Dance Until Dawn

by Berni Stevens

  The first page was neatly written in Will’s beautiful writing. I guess one had to be a few hundred years old to be able to write like that. My name leapt out at me, and so, of course, I read on:

  Tonight I have discovered her name is Elinor Jane Wakefield. She is truly the most enchanting creature I have ever seen. She moves with the grace and confidence of all dancers, and I find I cannot take my eyes off her. I have to meet her, speak to her. She fills my every waking thought.

  Dated over a year ago, it had obviously been written after Will had first seen me. I flicked quickly through the pages of what appeared to be some kind of journal – all about me. Will’s sightings of me had all been carefully dated and noted.

  I found it more than a bit creepy, but decided I needed to get back to the job in hand. I closed the book, putting it back carefully. I sifted through the papers, which were mainly paid bills and old statements. They should be kept somewhere safer than a drawer, I thought. Eventually, I discovered a small book underneath the papers, and almost cried for joy when it revealed phone numbers. I found Luke’s number and dialled it with trembling fingers.

  Please, please be home.

  I heard the phone ring once … twice … please, please be home … three times … and then on the fourth ring it was picked up. Luke’s deep voice came on the line.

  ‘Hallo?’

  Relief flooded me. ‘It’s Ellie.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Will’s gone. Khiara came—’

  ‘I’m on my way.’

  The line went dead, and I listened to the buzzing of the dialling tone for a few more seconds before replacing the phone. Luke was coming. He’d know what to do.

  There were only a few hours left before dawn, but I knew they were going to be the longest hours I’d ever experienced in my short vampire existence.

  I also knew we wouldn’t find Will tonight. Dawn was too close. My only hope was that we’d find him alive. Supposing Khiara’s plan had always been to destroy him?

  I’d never see him again, never gaze into those wonderful eyes, never again be held in his strong arms.

  I couldn’t bear it.

  Tears began to trickle down my cheeks.

  I’ve got to be strong. Will would want me to be strong.

  I knew I wouldn’t rest until I found him, whatever it took. I started to pace the room. No prizes for guessing where I’d picked up that habit. After what seemed an eternity – another one – there was a sharp rap on the front door. I ran into the hall, but stopped myself just in time from undoing all the chains and flinging open the door. Best to be safe.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘It’s Luke.’

  Recognising his voice, I undid the many chains with trembling fingers and pulled the heavy door open. Luke stepped over the threshold swiftly, and closed the door immediately behind him. ‘Are you all right?’

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, not yet.

  ‘What happened?’ Luke took my arm and led me into the drawing room.

  He pushed me gently until I sat on the sofa, and then sat opposite me in the armchair. ‘What happened?’ he asked again. I told him as briefly as possible the events of the last few hours.

  He smiled at the thought of Will at a Stones’ concert. Then his eyes grew serious.

  ‘What does it mean? Will was so sure he was more powerful than Khiara, but he’s gone. Luke, will she kill him?’ I dreaded the answer. ‘He spent so much time making sure I’d be safe.’

  Luke didn’t reply at first, but he looked up as I finished speaking. ‘Ellie, it was never about you, you were merely the catalyst. It has always been about Will and his power.’

  ‘But will she kill him?’

  ‘No. At least not yet. Although, we do need to find him, and fast.’

  ‘It’s nearly dawn.’

  ‘I’m sure nothing will happen to him tonight. Will is very strong Ellie.’

  ‘So how could she take him?’

  ‘He almost certainly went of his own accord.’

  I stared at him aghast. ‘What?’

  ‘Khiara would have threatened you in some way or another. Will must have gone with her in order to keep you safe.’

  Luke leaned forward and took hold of my hands. ‘He loves you more than he values his own existence, Ellie.’

  ‘But I can’t exist without him.’ I took a shuddering breath to keep control. ‘And I don’t want to.’

  ‘We’ll find him.’ Luke stood up. ‘Would you like me to stay around until tomorrow night?’

