“He’s…reserved,” I say with a shrug. “A little closed off. But I think that’s just his style. Like he doesn’t use words unless they matter.”
“That’s usually how powerful men are,” my mom hums.
I grin.My thoughts exactly.
The door swings open without another knock, and my sister Bonnie strolls in like she owns the whole estate—which, in her mind, she does. Fifteen years old and already armed with a teenage smirk that could make a grown man flinch.
“Hey, loser! How did the meat market go last night?” She snags something off one of my shelves and flops onto the end of my bed, holding whatever is in her hands against her chest.
But it only takes a moment for me to realize what she’s holding.
My doll.My favorite vampire doll my parents gave me when I was a little girl. It’s the one with the blond hair and the sharp jaw and the green eyes that almost look purple if you tilt his head under the light.
“Put that back.”
Bonnie ignores me and pretends to make the vampire doll dance around my bed. “Spill the beans, Blair. Did you meet your future fangy husband last night?”
I sit up straighter. “I said, put it back.”
Bonnie’s brows shoot up. “What?”
“That doll. Put it back,” I repeat, my voice clipped.
“Geez.” She holds it higher, inspecting it like it’s suddenly fascinating. “What crawled up your ass?”
“Nothing crawled up my ass.”
“Sure.” Bonnie snorts. “Because you’re alwayssopossessive over your creepy vampire doll.”
“It’s not creepy,” I snap.
Bonnie’s grin widens. “Oh my God. You’re being so weird.”
I reach for it. She pulls it away.
“Bonnie,” Mom says sharply. “Stop messing with your sister.”
“Fine.” Bonnie rolls her eyes and tosses the doll toward me, then flops back against my pillows. “Keep your creepy doll.”
“Blair, honey, let’s focus on the important things, shall we?” my mom requests as she sets her coffee down on my nightstand. This is her way of saying,Don’t even think about arguing with your sister right now.“We need to make sure you’re ready.”
She’s not wrong. The Selection and accompanying Bonding are coming up incredibly soon. The date won’t be revealed until forty-eight hours prior, but once it’s announced, I need to be ready to head to New York almost immediately.
“You want to go shopping with us, Bonbon?” my mom asks, and Bonnie groans.
“Do I have to?”
“It’d be nice to support your sister,” my mom says, using guilt as her tactic of choice. “This is really important for her.”
“Can’t Blair just find a husband the good old-fashioned way?” Bonnie sighs. “I mean, it’s all a little strange that she has to do these weird events to find a man. I don’t get it. Are the men losers or something? Why can’t they date like normal people?”
“Bonnie, when you’re older, you’ll understand why this is so important,” Mom says. “And why it’s actually a hugeprivilegethat Blair gets to do this.”
“Doubt it,” Bonnie mutters. “And honestly, I’m just happy it’s not me.”
Happy it’s not her?Obviously, my sister has no idea what she’s talking about.
“But if it were you, Bonnie,” Mom answers, despite the fact that she should just ignore her “then you wouldn’t have a choice.”
