Sleeping Beauty (5 page)

“That will never happen if she follows her safety rules.”

Lucette's knees threatened to crumple as the full weight of her curse sank in.

Alone. In the night. With vampires. And they wouldn't all be as nice as Alex.

Her mother shouted, “You treat your own daughter like a prisoner!”

Her father raised his voice. “The precautions and rules I've set up have helped her develop good habits to prevent the curse! You think I
like
restricting our daughter?”

“Stefan, let's discuss this later.” Tight-lipped, she glanced at Lucette, then back at her husband.“You promised we would offer her the choice.”

Lucette looked up at the word
choice
. At this time yesterday, she'd felt so mistreated because she had to wear gloves, be escorted everywhere, and was coddled like a baby. In less than twenty-four hours, she'd met a vampire, learned she carried a horrible curse, and caused yet another big fight between her parents. After all that, they were expecting her to make some kind of choice?

A solution popped into her head. “Mom, Dad. If I'm going to bring a curse down on the kingdom, why don't we just leave Xandra? Go somewhere else?”

Her father shook his head. “I can't leave. I'm the king.”

“But—” She stopped herself. The last thing she wanted to suggest was that their family split up.

“I thought of that too, Lucette,” her mother said. “If it would work, I'd have taken you from Xandra the day after your naming ceremony, but it won't. I asked the fairies. If you leave the kingdom, everyone else in Xandra will fall asleep forever.”

Lucette gasped and felt tears spark the backs of her eyes. This couldn't get any worse.

Lucette's father turned toward her, his expression showing obvious pain. “Let's not dwell on things that can't be. Let's focus on the present.” He tugged down on his velvet jacket. “Your mother thinks we should allow you to leave the palace on weekdays, but I think it's a bad idea. Even though I've banned most sharp objects and regulated their use for essential services, there might be a few sharp objects that could prick you.”

“I think you should attend charm school,” her mother stated quickly.

“Charm school?” Lucette repeated slowly. Last night her mother had promised she'd find a way to let her attend slayer school. Was this part of that plan? Linking her daily trips outside the palace to a charm school seemed clever, if devious. Her mother had chosen a lie the king might actually support.

“I do agree that you'd benefit from such training.” Her father stepped toward her and cupped her chin tenderly.“It takes more than great beauty to charm young men, but”—he shook his head in disappointment—“I had expected your mother would teach you such things.”

Her mother pursed her lips, as if holding back arguments, and Lucette was grateful.

“If you do need charm lessons”—he squeezed her gloved hand—“I'd prefer we bring a tutor into the palace. Certainly your scare last night showed you that you're much safer at home.”

“The charm school is very safe.” Her mother's voice was sharp, but she didn't argue any further.

Her father sighed. “As long as you promise to follow your safety rules, I'll allow you to attend—but only if it's what you want.”

The door to the room opened and a guard stepped in.“Your Highness, the king and royal wizard from Judra are here for your meeting.”

“Lucette,” her father said, “you're a sensible girl. In spite of your escapade last night, I'm sure you'll make the right choice . . . the
sensible
choice.” He kissed her cheek. Then, without looking back at his queen, the king left the room.

As soon as he was gone, her mother grabbed her hand. “Lucette, of course you'll choose charm school over a private tutor. Your father will never know that I'm having you taken to the Vampire Slayer Academy instead.”

“But, Mom.” Lucette was beyond excited, yet nervous. “Someone will tell him and when he finds out, he'll be so angry.”

The queen shook her head. “I'll register you under a secret name so no one will know it's you.”

Lucette lowered her eyes. Training as a slayer was her greatest dream, what she'd always wanted, but a lie between her parents meant another reason for them to fight. Excitement and trepidation mixed inside her. She looked back up at her mother. “Keeping such a big secret will be impossible.”

Her mother shook her head. “The palace staff members who came with me when I married your father are loyal, and they'll take you each day. You'll train as a slayer and your father will never know.”

“Do you really think we should lie to him?” Nerves scrambled inside Lucette.

Her mother put her hands on her hips. “I don't like it, either, but do you think he'll agree willingly? He won't even let you hold a pencil. Do you think he'd let you touch a sharpened stake?” Her expression softened and she reached forward to touch Lucette's arm. “Darling, I wish there were another way, but learning to defend yourself is important. Of course, I hope the curse will never come to fruition, and after you turn sixteen, you should do everything you can to prevent it. But until then, I want you to learn some basic survival skills in case the worst happens.”

Anxiety rushed through Lucette's body, increasing her heart rate and making her queasy. She feared the consequences if her father ever found out about this deception.