  ‘Yes please.’

  I was terrified of being left alone, and even more terrified at being without Will. For all my bravado, I was still a very new vampire. I’d only just learned that wooden stakes through the heart really did turn us to dust, for heaven’s sake.

  Luke went toward the phone. ‘I must let the others know.’

  He made several calls, but I wasn’t really listening. I sat miserably on the sofa, my senses reeling. I felt empty, desolate, every fibre of my being longing for Will. Since my rebirth, Will had always been there for me, a little late on several occasions, angry and demanding on others, but there nonetheless. My love for him had suddenly grown too, in spite of everything.

  There was a dull ache in my body, which wasn’t just the approaching dawn. My eyes ached from unshed tears. My throat felt constricted with grief.

  I had to find him. I had to.

  ‘Have you fed tonight?’ Luke’s voice broke into my miserable thoughts.

  I nodded.

  ‘Then may I suggest bed?’

  I must have looked as startled as I felt, because he smiled, and held his hands up, laughing. ‘Don’t worry. As attractive as I find you, you are completely safe with me.’

  ‘I know that.’ I gave him a small smile.

  ‘Anyway, I have no doubt Will would kill me in a particularly nasty way if I attempted anything untoward with you.’

  ‘Where will you sleep?’

  ‘The cellar’s fine. It won’t be the first time I’ve slept there.’

  I stood up and went toward the door. Luke reached it first and opened it for me. ‘Be sure to lock your door.’

  ‘You think they’ll come back tonight?’

  ‘No. But we’ll lock all the doors anyway.’

  ‘I didn’t think locks could keep vampires out.’

  ‘They can’t, not once we have been invited over a threshold anyway, but any intruders would make a noise breaking in, and then I can kill them.’

  I followed him round the house as he locked the front door and replaced the chains once more. He activated the burglar alarm – Will had taught him well. We went downstairs together.

  Luke opened the bedroom door for me, and I went in, turning to face him as he walked over to the far door. ‘Thank you Luke, I don’t know what I would have done without you tonight.’

  ‘We will find him Ellie, I promise. Rest well.’

  He went out and closed the door behind him. I locked it.

  The bed looked large and lonely, and I could feel tears threatening again. With a huge effort, I pulled myself together and got slowly undressed. It was so much more boring, undressing alone, especially as I’d grown used to Will’s roguish, lascivious comments as each item of clothing came off. In fact I usually had his help taking them off anyway, whether I needed it or not. His absence affected me far more than I could ever have imagined. I felt incomplete. Every slight creak or sound in the house made me feel more insecure than ever. As Will himself once said, I had become a part of him now. I even felt that I couldn’t be a ‘whole’ person again until he was back with me. Not exactly how a twenty-first-century woman should feel, I know. I’d spent most of my adult life avoiding being dependent on a man too. Good job Elli
e.

  I climbed into the large bed, and pulled the duvet up over my naked body. Not that vampires feel the cold, or the heat for that matter, it was just force of habit. Lying in bed waiting for the dawn, I found myself thinking of the girl’s murder in Waterlow Park, Grigori’s torture and Vincente’s murder. There was no doubt in my mind now – Khiara had been behind everything from the very beginning. Cold, scheming bitch. What kind of creature would torture her own people? She must have known both of them for decades, perhaps even centuries, and yet she’d done unspeakable things to both of them, or at least instructed someone else to. I somehow doubted she would stain her own fair hands with their blood.

  I could feel dawn’s approach at last, and for once relief filled me. At least the pain and fear would be blotted out for a while.

  Will my love, where are you?

  I pictured his handsome face as my eyes closed for the day.

  My last thoughts were of him.

  I had always known that Khiara would return, and, sure enough, she was there, waiting for us, when we returned from the concert.

