get left.”
“Are you done?” Camila asked.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ve been wanting to yell at the new girls all
summer,” Cleo said.
“I bet you have.”
“Breakfast is in thirty. Here are your clothes.” Paige held up
a black canvas bag with the white letters “ABO” stitched on with
bright red threading. I looked at the sheet covering my boobs. I
would have hopped out of bed to take the bag, but I was still naked.
Camila took it from Paige and put in on the dresser.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“She’ll be up in thirty minutes,” Camila told them.
“Okay,” Cleo replied. And then she and Paige waited.
“Good-bye,” Camila said as she started closing the door. Paige
huffed and rolled her eyes, and Cleo actually pouted. I got a weird
tight feeling in my throat. “I’ll see you both tonight.”
“Fine,” they both whined. Camila laughed to herself as she shut
the door all the way. She came back over to the bed and sat beside
me. “What was that all about?” I asked, trying not to sound jealous,
which I instantly realized I was. She must have sensed it because she
tried to distract me by drawing her fingertips across my shoulder.
“Nothing,” she said. “They just missed me last night.”
“Did I keep you away from them?”
“No. I’m fed. They’re just needy. Ignore them.” Before I could
ask who’d fed her properly, she kissed me, another painfully slow,
warm, wet kiss. I couldn’t remember what day it was when she pulled
away. She smoothed my hair away from my face, gazing between my
lips and my eyes. I wanted her again, but I didn’t have time.
“So what does a vampire do during the day?” I asked.
“I sleep for a few hours. I get some work done—”
“Work?”
“Someone’s gotta pay for all those necklaces. I own a few
businesses downtown. I call down there and make sure everything’s
okay while I’m trapped here. I check in with Types of Hope.”
• 72 •
Better Off red
“So the foundation is legit?”
“Doing good works is one of the best ways to blend in. Except
with Types of Hope, there is no catch. We like our humans healthy
and we want to help the humans who aren’t.”
I don’t know why the thought of her being trapped inside all
day made me upset, but it did, almost selfishly. I’d walked around
clueless to what made up my DNA for eighteen years. What else
kept Camila from normal human behavior? I wasn’t much for silver
jewelry, but I loved garlic. What if I was experiencing some sort of
delayed reaction? What if there was some sort of puberty I hadn’t
reached yet? I had more than thirty minutes’ worth of questions.
“You really can’t go out in the daytime?”
“I can. Just not in this form.”
“What do you mean?”
Camila thought for a moment before she answered. “Our…
nature allows us to shift form. We can take the shape of other living
creatures, but we can only go out in the daytime in an animal form.”
“Wow.” Of course I’d never tried, but maybe if I did, I could—
I looked up as she combed her fingers through my hair. “Don’t
worry, Red. Clearly, the sun doesn’t affect you. And though the
shifting is something you can control it’s not as amazing as it
sounds. If you get trapped somewhere as a cat or a blue jay, you’re
stuck that way until nightfall. And then of course, when you shift
back, you’re naked.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would have its drawbacks.” Even if
I did prefer her in the buff.
“We’ll figure you out, okay? Have fun with the girls, and later
you can ask me anything you want to know.”
“Okay.”
“Come. Let me show you the bathroom.”
I followed Camila back out to her living room. Apparently,
the door all the way to the left opened to an enormous black-tiled
bathroom. Double glass doors opened to a shower that ran the length
of an entire wall. Every single member of ABO could fit inside that
thing.
reBekah WeatherspOOn
Camila walked silently across the midnight floor and pressed a
small button hidden along the wall. A hot spray came from thousands
of tiny showerheads in the ceiling.
“Shampoo and soap in the shower. Towels in the closet, and
there’s toothpaste right there.” She pointed around the room before
turning back to me. She took a step closer. I bit my lip to keep my
lungs in my chest.
“I’d join you, but what I have in mind would take more than
thirty minutes.”
I swallowed. “Can’t be late for breakfast.”
“No, Red. You can’t.” She took a step closer, letting her
delicious cinnamon scent rush cross my lips.
“You’re going to keep calling me ‘Red,’ aren’t you?”
“Unless you ask me to stop.” I didn’t want to. “That shower
is heaven. Don’t take too long.” She slid past me and out the door
without kissing me. I don’t think I’ve ever showered that fast. I had
to get back to her.
❖
In the bag Paige brought me was a new toothbrush, travel
size bottles of my favorite lotion and deodorant, and some clothes.
Another tracksuit. It would have been cute if it wasn’t white. What
was with all the tracksuits and all the white? I was starting to think
I’d joined a cult, which I supposed I had. The ruby hanging around
my neck was proof enough that I had given in, traded my brain and
my blood for sex and then some.
