Oxford Blood (The Cavaliers: Book One)

by Georgiana Derwent

  ***

  Harriet woke up that afternoon, still flushed with success. In the daylight, the confusing and unpleasant aspects of the night before seemed like a bad dream. Her victory filled her mind to the exclusion of almost all else, although between George’s warning and her own desire to support her friends and college, she’d hoped to make it to the rowing. A glance at the clock confirmed that she’d slept in far too late for that.

  Just then, Caroline bounded in without knocking. A rather calmer Olamide followed her.

  “Well done on the election,” they said in unison, before both hugging her.

  Caroline brandished a bottle of champagne at Harriet before depositing it in the fridge.

  “Have you eaten yet?” Ola asked with some concern. “From the way you’re still wearing pyjamas I’m guessing not. Shall I grab you a sandwich whilst that chills?”

  “You’re amazing, both of you. Thanks for the bubbly; I’ll get that open in a second. Ola, if you do want a trip to the sandwich shop, a bacon and brie baguette would be great. Don’t rush though, sit and have a chat first.”

  Whilst they settled themselves down, Harriet went next door to fetch Josh and tell him the good news. He hugged her too.

  “See, I told you not to worry,” he said. “Now, are you going to go for Standing Committee next term?”

  The election had made for one of the most stressful and one of the most exciting weeks of her life. The thought of putting herself through those highs and lows again exhausted her, but she could hardly resist giving it a try. She resolved to speak to Catherine, who would probably be running for President.

  The girls explained that they’d come from the river, where Ben’s boat had finally managed to bump Oriel. Lilith would start Saturday, the final day, in first position. To win Torpids they simply had to make it to the end of the course without another college bumping them in turn. That was easier said than done, but Caroline seemed confident of the chances of Ben and the rest of the team.

  “So, where’s Ben now?” Harriet asked, as Olamide returned with sandwiches.

  “He’ll be over asap. He needed to put the boat away, take a shower, chat to the guys, all that kind of stuff, but he’s looking forward to congratulating you.”

  Harriet cracked open the champagne, and they’d consumed half the food and drink by the time Ben arrived. He knocked quietly and Caroline rushed to great him. Between his victory and her success, Harriet expected to find him cheerful and over-excitable, but instead he seemed wretched.

  “What on earth’s wrong?” Caroline asked.

  Ben sat down and poured himself a drink. His coach had banned alcohol for the duration of Torpids, but he looked as though he needed it. “It’s Harry Fitzrovia. His scout found him this morning. He’d hung himself.”

  Harriet clung to the bed to stop the room from spinning. Her friends looked as sick as she felt. She thought of Harry’s face during the results announcement. The Cavaliers’ rejection must have been the last straw. If only she’d managed to get to him before the vampires had. Would it have helped if she’d said something about how student politics and societies didn’t really count for anything? How he was rich and intelligent, and if not exactly her type, then objectively quite attractive? How he had his whole life ahead of him and everything to live for? If things had got that bad, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference, but she could have tried.

  “I can’t believe that,” Caroline said. “Sure, he must have been upset about the election results, but he strikes me as the type more likely to kill his opponent than himself.”

  “You never know what’s going on inside someone’s head,” Olamide said.

  Harriet nodded, but the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with Caroline. Harry hadn’t looked unhappy when he’d stormed off, he’d looked furious. George’s words about Edward’s sister echoed in her mind. A vampire had killed her, and they’d made it look like a crash. Could they have made it look like a hanging this time?

  The news subdued all of them, and one by one, Harriet’s friends left her room. Harriet tried to interest herself in a book about Renaissance Popes but couldn’t get her mind off Harry. She longed for it to grow dark so she could find Tom and voice her suspicions. The weather had been better over the last few weeks, and she had been relishing the beginning of spring, but now the longer days infuriated her.

  She ate dinner in hall in a daze. Several people came over to offer their congratulations, and it took all her self-control to give polite answers.

  Returning to their staircase, she found Tom’s door locked, but she knocked loudly, and after a moment Tom opened the door. From his unusually dazed appearance, she assumed he had only just got up.

  “Hey you,” he said, going in for a kiss. “I’m so proud of you. I’m sorry I had to rush off last night, but now we’ve got time to celebrate properly.”

  He picked her up and carried her to his bed. For a moment, Harriet forgot why she’d come, and giggled and clung to him. Tom pinned her to the bed with his inhumanly strong arms and began to kiss her all over.

  “No, Tom, not now. I need to ask you something,” she managed to get out between gasps.

  Tom gave her one more kiss then released her and sat up, looking puzzled. Harriet wanted to lie there and luxuriate, but she forced herself to her feet.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to play?” Tom asked, sounding almost hurt. “We can go for a drink or something if you’d prefer.”

  “Harry Fitzrovia is dead,” Harriet said. “He appears to have hung himself. I say that’s an overreaction to losing an election and even to losing a Cavalier place. What did you and the rest of them do to him?”

  Tom wouldn’t look at her. “I’d have preferred that you didn’t have to know about the unpleasant side of the Cavaliers.”

