Dance Until Dawn

by Berni Stevens

  ‘I know you are a dedicated rock chick.’

  I wondered how he had ever discovered the Stones were playing at Wembley. Perhaps Stevie had told him. Although I supposed he kept his eye on the music press because of the nightclub. Will struck me as far too sharp a businessman not to take his own business seriously.

  About an hour later, the taxi dropped us as close to the main entrance of the Arena as it could. After we’d got out, Will leant back in to pay and have a short conversation with the driver. I watched the throng of music fans making their way to the various entrances. The familiar thrill of a prospective live rock concert ran through me, and it was as much as I could do not to grab Will’s hand and run for the nearest entrance. There were so many people. More humans in one place than I’d seen since being turned.

  I looked around to drink in the atmosphere, loving every moment already. One of my favourite things had always been to go to as many concerts as I could afford, when I wasn’t working of course. As Will had been stalking – sorry – observing me for a year, he would have been very aware of that.

  Taking hold of my hand, he strode confidently toward the nearest entrance. As usual, a great many women turned to look at him, and, as usual, he didn’t appear to notice. He had dressed in blue jeans, t-shirt and his favourite black leather jacket, but he still stood out from the masses. The old vampire charisma again perhaps. He showed the tickets to a security person at one of the turnstiles who scanned them and waved us through.

  Once in the outer ring of the arena, I became instantly aware of the noise, both of the crowd, and of the support band who were already on stage. The place seethed with a mass of people, all ages, shapes and creeds, buying t-shirts, programmes, badges, alcohol and the rather dubious greasy fast food on offer.

  An overwhelming smell of hot dogs and hamburgers hung on the air, so heavy it was almost visible. I saw everything through different eyes now, with sight I now knew had become enhanced since my rebirth as a vampire. I felt as if I’d been somehow starved of life before, missing the many scents, sights and sounds which were so very clear to me now.

  I’d always loved people watching, and I stood still to soak in the excitement and the electric atmosphere that pulsated through the stadium. Will stood very close to me and took hold of my arm, so as to speak quietly in my ear. ‘How is your control?’

  I looked up at him, and smiled at his concern. ‘I’m fine. Really.’

  He nodded, satisfied, and led the way to the Arena’s inner sanctum, turning back to me just before going in. ‘Do I have to buy you a T-shirt?’

  ‘I only ever buy Bowie t-shirts.’

  He raised a dark brow. ‘Should I be worried?’

  ‘You can hold your own. Anyway, the man may be a legend, but he’s almost retired these days.’

  ‘And still only in his sixties,’ murmured Will. ‘So young.’

  And he thought I always had an answer.

  When we were in our seats, I continued to watch everyone around me. The age range at a Stones’ concert is always incredible. The youngest fan I saw looked about six years old, but the oldest could easily have been seventy, or maybe even more. Obviously, Will remained senior to everyone in the audience, by quite a few centuries, but without looking it, of course. He leaned back in his seat, perfectly at ease, his arm resting across the back of my seat. I could feel his eyes on me and turned to face him. ‘OK—what?’

  He smiled, and raised his hand lazily to touch my hair. ‘You are just like a child in a sweet shop. I really should have thought of this before.’

  ‘You thought of it tonight, and that’s good enough for me.’

  A huge roar suddenly erupted from the crowd as vibrant lights flooded the stage, and Ronnie and Keith stormed into the opening riff of their usual opening number.

  The audience rose to its feet as one and the cheers were deafening. The familiar music pulsed louder than anything at any concert I could ever remember. I found myself on my feet swaying in time to it along with everyone else.

  Will remained sitting, looking cool and often watching me more than the band.

  I could feel his amused gaze like a weight, and turned to glance at him several times. His eyes glowed in the dark as he watched me, a half-smile playing on his lips. Too sexy for his own good.

  When the Stones had played most of their back catalogue, Mick had strutted his last strut and the final throbbing notes had died away, Will rose slowly to his feet.

