He turned the radio up so that soft classical music offered some background noise. He drove a nondescript silver sedan that was nothing like the flashy luxury vehicle the Nolans owned. My grandfather’s energy was different, too. He wasrelaxed to their stuffy; unlike my great-grandparents, who’d made it seem as if I was always being judged, he made me feel as if I’d be accepted no matter what.
“Can I ask you something?” I said shyly.
“Sure.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’m sorry, I should have told you sooner. It’s Sebastian. Sebastian Monticello.”
“That sounds Italian.”
“It is.”
“I guess that means I’m also Italian?”
“Part Italian. Did you never ask Tilly about your ancestry?”
“It’s funny that you call my grandmother Tilly. Richard and Maxine called her Greta.”
“I knew your grandmother as Greta, too, but I’m aware you knew her as Tilly.”
I smiled to show that I appreciated him being so mindful. “Family was sort of a sore subject for her, so I never asked about our background.”
“I can imagine,” Sebastian said. “The Nolans are far from what I’d call . . .”
“Nurturing? Kindhearted? Sane?”
He chuckled. “All of those.”
“Tilly thought you’d abandoned her.”
“I know she did.”
“I always did, too, because that’s what Tilly said. But now I know about the deal you made with the Nolans.”
Sebastian’s brows lifted. “They actually told you about me? That’s surprising.”
“They probably figured it didn’t matter what they said, since they’d planned on killing me from the get-go,” I quipped bitterly. “It’s not like they had to worry about me tracking you down.”
“Richard and Maxine are despicable excuses for human beings.”
I went quiet for a moment and then said, “I have so many questions for you.”
He glanced at me, then quickly looked back at the road. “Like?”
“Why do you look so young if you’re not a vampire? Where have you been all these years? Why have you been following me around so much lately? Why reveal yourself now?” There were so many things I wanted to know.
“That’s a lot of questions. Which would you like me to answer first?” Sebastian asked with a crooked grin that was both boyish and wise.
“You pick.”
He drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel, thinking. “I’ve been following you more lately because I suspected Maxine and Richard were up to something. They thought I vanished when Tilly was pregnant, but in truth I’ve been keeping tabs on them for decades.”
“Why?”
“If they told you about me, I’m assuming they also told you about Richard’s hunting club?”
“They did. Pack of psychos.”