  “I need to know, Tom. I’m sick of lies and evasions and half-truths from all of you.”

  “Fine. In that case, yes, he was killed. Not by me, by Rupert, but like everyone else I had to give my judgement and I had to watch.”

  Harriet sat back down on the bed before she fell down. All day she’d suspected something like this, but she couldn’t deal with having it calmly confirmed by her boyfriend.

  “But why? What had he done to make you all so angry?”

  “It’s quite simple. When he lost his election, he failed. The Cavaliers want the best of the best. We don’t accept failure in any arena. We start with fifteen potential candidates, and only ten make it to the Summer Party. Over the year, as they let us down, the remainder are drained by the Senior Members.”

  Harriet wanted to rail against the unfairness and the horror of this. Couldn’t they just reject candidates instead of killing them? But she knew that, however much she tried to relate to them, the Cavaliers weren’t human, and they didn’t play by human rules.

  “So behind all the glitz and glamour and tradition you’re all still monsters,” she said finally, almost choking the words out.

  “In the top ranks they do what has to be done,” Tom said, reaching out to her. “For most vampires, whilst they’ll feed most days, the only time they kill is on the day they’re turned, in order to complete the transformation. For those changed by the Cavaliers, that means their guest at the Summer Party.”

  Harriet tightened her grip on his arm, her horror making her hysterical. “This whole vampire thing had been presented as absolutely lovely. A lot of charm, a bit of hypnosis, and anyone will give you just enough blood to sustain you. No one mentioned killing innocent people and new recruits draining their dates’ blood.”

  Tom took her hands, and in her panic, she didn’t resist. “It’s regrettable, but it’s how the magic works. The blood of a new vampire’s maker brings them back from the dead, but until they drain a human they are powerless, stuck between life and death.”

  Harriet tightened her grip on him. “So you’re saying that you basically approve of this? And that you’ve drained and killed so
meone yourself, back in the day?”

  Tom’s voice shook slightly, but he looked her in the eyes as he replied. “Yes I did. All of us have. I did what I had to do to live, the same way people always do. I wouldn’t say I approve of it as such, but I condone it, and I’m not racked with guilt. I should have told you. I know how much you hate people keeping you in the dark about things. I just knew you’d react like this.”

  “You knew I’d react like this.” Harriet almost laughed. “It’s called having human feelings, Tom. Of course I’m not going to be cool with murder.”

  She thought about all the vampires she now knew. All of them had killed at least one person in return for their endless life and youth. If the leaders killed all the unsuccessful candidates each year, then God only knew had many people George must have killed over the centuries. Suddenly, her thoughts drifted to her mother. If vampires had no power until they’d drained someone, she must have done it too. The thought sickened her.

  “So who did you kill?” she said after a seemingly endless silence. She didn’t really want to know but had to ask.

  “A daughter of another big family in the county,” Tom said blankly. “We’d played together as children and attended the same dances later on. My parents and hers were hoping to marry us off. I wouldn’t have ruled it out, but she didn’t really interest me, and I was born just about late enough to get my own say in that sort of matter. I couldn’t think who else to invite as my guest though, and I thought she’d be pretty and well bred enough to impress the committee. In those days, people thought of our Summer Party as a must do part of the debutante season.

  “A lot of the girls still had a chaperone, but the Officers hypnotised them almost from the start. The way they mysteriously turned a blind eye to their charges’ drinking and dancing delighted our guests. I hardly remember killing her. When you first wake up, nothing makes any sense. You’re empty of all blood. The urge to drink someone else’s is like the urge a drowning man feels to breathe air. Some of the men took a little coaxing, but I have to admit I had my teeth in Cecilia’s neck in thirty seconds flat. I felt better afterwards. Calmer, able to think almost normally. I never felt particularly guilty, but I never had the urge to kill again either.”

  Harriet forced herself back to her feet. “I’m leaving. I don’t want to hear this.”

  “Harriet, wait. I know this is hard for you to hear. I know I did something wrong. But I’m not a monster, I swear.”

  Harriet thought hard. “If you’re really not a monster, then you’ll help me stop it happening this year.”

  She saw a flicker of hope in Tom’s eyes, but his voice sounded defeated. “I’d have no objection to that, but it’s not possible. I’m relatively weak; you’re human. What could we do against the entire rest of the committee and four hundred years of history?”

  “If you want to stay with me, you need to make amends. If you want to do that, then you’ll find a way. I need some time alone. Come and find me when you’ve decided whose side you’re on.”

  Before she could lose her resolve, Harriet rushed out of the room and climbed the stairs back to her own. For hours, she sat alone at her desk, browsing the internet and trying not to cry.

  She’d just undressed for bed when someone knocked on the door. She opened it and let Tom in. He gave her silk and lace nightgown a hungry look, but managed to stay business like.

  “I’ve already risked everyone’s wrath to be with you against your mother and Augustine’s wishes,” he said. “I might as well push my luck further. I have no idea how we could stop the Summer Party, but I’ll work with you and together we’ll do our very best to find a way.”