The terrycloth jacket had my name stitched in elegant cursive
on the breast. I looked at the red lettering for a while before putting
it on. I wanted to know what I had gotten myself into. I had to find
out what was going on with my body. I had to know how deep this
vampire/human relationship ran. I wouldn’t find that out standing
in my vampire’s bathroom. I found some white underwear in the
bottom of the bag, then finished getting dressed. I was still trying to
figure out Paige and her less than cheery attitude, but I would thank
her for the new brush and the hair ties.
• 74 •
Better Off red
When I got back to the bedroom, Amy was sitting on the foot
of the bed, wearing the same white tracksuit, watching Camila get
dressed. Seeing her was a bigger relief than I’d expected. My night
with Camila had been nothing short of perfect, but Amy was my one
connection to the real world. Knowing she was in one piece made
me realize just how afraid I had been for both of our safety.
Amy smiled brightly. “Hey.”
“Hey. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I crashed in Danni’s room last night.” She
looked between Camila and me. “Cleo said you slept down here.”
“Yeah. I did,” I muttered. Come on, Amy. Go ahead. Embarrass
me in front of Camila.
She turned right back to Camila. “See, what did I tell you? Not
even a full day and she
’s already teacher’s pet.” I took a deep breath
and reminded myself that starting a catfight in the middle of the
floor wouldn’t be a good idea.
Camila finished zipping a pair of dark skinny jeans. Her thick
thighs looked perfect in them. “Your roommate was telling me how
serious you are about your studies,” Camila said.
“I just want to do well. That’s all.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. There is a minimum GPA to
be in ABO, but I’m sure Amy knows that as well.” She winked at me
before pulling on a red tank top. “I’ll show you out.”
Camila led us down a different hallway to an elevator. She
told us it led to a concealed walk-in space hidden inside the kitchen
pantry. We’d find Danni easily once we got there. The door opened
smoothly, and as soon as Amy and I were inside, Camila punched
in a series of numbers into a keypad on the wall. She backed out of
the doorway and waggled her fingers at us, flirting some more with
a flash of her fangs.
As soon as the doors closed, Amy was on me.
“Oh my God. Okay. Tell me now. What happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we get back to the dorm.”
“What? No. Tell me now.”
“No.” She followed my finger as I pointed to a small camera
mounted in the corner of the ceiling.
• 75 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
“Ugh. Fine, but when we get back to the dorm, you better
spill.” The door opened into the pantry in the kitchen. Danni was
there waiting for us, a perfect reason to keep quiet.
❖
“We have to lay out some ground rules.” Cleo paced around
the kitchen. The thirteen of us were lined up in front of an enormous
breakfast buffet. My stomach was trying to eat itself, but we weren’t
getting anywhere near the mountains of croissants and cubed melon
until Cleo was finished. Danni, Barb, and Paige sat on the counter
by the fridge, stern looks plastered on their faces.
“There are two ways to get kicked out of Alpha Beta Omega.
The first way is to talk about what goes on on the bottom floor of
Alpha Beta Omega. You do not mention our sister-queens to anyone.
Not your friends, not your mom, not your editor. Outside of this
house, they don’t exist. You talk and you’re out. You talk to the
wrong person and Camila will have you killed. Benny, am I lying?”
“No, Cleo,” Benny replied quietly.
“Are we clear?” Cleo asked.
“Yes,” we responded together.
“Good. Now here are a few other things you should remember.
Curfew is nine o’clock. Every night. During the week, if you’re not
at work or on campus studying, you’re here at the house or you’re
in your dorm room, studying. On the weekends, it doesn’t matter
where you are, you check in at nine o’clock. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“At nine p.m., you text someone, you call someone and tell us
exactly where you are. What time should we hear from you?”
“Nine p.m.”
“Excellent. Not nine-oh-one, not nine-oh-two. Nine. If you
are out after nine and you are walking back to your dorm, you will
call one of us first and someone will escort you.” I think that bit
applied to all of us. We were all freshman, and Maryland University
didn’t let freshman keep cars on campus. “A few of us might come
meet you or one of the OBA boys will. I know you are all strong,
• 76 •
Better Off red
independent women, but this is a big campus in the middle of a big
city. Even I don’t walk around at night alone. That brings me to the
next item on the list. Boys.”
I could feel Amy beside me trying not to giggle.
“You can date whoever you want. Yeah, things get a little freaky
when the sister-queens feed, but not all of us like to bump clit twenty-
four seven. I know I do, but that’s not the point. Date whoever you
like. Come back here with VD and you’re out. As of last night, we
know you’re all clean. It should stay that way. The sister-queens
cannot contract our diseases, but we play together too much to be
giving each other the clap. Plus, that’s just fucking gross.”
