Crave (Harlequin Teen)

gardening in the backyard, I found myself wandering through the house lost in thought about it.
    Tiny prickles of sensation spread over my arms, as if I were at school and Tristan was around. Weird. Frowning, I went to the patio door to tell Nanna about it, then stopped.
    She’d turned the gardening tools into a magically automated army of helpers.
    It was past sunset out there, but moonlight flooded the huge garden that took up most of the backyard, giving me plenty of light, enough to see a small basket and a pair of garden clippers floating just above the plants nearest the house, the clippers darting here and there to snip off herbs that then drifted into the basket. Even in the moonlight, the clippers’s neon-orange handles contrasted sharply with the surrounding greenery. Nanna had painted them herself so she wouldn’t lose them in the yard. A Martha Stewart tip. Nanna was crazy about Martha.
    Somehow, I doubted Martha had ever considered using magic to automate her tools while gathering herbs under the full moon, though.
    Nanna was several yards away, kneeling on a cushion while she took more clippings. To her right, a shovel stabbed at some weeds near the fence that had turned into small bushes.
    And she didn’t even seem to need to look at her tools in order to magically tell them what to do. I’d always wondered how she had managed such a huge garden all year long by herself.
    I slid open the patio door. Nanna glanced over her shoulder at me. “Oh! Hi, sweetie.” She waved a hand, and all the tools fell to the ground lifeless.
    “Aw, you don’t have to stop them for me. That was really cool, Nanna! I didn’t know you could do all that! How do you keep them going without even looking?”
    Smiling, she resumed cutting some herbs in front of her. “Trade secrets, dear. I wish I could tell you, but…”
    I sighed. “Clann rules.”
    She nodded.
    “Well, you could at least keep going. I mean, you don’t have to tell me how or anything. Just watching them was fun.” And it was. For a minute there, I’d felt just like a little kid again, wanting to giggle and clap.
    Her smile turned apologetic. “No, I’d better not. Wouldn’t want any descendants to get suspicious and wonder whether I’m keeping my promise. Besides, it just seems rude to do magic in front of you when you’re not allowed to use it, too.”
    Stupid rules.
    “You’ve been awfully quiet today,” she said as she continued to work.
    “Mmm.” Which reminded me about the Charmers manager application. And the promises I’d made to my father and the vampire council. Should I even bother asking Nanna for permission to apply? Or would she tell me it was against the vampire council rules just because it was related to dancing?
    “Why don’t you grab those clippers and help me gather herbs?”
    I picked up the now lifeless clippers and basket and brought them closer to Nanna so we could still talk easily. I took a few cuttings, but kept getting distracted by the view around me. I should come out here at night more often. It was really nice. The air was clean with a hint of dew in it. It felt good to breathe it in, like it was cleaning out my lungs. And hopefully my head.
    “Taking cuttings always clears my mind,” she murmured. “Quick, name the plants you see.”
    It was an old game she’d taught me ages ago, and it still made me smile. “Lemon verbena. Chamomile. Basil. Wolfs-bane.” I slowly spun in a circle, pointing out every plant I could see in the moonlight around us.
    Smiling, she nodded her head in approval, every bit as regal as a queen. “Now…back to what’s eating you today. Want to talk about it?”
    “Um, yeah, I guess. But don’t get mad or anything, okay?”
    She gave me a sharp look. “Okay, spit it out.”
    “Well, the Charmers are taking applications this week for managers. They’re going to pick them this weekend then announce their picks next week.”
    “And you want to apply.”
    This was where it got tricky. “I…don’t know.”
    She laughed quietly. “What don’t you know about it? Are you unsure you want to do the job, or are you unsure you’d be allowed to do the job?”
    “Uh, both?”
    Smiling, she sat back on her heels. “Do the managers dance?”
    “No. Well, I think sometimes they might get the chance to fill in as alternate dancers. But obviously I’d have to tell the director no if she asked me to.”
    Nanna nodded. “And the rest of the job…what would you be