Sienna's dark eyes filled with tears. Jason stood up and reached for her hand. There was no point in pretending now. Sienna's fingers wrapped around his. Jason felt a little better just touching her. 'Why would you do that, Aunt Bianca?' he asked. 'We love each other. We're not doing anything wrong.'

'Love between a vampire and a human is wrong,' Bianca replied. 'You both know that.'

Jason couldn't believe it. She sounded so casual, so normal. But she had basically just admitted that she was aware Jason knew about vampires!

'You were a human in love with a vampire once,' Sienna pointed out. Her voice shook and Jason realized she was afraid. As a member of the Vampire High Council, Bianca had a lot of power over Sienna.

'Yes,' Bianca acknowledged calmly. 'So I think you will agree that I know what I'm talking about. I know how it works. And I know that it doesn't work.'

'I don't understand,' Jason managed. He was still reeling from the shock of Aunt Bianca even being there.

'I was a human in love with a vampire,' Bianca said. 'But I'm not a human now. I haven't been for a long time.'

'Right. But you were human when you fell in love with Stefan,' Jason said. 'And you two made it work. So can we.'

'No, you can't. Stefan and I knew we couldn't be together when we were so different,' Bianca explained. 'So I made a choice. And now I'm giving you the same choice, Jason.' Her blue eyes glowed eerily with excitement. 'You can do what I did. You can become a vampire.'

'What!' Jason exclaimed in shock. Become a vampire? He could barely believe what he was hearing.

'You can transform, like I did.' Bianca's voice was filled with wonder. 'Oh, Jason, you can't even begin to imagine how incredible it is. No sickness, no aging, nothing can hurt you. You'll be strong, and fast, and beautiful. You think you can swim now? Just think how it will be when you've got the power and the speed of a vampire! You think your life is charmed here in DeVere Heights? It will be a hundred times better once you've transformed. You'll have wealth beyond your wildest dreams.' Bianca's face had been changing as she spoke, and now it was glowing with an otherworldly beauty that astonished Jason. He'd never seen his aunt look so stunning.

That's her real face, he realized. Her true vampire face. Sienna had told him that the vampires toned down their natural beauty to fit in among humans. Clearly Aunt Bianca didn't think it mattered if Jason now saw her the way she really was.

She turned her luminous eyes on Sienna. 'And once you've made the transformation, Jason, you and Sienna will be free to love each other,' she said ecstatically.

'The transformation?' Jason said hesitantly. 'What exactly-?'

'No!' Sienna cut in. 'You shouldn't even think about this, Jason.' She turned to Bianca. 'What if he doesn't want to transform? Anyway, the DeVere Heights Vampire Council would never allow it.'

'The DeVere Heights Vampire Council answers to me,' Bianca said dismissively. She narrowed her eyes at Sienna. 'Why wouldn't Jason want to transform?' she asked, her voice suddenly as cold as the rain outside. 'He'll have everything he's ever wanted.'

'But he might-'

'That's enough!' Bianca snapped. Her blue eyes had turned to stone. She turned and looked at Jason as if he were a bug under her shoe. 'If you're not willing to transform, I'll simply tell Sienna's parents what I saw here today. They'll send her to France within twenty-four hours,' she said flatly.

Jason's mouth dropped open in shock. What had happened to his aunt? One second she was alive with joy, gushing about the joys of being a vampire. The next she was threatening him.

'How can you say that?' he gasped. 'Aunt Bianca-'

'It's time for Sienna to leave,' she said.

Jason felt a stab of anger. Did she really think she could throw the girl he loved out of his own house? But Sienna's cheeks were pale. She's scared, Jason thought. We were trying to keep the DeVere Heights Vampire Council from finding out about us, and now one of the High Council knows everything!

Sienna let go of his hand. 'I'll see you in school,' she said quietly.

'Yeah,' he replied. He smiled rea.s.suringly, trying to cut through the worry that he saw in her eyes. But Sienna didn't smile back. She just shot a nervous glance at Bianca, turned and hurried out into the rain.

'I don't like being threatened,' Jason told his aunt, trying to control his anger.

Aunt Bianca laughed. 'Don't be angry with me, honey,' she said, walking over to him. 'I only want what's best for you.' When she put her arm around him, Jason's shoulders tensed in spite of himself. She was still his aunt, but the way her personality seemed to flip from sweet to sour was starting to freak him out.

'There's simply no reason to even think twice about undergoing the transformation,' Bianca went on conversationally. 'I'm talking about money, power, prestige . . . everything that I have. You know I have no children. You and Danielle are my closest family. You're my heirs.'

Jason wasn't sure what to say. He'd never thought about this sort of thing before.