That time, I laughed. Cleo ignored my weak attempt to make it
sound like a cough.
“Until you move into this house, which you are all allowed to
do next semester, you are not allowed down into the sister-queens’
quarters unescorted. This is our playhouse, that space is their
permanent home, and you will respect it. Is that understood?”
“Yes.”
“The rubies around your neck do not come off. Consider it your
Med-Alert bracelet. If you get hurt, hit by a car, fall down some
stairs, drink yourself half to death at Chi Nu house, you’ll be taken
to a hospital that is bound to our sister-queens. Seriously, don’t take
it off. If you know your turn to feed is coming up, do not drink
or take any illegal substances. Our sister-queens can taste it in our
system and I’ve been told it makes our blood taste like piss.”
Just then a short, wide Hispanic woman waddled into the
kitchen. Her hair was cut close to her head and dyed an unnatural
yellow. She sidled right up to Cleo who draped her arm around the
woman’s chubby shoulders.
“This is Florencia. She’s our housemother. She’s not here
to cook for you. She’s not here to clean up after you. She speaks
English when she feels like it. If she likes you, she might ask you to
join her in a game of Hearts. If she doesn’t, just stay out of her way.”
Florencia jabbed Cleo in the stomach and muttered something
in Spanish I couldn’t understand. My Spanish was decent, but she
was speaking too softly.
• 77 •
reBekah WeatherspOOn
“Okay, okay. The university says we have to have a housemother,
but we don’t exactly need one. Flor used to feed Omi’s maker and
we love her to bits. And it’s funny to watch the other housemothers
try to be PC around her. But seriously, don’t get on her nerves. She’s
good people.”
“Buenos días,” Florencia muttered to us before she shuffled
away. Danni hopped off the counter and grabbed a black bag. I
remembered it from the day before. She and Paige walked down the
line and started handing us our cell phones as Cleo rattled off the last
of her instructions.
“Eat your breakfast, make whatever calls you need to make.
Ginger, text your brother and tell him you’re not dead.” Amy did
giggle then. “We’re hitting the spa in an hour.”
No one said anything; they just lined up at the buffet and started
scrolling through their phones. I wasn’t going to be the only one to
tell Cleo I already had plans.
“Crap,” I muttered. I had to call my lab partner Greg and cancel.
I had two texts—one from Mom telling me she was glad I’d
decided to join a sorority, and one from Todd saying he hoped I got
lucky. Considering the rules Cleo had just laid out, I’d have to tell
him no. He’d start asking que
stions and then I’d have to make some
stuff up and then he’d ask more questions.
I checked my voice mail. There was only one and it was from
Greg. He sounded like crap.
“Hey, Ginger. It’s Greg. I had some shit come up today. Let me
know if you can meet up tomorrow. Later.”
I shot him a text letting him know I was busy too and we could
reschedule for tomorrow.
I loaded my plate and headed into the dining room. The table
had been set just for the thirteen of us. I took a seat next to Amy
and Benny sat on my other side. Then we all took a few minutes
to reintroduce ourselves. As we went around the table, it was clear
most of us had nothing much in common. We repeated our names,
threw out information about our majors and where we were from,
but there was still a nervous vibe among the group. We were all the
• 78 •
Better Off red
new kid and Cleo had left us without a teacher. We were silent for
a few moments before Samantha, our spy from the school paper,
decided she’d held her tongue long enough.
“Anyone want to tell me what the fuck we just signed up for?”
Her tone was light enough that we burst out laughing. Part of it was
nerves and part of it was from the fact that, just like Samantha, we
all couldn’t believe how the past twenty-four hours had turned out.
We’d accepted invitations to join a sorority. None of us had dreamed
we’d be greeted by a coven of female vampires. We were bound to
them for the next four years, and I think, to the race as a whole, for
the rest of lives. Not the Friday night any of us planned for.
When the laughter died out, I was surprised at who spoke up
first. “They don’t want to hunt us.” Benny took a bite of bacon. She
chewed a few bites before she continued. “It varies from country to
country. Culture to culture. Here, it’s easiest to get to us this way. A
sorority is an easy cover.”
“So what happens now?” Ruth asked. She was bound to the
sister-queen, Faeth.
“Same thing they told us last night,” Mel, a Puerto Rican girl
who belonged to Tokyo, said, looking to Benny. “We’re in a sorority
now. Everything’s normal but the feedings, right?”
“Right. We feed them and we get our degrees,” Benny said
before she bit into a muffin the size of a softball.
Anna-Jade’s tiny voice squeaked from the end of the table,