Blue Bloods (Blue Bloods 1)

"Why?"

"It's not supposed to happen like this. This meeting was called too early. Usually, this happens in the spring. And by then, almost everyone has figured it out, from the memories. You start to know who you are before anyone has to tell you. The meeting is just a formality. Usually when you're taken into The Committee, you already know."

"Huh?"

"I know it's a lot. It's a lot to handle. But remember what happened Saturday night? When we were waltzing? We saw it because it's happened before. Everything she said in there is true."

Schuyler shook her head. No. She wasn't going to fall for this. They might all be drinking laced Kool-Aid in there, but she had a good head on her shoulders. Things like vampires and past lives and immortality just didn't exist in the real world. And Schuyler was a card-carrying member of the real world. She didn't want to check into CrazyTown any time soon.

"Do this," Jack said, tapping his face, motioning to the side of his jaw.

"Why?"

"You should start feeling them. Right here," he said, pressing a thumb and index finger against each side of his mouth.

"There?"

"Yeah, I know, the Red Bloods think we have them in our front canines, but that's just one more of The Conspiracy's doings. Our wisdom teeth are the ones a bit to the side."

"Wisdom teeth? Like the ones that get taken out at your dentist?" Schuyler asked, trying not to roll her eyes.

"Oh, I forgot, that's what the Red Bloods call them too. No, not that far back. They stole that term from us, but it doesn't mean the same thing. C'mon, try it. They start appearing right around now."

She rolled her eyes. But she stuck her finger inside her mouth, trying to see if she noticed anything. "Nothing, there's no - Oh." Underneath a small tooth she'd never noticed before, on each side, she felt a sharp point.

"If you concentrate, you can bring them out."

She rolled a finger over them, and pictured the teeth lengthening, coming out of her gums. Amazingly, small sharp enamel fangs began to protrude downward.

"You can learn to extend and retract them."

Schuyler did, her finger tracing the sharp, needlelike end of the tooth. She felt sick to her stomach with an excitement she couldn't control.

Because it was only then that she realized what she had been denying all along.

She was a vampire. Immortal. Dangerous. Her fangs were sharp enough to draw blood - to pierce the skin of a human being. She retracted them slowly, feeling an ache at their disappearance.

She really was one of them.

CHAPTER 21

Once the meeting was adjourned, Bliss was still reeling from everything she'd learned. She was a vampire, or as she corrected herself; a "vam-pyre," which meant fire angel in the Old Tongue, a Blue Blood. One of the undead. So that explained the memories, the nightmares. The voices in her head. It was strange to think of her blood as alive, but that's what they said - that they had all lived before, a long time ago, and were called into service when they were needed. One day they would be in command of all their memories and would learn how to use them.

The knowledge brought a profound feeling of relief. So she wasn't insane. She wasn't losing her mind. What happened at the Met the other afternoon, when she'd blacked out before kissing Dylan, was probably just part of the whole process. That's what Dr. Pat had meant. So she was normal. She was supposed to feel dizzy and sick. After all, her body was changing, her blood was changing. Maybe now that she understood why she was having them, her nightmares wouldn't scare her as much in the future.

Mimi was grinning from ear to ear when the meeting was over. She walked over to Bliss.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently. She knew it would take some getting used to. But finding out about being a Blue Blood was like a kind of graduation or something. When she and Jack had been inducted, their parents had thrown them a surprise party at the 21 Club.

Bliss nodded.

"C'mon," Mimi said. "Let's go get some steak tartare."

They walked a few blocks toward La Goulue, then took a table on the sidewalk. It was late afternoon, but it was still sunny and warm enough to sit outside. They ordered quickly.

"So, let me get this straight. We can't get killed?" Bliss asked, pulling her seat closer so that no one would overhear their conversation.