Broken Heart 01 I'm the Vampire, That's Why (39 page)

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gross. Marybeth said it was "romantic." Yuck.

Anyway, Patrick bought me a tiara. He also bought me a pony. My mommy wasn't happy about the pony, even though we have lots of space in the backyard of our new house.

I have a new grandpa, too. We call him Ru because it's easier to say than his real name. He promised to take us toParis on Christmas break. He also bought me a tiara.

My uncle Lor spends a lot of time in the library bus. He tells me all the time why it's important to write stuff down. So I am. He also bought me a tiara, and Mommy said, "Enough already." (So I didn't tell her that Drake and Darrius gave me one, too.)

Finally, I have a new baby brother. His name is Richie. He's really cute and sweet. He is not a butthead.

Or a vampire. Mommy says he's ours forever because his mother went away.

Well, I guess that's it.

For now.

GLOSSARY

Celtic Irish Words/Terms

A ghrá mo chroí:Love of my heart

A thaisce:My dear/darling/treasure

Bard: Poet-Druid (see
Fill)
. Storyteller and singer of Celtic tribes.

Céadsearc: First love/beloved one

Droch fhola: Bad or evil blood

Druid: The philosopher, teacher, and judge of Celtic tribes

Filí: (Old Irish) Poet-Druid (see
Bard)

Go dtachta an diabhal thú: May the devil choke you (Irish curse) Leamhán sléibhe: A Wych Elm (the only species of Elm native toIreland ) mo chroí: My heart

Ovate: Healer-Druid. Healer and seers of Celtic tribes.

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German Words/Terms

Liebling: Darling

Mein freund: My friend

Other Words/Terms

Ankh: Ancient Egyptian symbol that means "life"

JESSICA'S GLOSSARY

Stuff No One Told Me So I Figured It Out On My Own, Damn You All Ancient: Refers to one of the original seven vampires. The very first vampire was Ruadan, who is the father of Patrick, my husband. Ruadan is supposed to be this awesome and terrifying creature. But he's really like a kid who thinks the world is a candy store. Some people fear him. Me? I have to keep telling him to stop sliding on the tile in his socks.

Banning: If you piss off an Ancient, they shoot your ass into limbo and you have to stay there (see
World
Between Worlds)
until you meet the conditions of the spell. It's not too often that someone gets released from banning because they're usually loser assholes who deserve to spend their lives in limbo.

The Binding: When vampires have consummation sex, they're hitched for a hundred freaking years. This was Ruadan the First's brilliant idea to keep horny vamps from screwing while blood-taking. In other words, if a penis meets a vagina (or other orifice) for a little fun-fun, they better really like each other. No one's ever broken a binding.

The Consortium: About five hundred years ago, Patrick and Lor created the Consortium to figure out ways that paranormal folks could make the world a better place for everyone (this is the opposite goal from other vamps—see
Wraiths)
. A lot of the sudden leaps in human medicine and technology are because of the Consortium's work. And so I blame them for PDAs, which I hate and still haven't figured out how to use.

Drone: Mortals who do the bidding of their vampire Masters. The most famous was Igor—drone to Dracula. The Consortium's Code of Ethics forbids the use of drones, but plenty of vampires still use drones.

Family: Every vampire can be traced to one of the seven ancients. The ancients are divided into the Seven Sacred Sects (it still cracks me up to say it out loud), otherwise known as the Families.

Lycan or Lycanthrope: A shape-shifter who turns into a wolf. Lycans have been around a long time (originally fromGermany ) and are, in fact, the basis for humans' myths about werewolves. They worship

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the lunar goddess (thus the whole full moon thing), but they can change anytime they want. They're in big-time trouble because they don't have a lot of females and only one out of three children born live past their first year.

Master: The vampire who successfully Turns a human is the new vamp's protector. Basically, a Master is supposed to show the Turn-blood how to survive as a vampire. A Turn-blood has the protection of the Family (see
Family
or
Seven Sacred Sects)
to which their Master belongs.

Seven Sacred Sects: The vampire tree has seven branches. Each branch is called a Family and each Family is directly traced to one of the seven ancients. The older you are, the more mojo you get. A vampire's powers are related to his Family. For instance, only the vampires from the Family Ruadan can fly (because Ruadan is
sidhe
or fae or fairy).

Taint: This is the Black Plague for vampires. We're close to a real cure, but our brilliant scientist Stan is still creating formulas.

Turn-blood: A human who's been recently Turned into a vampire. If you're less than a century old, you're a Turn-blood.

Turning: Vampires can't have babies. They perpetuate their bad selves by Turning humans.

Unfortunately, only one in about ten humans actually makes the transition. I haven't seen anyone Turned, but my friend Linda assures me it's gross and not to be attempted. Ever.

World Between Worlds: It's like limbo. According to Ruadan, there's a place between this plane and the next where there is a void. Some people can slip back and forth between this "veil," but it's a sucky place to take a permanent vacation.

Wraiths: Vampires with a crazy idea about world order. They're run by Ron, who's been running around for three thousand years doing all kinds of evil and stuff. I heard he has the Taint. I don't know if he does, but his minions keep getting in our hair. I'm getting really annoyed with them.