  I tilted my head up at him. ‘So now you stand up?’

  ‘I needed to conserve my energy.’

  I had a fairly good idea why. Even vampire elders can be predictable sometimes.

  We made our way to one of the exits along with hundreds of other people. I looked at Will as he slipped a proprietary arm around my waist. ‘Thank you for this.’

  ‘The pleasure is mine.’ Seventeenth-century manners were certainly endearing. A smile lit his face briefly. ‘Do you have any idea how many concerts you have attended over the last twelve months?’

  I thought for a moment. I’d been dancing in the chorus of Chicago for three months, and I frowned as I mentally counted the gigs I could remember. ‘Not the exact amount, no.’

  ‘Well it has been quite a few. Including Glastonbury.’

  ‘You aren’t telling me you were at all of them too?’

  ‘Not all of them, no.’

  I stopped walking and turned to face him. ‘I remember now. I talked to you at Glastonbury.’ I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten.

  He traced his fingers down my cheek. ‘Memories cannot always be recalled for some time after rebirth, Elinor.’

  I nodded slowly. ‘But Glastonbury’s on for three days. What did you do during the day?’

  He gave me a wicked look. ‘Kept out of the sodding sun.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Camper van.’

  Oh. Simple then.

  We emerged from the Arena, and I started to follow the masses towards the tube station, when Will grabbed my arm and pulled me in the opposite direction. ‘We need to find our cab.’

  I snorted with derision. ‘Fat chance around Wembley after a concert.’

  He made no reply, just continued walking away from the station. He turned suddenly into one of the small side roads. Sure enough, a black cab idled there, with the yellow ‘for hire’ sign turned off. I really shouldn’t have been surprised to see the same man who’d driven us here earlier, but I gave Will a questioning look anyway.

  He shrugged. ‘Everyone has a price.’

  We got into the back of the cab, and it pulled away almost immediately.

  ‘Good night mate?’

  ‘Very good, thank you.’

  ‘Can’t believe they’re still goin’ at their age.’ The driver shook his head. ‘Bleedin’ mad if you ask me.’

  Will draped an arm around my shoulders, a roguish smile lighting his face. He relaxed back into the seat, crossing his long legs. It seemed just as I’d begun to enjoy the dark intimacy of the cab, we drew up at the back gate of the house. Will leaned forward to pay the driver with, I noticed, several twenty pound notes.

  ‘Cheers mate, you’re a gent.’ The driver stuffed the notes into his pocket, and the cab shot off the minute we’d got out, presumably in case Will changed his mind.

  ‘Generous.’ I commented.

  ‘I had no desire to travel home by tube, so I bribed him to come back for us.’

  ‘Have you ever wondered what a taxi driver sees – or rather doesn’t see, when he looks in his mirror at us?’ The thought had been bothering me more than a bit on the journey home.

  Will threw his head back and laughed. ‘You are fantastic! Just fantastic.’

  I tried not to laugh. ‘Stop laughing at me. You’re always laughing at me.’

 
He held me around the waist, still laughing. ‘I apologise, Elinor. I have spent so long covering my tracks around humans, and now everything is second nature. I sometimes forget that you do not know some of our more fundamental parlour tricks.’

  ‘Parlour tricks?’

  ‘How do you think I persuaded the driver to come back for us?’

  I shrugged. ‘Money?’

  ‘Money certainly assisted, yes. We have hypnotic qualities to our gaze, Elinor, it is extremely helpful.’

  Of course. Silly me.

  Will stopped laughing suddenly, and raising his head, sniffed the air. His eyes flashed dangerously, as he motioned me to be quiet. His voice whispered through my head. We have visitors.

  He walked to the entry panel on the wall and quickly punched in the code. Opening the gate, he pulled me through and shut the gate behind us. Two shadowy figures loomed into sight immediately.

  ‘Waiting for me, girls?’ Will’s quiet voice sounded amused.

