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“We’re independently wealthy. Pick out whatever you want. I was born a vampire. I wasn’t turned. I’m not as old as the guys.” Jasmine eyed a leather jacket.

“Wait, if you were born a vampire, how come you aged? Wouldn’t you have been a newborn always?” Fiona asked, so perplexed about all of this.

“We age normally like humans until we’re between eighteen and twenty-one and then our aging process slows way down,” Jasmine said.

“What…what if a hunter and vampire have a baby? Or is that even possible?” Fiona asked.

“I’ve heard they’re daylight vampires, unaffected by the sun, except like a human who could be burned, don’t need blood, have all the powers of a hunter and vampire combined,” Jasmine said.

“Oh, I never even thought of that. I was turned last year, so I’m new at all this still,” Caitlin said. “Be sure to pack up a bathing suit or two. They have a beautiful indoor pool that you can enjoy. Can you swim?”

“Oh, yes. That would be great.”

After Fiona picked out a few pairs of jeans, a couple of jackets, panties, bras, socks, five shirts, a sweater, a couple of skirts, a dress, two bathing suits, flip flops, a robe, pajamas, and another pair of boots, Jasmine paid for them. Fiona didn’t even want to see how much all that cost her.

Then they returned to the hotel room, and everyone met up at Fiona’s room to have pizzas delivered.

Fiona had never paid that much for clothes ever. She was kind of liking her new group of friends. Even the spacious suite they had was gorgeous, all light and airy, not dark and depressing like her—well, Regina’s home. Since Regina wasn’t really any relation to Fiona, in reality, the woman had stolen her and taken her to Oregon under false pretenses.

“You were going to show me a book,” Fiona said as their meals were delivered.

“Yeah.” Stasio handed it to her. “You won’t be able to read the language. It’s ancient Welsh, but this tells all about the earlier family lines. Ruric, Levka, Arman, and I are all Welsh princes. We’re listed here. All the families have their own books, but some have been uploaded online in this new electronic age.”

“That’s where I come in,” Ruric said. “When Arman said he was having the visions of you, we researched who the vampires were who had taken you from your foster family. We’re still trying to learn who your real parents are.”

“What about the…curse?” If Fiona was to believe any of this.

“You come into an ability that has to do with dreams when the blood moon is full and you reach your eighteenth birthday,” Stasio said. “Both are a few days away. I mean, some say it’s a curse because there will be rogue vampires who will be after you for your power, but it might be something that really benefits you if you can learn how to harness it.”

“When we get to Dallas, I want to see the police,” Fiona reiterated, not buying this curse business. She thought that the vampires truly believed in it, but she couldn’t see that having dreams made her powerful. If she didn’t have any control over her life right now, at least she had to know what had happened to her foster brother. She still cared for him and didn’t want to give up hope that he was alive.

“Yes. We’ll give you the time to check on your brother. But we can’t take too long,” Arman warned. “They’ll be looking for you and they might believe you would try to go there, if they suspect you want to be with your brother.”

Which was just what Fiona had told Regina. That wasn’t good. “I can’t believe Justin wasn’t my real brother. How can we learn more about my family?”

“I’ll be searching all the archives I can find to try and locate them. In the meantime, you have to stay with us, and we’ll protect you,” Stasio said.

“What if you want whatever ‘powers’ I might have just like Tobias and Regina?” Fiona wasn’t dumb. If one group of vampires wanted them, then another could want them also.

“We help others in need. We’ve gotten in trouble for it also,” Levka said. “If we just didn’t stick our noses into other people’s business, we wouldn’t have any concerns.”

“Why would you be in trouble for doing something good for people?” Fiona didn’t think it made any sense.

“Vampire League rules. No helping humans or hunters even when they’re innocent of any wrongdoing and need our help,” Levka said.

“That’s awful.” Fiona couldn’t believe it. “So you’re telling me you’re good Samaritan vampires then.”

“Yeah, we are,” Arman said. “Though you should know that I tend to remind everyone of the rules so they don’t get into as much of a hassle.”

“Does that mean with regard to coming to rescue me also?” Fiona asked.

“Are you kidding? He was going to help you whether any of us wanted to come or not,” Levka said.

Fiona smiled at him. “Thanks.” Then she lost the smile. “I think.” Though a part of her was relieved that she wouldn’t have to return to Regina’s house and see Tobias or Clarissa either, she still wasn’t certain going with these people was a step in the right direction.

“We need to get some sleep. We leave in four hours.” Levka took Caitlin’s hand, and they left the room.

“We’ll be in the room next door.” Arman pointed to the adjoining door. “Just call on us if you need any help.”