by Emma Mills
I walked slowly towards her.
‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ she warned. ‘I am after all a newborn vampire, and all they’ve fed me on since they found me was this stupid bottled blood, but I still feel strong… really strong. I could so have you.’
I smiled tightly, keeping my fangs hidden, and stepped close enough to whisper in her ear.
‘Didn’t they tell you about witches?’
Her ruby eyes opened wide and she stepped back. For a split second I thought she understood, but then she opened her rose-bud lips and laughed in my face.
‘Witches?! Ooh, scary wary! Do you wear a black hat and go trick or treating too?’
I’d had enough.
‘Elevate,’ I said quietly, thrusting my hands towards her.
My spell grabbed her and lifted her into the air. I held her fifteen feet in the air and slowly turned her upside down, so her blonde locks hung down, hiding her screaming face.
‘Shh!’ I said, forcing another spell alongside the original and immediately sealing her mouth so that she could do nothing more than mumble.
She writhed around, her arms and legs flailing like a caught mouse dangling by its tail.
‘Et-ee-ooo! Ooo-itches…’
‘Sorry, Sadie, what was that? You don’t believe in witches?’
I flung my hand to the side and she whizzed across the room at speed, stopping inches from the wall, before I flung her back and turned her the right way up.
‘Do you now believe?’ I asked, looking quickly over my shoulder at the two guards who stood with their backs carefully turned, their shoulders heaving with silent laughter.
‘nnggg ngnngg!’ she mumbled, nodding her head so violently I feared it may fall off.
I lowered her to about ten feet and then released the hold so that she fell to the floor with a crash. She was immediately on her feet charging me, fangs bared, but I was ready. Moving quicker than she could I leapt to the side and struck out with my hand, digging my nails into her skin as my hand closed around her neck. I darted forwards, holding her writhing in my hand and slammed her back against the wall. I put my face right up to hers and smiled, showing my full set of fangs.
‘Sadie, they gave you to me, because there is no-one like me, understand? I could turn your pathetic body into flames with one flick of my fingers or I could rip out your jugular with my teeth, so don’t mess with me, okay?’
I dropped her and she stumbled, her knees giving way slightly as she leaned against the wall for support.
‘What’s going on?’ Daniel said, racing back into the room. ‘I heard a crash?’
‘Oh, nothing. I was just showing Sadie some tricks, wasn’t I Sadie?’ I said, smiling back at her livid face.
‘Tricks? Is that what you call it? Danny, she’s a lunatic! She nearly killed me. You can’t leave me with her. She tortured me,’ she whined.
Daniel’s eyes opened wide with surprise.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said. ‘Apart from anything there are two guards here. Did you see me torturing her?’ I asked, turning towards the guards.
They smiled and shook their heads.
‘See!’
‘Danny, I really…’
‘Sadie, I have warned you and I will not ask you again.’
He darted across the room and for the second time in as many minutes she was dangling ragdoll-like from a fist.
‘Call me Daniel,’ he said, through gritted teeth. ‘Even Jess doesn’t call me Danny and she is my fiancée.’
‘Fiancée?’ she squeaked.
‘Yes, I’ve been with Jess for ten years, and we will be taking you back to our house in Manchester…’
‘Actually you will,’ I said. ‘I’m flying back. And if Sebastian wants me to babysit that little bitch he’s going to have to grovel…’
‘Oh, will I now?’ Sebastian interrupted from behind me, his silky smooth European accent floating across the room and sending flutters down my spine.
I turned and grinned at him.
‘Hi, Sebastian.’
‘Hello Jessica, shall we go and have a little chat then?’ he said coolly, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement.
I nodded.
‘Daniel, you drive our newest member back to Manchester and Jess will meet you there. I’m sure she’ll get back before you anyway.’