If you were Lucette, what would you do?

 

OPTION A: Lucette should go along with her mother's lie. She's always longed to train as a slayer, and as terrifying as she finds her curse, someday she might be the only one awake at night to defend herself and protect her family. Isn't it her duty to learn? The Vampire Slayer Academy is the best place to study. If you think Lucette should choose option A, go to section 2: The Academy (page 43).

 

OPTION B: Lucette should refuse to lie to her father. With time, he might become reasonable and agree she needs slayer training. Avoiding this lie, she has a better chance of keeping the peace, and if she causes another fight between her parents, she'll never forgive herself. If her father finds out about the lie, he might never forgive Lucette and her mother. If you think Lucette should choose option B, go to section 3: Big Secrets (page 77).

L
ucette fumed. She had only been at the school for a week, but so far her classes, beyond the regular school stuff such as math and history, had been more like charm school than slayer school. Grooming? Flirting? What was the point? The only “point” she cared about was the one she could drive through a vampire's heart.

“Now, class,” Miss Eleanor began. A statuesque woman with light blonde hair and way too much makeup, the teacher stuck out a hip and set her hand on it. “Flirting is crucial to our cause and it's the best tool to lure vampires into our traps. The creatures are very amorous and have little self-control, making your beauty a lethal weapon.”

Lucette clenched her jaw and her fists.

Miss Eleanor swept a hand out in a broad gesture.“Girls, it's your duty as a slayer to use your feminine wiles against these horrible animals.”

Lucette pounded a fist into her thigh, then lifted it and accidentally hit the underside of her desk. The sharp sound reverberated throughout the room.

“Lucy,” Miss Eleanor said sternly, “if you insist on disrupting class, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room.” She wrinkled her heavily powdered nose.

“Feminine wiles?” Lucette murmured to herself. “Ridiculous.”

“If you'd like to ask a question, please stand,” Miss Eleanor said, and the entire class turned back to stare at Lucette.

She shot to her feet. “I didn't register in the academy to use feminine wiles.” The phrase itself was stupid. “I came here to learn to be a slayer—to kill vampires. When do we get our stakes?”

The other girls, all much shorter, curvier, and prettier, burst into laughter, covering their mouths with their hands, as though doing so negated their rudeness.

A girl with curly blonde hair said, “She'd have more luck attacking vampires than luring them.” She leaned toward her brunette friend across the aisle and whispered, “Flat as a board!” The two giggled. They'd established their roles as teacher's pets when they easily mastered mascara application in grooming class.

“And those eyebrows!” the brunette said, her ringlets bouncing. “She's like a wild animal!”

“Now, girls,” Miss Eleanor said to her pets, “Lucy may not be as mature as you, but she could be quite striking. That bone structure—”

Lucette pounded her fist on the desktop. “Who cares how I look?” She had realized years ago that she was no beauty, in spite of how her parents insisted she'd grow into her strong features someday. “I came here to learn how to fight! How to slay! How to defend myself.” She couldn't tell her teacher why it was so important, but she wanted to—desperately.

“
Lucy.”
Her teacher's voice was sharp. “We leave the slaying to the boys. It's not our job. Not only is it highly undignified and unfeminine, but ladies lack the strength and agility to slay vampires—not to
mention the courage of spirit.” She shook her head as if Lucette were a child learning the most basic lesson. “Vampires can sense emotions. They feed off your fear.”

“Boys don't get scared?”

Miss Eleanor sighed. “Boys learn to mask their fear.”

“And girls don't get scared when they're acting all sexy to lure vampires into traps?” Eventually her teacher would admit to the holes in her logic.

“Lust is a powerful force, Lucy. It clouds a vampire's judgment. They don't have higher reasoning powers to help them overcome their animal instincts, as we humans do.”

“How do you know? Have you ever met a vampire?” Lucette sensed it might not be smart to admit that she had met one—not right now, anyway. “And why do we need to flirt to draw the vampires into traps? I mean, if vampires are so thirsty for human blood, isn't the fact we've got it running through our veins enough to lure them?”

Miss Eleanor's cheeks reddened and she smoothed her skirt with her hands. “Lucy, if you're not here to learn, you can leave my class right now. I will not tolerate this insubordination. You girls are training to play vital roles in the slayer army, and if you want to stay, you must learn to follow orders.”

A member of the slayer army? Ha! Lucette narrowed her eyes. This school wasn't training the girls to be slayers—it was training them to be bait.

Her mother was going to hear about this.