  The nearest man snarled, but it was the last thing he ever did, as Will plunged a hand through his ribcage and relieved him of his heart. The second man launched himself at Will only to have his head wrenched violently around and I heard a sickening crunch as bones splintered.

  My legs suddenly gave way, and I crumpled to the ground. I pressed a trembling hand to my mouth to prevent the scream in my throat from escaping. I stared dumbfounded at the results of Will’s mini massacre. Everything had happened incredibly fast and so silently, I wasn’t even sure I’d seen it happen at all. I crouched against the wall, not trusting my legs to support me yet.

  Will drew an evil-looking silver dagger from an inside pocket and plunged it through the disembodied heart. Without any hesitation he suddenly thrust it into the other vampire’s body. Both bodies disintegrated immediately. A small sound escaped my mouth, and Will turned to me. Leaning down, he grabbed my arm and brought me to my feet. I pressed my hands against his chest, and just stared at him. He hoisted me up into his arms and made for the cellar door. ‘We need to get inside.’ His voice sounded quiet but urgent.

  He got us both to the cellar door and inside in seconds. Once inside, I turned to him in panic. ‘Who else is here?’

  ‘The lovely Khiara is by the front gates, and she is not alone.’

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Confrontation

  Will’s words sliced through me equally as deadly as his silver dagger. Khiara here? After all this time? Just when I thought she’d left the country. Maybe that was the point, the old lulling into a false sense of security trick.

  ‘Why is she outside the gates? The other two managed to get into the garden.’ Will didn’t answer.

  I watched him as he went to a far corner of the cellar to pick something up. Retrieving the object, he twirled it around his head, as though he were leading a Royal Marine Band or something. It was a wooden stake, whittled to a deadly point at one end. He threw it from hand to hand deftly, coming to stand in front of me. ‘This piece of wood could ultimately mean destruction for any one of us.’

  ‘I thought that was pure Hollywood, you know, Buffy stuff.’

  Will looked stern. ‘You really do need to do your homework.’

  I didn’t answer.

  Will tossed the stake carelessly back to its dark corner. ‘Never forget the things that can maim or destroy us. Other vampires will not hesitate to use them against you should they ever get the chance.’ He looked down at me. ‘So, can you tell me the items we should avoid at all costs?’

  I thought for a moment. ‘The sign of the cross, holy water, holy wafer, silver, the direct rays of the sun, a wooden stake, or a silver dagger through the heart …’ I faltered at the last item, remembering how Will had dispatched the vampires outside.

  Will pulled me against his body. ‘Very good, most excellent student of mine,’ he said against the top of my head.

  ‘Do I get a gold star?’

  ‘Something like that.’ He was smiling now, and his eyes were shining with the fanatical gleam they got when he was looking forward to a challenge.

  ‘What shall we do about Khiara?’

  Will laughed softly. ‘The fun is only just beginning.’

  ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were actually enjoying all this.’

  ‘You do not know any better, and I am.’

  ‘William.’ A voice sounded, loud yet strangely soft, reverberating around the stone walls of the cellar.

  Will just smiled and looked upwards. ‘Khiara, how nice. We missed you.’

  ‘Let us end this.’

  Will’s laugh echoed around the cellar walls, and it sounded as though the room had suddenly become filled with different people all laughing at once.

  I stared at him wide-eyed. What the hell?

  He stood in the middle of the cellar, hands on narrow hips, with his dark head thrown back as he stared up at the ceiling. I felt really glad he was on my side. I’d seen many of Will’s mood swings, but tonight the power seemed to emanate from him, and he was more terrifying than I’d ever seen him before. More terrifying even than the night he’d beaten up Honyauti, and definitely more scary than when he’d dispatched the two vampires in the garden.

  He looked at me and held out his hand. ‘Come. We need to greet our guests.’

  I took hold of his hand. ‘What the hell is happening?’

  ‘A show of strength. Can you not feel it?’