Daniel nodded and looked at me unhappily. He knew there was a spark between Sebastian and I. Sebastian had a soft spot for witches and there was a frisson between us that we never acted on… another reason I refused to work for him. I didn’t want to get too close, I didn’t need the complication. Sebastian was an ancient and power rolled off him and oozed out of his every pore. Imagine an immaculately dressed European multimillionaire, who happened to have the looks of a male model and you’ve got Sebastian. Pretty much everyone was attracted to him, which was why Daniel held no grudge; what was weird was Sebastian’s soft spot for me, a modern girl who generally refused to toe the line.
‘Come on,’ Daniel said to Sadie, beckoning her towards the door.
She got up but paused by Sebastian, smiling up at him and running a finger down his arm.
‘Seb, I was thinking…’
Oh god, she’d done it! I bit my lip and looked at Daniel.
‘…Maybe I’d be better off staying with you,’ she purred.
He looked at her disdainfully and stepped back.
‘Did I ask you to call me Seb?’ he asked coldly.
She shook her head, blonde curls bouncing round her oval face.
‘No, it’s just that you look like you could have a lot of fun… if you know what I mean? I think you really suit Seb and I always shorten my friend’s names,’ she purred, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
He closed his eyes briefly and then looked at Daniel.
‘Take her away before I rip out her tongue,’ he said, before turning back and glaring at her, his eyes burning with a sudden fury.
‘There is nothing I despise more than silly little girls who think they can make up for an empty head with the offer of sex.’
I turned away, desperately swallowing down the giggle that was threatening to explode from my chest.
‘Teach her some manners! And you, if you dare to call me Seb again I promise that I will personally cut out your tongue!’ He flicked his hand to dismiss her and Daniel quickly ushered her out of the room.
Sebastian dismissed the guards and we had the room to ourselves.
‘She told me her maker is Pierre, the rebel leader,’ I said, beginning the conversation.
‘We believe that may be the case. Both the boy and Sadie described the vampire from the television to be their maker, and we know that vampire is Pierre.’
‘So why did the Council not execute Sadie as well as the boy? It hardly seems fair,’ I asked.’
‘You think we should execute her also, Jess, but I thought I just saw you in the cellars begging for the boys pardon?’ He tilted his head on one side and looked at me thoughtfully.
‘No, it’s just…’
‘They are our best way to find Pierre, they are linked to him, but you know how rigid the Council is… the boy had to die. The girl is another matter, and we found her thanks to your discovery at Paulo’s warehouse.’
‘Coyle blabbed?’ I asked, surprised.
Sebastian shook his head.
‘No, he is stubborn and strong. He will not talk… yet. However, I told you I would find Paulo and I did. Paulo always was a pathetic mouse. It didn’t take much to get him to squeal and lead us straight to the girl. At the time we thought we had discovered the key to the entire plot. Paulo failed to mention London, for which he has paid with his life.’
I flinched at the freezing tone to his voice.
‘The Council surrounded the area in Heaton Park, discreetly of course, but no-one came to claim her when Sadie scrambled out of the earth just after midnight. Pierre must have been tipped off by someone…’
‘And obviously the human g
irl we took home was going to be her first dinner,’ I said quietly.
Sebastian nodded.
‘So the Council agrees that she is our best chance of finding Pierre and I am too busy and too old to be dealing with her dramatics. I fear it would end very badly… and messily if I took her,’ he smiled across at me.
‘But why me?’ I asked.
‘Because you bridge the gap between us all. The Council appears to trust you and I trust you.’
‘Oh!’ I said, taken aback. Of course I knew they trusted me. I had earned it slowly but surely over the last decade, but not once had anyone actually told me as much.
‘And of course you can kick her firm little behind across the room… after you have dangled her upside down from the ceiling,’ he added, leaning back in his armchair, his laughter rich and warm.
‘How did you know?’
‘Cameras, darling! This is HQ. They have security cameras everywhere.’
‘Oh!’
‘It was great fun. I enjoyed it immensely.’
‘So I’m stuck with her then?’
‘I’m afraid so, but only until we find Pierre, and he will come for her, so be prepared.’
I nodded.
