Lilith

I dressed in my best, trying to find something that resembled the outfits other Alchemists wore at Daddy's dinners and such. I didn't have anything as fancy or business-like, but I worked with what I had. I didn't do much to my hair because it was supposed to rain anyways, so I finished fixing myself up and headed downstairs with ten minutes to spare.

As I reached the bottom of the staircase, Alex was there to meet me. "Dad's in the car," he said, and looked me over.

"What?" I asked, eyes wide as he stifled a laugh. "I don't look that bad, do I?"

"No, no," he assured me. "You look good, Lily." He looked at my outfit again, and it was obvious there was something wrong with what I was wearing. "Let's hurry," he said, chuckling under his breath.

I huffed, but followed him onto the front porch and to the shiny black car waiting at the end of the driveway. Daddy was talking to someone, but stopped the conversation as we arrived. "Alex, you know Party," he said, and Alex shook the guy's hand. He was kind of funny-looking, with a crooked grin, wrinkles, and scruffy salt-and-pepper hair. He wasn't even wearing the usual business attire that Alchemists wore--he wore a pair of worn blue jeans and a floral tourist shirt that he only tucked in in the back. Everything about him made me want to laugh, because he just looked so...goofy. He was nothing like the straight backed, unsmiling Alchemists who visited the house.

Daddy gave me a warning look. "Party, this is my daughter, Lily. Lily, this is Party, our chauffeur and pilot."

I smiled and offered my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Party," I said.

He surprised me by sweeping into a low bow and kissing the top of my hand, like princes do in fairytales. "The pleasure's all mine, Miss Serin," he said warmly.

"Now, now, Party," Daddy chuckled. "Don't be flirting with my daughter. She's too young."

Everyone started moving at once, getting into the car. "Oh, she's of age, ain't she?" he said playfully, closing the doors behind us and then climbing into the front seat. He glanced into the rear-view mirror and winked at me. "She's a cute one. Dazzling smile." I couldn't help but blush. He was just such a cute old guy, like the ones you saw telling stories to random people in public places.

"Only when she stops talking, Party," Alex laughed.

"Oh, I'm a good listener," Party replied, and we finished out the ride to the airport in a warm, comfortable silence.

I was freaking out a little as we left the airport, but I didn't know why. I'd flown on airplanes before--this was a private jet, but that didn't mean anything. I was going to land in the middle of nowhere, where Court had been built so it was isolated from human presence. In fact, I'd be one of the only three humans at Court who weren't offering up their blood, and I'd most likely meet the queen of all things vampiric, but those were little things when you considered how much I really, really had to pee.

And just my luck--the bathroom on the jet was out of order, as Party mentioned before we started the two-hour flight. Well, I hadn't had to pee two hours ago.

"You should have went when we reached the airport," Alex chuckled as we landed. "Instead of waiting half-way into the flight and then continuing to drink twenty-four more ounces of water."

I just glared at him. I wasn't good at thinking of sarcastic remarks, so I hoped the glaring would get my point across.

"Stop bickering," Daddy scolded, getting up from his comfy-looking place on the pretty suede sofa. "Let's go." He picked up three little leather booklets, our passports, and we followed him off the plane.

We were met at the bottom of the stairs by two men, guardians in the usual black and white attire. One of them checked our passports, cross-checked them with a little tablet looking thing, and then boarded the jet to check out Party. He took our passports with him.

"Welcome to Court, Alchemist Serin," the guardian left said as we started walking towards the large building ahead of us. It was like a grand castle, built with large stone blocks. They were slightly worn by weather, but everything else about the architecture was so modern and beautiful that the immensity of it all was almost overwhelming.

"People live here?" I mumbled, wide-eyed like the little human I was. "Like really live here?"

Alex laughed. "Of course. It's huge. Very comfy place, actually."

Daddy gave him a look. I don't think I was supposed to see it, but I did, and I understood what it meant too. "Watch your tongue," it said. Alchemists could get in a lot of trouble if they were suspected of being a "vamp-lover." It would ruin their entire reputation. That's why I understood why Daddy had kept his "acquaintance-ship" with Erick Dragomir such a secret. He didn't want anyone to know. He was just looking after Alex for the same reason now.

I didn't see how it could be comfy living with vampires, but I'd never really met any before. I wasn't an Alchemist, so I had no reason to run into them. I didn't find it nearly as scary as I'd though; I had even shook hands with the one who took us into the building.

And God, that building was amazing. The outside was immense but the inside was absolutely astonishing. The walls were painted a bold, deep red color. Purple draping shielded the inside from light coming in through the windows (even though it was almost midnight now) and purple and gold accents decorated the room. It looked like a little lobby, or a small living room. It was brightly lit and gave off a warm, open kind of air instead of the darker one I'd been expecting.

There were three vampires waiting for us in the small room when we walked in: two Moroi and one guardian. The Moroi I recognized quickly--Alex had told me before that they were tall and slender, but I never thought I'd be able to pinpoint it so easily. Dhampirs had fuller figures, more similar to that of a human.

The female Moroi was bright-eyed. Her blonde hair curled neatly over her shoulders, and she smiled without showing her teeth. Something about her commanded the center of attention, and she was the first to shake hands with my father. She hugged Alex and they exchanged greetings, as if they were old friends. Alex shook hands with the more reserved Moroi boy at her side, but it was obvious they knew each other as well. And the guardian--a female guardian, which was rare--came up and hugged him. They shared a short conversation of playful banter before Daddy cleared his throat and brought my presence to attention.

"Queen Vasillisa, this is my daughter, Lily. Lily, this is Queen Vasillisa."

I wasn't quite sure if I should bow to her or not, being royalty and all, but I didn't have to make up my mind because she pulled me into a hug. It was entirely awkward, but she took no notice that I didn't hug her back. "Call me Lissa, please," she added as we broke apart. "I'm not used to the formalities just yet."

"Also," Alex added, gesturing towards the others. "Lord Ozera and Guardian Hathaway."

"Oh please," the male Moroi said as he shook my hand. He smiled sardonically at me. "Call me Christian. The title only comes from being in a relationship." He shared a look with Queen Vasillisa and Guardian Hathaway rolled her eyes.

"Christian it is," I said kindly.

"And you can call me Rose," Guardian Hathaway said, hugging me a little too tightly before returning to where she stood.

I nodded in recognition, not knowing what to say but not wanting to be rude, and Daddy started talking before I could seep back into the shadows.

"Lissa, let's talk business," was all he said. Lissa replied, and she gestured to Rose before the two of them started walking out.

"Christian will be your buddy for now," Alex whispered in my ear as he followed behind the three of them.

I was caught entirely off-guard. I was too preoccupied by the fact that they'd left me in the care of a very intimidating male vampire to remember my original plan was to change the arrangements, and so I was left gaping at the door after they left.

"You get used to it," Christian said, startling me. He was closer than before, and he was still smiling with his teeth--and his fangs. "Lots of business to take care of."

I nodded. "Yeah. Can we find a bathroom?"

Christian nodded. "You've been on a plane for two hours. I don't see why not." He smirked. "We can get breakfast after. Hungry?"

I couldn't help it. I blurted the words out before I'd even registered saying them.

"You mean blood?"