Charles felt more invigorated as he drank, relishing the feeling of her strong human blood coursing through him. He had no idea how he had lived off rat for the last few decades, how he was able to resist this feeling of euphoria, how he...
“Take it easy, Charlie. You don’t want to kill her.”
Charles released her and she staggered away. Red caught her before she could get too far, cleaned up her neck and healed Charles’ bite.
“Well done, mate.” Red slapped him on the back.
Charles grinned hugely for the first time in a long time. He watched his latest victim stagger off up the alleyway. She would wake up the next morning, or in a few hours, with little memory of what happened, as though she had got very drunk.
Maybe being a vampire is not so bad after all, Charles thought.
He could not stop smiling as he watched her go, very much alive.
****
Lee would go to Wolf Camp again that moon. He spent all month angry and irritable with his family and only marginally less so with his friends. Ellie was still not talking to Charlie and, though Charlie was taking it well, he was obviously hurting. Charlie had steered clear of Ashleigh since the great debacle, hanging out with Lee and, by extension, Chris. This helped him avoid Ashleigh as she went to pains to avoid Chris. Lee tried hard not to find the whole thing funny, but his wolf was a fickle creature.
His mum and dad packed him up into the car with nervous looks on their faces. Chuck and Dwight decided to drive in Chuck’s new ute and give Lee a bit of space. Lee was perfectly happy with that arrangement. He could stretch out on the backseat, put his headphones on, and sleep the trip away.
Which is exactly what he did, only he didn’t seem to wake up again until well past the full moon.
****
Lee woke up in his own bed. Memories of the past few days and nights were fuzzy, but they were there.
He remembered singing songs around the campfire and drinking too much of Conall’s homebrew with Ben, like they used to. He could remember putting Paul and Derek in their place with some witty, drunken comments. He laughed as he recalled putting his fists up at Paul to fight him. He was thankful that Paul had shaken his head and walked off; he wasn’t entirely sure he could take on Paul just yet. Oh, but when he could!
He remembered most of Conall’s lectures during the day; at least, as much as he would usually have remembered if he didn’t shift. He remembered having another chat with Conall, similar to the moon before, about how to help control the wolf and still be the wolf. He smiled, thinking whatever Conall taught him must be finally paying off.
Of course, he remembered his times with Amber. He blushed a little, thinking about her naked body against his...all those times. He allowed himself to relive the moments they had together before he got out of bed. He smiled as he recalled the touch of her smooth skin against his, or the feel of her wolf’s coat against his. How she nipped at him, whether wolf or human, and howled when she finished. He found the temptation to touch himself, as he thought of her, too much.
After, he lay in bed for a few more moments, wondering what other things he would remember. He was pleased with the overall expressions on the faces of the people he had talked to; his family and Ben had stopped looking so nervous around him and smiled more, laughed more and chatted more. He found that they all did less to make him angry, and he was glad he seemed to finally get a handle on his wolf.
He leaped out of bed, smiling and laughing, and did a little happy dance. He ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found his family – even Dwight – smiling at him.
“Well, someone had a pretty good full moon.” His mum piled breakfast onto his plate and he took it to the table.
“I don’t remember much but there are bits and pieces. That’s a start, right?”
“Sure is, little brother,” Dwight said, passing him a coffee and the maple syrup. Lee smiled at him; if Dwight was less angry with him, he must have done something right that moon.
“Won’t be long now and you’ll have control through the full moon and you’ll remember everything straight away.” Chuck held out his fist and Lee bumped it with his own.
“We’re thinking we won’t go to camp next moon...” Lee’s dad started slowly. When Lee didn’t snap at him, he continued. “We want to try your newfound control in a home environment. What do you think?”
Lee was about to disagree vehemently, but actually stopped to consider his words. His parents were happy he was more willing to engage his wolf side... He didn’t want to ruin all the progress he’d made, and this newfound pride they had in him.
“Okay, that sounds good.”
Lee wasn’t sure if it actually sounded good or not. The wolf part of him wanted to snap and snarl and demand they let him, at least, go to camp. But, the human part of him struggled to keep his wolf in check. He ate his breakfast quickly, feeling his anger rising.
“I’m going to go for a walk,” Lee said, standing abruptly.
His family looked at him a little shocked, but said nothing about it.
“All right then, but back to school tomorrow, remember,” his mum called as he left the house.
Lee smiled grimly to himself. What happened to the days when he didn’t look forward to going to wolf camp? The days he didn’t want to snap at his family? He liked that he was happier about the wolf these days, but it scared him how out of control being the wolf made him. He thought back on the power, the speed, the time with Amber during the last moon and actually smiled. Now that he could remember his wolf, he liked the feeling his wolf gave him. Screw control; that would come in time!
The wolf let him be more powerful, more assertive. It had let him get close to Amber. Really, what had the wolf done for him that wasn’t good?
Lee straightened his shoulders and his grin got bigger.
