I touched down on black carpet to the startled greeting of the Wilhelm blood clan monarchs. Sunny ran toward me, huge skirts rustling, Uncle Frank close behind her. I let the pair of them sandwich me in a hug and sank into the cool perfection of the vampires.
After a moment, they released me, greeting Piers with a kind kiss to the cheek from Sunny and a handshake from my uncle. Before I even opened my mouth, I saw the stress on their faces and hated they were worried.
"We're fine," I said. "The family, too."
Sunny looked surprised, then anxious. She and Uncle Frank exchanged a glance that told me I'd just made a massive assumption and now had other issues to worry about.
"What happened?" The three of us spoke at the exact same time, the exact words and tone. How well we knew each other
