The Reluctant Vampire Page 0,7

actually she didn't recall ever sleeping at night. Shrugging, she added, "Although tomorrow night may be a different story. By then I may be exhausted enough that I do actually sleep."

"Let's hope," Mirabeau said, glancing toward the stairs.

"Go on," Drina said with amusement as she picked up her suitcase. "Tiny is no doubt ge ng antsy waiting for you."

Mirabeau nodded and turned away. "Good night."

"Good night," Drina murmured, and eased the bedroom door open to slip inside. The room wasn't completely dark, the curtains were heavy, but a faint glow from the streetlights outside was s ll slipping around the edges. Between that and her eyesight, Drina could see almost as well as if it were daylight. She set down her suitcase beside the bed, briefly considered changing her clothes, but then decided the sweater and jeans she wore would do. She didn't want to wake Stephanie, and wasn't likely to sleep anyway, she thought as she eased to sit on the side of the bed.

"Aren't you going to change your clothes?"

Drina turned sharply and glanced over her shoulder as the young girl in the next bed shi ed onto her side facing her and raised her arm to rest her head on her hand.

"You can turn on the light if you like. I'm not asleep anymore."

Drina hesitated, but then supposed if they were going to be roommates, she should at least introduce herself to the girl. Standing, she moved around the bed to sit on the side facing Stephanie as the girl reached over to turn on the lamp on the bedside table. Habit, Drina supposed. As an immortal, Stephanie should have been able to see as well as Drina did.

The sudden light was briefly blinding, but a er blinking several mes, Drina found herself peering at a pe te blonde. She'd been told the girl was fi een, but Stephanie looked younger. She had a lovely face, but a child's body, still somewhat gangly and flat-chested.

"Hi." Stephanie shi ed to sit cross-legged on her own bed. "You're Alexandrina Argenis, but prefer to be called Drina."

"And you're Stephanie McGill," she said calmly, supposing that Lucian must have told Mirabeau and Tiny who was coming, and they'd passed it on to the girl.

"They didn't tell me," Stephanie said with a smile.

Drina blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You just thought that Tiny and Beau told me who was coming, but they didn't. I read your mind."

Drina sat back slightly, her eyes narrowing. The girl certainly sounded as if she'd just read her mind, but it wasn't possible. Drina was old, older than her uncle Victor, and Stephanie was a new turn. The teenager couldn't possibly read her.

"Maybe it's because you've met your life mate," Stephanie suggested with a shrug. "That usually makes you guys readable, doesn't it?"

"Er . . ." Drina instinctively shook her head in denial.

"Marguerite suggested you to Lucian because she thinks Harper is your life mate."

"Crap." Drina sagged where she sat. The kid really was reading her. That was the only explana on since Marguerite had said Lucian hadn't wanted to know who it was so long as it wasn't Anders. She and Marguerite were the only two in the world who knew.

"Plus me," Stephanie said with amusement.

"Plus you," Drina agreed on a sigh. Apparently just mee ng the man had been enough to start affec ng her. Great.

"It was smart you've played it cool and didn't just blurt out that he might be your life mate. Harper's going to be a hard nut to crack," Stephanie said suddenly. "He'll fight this life-mate business."

"Why do you say that?" Drina asked warily.

"Because it isn't grief that's making him so miserable over Jenny. It's guilt. He thinks if he'd never met and tried to turn her, she'd s ll be alive. It's ea ng him up. He doesn't think he deserves to be happy. He thinks he needs to suffer for her dying. He'll fight it and avoid you for the next couple of centuries until he feels he's suffered enough if he finds out you're life mates . . . unless you creep up on him."

Drina stared at her blankly, amazed to hear such wisdom from someone so young. Stephanie suddenly grinned and admi ed, "I'm not Yoda or something. I'm just repea ng what Marguerite said to you."

"She did say that, but I wasn't thinking it," Drina said with a frown.

"Yeah, you are. It's nagging at the back of your mind and probably has been since she said it. That and