Yes, the wolf was good, the wolf was here to stay.
****
Charles sat with Coleman. He tried to pay attention to what the man was saying, but when he started drivelling on about magic and Pet – whom he specifically did not want to think about – Charles found it difficult. Coleman went on these tangents more and more lately, and Charles wondered if it would not be better for him to just study at home. He would probably have just as much chance of passing his exams as he would with Coleman spouting magical nonsense.
“Coleman, I have no exams which feature magic, why must we talk about it so much?” Charles asked, interrupting a particularly boring discussion on rituals and the perils of dark magic.
“These things are important, Charles. You are moving about the world as a human now, but you are influenced by magic. You should know how it’s influencing you, and you it.” Coleman’s eyes were feverish. They got that way when Charles had allowed him to prattle on about magic for too long.
Charles sighed, knowing he had no chance to get the man back on topic now. “Go on then. But tomorrow, we go back to algebra.”
Coleman nodded and continued speaking. Charles nodded every now and then so it looked like he was paying attention. He let his mind drift, but it kept getting stuck on Pet and the dream where they had danced. He sighed again, wondering how he would be able to patch things up with her. He had never realised that fraternizing with the wrong girl would be worse to Pet than him almost killing her.
Girls, he thought. I will never understand them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
E
llie’s magic was still on the fritz. Half the time, she couldn’t complete a spell and the other half she couldn’t get one right. Miriam was being very patient with her, but as the days, weeks and months went by, Ellie was losing all faith in her magic. She not only hated it, but she believed she was losing it – the prospect of which didn’t actually worry her that much. She kept her thoughts to herself, knowing she only had a few months before she would be eighteen, would graduate from home tutoring, would be at university, and could put the whole magic
thing behind her for good.
After a particularly depressing session with Miriam, Ellie went and sat with Morganna, who had woken up about a week or so ago, but was still very weak and had no sign of magic in her.
“How’s it going?” Morg asked her, lying back against the pillows.
Her ribs had still not healed and Ellie tried to avoid looking at the bandage that covered the great welt on Morg’s chest.
“It’s fine,” Ellie lied. “Miriam says I’m getting back into it.” She put on what she hoped was a happy smile. Morg smiled back.
“That’s good, I’m pleased.” Morg took a deep breath. Ellie knew she had trouble breathing, along with anything else, like talking or eating. “You have to stop blaming yourself, Pet.”
“I... I’m not...”
“I see it in your face, every time you look at me. Accidents happen, Pet. That’s the peril of being a witch. That’s why we’re trained to use our magic, not just sent off into the world to blow our way through it.”
Ellie nodded. “I know, I know. I just...” She didn’t want to tell Morg that she’d been stressing about Charlie when she’d hurt her... That would probably have just been too much for Morg to handle, and she would be much less forgiving.
“I know...you feel bad. But, it’s honestly okay.” She stopped for a moment. “I mean, it’s not okay that I’m holed up in bed and sore and stuff, but it’s okay that you made a mistake.” Morg took her hand and Ellie sniffed back tears. She nodded, not being able to say anything else. “Now, go...you’ve got study to do.”
Ellie laughed. “Since when were you all responsible and studious?”
Morg smiled. “Since my little sister is about to finish school. Now get!”
Ellie smiled and left.
She found Archibald rolling around on her bed.
“Is this where you’ve been?” She patted him for a moment.
“Your continued dislike of magic makes me irritable, especially when you’re having magic lessons and you think about it constantly!”
Ellie laughed at his tone.
“Fair enough. But, soon we’ll be at uni and I won’t have to worry about magic anymore.”
Archie made a grunting sound. “We?”
“You’re coming, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” he sniffed, “I might decide that I cannot be a familiar to a witch who has renounced her magic.” He got up and sat down again, purposely facing away from her.
“Oh, don’t be like that. I wouldn’t be able to get through any of this without you.” She felt her throat catch and saw his head twitch as though he was trying not to turn around.
“I don’t know, Pet...”
“Please, Archie. I need you.”
He gave in and snuggled into her lap, making his purring noise. “Oh, silly Pet. I will always be here for you, whether you practice magic or not.”
Ellie sniffed and held him close. It was a testament to that moment that he didn’t squirm and grumble like he usually would. She put him down again, giving him one last pat, and sat down at her desk.
“I guess I’d best study.” She made a gagging sound. “Why can’t human school just pass you on effort?”
“Because then you wouldn’t be able to renounce magic and live in a human world because you’d look stupid.” Archie made a laughing sound as he dodged the ball of energy she threw at him. “Uh uh! No using magic, it’s against the rules,” he cried as he ran to hide under the bed.
“I’ll give you against the rules, if you’re not careful,” Ellie mumbled and opened her book.
