Chapter Seven
Ever since she was a little girl, Cally had fantasized about this very moment, playing the meeting with her father over and over in her head each dawn as she lay in bed, waiting for sleep to come. In her fantasy, her father was a handsome, rich, and powerful vampire lord, kind of a cross between James Bond and Dracula.
For once, reality seemed to be keeping pace with her dreams.
Of all the possible candidates, Cally had never dared hope her father would turn out to be Victor Todd, the man responsible for single-handedly bringing the vampire race into the space age. It was like a human child discovering her biological father was Bill Gates. But if Victor Todd was her father, then that meant . . .
"Lilith is my sister?" Cally gasped. She felt her knees buckle and her head swim. She sat down on the chaise lounge, a dazed look on her face.
"Technically, she's your demi-sister," Victor said gently.
There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but the only one she could think of was the one that hurt the most: "Why did you wait so long to tell me who you are?"
"I'm sorry I haven't come forward before now, Cally,"
Victor said earnestly as he sat down beside her. "But the truth of the matter is that when I left your mother to go back to my wife, I had no clue Sheila was pregnant. You must believe that. I did not even know you existed until after your grandmother died, when your mother finally contacted me."
Sheila nodded in agreement. "What your father says is true, Cally. Your grandmother didn't want Victor to know about you and did everything in her power to poison you against him. It's not that your father didn't care about you; he simply didn't know."
"But why didn't you tell me after Granny died?"
"It has everything to do with my wife." Victor sighed. "If Irina learned of your existence, she would not hesitate to kill you. As far as she's concerned, you are a threat."
"If you're so worried about your wife finding out about me, why did you send me to Bathory Academy?"
Cally frowned. "Lilith and I have been crossing swords since the moment I arrived!"
"The reason I sent you to Bathory is simple: to protect you."
"Protect me?" Cally asked. "From what?"
Victor shifted uneasily. "About a month ago, I received a tip from a mole planted within the Institute that their leader, Christopher Van Helsing, has been searching for you. He plans to use you in some insane plan of his to rid the world of vampires forever."
Cally's stomach flip-flopped on hearing the Van Helsing name. She averted her eyes, hoping her father would not notice her lack of surprise when he mentioned the Institute trying to track her down.
"Chris Van Helsing?" Sheila exclaimed, a startled look on her face. "Why is that nut job trying to find my little girl?"
"It's a very long and involved story, I'm afraid," Victor said. "The upshot is that, because Cally is the daughter of a vampire and the granddaughter of a witch, she may have inherited a rare vampire ability known as the Shadow Hand."
Cally frowned. "What's that?"
"It is a dangerous power that allows whoever wields it to kill anyone, vampire or human, simply by touching them. Pieter Van Helsing had it and used it to wreak havoc on our people on a level unlike any vampire hunter before him. Then in 1835 he destroyed the original Bathory Academy and Ruthven's School for Boys.
"When your grandfather, Adolphus, learned what had happened, he tracked the vampire killer down. Then he drained Van Helsing's blood, usurping his bloodright and powers."
"Did your father get the Shadow Hand next?" Cally asked.
Victor shook his head. "Nor did it manifest with me. When Lilith was born, I watched her closely. No again. As it turns out, you are the one who carries the Shadow Hand."
"That's it! I'm calling bullshit on this right now!"
Cally said angrily. "How could I possibly have this Shadow thingy without knowing about it? I mean, I started developing stormgathering abilities when I was thirteen. Remember when I accidentally made it rain inside our old apartment?"
"Your grandmother was so mad you ruined her sofa."
Sheila chuckled.
"See? There's no way I could have the kind of power you're talking about without it making itself known before now."
"I'm afraid it already has, Cally . . . you just didn't realize it." Victor handed her a piece of folded parchment he'd taken from the breast pocket of his suit. "I only recently received this from Madame Nerezza. It's a report by your physical education instructor, Coach Knorrig. Go ahead: read it. She describes a manifestation of the Shadow Hand while you were in a partial trance during your physical skills assessment. Do you remember that?"
"Yes. I remember." Cally nodded, her voice becoming distant as she tried to recall what had happened in the grotto that night. "I was trying to shapeshift into a wolf and something . . . something strange happened. I don't really know what."
"Neither did your physical education instructor-at least not fully. But your headmistress recognized the Shadow Hand when she read Knorrig's report. Luckily, Madame Nerezza is an old friend of the family: she's agreed to keep the information secret.
"However, I have reason to believe a member of the school staff leaked a copy of the report to Vinnie Maledetto. That is why he has suddenly expressed such a keen interest in your welfare. He hopes to win your trust in order to turn you into an assassin for the Strega."
"No! You've got it all wrong!" Cally shook her head in protest. "That's not the reason the Maledettos are nice to me. One of the twins got stuck with a bat face after flying class, and I helped her turn back. Vinnie-I mean, Mr. Maledetto-provided me with a driver to thank me for helping his daughter, that's all."
"What you say could very well be true. Perhaps it started innocently enough-but I can tell you that nothing involving Vinnie Maledetto stays innocent for long. The man has an unerring ability to identify the deadliest thing in a room and exploit it to his own ends. And you, my dear, are the deadliest by far. You cannot trust the Maledettos, Cally-not the father, not the son, not even the girls. Your mother told me of your involvement with Lucky Maledetto. . . ."
"My what?" Cally was momentarily baffled-she'd forgotten trying to throw her mother off Peter's scent by claiming she'd been sneaking off with Lucky.
"He and his kin are sworn enemies of all who carry Todd blood in their veins. That is why you must break your ties to that accursed family."
"But Bella and Bette are my friends!" Cally protested. Seeing the look on his daughter's face, Victor placed a hand on her shoulder. "I understand how confusing all this is for you. I realize you must feel that I have no right to come in here and tell you who you should and shouldn't be friends with. I haven't been a father to you up to this point, Cally, but I want that to change."
The serious look on Victor's face lightened as he moved his hand to touch her chin, tilting Cally's head back so that she looked directly into his eyes. "I've seen your grades and read all the summaries your instructors have written about you. You are an incredibly intelligent and gifted girl, with or without the Shadow Hand, and one I am proud to have as my daughter. I pray to the Founders that you will find it in your heart to forgive me for whatever hurt my actions may have caused you over the years. Still, you must believe me when I tell you that severing your ties with the Maledettos is for your own good."
Cally took a deep breath and stepped back as she pondered what to do. She had visualized all sorts of scenarios for when she finally met her father face-toface. Some were angry. Others were tearful. Some were bittersweet. But not one of them had involved him asking her to discard her friends in the name of family.
Part of her wanted to tell him to forget it. She had gotten along just fine without him up to now. But what if she told him no and he decided to wash his hands of her entirely and she never got to see him again? She had spent her entire life waiting for her father to make his appearance. She wasn't about to risk his leaving her again.
"Okay, I'll do as you say," she sighed.
Her father smiled and opened his arms. Cally stepped into his embrace, rubbing her cheek against the lapel of his wool suit as he hugged her. "That's my girl," Victor Todd said, smiling in quiet triumph as he stroked his daughter's hair. "That's Daddy's girl."
Cally closed her eyes and sighed happily to herself. He even smelled like she had imagined fathers should.