voice. "I don't want to draw attention to myself. If any of them discovered I'd bitten a human and possibly killed Jack, I'd be put away. Or worse." I shoved the yogurt container aside and stared at my tray.

Winnie gave me one raised brow and c.o.c.ked her head. "I remember your mom saying that they don't expect anyone under fifteen years old to have much control. They'll go easy on you, Cyd. I'm sure of it."

"If the boy died, maybe not. And I can't take the chance they'll s.h.i.+p me off or something. I'd be scared and I'd miss you guys. And what about Gavin? He's lost so much already." I was dangerously close to whining.

"Seriously, Cydney?" Winnie released a heavy sigh, full of all the things she longed to say. And was probably about to. "You act like we don't live in the most paranormally populated country on the planet. Ile de la Paix is war-free. It's like Switzerland for monsters. This is the safest place for people like you and the best place to find out everything you need to know."

My hopes for a relaxing lunch had been shot to h.e.l.l. Winnie would nag me until I gave up - which meant she'd nag me forever, because she wouldn't get her way this time. No way. "Why are you pus.h.i.+ng this?"

She gave me a sympathetic look.

"What?" I took a few gulps of water, hoping it would fill me up, then I wouldn't have to eat. Plus, later when I had to pee, it would get me out of cla.s.s for a few minutes.

"It sucks watching you agonize every day that you might kill someone." She dropped the spoon she'd been about to dip into her cottage cheese, and leaned toward me. "You hardly ever go anywhere. You're seventeen, Cyd. You should be going out Friday nights and meeting boys. Instead, you lock yourself in the dungeon."

"It's hardly a dungeon." Dungeons didn't have their own bathroom.

"Still, it's not healthy hiding out all the time. I'm just concerned. Why suffer through that when you can get help? Even if you don't want help, you know you need it."

I avoided her gaze, concentrating instead on the paper label wrapped around my water bottle.

"Go to the ball, Cyd. Maybe it'll be easier than you think."

I studied Winnie's face and after a moment, I sighed. "I'll think about it."

Winnie's eyes met mine. "That's all I ask."

Not even a fairy G.o.dmother knocking on my door and handing me gla.s.s slippers and a diamond studded gown could make me want to go to that ball. Meeting a sn.o.bby prince who thought he was better than everyone else didn't tempt me for even a second.

Even if the girly things - like dressing up and waltzing - didn't make me want to gouge my eyeb.a.l.l.s out with an ice cream scooper, I would never put myself around that many people and risk anyone discovering my past.

I didn't want Winnie and Beatrice to be disappointed when the day of the ball arrived and they went without me. I had to convince Winnie and Beatrice what a horrible idea any social affair would be for a werewolf girl like me.

Chapter Five.

Remy "Please, Dunston, help me," I pleaded to the top of his white-blond head.