****
Charles found living by Red’s method pleasing. He could drink his fill over the course of a number of humans during the night and walk away knowing they would not only live, but also have little to no memory of the event. He even found some humans liked to be kept in company with vampires to be fed from regularly. Charles liked this arrangement.
He and Red had set themselves up in a large manor house. Each kept a couple of tasty humans, giving them their own rooms and hiring human staff to feed them. Charles had struck up a sexual relationship with most of his humans. But, one of them, Mary, took his fancy most nights.
They lay in bed together. Mary was covered in shallow bite marks and lay, dazed and content. Charles found the sex pleasing, it was true, but he thought he would be more content if he were able to carry a conversation with his lover. The more often a human was fed from, the less the bite’s power affected them, but they still appeared to enjoy laying in a stupor afterwards.
Charles got up, pulled on his dressing gown, and wandered downstairs to see if Red was about. Charles found him in the library. Red did not read a lot, but he liked to smoke cigars, drink brandy and look posh. Charles had no qualms one way or the other with Red’s actions, as long as they did not interfere with his own.
“Ah, been with the lovely Mary tonight, have we?” Red asked, sniffing the air.
Charles pulled his dressing gown around him tighter and sat down in a chair opposite Red. He snapped his fingers and their butler poured him a brandy and passed it to him. Charles nodded his thanks, temporarily forgetting the man’s name.
“Yes, I have.” Charles took a deep sip of brandy, staring into Red’s glare – they had been locked in an almost subconscious battle for superiority for nigh on two decades.
Charles felt as though he had mastered all Red’s techniques and was in a position to become the mentor. Red seemed to realise this and became more defensive in their relationship. Charles thought their acquaintances were looking more to him as the superior these days.
Charles sat in silence for a few more moments, mulling over their shifting circumstances, then his previous train of thought returned to him. “Red?”
“Mmm?” Red asked, looking up from the paper, his glasses perched precariously on his crooked nose.
“Have you ever thought about a proper relationship with a human? A sexual one, without the feeding?”
“Oh dear.”
“What?”
“You’ve hit that phase, have you?”
“What do you mean, that phase?”
“Look, Charlie boy. We all go through that phase. You obviously hit it much later than the rest of us, but you’ve reached it. Having a relationship with a human woman will not work. A supernatural is meant to be with a supernatural. Preferably of their own race, to boot. Don’t complicate matters, mate. Food is food, that they can give us pleasure as well is a bonus, but there’s nothing more to it.”
Charles sat in silence, swirling the brandy in his glass – until it ran out, but then the butler refilled it – and thought on the matter.
He found he had a lot of thinking to do over the century or so he had been with Red. He had to decide whether he would engage socially with humans, or just hunt them; he was still unsure which he preferred. He had to choose how to appear among humans; was he rich, was he poor, what was his back-story? He still had trouble working it out, but they rarely met the same people twice these days, so it did not much matter. He had to decide about killing; that one still got him on occasion. He had killed a few times since he had met Red, but they were terrible people – murderers and rapists, or just general degenerates – or sick people; a part of him took pleasure in relieving a person’s pain and knowing he was immune.
This matter about relationships with humans was just another thing to add to the list of decisions he would need to make one day. He had engaged in sex with women and not fed from them, but only once or twice. What would it be like to have an ongoing arrangement? Would he tell her what he was, or pretend to be human?
He gestured for the butler to refill his glass again and sat deep in thought.
****
Lee sat in his bedroom. The full moon had passed and he couldn’t remember any of it.
At the first sign that he would attack one of them – before he’d even shifted – his family had to lock him up. Lee di
dn’t remember any of this of course, but he had dragged it out of them, word by painful word.
He was angry with himself, he was angry that his family had dared to lock him up. He was angry that the school year was coming to a close and that exams were coming up. He was angry that he hadn’t gone to wolf camp, and angry that he hadn’t been with Amber. He was angry that his parents had confined him to his room.
“It’s for your own safety,” his mum said, coming into his room with a tray of dinner.
“It’s for your safety more like,” Lee muttered.
“Just watch it, little brother.” He looked up and saw Dwight in the hallway. “Just watch I don’t rip your head off.”
“Dwight,” their mother chastised and she put Lee’s tray down, “Are you getting your study done?”
“You know I’d study better if I was actually allowed to go to school.”
“You know you can’t, dear. It’s all right, you’ll get a handle on it soon and then you can go back.” She sounded calm enough, but Lee could sense her shaking and she backed hurriedly out of the room.
“Let me know if you need anything more,” she said as she closed the door.
Lee grumbled and went to his desk. He pulled open his history book, pulled his plate in front of him and started reading. He didn’t really take in the words, but it was something to do. Besides, if he was to go and hang out with all the wolves at the Academy next year, he would need decent grades to be accepted in the first place.
His phone buzzed and he looked at it, a call from Ben. He muttered, not feeling like speaking to anyone...
Unless maybe Amber called. But, she wouldn’t call. She never called.
He growled.
“Hello?”
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