The Real Werewives of Vampire County

It was a substantial risk that Gabriel was not willing to take. The more Cassandra thought about it, the more she saw the inherent danger as well.

At tennis practice at Alexis’s house the following morning, Cassandra confessed as to Gabriel’s feelings on the matter, and that she had changed her mind as well.

“Oh Cassie,” Heather said, skipping back to smoothly return Alexis’s serve with a backhanded sweep of her racket, “that just isn’t right. You know it’s not fair to her. All she wants is to be our friend.”

“And join the pack. Don’t forget that,” Alexis shouted from across the court.

Cassandra snorted, scuffing her shoes against the court. Heather frowned at her, unable to give a proper glare with her gaze torn between her friend and the oncoming ball. She didn’t miss a beat, returning every volley and drop shot Alexis tried pulling to win the point even as she laid into Cassandra.

“Vera’s just being paranoid. I know she wants what’s best for the pack, but so do I—and I think we need fresh blood to revive the older stock. Considering how long it’s been since the last time we contracted someone, we’re never going to find anyone so easy to convince as Tiffany Winters again. Someone who fits our standards—and comes to us, no less—is unheard of, and don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. We aren’t the Moonwalkers in New York, no matter how badly we wish we were. We need to take advantage of this while we can.”

“She can’t be one of us, darling. Gabriel said no.”

“You always do what Gabriel tells you?”

Alexis hurled a particularly vicious shot over the net that Heather had to scramble to catch and return. It certainly got her attention.

“Honey, I don’t think you’re looking at this clearly. She was married to a White Hat. Bane of our existence? Hunts our kind on the weekends for sport? I’m with Cassie and Vera on this. Don’t question the pack leader’s judgment. We all need to back off.”

Heather growled softly, the sound echoing across the court, punctuated by the sharp thock of the ball being slapped across the court hard and fast—too fast for Alexis to keep up with, scoring Heather the first point. Cassandra rose to take her place on the court.

The two faced off as Alexis settled primly on a bench, taking a sip of Evian as she watched the pair. Cassandra prepared to serve, pausing just long enough to speak a few words first.

“Don’t overstep your bounds, Heather. You don’t rank high enough in the pack to challenge Gabriel. Or me.”

Heather’s normally warm brown eyes now glittered gold, and she said nothing while dashing across the tarmac with supernatural speed to reach the ball. The two women played a silent game, daring each other with sharp, cutting movements, each working to outdo the other.

Sweat freely dripped down their bodies, the world narrowing to one competitive moment, every action and reaction calculated to win the point and end the game. Cassandra hit the ball high and deep into Heather’s court, forcing her to exercise extra speed and leap unnaturally high to reach it.

With a rush, Heather dashed forward to meet the lob, using an overhead smash to gain the point and end the game.

“Don’t push too hard, Cassie,” Heather said, tossing her racket aside with a clatter and rubbing the sweat off her brow with her arm. “You and Gabriel aren’t the only voices in the pack.”

Cassandra and Alexis watched with narrowed eyes as Heather spun on her heel and left the court, leaving them behind.

Cassandra sipped at the mai tai Alexis had prepared for her, crossing her legs at the ankles as she relaxed in the kitchen. They’d waited a few minutes before they followed Heather inside, leaving her alone as she stalked off to one of the guest bedrooms to cool down and shower in peace.

“You’re not worried about what she said, are you?”

“No,” Cassandra replied, not meeting Alexis’s questioning gaze. “Not worried. Concerned. Vera and Heather both make good points, but I don’t think now is the time to tell Tiffany that we don’t want her around or that we won’t be turning her into one of us. It might be better if we distance ourselves instead.”

Alexis pulled her towel from around her neck and dabbed at her forehead and cheeks before picking up her own drink and leaning against the marble countertop, taking a sip before answering.

“I’m not sure if Tiffany will accept that. Do you think Gabriel will ever let one of us contract or turn her?”

“Honestly? No.”

Alexis paused in lifting her drink back to her lips, brow cocked. “And do you think she’ll accept that?”

Cassandra shook her head, setting her drink down and pushing it away. The two women said nothing for a time, the silence between them growing heavy.

Shifting her weight and looking away, Alexis broke the silence by turning around and busying herself with tidying the kitchen counters, even though the maid and the cook had already done so earlier in the day. In her Juicy shorts and Nikes with sparkling pink swooshes, she didn’t look like much of a domestic, but she did her best impression as she banged cabinets and put the drink mixes away.

“We can’t trust her, you know,” Alexis said, keeping her back to Cassandra as she reached up into one of the cabinets to adjust some of the dishes.

“I know.”

“You can’t let her go around thinking she’s still welcome, either. One of us is going to have to tell her.”

Cassandra harrumphed, a low growl rumbling in her throat. Alexis was careful not to meet her gaze, keeping her head down and her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach when she turned around.

“Maybe we should do it together. We can tell her to come over to Tiffany’s later, and we can sit down as a group and discuss it like civilized people. If we keep Vera out of it, maybe she’ll even listen to us.”

Cassandra’s eyes flashed gold, matching her eye shadow, and her lip lifted in a silent snarl before she huffed out a breath of air and let fallen lids obscure her gaze. “I’m not sure if that’s an option. If we tell her, she might react badly. Go back to her husband, maybe.”

“If we don’t tell her,” Alexis countered, “she might get it into her head that she still has a chance at becoming one of the pack, and end up doing something foolish. Worse, one of the boys might go along with it, and then where will we be? You saw how they were looking at her last night and how she had them wrapped around her fingers at the party. We can’t take the chance.”