  I could feel a new kind of power surging through my body just by holding Will’s hand. That had certainly never happened before.

  I turned to face him, putting my free hand on his chest. He glanced down at me, his eyes still glowing like green embers from a demon’s hellfire. ‘Embrace the power Elinor. Breathe it in.’

  He moved toward the stairs pulling me reluctantly behind him.

  Oh dear God, and I’d thought performing on stage had been scary.

  When we reached the hall, Will opened the front door with a flourish. Khiara stood outside the front gates, dressed elegantly in a black jacket with matching trousers and a dazzling white shirt. Her amazing hair had been swept back from her face like a shining, dark cloud. All very dramatic and monochromatic. At her side was Grigori – an almost healed Grigori – his face impassive as usual. I knew they could have got over the gates or the walls with ease, but I supposed they were pretending to be human in case they were noticed.

  Will pressed a button near the entry phone and the gates swung open. Khiara swept through the opening, followed by Grigori, and Will pressed another button to close the gates behind them. Khiara came up the steps to the front door, and after a disdainful look in my direction, she turned her cold blue gaze to Will, her face unsmiling. ‘Get rid of the fledgling.’

  Will leaned against the door frame insolently, folded his arms and regarded her with a cold stare that easily matched her own. ‘Define “get rid of”. What can you mean?’

  Khiara narrowed her eyes. ‘Chain it up somewhere. The sight of it is unpleasant to me.’

  Oh very nice, I didn’t feel too enthralled with her either. I kept quiet, I was getting quite good at that. I’d learned there was often someone around who could hurt me if I said the wrong thing.

  Will’s soft, sexy laugh made me look at him. Trust him to find something funny in any situation. ‘I have no need for chains.’

  Khiara turned to Grigori. ‘Remove the creature from my sight. Put it downstairs somewhere and tie it up.’

  It?

  Grigori moved forward to do her bidding, but at exactly the same moment Will stood up straight, and put a firm hand against the other man’s broad chest. ‘Touch her and you die,’ he said.

  Grigori stopped immediately, and Will turned back to me. ‘Elinor, be so good as to wait for me in the drawing room.’

  ‘I want
to stay with you.’

  ‘Go. Please.’

  Reluctantly, I left him in the hall with Khiara and Grigori and made my way to the drawing room. Once inside, I made myself close the door quietly behind me.

  I leaned against the door, straining to hear their conversation. I could hear Will’s patient, deep voice and Khiara’s cold, angry answers.

  Then silence.

  I waited to hear the conversation start up again, but it didn’t.

  I waited for what seemed an eternity. I waited until the silence itself was deafening.

  And I knew something was wrong – very, very wrong. I simply couldn’t feel Will’s presence any more. As always, when we were separated, cold fear filled me, followed by absolute panic.

  I flung open the drawing room door and spilled out into the hall. The front door was wide open, mocking me with the emptiness beyond. No Will, no Khiara and no Grigori. I ran to the doorway and looked out. Still no one. The front drive was empty, the gates closed. Terror gripped every fibre of my being – a terror such as I had never felt before. I ran to the gates and peered through. The entire street was empty and quiet. There was neither a car parked outside in the road nor a car driving away. The only sound was the balmy night’s breeze gently ruffling leaves on the trees.

  Fearing an attack without Will to protect me, I bolted for the front door and virtually leapt through the doorway, slamming the heavy door behind me. I put the various chains in place and leaned trembling against the door. What now? I struggled to regain some semblance of composure as I tried to think what to do.

  Luke.

  He’d help me.

  I had run back to the drawing room before I realised I had absolutely no idea of Luke’s phone number. Will always dialled it from memory. But I had to believe he’d written it down somewhere accessible at some point. But where?

  The cabinet on which the phone was kept seemed a sensible place to start. I pulled open the top drawer. I found it to be stuffed with various papers, including the black leather-covered notebook I’d noticed Will writing in so often.

  I took out the notebook and opened it.