Tempting Raven (Curse of the Vampire Queen #1)(4)

My mom frowns as she glances at the clock. "It's six o'clock on a Friday night." Which is wake up time for vampires. Although, some can be quite the little day owls. My family definitely isn't, though. "Aren't you going out with Effie?"

"Not tonight," I say through a yawn. "She's going out on a date."

My mom trades another indecipherable look with my dad that drives me mad. Mad, I tell you! Before I can get drilled with any more questions, though, I move for the doorway.

"If you do go out, make sure to be careful," my mom calls out. "And keep your phone on you."

I pause in the doorway and glance over my shoulder. "You seem edgy. Are things really getting that bad around here?"

"Things are getting bad everywhere. Too many of our kind have decided that the law doesn't apply to them. And the emperors and empresses are having a hard time keeping order anymore  …  There's so many unnecessary deaths. And then there's the rebellion going on." She exchanges yet another secretive, worried look with my dad. "We need more structure and reign or else." She dazes off for a moment. "What we need is a king and queen."

"Yeah, probably," I agree. Disorder has been taking over the land. Rebellion groups are growing, wreaking chaos everywhere, seeking God knows what end game. "If I go out, I'll make sure to take my phone with me and be super careful," I assure her.

She smiles stiffly. Then, for the fourth time, her and my father trade another secretive look. That's when I realize what they're doing-communicating with their eyes, a gift they discovered they both possessed after they married. My aunt told me the gift manifests between two vampires who are truly in love and meant to be together-who are soulmates. Not too many vampire couples possess the gift, which doesn't bode well for the theory that every vampire has a soulmate. Still, I'd like to believe in the idea that there's someone out there who's perfect for me, who will bring out the best in me, who will push me to be better, who will be my shoulder to cry on and vice versa, and who will get into a bantering argument with me when I'm bored. 

What? I'm a weirdo, okay? And I like to banter sometimes.

Leaving the kitchen, I drag my tired ass upstairs, but slam to a halt when I hear shrieking coming from Nadine's room. At first, I think she's done something stupid, like stab herself in the eye with her eyeliner again. Then she comes bouncing out of her room with a huge-ass smile on her face.

Lovely. She's not shrieking because she's hurt. She's shrieking because she's happy. And a happy Nadine is never a good thing.

"I'm so excited." She hops up and down, clapping her hands and blocking my route.

My dad appears at the top of the stairway behind me, looking absolutely befuddled. "What the heck's going on?"

"Rhyland and Kingsley are coming home early." She continues to bounce and shriek like a clown who inhaled too much helium. "They'll be here in a few hours!"

A low buzzing sensation starts humming inside my veins. At first, I figure it's from my anger. But I think my veins are actually buzzing underneath my pale skin.

Damn, that blood Mom served tonight must've been really, really good quality shit.

"Well, that's just fucking lovely." I didn't even mean to say the words aloud, but my irritation gets the best of me.

"What's a matter, Raven?" Nadine sneers. "Are you afraid of Rhyland and Kingsley?"

"Nope." I internally sigh. I'd really been enjoying the last year away from them. Sure, I still had to put up with Nadine, but without her evil sidekicks-and the brains of their evil operation, something I found out once Rhyland and Kingsley left-she's been fairly easy to deal with. And now that comfortableness will be stolen away the moment Rhyland and Kingsley walk through the door.

"Why are they coming back early?" my father asks, shifting his weight. "Did they get kicked out of the training program?"

Nadine glares at him. "No, that's not why. And it's pretty rude for you to just assume that."

I struggle to keep a smile from rising on my face. My dad really is awesome, even if it's unintentional.

"I didn't mean that rudely," my dad stresses. "You know I like Rhyland and Kingsley. I just hadn't heard anything about them coming back early, so it seems a bit strange."

Sadly, my dad's telling the truth, too, about liking Rhyland and Kingsley. But he doesn't know about all the shit Nadine, Rhyland, and Kingsley have put me through over the years. Same with my mom. And telling them about it would be too complicated since my dad's BFFs with Kingsley and Rhyland's dad, and my mom is besties with their mom.

"They graduated early." Nadine flips her hair off her shoulder and proudly grins like she's the one who graduated early. "They just found out yesterday, and they want to surprise their parents, so don't blab it to anyone. They also said they have some news they needed to tell everyone. Some big thing is going on in the emperor and empress world. I think Mom already knows what that is because she's an empress. But Rhy and Kings said they couldn't tell me over the phone because I'm not an empress yet. And the news hasn't been given the go-ahead to be released to the public." She frowns. Or, more like pouts. "God, I can't wait until I become one. I hate being out of the gossip loop."