‘So if this is to be my next project, who is paying me? The Council?’
‘Ah, is this where I begin grovelling?’ he asked silkily, leaning in towards me so that he whispered the words directly into my ear.
I leant back, mentally shaking the seductive effect from my body.
‘They should be grovelling, not you. I’m their employee,’ I said.
‘Not anymore my dear, they’ve subcontracted you out to me. You’re on my books as a freelancer,’ he smiled, waggling his eyebrows.
I shook my head and smiled.
‘You’re really bad,’ I said. ‘I’m not happy.’
‘Oh, don’t be such a baby,’ he said, as I stood up quickly.
He stood at the same time, snaked a hand round my waist and pulled me right in, close enough to kiss.
‘I’ll pay you well,’ he whispered, his breath hot on my cheek.
‘You’d better,’ I said, turning and walking across the room.
‘Oh, and Jessica?’
‘Yes?’
‘Try not to kill her before we catch Pierre.’
Chapter Twelve
As Sebastian predicted I arrived home well before Daniel and Sadie, who had no doubt got stuck on the M62. I’d been thinking about my protégée the entire way home, and I decided the only redeeming feature was the fact that I would get to tell Eva about her and watch later on whilst she ripped Sadie to rhetorical shreds! I had a feeling Daniel would be begging for London projects though, as the house had too many oestrogen-fuelled fights already, without throwing a way too cute for her own good baby vampire into the mix! Daniel would definitely be leaving home and now I would never be able to join him in London. Instead I’d be stuck in Manchester waiting for Pierre to arrive on our doorstop.
‘Oh you’re back,’ Eva said, as I walked through the back door into the kitchen. ‘They killed him then?’ she added.
I nodded.
‘What did you expect? It can’t have been that much of a shock? Honestly, you would have thought he was your brother, the face you’re pulling,’ she added.
I smiled grimly.
‘That’s not what I was thinking about,’ I said darkly. ‘Has Sebastian told you about our new housemate?’
She narrowed her eyes and fell silent.
I raised my eyebrows, enjoying that for possibly the first time ever Sebastian had told me something before Eva. I smiled.
‘Oh fine, I know I’ve been a total cow lately and I totally deserve this, but if you’re winding me up with nothing to tell you are so going to bite it.’
My smile widened.
‘Oh, I definitely have something to tell,’ I said, as Brittany walked into the room.
‘What?’’ she demanded.
‘You might as well call Saffy and Suze. I’ll tell you altogether.’
‘They’ve gone. They said to tell you they had to get back and they wanted to get home before nightfall.’
‘Oh okay,’ I said quietly, feeling sorry that I hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye.
‘So what the ruddy hell have you got to tell us?’ Eva asked, her patience thinning.
I sighed.
‘As expected, the Council insisted on executing the boy. It seemed to be more about setting an example than anything else, but there was a girl too. They think Pierre’s plan was for the cameras to switch to Manchester after the Hyde Park attack. They think the girl we found at Paulo’s was to be the bait…’
‘I know all this Jess. Sebastian found the vampire girl and waited for her to dig herself out on New Year, whilst you were faffing about in Scotland…’
I scowled at Eva.
‘We weren’t faffing about Eva…’
Her eyes glinted, knowing she had hit the target. Eva always knew how to wind me up.
‘Oh sorry, that’s right, you were napping!’ she said.
‘Fine, if that’s what you think I won’t waste your precious time! Come on Brit,’ I said, storming from the room.
‘Why do you let her get to you?’ she asked, as we flopped back onto my bed.
I shook my head.
‘I don’t know. We used to be really good mates, or I thought so, but recently I just can’t seem to get along with her.’
‘You’re too similar. When you came along she was happy to have a female friend, someone to watch crappy TV and bitch about men with. You needed her and she loved the role of older, wiser friend. She doesn’t know how to be with you now you don’t need her anymore. Every time you go out and kill another vampire without her it just rekindles that feeling. That’s why she raced over to help you at Paulo’s warehouse, and that’s why for those few hours you got on again.’
