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No one would have guessed that most of the adult chaperons at the junior prom were vampires.

Jameson held his wife pressed close to him in his arms. They swayed slowly in time to the music played by suited youths on the stage in the center of the decorated gymnasium. He and Angelica lingered in the shadows, as did most of their friends. Rhiannon and Roland sat at a candlelit table, watching the festivities. Eric and Tamara were dancing near the rear exit. It wouldn't do to draw too much attention to themselves. They'd promised their little girl they wouldn't, after all. And besides, this was her night.Advertisement

"Go ahead," said a young man several yards away to another one who stood nervously beside him.

"Ask her."

"No way. She'll shoot me down and I'll have to go jump off a bridge."

"Maybe she'll say yes," said the first.

Both of them were watching the most strikingly beautiful girl at the prom. She was tall and slender, with hair as black as a raven's wings that danced around her waist when she moved. And haunting ebony eyes that seemed to hold countless secrets. She stood near the punch bowl with her best friend in the world, Alicia. Both of them swaying a little in time to the music.

Clearing his throat, the nervous teenage boy approached her. "Hi, Amber," he said.

And she smiled. "Hi, Jimmy."

"Would you...um...would you like to dance?"

"I'd love to."

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The boy's face split in a delighted smile, and he took her into his arms.

Amber looked across the dance floor and caught her father's eye. I love you, Daddy .

I love you, too, Amber Lily. He sent his thoughts out to his daughter without a word, and then added a wink. Just see the young man doesn't hold you too close .

Amber smiled and rolled her eyes ceilingward as her partner whirled her around the floor.

"Have we done it, do you think?" Jameson asked his Angel, pulling her still closer, nuzzling her ear with his lips.

"Made her happy? Yes, Jameson. I think we have."

"Maybe we shouldn't have come," he said. "Maybe we're overprotective."

"She doesn't mind at all," Angelica whispered. "She loves us, Jameson. Don't you know that?" He nodded thoughtfully, but still feared he might have offended his daughter by volunteering to chaperon her prom. He loved her so much, it was hard to know when he was overstepping, and when he was only being reasonable. "She's so beautiful," he said. Then he bent lower, and kissed the neck that so tempted him. "Like her mother."

"And every bit as stubborn as her father," she replied.

Frowning, Jameson glanced back at the dance floor. "So what do you think of this Jimmy?"

"I think he's cute."

He grumbled, and Angel kissed his nose.

"I also think we should let Amber Lily decide about Jimmy. She's inherited her father's brains, as well, you know."

Jameson closed his eyes and sighed. "She's really all right."

"You still having trouble believing it?" she asked him. "Even after you made Eric repeat those blood tests five times to be sure? The belladonna antigen is different in her," she reminded him, repeating what Eric's tests had proven time and time again. "The gene that causes premature death in mortals who have the antigen is missing."

He nodded. "And yet she has psychic powers as strong as ours-and her physical strength is getting more amazing every day."

"Rhiannon likes to think she inherited her preternatural abilities from her aunt, the princess," Angelica mused.

"It's a miracle," he said. "She's a miracle." He smiled and looked into her eyes. "Have I told you lately, my Angel, how very much I adore you?"

"Yes," she said. "But feel free to tell me again."

Just as he was about to kiss her, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see his little girl holding hands with her young man.

He straightened up, clearing his throat.

"Dad, Mom, I want you to meet Jimmy."

"Hello," they said in unison.

Jimmy gawked at them for a moment, then looked at Amber again. "You gotta be kidding me. That's your mom?"

"Looks great for her age, doesn't she?" Amber sent her mother a knowing glance that probably only made her seem more mysterious to the smitten young man.

"Yes. I mean...um, nice to meet you...both."

"Likewise," Jameson said.

Amber looked up at her father. "It's almost the last dance," she told him. "I saved it for you." Jameson felt his throat go tight, and his eyes begin to burn. But he managed to blink them clear as he took his daughter's hand, and walked with her onto the floor. As he held her in his arms, he met Angel's eyes across the room, and he saw the sparkle of happy tears there that matched his own.

"I'm glad you're here tonight, Daddy," Amber whispered.

"I'll always be here for you, Amber Lily," he promised. "Always." pqdm.com