  The two thugs in my garden were merely cannon fodder, young and inexperienced, and destroying them was hardly taxing. I opened the gates and my front door to Khiara, and then had to persuade Elinor to leave us to talk alone. I wanted to keep Khiara’s attention on myself, and not allow it to wander toward Elinor. I leant against the door frame, looking down at the woman I had once followed across continents. The fact she still looked breathtakingly beautiful was beyond any doubt, but her cold beauty had no effect on me. I understood her better than most. I knew her heart was as cold as her flesh, without a shred of compassion or the ability to love. She wanted merely to possess, manipulate and ultimately to kill.

  I asked her what she wanted to happen now.

  ‘You must come back to Italy with me.’

  I raised an eyebrow at her – that was not the answer I had been expecting. ‘Why the hell would I do that?’

  ‘I shall see your fledgling destroyed if you refuse. It is the only way you can keep your creature safe.’

  ‘I feel sure our Council will think differently.’ I reined in my temper with some difficulty. Threaten Elinor and die, it really is quite simple.

  ‘The Council will believe she has turned rogue. Come with me now or she will suffer far worse tortures than those you inflicted on Katarina.’

  ‘Katarina drew first blood, as you are no doubt well aware. She is fortunate I allowed her to continue with her miserable existence at all.’

  ‘Your fledgling will never see another sunset, if you do not come with me now.’

  At that moment Grigori came closer to me and I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘If your flunky comes any closer, I will destroy him. You know me, Khiara, so you know I mean what I say.’

  Khiara made a gesture with her head and Grigori walked to the open gates and out to the Mercedes that waited in the road, its engine purring, nice and ready to drive us to hell.

  Khiara no longer had the power over me she thought she had, but I realised in order to keep Elinor safe the best solution, at that moment, would be to accompany her. I needed to keep the stronger vampires away from Elinor – she was young, and not yet strong enough to be able to defend herself against the likes of Grigori. I knew she would be intelligent enough to alert Luke, and I also knew that Luke would protect her with his life if he had to.

  The ring of Porphyry will keep Elinor safe from torture with holy items, but I remembered only too well what Khiara’s men did to Vincente. No vampire could survive decapitation.

  I followed Khiara outside, leaving the front door wide open, hoping Elinor would realise something was wrong. The soft May breeze caused blossoms on the trees to swirl around us in a bitter parody of confetti. I almost laughed at the thought. Khiara slid gracefully into the back seat of the Mercedes, and God help me, I followed her. Again.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Torture

  I can still remember, so many centuries later, my first night as a vampire. The hideous night I followed Khiara from the cemetery like a good little puppy. We left in a horse-drawn carriage then of course. Myself to experience, for the first time, many decades of bloodshed and horror. Grim encounters I have since tried to erase from my memory. Unfortunately, I felt sure the end to Trials would also be steeped in bloodshed, and very many bodies, if Khiara had anything to do with it.

  The car drove smoothly away, taking me to whatever joys she had in store for me. We continued the journey in silence, neither of us being great fans of small talk.

  We stopped outside one of my own houses in Hampstead – what a delicious irony. It was the house I had, in fact, allotted to Grigori initially, and presumably the same one that had also housed Katarina and Josephine. Interesting. Somehow, I had not expected Khiara to stay anywhere connected to me. Surely she must have realised that Luke would easily find me there. But perhaps that was the point? Perhaps she intended to take out the top people in London, leaving only the weaker and more malleable vampires.

  I got out of the car and stood with my thumbs hooked in the belt of my jeans, as Khiara extricated herself elegantly from the back seat. She swept past me and, without a word, I followed her into the house. The moment I stepped over the threshold something smashed into the back of my head, and the world went away.

  When I regained consciousness, I found I had been taken to the damp basement and chained to a wall. Without opening my eyes, I tried to reach Elinor with my mind, but the blow to my head prevented any clear thoughts for the moment. I remained still, instinctively feeling both Katarina and Khiara in the room. I kept my eyes firmly closed.

  ‘Is he dead?’ Katarina’s voice.

