Read Oxford Blood (The Cavaliers: Book One) Page 27

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  “So how’s it been, love?” her aunt asked once they’d arrived back home. “From your phone calls it seems to be a different world.”

  They were at the kitchen table, eating a simple tea of toad in the hole. Despite all the exotic food on offer at Oxford, Harriet had missed her aunt’s soothing cooking.

  “It really is. You wouldn’t believe some of the people, some of the fancy parties.”

  “I hope they aren’t turning your head,” her aunt had said. “I know your Dad was never quite the same person when he came back from Oxford, although I think your mother was mainly to blame for that. Do be sensible, won’t you?”

  For the first few days, she felt almost like a guest in her own home, and her cousins were slightly quiet and cautious around her. After a few days though, she slipped back into her old routine. She loved catching up on sleep, cutting down on booze and having her own space. She watched Sam play in a football match and Jane sing in a school talent show. Better yet, the unpleasant memories almost disappeared. Her mind refused to think about vampires and murders in a quiet suburban house.

  “So, met any hot guys?” Jane asked when she’d finally got Harriet alone without Aunt Kate around. “I kept seeing references to someone called Tom on your Facebook?”

  “You’re so nosy,” Harriet laughed. “Don’t tell Kate or I’ll never hear the end of it, but he goes to my college and we’ve really hit it off. He’s gorgeous, and so posh it’s quite funny at times.”

  Jane carried on asking questions. Harriet avoided the undead issue but otherwise told her cousin endless details about him. She couldn’t get Tom out of her mind.

  Later in the week, she dressed up and went out for drinks with old school friends. She marvelled at the cheap drinks and the way nearly everyone in town wore skimpy outfits despite the December chill. Sitting in what had once been one of her favourite bars, they shared university stories. Everybody had been having a fantastic time, but even without the vampires (which she obviously didn’t mention), her experiences seemed more surreal than everybody else’s. They laughed at her tales of black tie dinners and the scout who cleaned her room and the fact that some of her new friends’ families could be found on Wikipedia.

  Like Jane, they were keen to hear all about Tom, and preferably, to meet him. Harriet wondered how to approach that. She’d love to have him to stay and introduce him to her family and friends, but it would be difficult to explain his complete absence during the day. In the back of her mind, despite her overwhelming love for him. she was also oddly unsure that they’d actually like him.