Fire and Ice

When the sun rose, someone knocked on my door.

“No,” I whined. “Too early.”

“Come on,” my dad said through the door. “Don’t make me come in there.”

“I’m dead, Dad,” I grumbled into the pillow. “Dead people don’t get out of bed.”

“They’ll be here in two hours. I need you to get your lazy butt out of bed and be bright eyed and bushy tailed.”

I threw my pillow at the door.

“Then buy a squirrel!”

“Delia,” he said warningly.

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

I sighed and rolled out of bed. It was cold in my room but that’s how I liked it. I stretched and opened my closet, digging through my shirts until I found the one he wanted me to wear along with the damn slacks I had to wear, too. I knew it was important but I hated having to get all dressed up. The last time we had dignitaries in the house, I had accidentally dumped my whole soup in the princess’s lap. My dad hasn’t let me live it down since.

When I was in that stupid outfit, I changed into some black flats and ran a comb through my hair. I didn’t need makeup, thankfully, so I went downstairs. My parents were in the dining room and I flopped myself down in the chair.

“Why are they coming so early?” I asked. “I mean, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jamie don’t go anywhere until at least after noon.”

“We’ve been through this,” my dad sighed. “Come on, Delia. Why are you behaving this way?”

I glared at my plate, poking at my eggs. I hated scrambled eggs.

“You’ve forgotten already?” my grandpa asked, having come in during the conversation.

I groaned. “Do we have to talk about this again, Grandpa?”

“Her wolf is going through-”

“Okay,” I said. “So, how many people are we having?”

My mom shook her head but answered.

“Three: the Ambassador Louis, his daughter Marie, and his son André. They’re all vampires. Please just remember to keep away from any sensitive topics.”

“Like what?” I asked, this time genuinely unaware.

“Feeding for the most part,” my dad said. “They don’t like talking about it anymore; not after what happened to Pierre.”

I sighed. Pierre had been the vampire to start Camp Celestial. During one summer, something happened and he went blood thirsty. He only attacked vampires, though, so there weren’t any casualties. It brought up a large argument between races, though, and that’s when things between the vampires and werewolves started to get strained. My parents tried to stand up for Pierre but he was executed.

“What will I be doing while they’re here?” I asked. “Tours?”

“Not this time,” my mom said. “The daughter is the oldest so she’ll be spending most of her time with her father in the meetings. The son, though, is a bit of a shut in from what I understand.”

“How old are they?”

Before they could answer, we heard a car pull up on the gravel drive and my dad dropped his fork. He ran to the window and peeked through the curtains.

“Shit!” he whisper-yelled. “He’s early! I should’ve known better! Claire!”

Our head maid quickly gathered the plates, using the speed of a wolf, while another maid wiped the table down. I straightened the black and red shirt and stood beside my mom. My dad tugged on his button up and nodded to our butler just as the doorbell rang. I gulped thickly and took a deep breath. I felt unusually nervous.

The door opened and three people walked in. The one in the middle had to be Louis Lebeau. He wore an extravagant robe over his suit. It was purple and gold which I assumed were the colors of their clan. He had long black hair and cold blue eyes. To his right, a young looking woman was looking around in interest. She wore a golden skirt that went to her knees and a purple blouse with black heels. She had the same black hair but her eyes were kinder.

It was the man that got my attention and I stepped closer to my father on instinct. He sensed it and put a hand on my shoulder briefly.

The man had long brown hair but still had the blue eyes. His suit was black with a golden button up and black tie. I didn’t know why he was so different but he even walked a few steps behind his father. His hands were behind his back and, like his sister, he seemed to be interested, too.

“Logan Wolfe,” the ambassador said.

“Ambassador Lebeau,” my father said, doing the wolf salute and the ambassador did the vamp salute. “This is my wife, Annalise.”

My mother did the wolf salute and Louis looked at her.

“The one that was a human?” he asked.

“Yes,” my father said simply and put his hand on my back, moving me forward. “This is my lovely daughter, Delia.”

“Ambassador,” I said with the salute. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes,” he said and held his hand out to his daughter. She accepted it. “This is my daughter, Marie.” Marie did the salute and, when her father wasn’t looking, smiled at us. “And this is my son, André.”

His tone wasn’t as proud as it was with Marie. André did the salute all the same and cleared his throat.

“It’s a pleasure,” he muttered.

“Speak clearer,” the ambassador snapped but André didn’t speak again. “Thank you for allowing us to stay in your manor while we go through these… plans.”

“It’s our honor,” my dad insisted. “I just hope we can live up to the standards you have at your home.”

The ambassador looked around. “I suppose you have so far. A clean house, a… lovely wife, a very beautiful daughter, and a well-trimmed lawn. All of these things are important.”

I moved even closer to my dad as the ambassador’s eyes lingered on me. He put his arm around my shoulders and did the same with my mother.

“I am very proud of my family,” he said. “You must be tired from your flight. I’ll have Claire show you to your rooms.”

“Perhaps Delia could do it,” the ambassador suggested. “After all, it is her home.”

I felt my dad stiffen.

“I-I’d be honored,” I breathed. “Follow me.”

“Delia,” my dad whispered but I shook my head.

We went up the stairs and I did my best not to trip over my feet. As I turned down the right wing where our guests always stayed, the ambassador sped up to walk beside me. He stepped closer and I bit my lip.

“You have a lovely home,” he said. “Don’t you agree, Marie? André?”

“Of course, Father,” they said in unison.

“Tell me, how are you, Delia?” he asked.

“I will be turning 26 in three days,” I answered and he chuckled.

“So we’ll be here for the festivities!”

“Perhaps,” I said. “I’m not sure if I’m going to do anything this year, though.”

“Why every not?” he asked.

I shrugged, stopping outside of a door. “The novelty of birthdays has worn off, to be frank.” I cleared my throat. “This will be your room, Ambassador.”

I opened the door so he could look inside and he nodded, stroking his beard. We had followed his orders of having the color scheme changed to purple and gold.

“Where will my children be staying?”

I opened a door right across from his. “Marie will be here and André will be here,” I added, opening the one beside it. “Per your request, you’re close together.”

The ambassador nodded. “Good, good. I’m so touched that you went through the trouble of making sure we’re comfortable.”

“Of course, Ambassador,” I said. “You are a guest in our home. We’ll do all we can to make sure your stay is as… well, comfortable as it can be.”

“All you can?” he repeated and his eyes glinted with something I didn’t like.

“To a certain extent,” I whispered. “Please excuse me. I need to go finish my studies. My father said to meet him in his office once you have settled in.”

Before I could walk away, the ambassador grabbed my hand and kissed it.

“You are very kind,” he said in a low voice.

I looked into his eyes, confused. Finally, he let me go and I walked as quickly as I could to my room.