Prologue
When Grandma was a little girl, they had these special books designed to teach kids to read called Fun with Dick and Jane. The prose wasn’t very eloquent. See Jane. And the action sequences were rather weak. See Dick run. Run, Dick, run! Not exactly Harry Potter, in complexity, let me tell you. Not surprisingly, these not-so-riveting storybooks soon went the way of the dinosaur, with only people like Grandma bringing them up from time to time while reminiscing about “the good old days” (which, if you take into account the two-mile walk to school barefoot in three feet of snow she claims to have endured daily, don’t actually seem so good after all). In fact, truth be told, I’d pretty much forgotten about those prehistoric primers all together. That is, until a real-life Jane came into our lives and my boyfriend suddenly turned into a real dick.
Seriously, the last week or so I’ve wanted to strangle the old guy. Oh, and by the way, when I say “old,” I mean it. My boyfriend, Magnus, is literally coming up on his one thousandth and first birthday. Even though he doesn’t look a day over eighteen. And he doesn’t act his age either. You’ll never once hear him going off about the good old days like Grandma. Even though, taking into account his background, he could totally give the old woman a run for her three-foot of snow-walking, barefoot money. Magnus, you see, is a full-fledged vampire. In fact, he’s the Master of a major vampire coven. And I, Sunshine (Sunny) McDonald, am his normal, average, seventeen-year-old Massachusetts girlfriend.
I know, I know, you’re all like, “But, dude, vampires don’t really exist!” Well, believe me, five months ago I would have totally been with you on that. But back in May I had a major awakening of the undead kind that not only left me believing in vamps, but almost becoming one myself!
Yeah, it was a weird week, let me tell you.
To understand, you have to know Rayne. My twin. Who’s not so normal and not so average. She and I may be identical on the outside, but on the inside we’re as different as—well, sunshine and rain. (Yes, yes, Sunshine and Rayne—blame our barefoot, commune-living, daisy-chaining mom for those delightful selections.)
Anyway, all Rayne wanted to do once she got into high school was become a vampire. Don’t ask me why, I still can’t exactly figure out her reasoning. Suffice it to say, she’s a total Goth and you know how they can be about that sort of thing. Anyway, somehow she discovered this ancient vampire coven that had set up shop in St. Patrick’s Cemetery and hooked up with a few of them. Got herself on some waiting list, took a certification course, etc., and prepared herself for the night she was to be transformed into a vampire. (Again, why someone would willingly want to go through all this trouble just so they could drink blood and avoid the sun, I have no idea, but that’s Rayne for you.) Problem is, on the night she was supposed to be bitten, the vampire who was supposed to be doing the biting (Magnus) accidentally bit ME instead. I was so not happy about this, as you can probably guess. I mean, imagine if you were told for the first time that not only did vampires exist, but you were about to transform into one, one week before prom!
Luckily, Magnus was as mortified at his mistake as I was about my impending undead status. So we ended up working together to figure out a cure. (Which involved a trip to Europe, a kick-ass Glastonbury festival, the Holy Grail—yes, the real one, not the Monty Python DVD—and a whole other adventure, but that’s another story.) Luckily, we were successful and before the prom was over I was mortal again.
In the meantime, Magnus and I fell in love and we’ve been dating ever since. Sure, it’s a little weird to have a nocturnal, blood-sucking BF, but really, most people go on dates at night anyway, and the blood thing is a whole lot more hygienic and civilized than you might imagine. (And no, he never drinks from me. Ever. I mean, ew! They have screened, paid donors for that kind of thing nowadays.)
And Rayne—well, what can I say about Rayne? She was pretty bummed she lost her chance to become a vampire. Even more so when she found out she was destined to become a vampire slayer instead. Luckily for her, there are good vampires and bad vampires and she’s only commissioned to take out the bad ones. So she sharpened her stake, embraced her destiny, and proceeded to slay baddie vamp Maverick, who was trying to poison the Blood Coven with this awful virus. (Again, a whole other story!)
In the process, Rayne got infected by the virus herself and to save her from an untimely death, her new undead BF, Jareth, turned her into a vampire as well. So now Rayne’s got her wish. Sort of. She’s currently a kind of half-vamp, half-slayer. She has none of the vamp superpowers (because of the virus), but unlike regular vamps she has no problems with the sunshine (which helps since she still has to graduate high school).
For me, being a vampire’s girlfriend has been a good gig so far. In fact, up until now, I’ve had few complaints. But now, everything’s different. Since she came into town. Magnus’s newly assigned blood mate, Jane.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here . . .
1
“So, should I or shouldn’t I?”
Rayne groans and throws herself back on my bed. “Do you think just maybe you could contemplate your potential deflowering without taking a public opinion poll this time?” she asks. “I’m trying to memorize these cheers for tomorrow’s game.”
“Oh fine. I see how it is.” I frown. “You always have some excuse on why you can’t help your dear twin sister in her time of need. What was it last week, again?”