'But only a vampire can inherit my estate,' Bianca continued. 'You understand, don't you? Most of what I have belonged to my husband. He left me his position in the community. All his influence, his wealth it was his legacy to me. And it will be my legacy to you but it's a vampire's estate, and that's how it must remain.'

'You're not sick or anything, are you?' Jason asked uncertainly. Why was she talking about inheritances?

'No.' Bianca waved her hand dismissively. 'I'm fine. I'm simply thinking about the future. At some point, you and Danielle will need to undergo the transformation. So why not now? If you became a vampire now, the Devereuxs will have no reason to object to your relationship with Sienna. It seems like perfect timing.'

'I guess it does . . .' Jason murmured, still trying to get his head around the idea.

But Aunt Bianca lit up as if he'd given his wholehearted agreement. 'You can't imagine how happy it will make me to see you join me as a vampire!' she cried, her eyes shining once again with that eerie light.

Jason ran his hand through his hair. 'I can't believe you know,' he murmured. 'All this time, I thought you had no idea that I . . .'

'That you were aware of the vampires?' Aunt Bianca finished for him. 'Well, I didn't know for a while. But once Sienna's parents told me about your heroics with Tamburo, I figured it out pretty quickly. How did you discover us?'

'When we first moved to Malibu, there was a vampire with the bloodl.u.s.t,' Jason said. 'I fought with him. That's when I found out about the vampires.'

'Hmm. I hadn't heard about that part,' Bianca said with a little chuckle. 'I knew about Luke Archer, of course, I just didn't know you were involved. But when Tyler stole the Lafrenieres' chalice, you knew I was one of the vampires then, didn't you? You knew I was on the High Council.'

Jason didn't answer. Just hearing her say Tyler's name sent chills up his spine. The last time she'd spoken about Tyler, she'd been planning to kill him.

'You tricked me in order to save your friend,' Bianca said lightly, reading his face, even though he hadn't said a word. Thankfully, she didn't seem angry.

'Yes.' Jason took a deep breath. He was a little afraid to ask his next question, but he had to know. 'Is Tyler safe now?'

Aunt Bianca rolled her eyes. 'He's fine,' she snapped, sounding irritated now. 'As long as he minds his own business, he's inconsequential.'

Jason frowned. One second Bianca seemed so warm, so much like her usual Aunt Bianca self. The next there was that edge again. He'd never seen his aunt so changeable before.

'Tyler never knew that the chalice belonged to vampires,' Jason told her. 'He had no idea-'

'Yeah, yeah, I heard the whole story.' Bianca shook her head. 'The stupid kid shouldn't have taken the chalice regardless.'

'He was desperate,' Jason argued. How dare she call Tyler stupid? 'And besides, I got the chalice back.'

'Right. Using money from your college fund. As if your parents weren't going to figure that out!' Bianca said harshly. 'Luckily, I found out in time to put the money back before they noticed.'

'You did that?' Jason blurted.

'Who else?' Bianca asked. 'I'm your aunt. I'll always be looking out for you.'

That was kind of . . . creepy. The idea that Bianca kept such a close watch over him.

'Aren't you going to thank me?' Bianca asked, oozing sarcasm.

'Yes. Of course. Thanks,' Jason said in a rush. Except it was hard to feel grateful for her help when she was being such a b.i.t.c.h.

'You're welcome. Now let's talk about something more interesting. Your future. As a vampire.' She put her hand on his arm. 'Think about it, Jason! You'll have long life, wealth, power. And you'll get to be with Sienna.'

Her eyes were shining and she wore a huge smile like a kid at Christmas. Jason just stared. She'd flipped back to Happy Bianca. This was more like the aunt he'd always known. More like the aunt he loved. Maybe it was just talking about Tyler that made her act strangely. Maybe she felt like she'd handled that situation badly.

Well, she did handle it badly, he thought. And it makes me wonder how much I can trust her at all. 'I'm not sure,' he said aloud. 'I'll have to think about it. I mean, it's a pretty major decision.'

'I guess it is.' Bianca shrugged. 'OK, you take some time and mull it over. I have other things to attend to in the meantime.' She grabbed her umbrella.

'Wait,' Jason said. 'What about Dani? Have you talked to her about this?' Please say no, he pleaded silently. Dani was so besotted with Ryan right now, and so in awe of Aunt Bianca all the time, that she'd probably jump at the chance to become a vampire without a second thought.

'Of course not,' Bianca said, stepping out into the rain without opening her umbrella. 'I think Danielle would find it a little odd, considering that she doesn't even know vampires exist!' She stood there talking to him, seemingly unaware of the rain soaking through her hair and clothes.

'Um, right,' Jason answered. 'Aunt Bianca, you're getting wet.'

Bianca glanced up and seemed to notice the rain for the first time. 'Oh, I'd better run inside, then. We'll talk about this again soon.' She gave him a little wave and dashed for the main house.

