An Acquired Taste (The Valentine Society)

Chapter Twenty-Six

I step out of the airport and wrinkle my nose at the blast of heat and smog. Ahh, Los Angeles. I can’t say I missed it much.

When I text Maisy to suggest brunch, I get a bunch of question marks in return. It’s seven p.m., she says, and I get a jolt as I remember not everybody is on vampire time.

You know what I meant , I type back, biting the inside of my cheek.

Just come over, you absolute weirdo, she says. You haven’t even seen the apartment yet!

I was hoping to have this conversation in public, in case she decides she hates me and never wants to see me again, but I can’t explain that, so I agree. I wave off her offer to pick me up, insisting I’ll take a cab and there’s no need for her to brave the horrors of LAX. I need all the time I can get to prepare for this conversation.

As much as I’d prefer not to soil my reunion with my sister, I know it’s time to fess up. I’m not sure I can stand being there and lying to her face in person, and I know the longer the lies go on, the harder it will get to tell the truth. Better to pull off the band-aid now. Especially because I could use her advice.

My guts are doing nervous somersaults the whole ride to the apartment. I try to force myself to take in my surroundings rather than dwell in my thoughts, but the concrete and graffiti of LA is only more depressing after my months away at the gorgeous, green estate. At least the apartment complex I chose for Maisy is nice. Safe. A gated community with manicured lawns and all. It’s nothing compared to Sebastian’s home, of course— oh, God, stop thinking about it— but still, for LA? It’s great.

And when the door opens and I see my little sister, I break into a grin. She squeals and throws her arms around my neck, nearly bowling me over.

“Oh my God, Amelia, I’ve missed you so much!”

I hug her back just as tightly. “You, too.” I haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving two years ago, which was such a disaster that I finally decided to cut off my parents for good. Maisy looks familiar and so different at the same time. So absurdly grown up. “Your hair!” I exclaim, pulling back to see it better. The last time I saw her, she had her long, natural brown waves; now it’s cut and dyed into a chic blond bob.

“You like?”

“I love it.” I beam, tugging at a strand. “You look ready for college, though I can hardly believe it.”

“You look different too.” She looks up at me, studying my face.

I make a face. “I know. I’m getting old.”

“No, that’s not it,” she says, shaking me gently by the shoulders. “You seem… I don’t know. More confident. Your skin is glowing, and your hair looks amazing… This new job must be treating you well, huh?”

My elation about seeing her shrivels back into anxiety. I take a deep breath. “Well, yeah, actually. About that… I, um…”

“Wait, wait.” Maisy grabs my hand and half drags me into the apartment. “Let me show you around first!”

I follow her, grateful for a reason to stall.

The inside of the apartment is nice, like the outside. A neat little two-bedroom with a decent-sized kitchen and a cozy living room area. It even has air conditioning. I make approving noises as she shows me the tour. Honestly, it’s way better than the places I’ve lived over the years of struggle with Declan; she’s not going to be battling cockroaches like I was at her age. There’s plenty of room for me to stay here once my contract is up, too.

Maisy chatters as she shows me around. “It came pre-furnished, but I haven’t had a chance to decorate yet, so don’t judge!” She brings me to the guest room last. “This room is like, extra boring. But you’re probably the main person who’s gonna be staying here, so maybe you can decorate it? Some of those vampire posters you were never allowed to have at home?”

I laugh guiltily. “Yeah…”

“Oh, oh , speaking of! I have to ask. Have you been reading that valentine blog?”

I didn’t think I could possibly get more nervous, but now my stomach is launching into a full gymnastics routine. “Blog?”

“ Confessions of an Anonymous Valentine ?” She seems to mistake my frozen panic for ignorance, because she says, “Oh my God, you have to read it, it’s so your thing. Remember how we used to pore through the gossip mags for all that stuff? And all the vampire books you’d hide under your bed so Mom and Dad wouldn’t confiscate them?” She giggles, digging her phone out of her purse, still oblivious to my horrified silence. “It went viral a couple of days ago, and—”

“It what ?” I grab the phone out of her hand before she can pull it up and stare at my blog page. Oh, God, she’s right. I don’t have my email for this account linked to my phone, only my laptop, and I haven’t checked it since before the Celeste ball. “Holy shit.” I press my hand to my mouth, trying to fight back panic.

“It’s wild, isn’t it?” Maisy asks, still grinning. “I’ve read it all. Like, at least three times. It’s addicting. I can’t believe she hasn’t updated in a week! And she still hasn’t revealed the truth about the previous valentine who went missing!”

Oh, no. Oh, noooo. If I thought it was going to be hard fessing up before, I can’t imagine how I can possibly tell her the truth now. She’s read the gory details—how it turns me on being bitten, things I had never imagined telling anyone I know personally…

“But, no, okay, sorry for interrupting,” Maisy says, waving her hands. “I’ve hardly been able to reach you lately! There’s so much I want to talk about that I’m just, like, word vomiting. But your job! You were about to tell me about your job!”

I stutter. “Well… uh… now that you mention it…”

I’m interrupted by the doorbell ringing. We look at each other.

“Oh,” Maisy says. “Right. He’s a little early, but I was gonna surprise you.”

I stare at her. “Surprise me?” My stomach rumbles with the reminder that I’ve barely eaten without Ellen to look after me today. “Please say you mean with a food delivery?”

“Nope! Though we should order a pizza!” She’s all smiles as she skips over to the door. “But for now… your surprise!”

She opens the door.

For some reason, I turn expecting to see Sebastian. I think that maybe Maisy managed to figure out the truth without me, and this is all one big prank and I won’t have to explain at all.

Then Declan walks into the apartment.