“She tried to say the mark was from an accident at work, but I know a vampire bite when I see one, and one of them was here last night,” her granny sighed.

Daisy was shocked. Granny knew? How did she know about the existence of vampires, and how did she know what a bite looked like? Her grandmother had always discouraged Daisy from her interest in the paranormal and laughed because Daisy actually believed in it.

Then it hit her. Her dream was real. Victorija had been here, in her bedroom.

If it was real, why hadn’t Victorija taken her? Victorija needed her as a permanent blood dispenser. There must be something else going on.

Her grandmother continued, “I can’t lose her, Sybil. I’ve lost too much already.” She took a big breath. “I know, I know. Fate is a hard monster to fight. I better go—she’ll be up soon. Bye, Sybil.”

Daisy felt frozen to the spot. It felt as if a locked door in her life was starting to creak open. Her granny obviously knew what was going on with her. Granny sounded scared, and that was unusual. Daisy came from a long line of strong women, and Margaret Brassard, her granny, was one of them. Did she really believe in the paranormal world?

She cleared her throat, alerting her granny she was there. Daisy walked into the kitchen just in time to see her nearly drop a plate.

“Morning, wee Daisy-bell,” her grandmother said nervously.

“Morning, Granny.”

Margaret Brassard was as far away from the image of an old granny as you could possibly get. She had a short modern hairstyle and wore clothes that belied her sixty years. She had worked in the Ministry of Defence straight after university, just like her mum before her. But when her daughter, Daisy’s mother, died, her grandmother shifted to part-time working, so she could look after Daisy. But since Daisy had left home, Granny was back working for the ministry on a consultancy basis.

“Did you sleep well, sweetheart?”

Daisy slid into the kitchen chair. “I had a really vivid nightmare.”

“Oh? What about?”

Daisy lifted the packet of granola and poured some in her bowl. “I dreamed there was a vampire in my room, standing over me.”

She could see the tension on her granny’s face, and her knuckles went white around the two coffee cups she was holding. “What happened then?”

Her granny knew something.

“She touched my necklace, and then—”

“Then what?” Her grandmother brought both their coffees over and sat down.

Daisy shrugged. “I can’t remember after that.”

She began to eat her granola as an awkward silence set in. Her grandmother tapped her nails nervously on the side of her cup. “Have you thought any more about coming back home to Scotland?”