I sighed.
‘So what did you have to tell us about?’ she asked.
‘You’re gonna love this,’ I said, with a grim smile. ‘The vampire girl, who is called Sadie by the way, is coming to live with us, and to make matters worse Sebastian and the Council have decided that she will be under my direct care, and they’re paying me for it!’
‘That sounds awesome!’ Brittany exclaimed. ‘You’ve got your first freelance job. Way to go!’
‘It would be awesome if she was like us, but she’s a typical high school mean girl that hasn’t grown up!’
‘She’s probably just really disorientated and underfed,’ Brittany said.
‘They are insisting she drink nothing other than bottled blood,’ I admitted. ‘But she’s going to be a handful; I can feel it in my bones.’ I said. ‘And her maker is the crazy vampire behind all this mess.’
‘Pierre?’
‘None other! We’re going to have to improve our security wards because Sebastian thinks he’ll come for her, and when he does he wants us to catch him!’
‘Jess! Get your skinny little butt down here,’ Eva yelled, an hour later.
I grinned at Brittany as she switched off Netflix.
‘What is it, Eva? I asked innocently as I reached the bottom of the stairs. ‘Oh, hello Sadie, you’ve arrived. Let me show you to your room.’
‘Not so bloody fast!’ Eva said, her red eyes glowing. She hated being surprised.
‘Jess, why didn’t you tell Eva?’ Daniel asked, his eyes reproachful.
I shrugged.
‘I did try to tell her, but she interrupted me and told me quite definitely that she already knew it all and basically that I had nothing new worth telling.’
‘I did not!’
I raised my eyebrows and stared her down.
‘Well… maybe I did…’
‘You two need to sort whatever this is …’ Daniel urged, waving his hands between us. ‘Out! I’ll take Sadie up to the spare room.’ He stalked past us and Sadie followed, smiling at me maliciously.
I looked at Eva and stood my ground. She
was the one in the wrong, not me. Eva sighed and stalked into the kitchen. I didn’t move.
‘Well, are you coming?’ she said, daring me to decline.
I nodded and followed her in, walked past the chairs and hopped up onto the work surface, where I sat, dangling my legs.
‘Jessica…’
My eyebrows shot up. She never called me that!
‘Jess… What’s wrong with us?’ she said quietly.
I shook my head, feeling emotional.
‘You don’t listen to me anymore,’ she accused.
‘What? No! You don’t listen to me! I tried to tell you about Paulo being weird, then I tried to tell you about Brooke at New Year, but you were so wrapped up in your own plans… you think my ideas are worthless.’
‘That’s not it,’ she said. ‘I was distracted… there’s a lot been going on!’
‘I get that, I do, but I’ve been part of this… family for ten years now…’
‘Ten years is nothing Jess. You’re still a baby in vampire years.’
‘But I’m not just a vampire, Eva. I’m not like you.’
‘You are!’ Brittany said suddenly from the doorway. ‘You’re too much like her; that’s the problem!’
We both turned our glares on Brittany.
‘Well I’m not going to spend fifty years following Daniel round like a puppy, trying not to kill people, hungry with blood lust. That is what a baby vampire would be doing,’ I said.
‘I agree, but your personalities are too similar,’ Brittany said. ‘Eva is strong, beautiful and one of Sebastian’s fiercest and smartest vampires.’ Brittany paused as Eva, enjoying the compliments, smiled. ‘But you are also bossy and stubborn!’ she added, watching Eva’s smile turn to a scowl.
‘Jess, you are my best friend, but you could be Eva’s twin. You’re both relentless, and so smart that Sebastian and the Council would do almost anything to keep you under their wing. Working together you’d be unstoppable, but this stubbornness… jealousy… whatever the hell it is, it’s destructive and a real nightmare to live alongside. I don’t know how Daniel must feel but personally I’m fed up of the tension.’
‘I thought you were on my side?’ I asked coolly.