Page 24 of Sweeter than Honey

“Andthismust be Lilith,” Celine says, looking warily at the witch’s bare feet on our recently-veneered, hardwood floor. “It’s a pleasure to…”

“Ooh!” Lexi squeals, hurrying to the girl’s side and taking a pinch ofthe fabric of her skirt without asking. “This issocute! Where did you get it?”

Lilith looks a little startled at the supernatural speed with which a hundred-year-old vampire has just appeared beside her. “Oh! Um, it actually used to be an altar cloth, that my mother used for spellcasting. I liked the material, so I sewed it into this skirt.”

“Oh my god!” Lexi clasps her hands together. “It’shandmade! Very chic.”

The witch blushes, clearly pleased with the attention.

“Lilith,” Hallie coughs. “These are my older sisters, Celine Côté, Renata Espina, and Alexandra Price…”

“Everyone calls me Lexi,” says my younger sister with a charming smile. If anyone is good at playing the host, it’s Lexi. I try not to roll my eyes.

“Nice to meet you,” Lilith says. “But if you’re all sisters, why do you have different last names?”

“Well, we’re vampires,” Celine replies. “We all had different last names before we were turned. We use the ones we had before, rather than our Creator’s name. Except for Renata, she…”

“Let’s leave the family stories for dinner, shall we?” I interject. I signal to the butler waiting by the kitchen door. “Otherwise, your food will get cold.”

We sit around the table, Celine at the head, Lexi and I at her right, and Hallie and Lilith together on the other side of the table. The butler appears in a crimson tie and vest.

“Good evening, mademoiselles,” he says with a nod. “What will you be having to drink tonight?”

He looks to Lilith first, who replies, “Oh, um, do you have any wine?”

“We have our house Bordeoux, rich-bodied with notes of cherry. It pairs well with the beef. I highly recommend it.”

“That sounds delicious,” she says.

“And Ms. Johnson.” He turns to Hallie. “So wonderful to have you home. May I bring you a glass of bloodwine?”

Hallie smiles shyly at the butler. She’s still not used to being waited on like this and it makes her a little uncomfortable. “Sure, if it’s not too much trouble…”

“Bring her one ofour newer bottles,” Lexi says. “And I’ll have a glass as well, please, Walter.”

“I’m fine without the bloodwine, Walter,” Celine says quickly, before he can ask.

“Me too,” I add, tapping my pointer finger impatiently upon the tablecloth. “I drank earlier this evening.”

Lexi pouts, but doesn’t comment as the butler disappears into the kitchen. Lexi developed a way to prevent blood from congealing, so that it can be made into a distilled wine that vampires can drink. A clever idea, but I wish Lexi would turn her focus onto more productive pursuits. If she spent a bit more time on her role as the hotel’s Chief Marketing Office, instead of on her ridiculous entrepreneurial schemes, I would have a lot less work on my own plate.

“Amrita said that you two had quite a semester,” Celine says. “Something about a magical competition? She mentioned theDevil…”

Hallie and Lilith exchange glances. Hallie reaches up as if to adjust the glasses on her nose, then realizes that she’s not wearing them anymore. “Yes, it’s a bit of a long story…”

Taking turns, Hallie and Lilith tell us all about their semester, and how Lilith’s coven of evil witches attacked the academy. Lilith turned against them to help Hallie, Amrita and the other professors defeat them.

“Where are the Satanic witches now?” Celine asks, her dark eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“They’ve retreated back to my coven’s ancestral home,” Lilith replies. “The High Priest is gone, so they’ll need to appoint a new one.” She looks lovingly at Hallie as she takes a sip of her wine. “You should have seen Hallie! She was amazing. She’sreallygood at witchcraft, for a vampire.”

“Well, it’s a lot of work, but I like my classes,” Hallie replies.

The main course arrives, and Lilith eagerly digs into her beef bourguignon.

“This is so tasty!” she says. “I wish my coven’s food was like this. Evil witches are terrible cooks.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Celine tells her with a grimace.