"Yeah," he said, climbing out of the pool. "I have to get it cleaned up before that dude comes over to look at it."
"Is someone planning to buy your treehouse?" I teased.
"Just doing a report on it," Billy Boy said proudly. "Henry and I overheard this dude at the library asking the librarian for info on area treehouses. Naturally Henry has the coolest one, so I had to tell him about it."
"Well, you should be careful inviting strangers over," I warned, sounding like my mother.
"He's not dangerous," Billy said. "He's only eleven and skinnier than I am."
"But he is kind of strange," Henry admitted.
Billy Boy laughed as he toweled off his hair. "He is major strange--looks like he should be your brother instead of me," Billy Boy teased. "Pale skin, pierced ears, black fingernails."
I stopped the swing. "Does this kid have a name?" Billy Boy nodded.
"What is it?" I demanded in his face.
"It'll cost you," he said.
"It will cost you more if you don't tell me," I said, taking his towel, threatening to snap it at his feet.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "It's Valentine." He yanked back his towel. "His name is Valentine Maxwell."
Valentine? That was the name of Luna's younger brother. An eleven-year-old vampire.
I looked at Alexander, who gave me a knowing glance.
I froze. My blood raced. My heart stopped.
Oh. My. Goth. It was one thing to have met a nefarious vengeful teen vampire, then to encounter the wrath of his newly turned twin sister, and have them turn my world upside down. It was quite another to have a preteen vampire now lurking and hanging out in the same library and treehouse as my younger sibling.
I couldn't even fathom an eleven-year-old vampire--his motives, what he hungered for, what powers he might possess.
If Jagger and Luna had disappeared on the night of the Graveyard Gala, what was their younger vampire brother, Valentine, doing in Dullsville?
I knew one thing--I'd have to find out.