  I heard Khiara make a disapproving noise. ‘Ridiculous child. A blow to the head will not kill an ordinary vampire, far less an Elder such as he.’

  ‘Then I want to make him pay for what he did to my face.’

  ‘I have no interest in your wishes.’ Khiara’s cold voice chilled the very atmosphere. ‘You will not touch any part of him, and you will certainly never touch his face.’

  They were conversing in Italian, which I followed with some difficulty through the mists of pain permeating my skull. Mercifully, we vampires heal rapidly, unless we are attacked with anything holy or silver, and I doubted they had used either. The throbbing had already begun to lessen, although I remained motionless on the floor.

  I heard light footsteps approaching, and knew it was Khiara. I felt her grab a handful of my hair, and she suddenly wrenched my head back viciously. ‘I know you are conscious William, do not play games with me.’

  I opened my eyes and stared insolently at that perfect face so close to mine. ‘I thought you liked games.’

  ‘You would do well to respect me as your maker.’

  ‘What is it you actually want Khiara?’

  ‘Your humility will do for a start. Then your compliance and your allegiance.’

  I gave a short, bitter laugh. ‘Like that is going to happen.’

  ‘It is the only way you get to survive.’

  She stood with a swift, graceful move and, turning towards the door, snapped her fingers.

  Two large men came in whom I did not recognise, although I did recognise the implements of torture they held, and I somehow knew we were not all going to be friends. They walked to stand behind Khiara, putting their hands behind their backs like good guard vamps. She looked down at me, her blue eyes cold, yet they gleamed with a manic light. I realised then that she had become deranged over the centuries, or should I say, more deranged.

  ‘Stand.’ She waved an imperious hand at me. Seeing no point in aggravating her at that point, I complied. ‘My men will torture you until you beg for mercy, and then they will continue simply because I allow it. It pleases me to make you suffer.’

  I did not b
other to reply. Twisted bitch. Torture and I were no strangers to each other. Let them do their worst.

  I knew Luke would find me eventually, and if that was what it took to keep Elinor safe, then so be it.

  Khiara made an imperious gesture, and the taller of the two men turned me to face the wall and shortened the chains to hold me still. I felt him rip my t-shirt almost in half. Bugger. One hundred and eighty pounds down the drain. ‘That was a Paul Smith, and is most certainly going to cost you.’

  There was a sharp cracking sound and a searing pain exploded across my back, making me stagger. I knew the tips of the cat o’ nine tails were made from solid silver, in order to cause the maximum amount of excruciating pain to a vampire. I barely had time to regain my balance when a second crack heralded another bout of pain, then another and another. The pain accelerated with each stroke, the nine thongs with their deadly silver tips burrowing their insidious way through my flesh. I could feel the blood trickling down my back as the bastards opened the wounds more with each lashing. I wound the chains around my wrists and hung on, determined not to fall to the floor, as they continued to shred the flesh from my back. I had seen these particular toys used on vampires before. Somehow I never thought they would be used on me.

  In my city.

  In one of my own houses.

  I forced my mind to go blank, and took the beating without a murmur. There was no way I would give the Wicked Witch of the West the satisfaction of knowing she had caused me insurmountable pain.

  ‘Enough,’ came Khiara’s voice after a while.

  I never thought I would be glad to hear her voice again.

  I allowed myself to slide to the floor then, my arms still held above my head because of the shortened chains. I turned to look up at Khiara. ‘Well, if this is what you call love, remind me never to piss you off.’

  Khiara stared impassively back at me. ‘Always the funny man, William.’

  She left the room followed by her cohorts. I could see it was definitely going to be a fun-filled night.

  After the door closed behind them, I rotated my shoulders carefully, feeling the cool blood trickling down between my shoulder blades as the many lacerations throbbed. I knew the actual wounds would heal, but I also knew they would heal slowly because of the silver tips on the whips’ tails. I was in for a painful time.