Jason watched her go, frowning. He wasn't sure what to think. At least his aunt didn't know about Dani and Ryan yet, so he could weigh the pros and cons of becoming a vampire without having to worry about his sister.

Wait, Jason said to himself. Am I actually considering this? Was he really thinking about becoming a vampire? His heart beat faster at the very thought of it. To be like Sienna or Zach, to have that kind of power it was an incredible idea.

So why did he have such an uneasy feeling about this? Why did he feel a strange reluctance to go through with it? Why did everything about Bianca and her suggestion make his brain scream Danger!?

Thirteen.

'BEE!' JASON HEARD his mother squeal half an hour later. 'You didn't tell me you were coming!'

Jason got up and made his way into the house. He'd hung around in the pool house until the rain stopped, but that hadn't been nearly enough time to come to any conclusions about Aunt Bianca's suggestion.

In the kitchen, Mrs Freeman was hugging her sister.

'I only found out this morning that I have a meeting in L.A. this week,' Bianca said. 'My new a.s.sistant keeps messing up my calendar. I never know where I'm supposed to be.'

Jason's dad frowned. 'I didn't know you had a new a.s.sistant.'

'What happened to Jacinda?' Mrs Freeman asked.

Bianca shrugged. 'I fired her.'

'Why?'

'Because I wanted to,' Bianca snapped. She turned toward Jason and smiled. 'Here's our swimming sensation!'

'Um . . . hi, Aunt Bianca,' he said. Was he supposed to pretend he hadn't seen her already today? He could see why she'd want to keep their conversation in the pool house private.

'Where is my beautiful niece?' Bianca asked.

'She went out with some friends,' Mrs Freeman said. 'Who was it again, Jason? Kristy and Billy?'

He wasn't sure what to say. Dani was with Ryan, but obviously his parents didn't know that. And he didn't want to mention Ryan's name in front of Bianca. She'd know Ryan was a vampire, and it wouldn't take her long to figure out that Dani knew it too. Still, he hated lying to his mom. 'I'm not sure,' he fudged. 'I didn't see her leave.'

Mr Freeman took out his cell phone. 'I'll give her a call,' he said. 'I'm sure she'll want to come right home when she finds out you're here, Bianca.'

'It's true. She worships you,' Jason's mom said. 'Everything you do, she wants to do.'

Bianca shot Jason a secret smile. He pretended not to see. That was exactly what he was afraid of that Dani would turn herself into a vampire just to be like her aunt. And that was not a good enough reason to make such a drastic decision. Do I have a good enough reason? he wondered. He was in love with Sienna. But was that enough?

Dani arrived home about ten minutes later, just as Jason was sitting down to banana splits with his parents and Bianca.

'Aunt Bee?' Danielle called the second she stepped in the front door.

Bianca jumped up and held out her arms as Dani bounded into the dining room and flung herself into the hug. 'What are you doing here?' Dani cried happily. 'Where have you been lately? I've missed you so much!'

'That's true. You haven't told us why you've been out of touch,' Mrs Freeman put in. 'I was starting to get worried, Bee.'

'Look at your hair,' Bianca gasped, grabbing a lock of Danielle's dark red hair. 'You changed the color.'

'Yeah, I went a little darker. Do you like it?' Dani asked. 'It's almost as dark as yours, now that I look at it. Just with more red highlights.'

'I told her I didn't want her coloring her hair,' Mrs Freeman said.

'Oh, Mom, everybody at school does it,' Dani retorted. 'You should see Kristy hers is practically black now! This will wash out in a few weeks, though, don't worry.'

'But your natural color is so pretty,' Jason's mom said wistfully. 'But let's get back to you, Bianca. Where have you been?'

'You know. Here and there.' Bianca waved her hand dismissively. 'Nowhere interesting. I'd much rather hear your gossip. Any new boyfriends, Danielle?'

Jason nearly choked on a piece of banana. 'Aunt Bianca, you're not allowed to ask that!' he said quickly. He didn't want her getting into Ryan territory.

Thankfully, Dani backed him up. 'Yeah. Love-life gossip is off limits,' she laughed.

'At least while we're around, right?' Mr Freeman joked.

'And I want to hear about you, Bee,' Mrs Freeman insisted. 'I called your apartment in New York a dozen times. And I kept leaving messages with Jacinda.'

'I told you Jacinda was hopeless. That's why I fired her,' Bianca said breezily. 'I'll have to check that the answering machine is working at home, I guess.'

'Do you have any new celebrity sightings to tell me about?' Dani asked.

'Tons,' Bianca replied. 'I've been casting a remake of Sat.u.r.day Night Fever, so I have lots of gorgeous guys coming in to audition.'