‘Not to worry.’ Charles cleared his throat and shook Mr Abbott’s hand. ‘Horatio is anxious to lend a helping hand, I’m sure.’ The already massive butler straightened up – so tall, Ivy feared a plane might fly into his head. Even by vamp standards, Horatio was pretty freaky.
Mr Abbott had recovered his composure. He put his palms together as if praying and bowed. ‘In that case, I bid you, yī lù shùn fēng.’
‘Xiè xiè,’ replied Horatio, bowing in return.
‘Bye, Dad!’ Olivia turned to wave one last time to Mr Abbott and then the four of them trooped through the whooshing sliding glass doors and into the airport.
‘Horatio, I didn’t know you spoke Chinese,’ Charles remarked.
He bowed slightly, with a faint smile. ‘There is a lot you do not know about me, Master Karl. Now if you’ll excuse me . . .’ He took Ivy and Olivia’s duffel bags. ‘I want to make myself useful at last.’
All around them, passengers were bustling about, dragging suitcases and sprinting to gates. Ticket personnel were calling for the next person in line. Departure and arrival times scrolled down the monitors. Ivy’s chest squeezed as she saw a young couple kissing goodbye at the entrance to the security line. She would have felt much better if Brendan had given her one last kiss before she’d left, but it was too late now. She would have to wait until she got back – whenever that was.
She trailed behind her father. ‘The Lazar family, checking in,’ Ivy heard him say at the ticket desk, but she was hardly paying attention. Olivia handed her a boarding pass with her name stamped on it. The check-in, the walk through the giant metal detectors at security, the approach to the terminal – they all passed in one muffled blur as if everything was happening at a distance.
‘Ivy?’ Lillian tapped her shoulder, her gold-and-blue eyes searching Ivy’s face. ‘Are you looking forward to the trip?’
Whoa, where did Lillian come from? Ivy hadn’t even noticed her joining up with them at the gate.
Ivy blinked and channelled her best Olivia impression. ‘Absolutely!’ she replied, a peppy smile plastered on her lips.
Actually, Ivy was pleased that Lillian was coming along as her father’s date. She and Olivia agreed that the two vamps made a perfect pair. Plus, Lillian always let Ivy borrow her most on-trend vamp make-up. As a Hollywood insider, Lillian had Midnight Marauder eyeshadow months before it was out in the shops!
‘Is everything OK?’ Lillian leaned on the armrest of one of the grey plastic chairs in Departures. She wore a deep-plum tunic over black leggings. Her fashionable flats tapped the floor. Olivia was on the other side of her, flipping through a tabloid magazine. Which is not that sensible if she’s trying to avoid thinking about the J-word, Ivy thought.
Ivy straightened up. ‘Sure, yeah, I’m fine. Everything’s totally fine.’ She sounded like Olivia! The truth was that Ivy’s head felt fuzzy and she couldn’t seem to focus on what was going on in the airport. The only thing she was aware of was the object in the pocket of her jeans – her cell phone.
Her very silent cell phone.
Then, as if Ivy had psychic powers, she felt a tingle against her leg. Please be Brendan, please be Brendan. She wriggled her phone out from her pocket.
‘Brendan?’ she asked, breathless.
Her boyfriend’s slow, warm voice came over the line. ‘Hey! I was worried I’d miss you! I was in the mall and couldn’t get phone reception. I’ve come outside to call.’
At last, a real smile stretched across Ivy’s lips, so wide it hurt her cheeks. ‘Thank you,’ she said, wishing she could wrap him in a hug. ‘Save a spot at the Meat and Greet for me?’
‘You bet. Have a safe flight. And, Ivy? I didn’t get a chance to say it yesterday: I’ll miss you too.’
Ivy hung up the phone and stashed it in her hand luggage. She really did have the perfect boyfriend.
Over the intercom a woman called, ‘Boarding all rows for flight seven zero three to Transylvania. All rows, boarding now.’
‘Eek!’ Olivia squealed. ‘That’s us!’ She looped her arm through Ivy’s. ‘You have your ticket?’
Ivy waved it in reply. The flight attendant scanned her ticket and before she knew it she was stepping on to the plush Transylvania Air jumbo jet, with its crimson aisles and red velour seats. Ivy made her way towards their seats in first class. 7B . . . 7B . . . There it was. She tossed her bag on to her empty aisle seat. B for Brendan. He’d done everything he could to make her feel good about this trip. One day there’d be a seat on a plane bringing her back to him. But for now . . . Translyvania here I come! she thought, clicking the seatbelt shut over her hips. You’d better be ready for me!
Chapter Three
First class or not, Olivia was thrilled to be off the flight. She was so jet-lagged her arms and legs felt as if they were encased in concrete. It seemed like every other in-flight film had starred the J-word. Olivia hadn’t known he’d made that many movies. The universe must be out to get me – or, at least, the airline is!
And to make matters worse, she had ended up watching some horror flick called Fangs At Dusk just to avoid anything that would remind her of him, but that movie had been totally scary, and now she kept expecting blood-sucking vampires to jump out at her at any moment! Don’t be ridiculous, Olivia told herself. None of the vamps she knew would ever do silly things like that. Ivy would probably eat a whole loaf of garlic bread before wearing a cape!
Olivia turned her attention back to Horatio. He was behind the wheel of the luxury Cadillac he’d left in long-term parking at the Transylvanian airport. His chauffeur’s cap was back on his head and Olivia could see a big grin stretching across his face. She guessed Horatio was happy to be home in more ways than one. He was way more comfortable when he was taking care of people.
In fact, Olivia thought, maybe the butler was a little too much in his comfort zone, because they were going so fast on the windy country roads that it felt like they might fly off at any moment. It was worst for Olivia: she was sitting in the front passenger seat, while her bio-dad and Lillian were in the back with Ivy.
She watched as the needle on the speedometer climbed. Were Lillian and Charles concerned? She glanced in the rear-view mirror, but the couple were sitting pressed close together as Charles murmured in Lillian’s ear – small tidbits about the scenery that was whizzing by.