The Count shook Holly’s hand, his expression tight. The Countess nodded. Her smile looked as if it had been glued on to her face by force – and was about to slip right off.
‘Um . . . hi,’ Holly said. As she turned to Ivy, Olivia and Brendan, she looked sheepish.
The adults moved discreetly to a different part of the room – which, Ivy knew, wouldn’t stop them from listening to everything with their vampire super-hearing. But it was time for Ivy and Olivia to take over.
‘Holly!’ Ivy smiled broadly. ‘Hey, did you have to squeeze past that crowd in the street?’
Holly grimaced, looking guilty. ‘Uh, yeah, I did. What’s up with that?’
‘I wondered about that too,’ Brendan said. ‘They look like they’re waiting for something.’
Ivy raised her eyebrows. ‘Anyone would think that someone has been spreading rumours about something special happening.’
Holly opened her mouth to speak.
Before she could utter a word, Olivia said softly, ‘I can’t imagine who would do such a thing.’
Two red spots appeared on Holly’s cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, all in a rush. ‘I’m the reason all those people are there. I may have mentioned on my blog that there was a gathering, a good place to spot vampires.’
Olivia was shaking her head. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘There’s a good reason . . .’ Holly started to say, but Ivy cut her off.
‘I found something interesting.’ She reached into the boring sports bag that was part of her bunny disguise, and pulled out a copy of Bare Throats at Sunset.
Holly’s brow creased in confusion. ‘I thought you hated that book.’
‘I read it again more carefully,’ Ivy said. ‘And guess what I noticed, this time around?’ She flipped to page 56. ‘Listen to the description of the main character’s daughter: “She had hippy jeans, long strawberry-blonde hair and a pale face” . . . interesting, huh? It sounds just like someone I know.’
Holly’s face turned beetroot red. ‘I’m sorry! It’s true. I should have told you guys.’ She wrapped her arms around her chest, seeming to shrink under their combined gaze. ‘My dad wrote the book.’
‘But your last name isn’t Reardon,’ Olivia said. No longer acting, all her hurt was in her face. ‘Or were you lying about that too?’
‘His name isn’t really S. K. Reardon,’ Holly said. ‘It’s Sean Turner. Reardon is my grandma’s maiden name.’
‘But if he’s your dad,’ said Ivy, ‘why didn’t you say so before? Why did you pretend you didn’t know him?’
Holly swallowed visibly, looking as if she were fighting back tears. ‘I almost never get to see him any more. He lives in San Francisco. Every time I’ve seen him recently, he’s just been so upset that his book is selling badly. It was his big dream to get it published, but no one cared. No one was buying it. And it’s so unfair! It’s not nearly as bad as some other vampire books that are really popular – no matter what you think of it!’
Ivy winced. ‘I’m really sorry I said that the writing was terrible,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t have done that if I knew he was your dad. And . . .’ She struggled with her pride, and finally managed to admit the truth. ‘It isn’t really all that bad,’ she said. ‘I was just upset that you dissed Shadowtown.’
Holly’s lips twitched. ‘You can’t pretend that’s a classic, either.’
‘No,’ Ivy agreed. ‘But I love it anyway. Shows how much taste I’ve got, huh?’
For the first time ever, she and Holly shared a real smile.
Holly’s smile faded quickly, though. ‘I just wanted to do something to help my dad.’ She bit her lip and glanced at the windows of the house and the crowd outside. ‘That’s why I set up the blog. Have you figured it all out?’
Olivia sighed, leaning into Ivy. ‘Why don’t you tell us in your own words?’
Ivy put one hand on her sister’s arm in support. It had to hurt Olivia to hear this from her friend.
Holly spoke quickly. ‘I just thought if I could make people think there were actual vampires living in a small American town, I could really have an effect. I could create an Internet sensation, you know? I’d fuel interest in vampires and sell more copies of my dad’s book to coincide with his book-signing here. There are a lot of vampire books out right now – it’s so hard for a new one to get noticed! But if there were rumours about real vampires existing, and people thought S. K. Reardon might have “insider info” –’
‘Then his book would have an edge,’ Ivy finished for her.
‘I just wanted to help him, that’s all.’ Holly’s shoulders slumped. ‘But he didn’t see it that way.’ She looked down at the floor as she added softly, ‘I haven’t spoken to him since he told me off at the mall. Believe me, this plan could not have backfired any more spectacularly.’
Despite everything, Ivy couldn’t help her heart beginning to melt. I can’t believe this is happening to me ! But the misery in Holly’s voice was heartbreaking.
‘Come on,’ Ivy said. ‘Let’s go out to the garden to get a bit of privacy.’
The Count and Countess would know everything they needed to by now. It felt wrong to let Holly unburden herself any more when she didn’t know how many people were listening to her story.