by Karen Payton
He bounded up the steps and pushed through the heavy oak doors. Reducing his speed to his usual purposeful stride and straightening his jacket while he walked, he made his way to his chambers. Stripping his principal’s robe from its wooden hanger, he settled it over his shoulders and tied his white cravat. He checked his reflection. Content that he did not look as rattled as he felt, with a final sweep of his hands to tidy his hair, he left and headed for the ante-rooms.
Once inside, he scanned the gathered vampires, recognizing the usual suspects. They fell into two categories, ambitious or boastful, and either one would suit his purpose tonight. But, no Serge.
Julian resisted the urge to check his watch. He could feel time pressing down upon him, with Leizle alone and likely to wake-up, but indolence would bring faster results.
He scoured the room for likely sources of gossip. Identifying a cluster of aspiring young vampires who were always hungry for attention, he drifted across the plush carpet, riding the wave of silence which accompanied the sighting of his face.
He was accustomed to being greeted by tension. Most vampires became nervous in their desire to impress. When the principal of twelve decades speaks to them, they long to find something remarkable to say. Using that fact, Julian prepared to cast his net and land an informant.
Julian chose to stand in the embrace of intricately-carved oak panels framing a large bay window, pretending to study the moonlit gardens beyond. Conversations flowed around him, and he gathered the threads and drew them in. With winter approaching, crop yield and the renovation of greenhouses were causing concern. Julian was pleased to overhear most vampires searched for solutions rather than wallowing in problems.
The recent death of the pregnant human girl featured as a recurring theme inside the room, and Julian began to think he was wasting time.
“I hope he’s right. But I fear its wishful thinking on the councilor’s part.” Skepticism dulled the melodic tone of the disembodied voice which drifted across the room.
Interest piqued, Julian zeroed in on his target, and, fixing his eyes on the sandy-haired vampire, he smiled. “Just so.” Julian inclined his head in agreement.
The vampire glided closer. “How could we have missed them? That’s my thought.”
“It seems unlikely, I agree. I suspect the councilor is clutching at straws,” said Julian.
The vampire basked in Julian’s ironic smile. “Councilor Serge says there is a nest. But if that was true, surely the council guard would lead the search, not Serge’s household.”
“You are a guardsman? Or aspiring-?” Julian waited to hear the vampire’s name.
“Owen. Aspiring.”
“Owen.” Julian’s interest bored into the youngster.
Suddenly nervous, the vampire bobbed his head, “Sir. Principal.”
“I wonder at Councilor Serge’s optimism. It seems to me he has not thought this through.” Julian waited, knowing that this vampire, with his lilting voice, would fill the silence with the information he needed.
The vampire shuffled under Julian’s keen regard, revealing the number of fresh human captures promised by Serge. So, now I know everything, except how Serge discovered the eco-town. He plans to capture the humans tonight.
Serge’s visit today was clearly intended to divert Julian’s attention, assuming he would be drawn into investigating accusations against Connor. But, it was a ruse. He was launching an attack without the council’s approval. Presumably, he thinks the ends will justify the means, and he will not be punished. But Julian knew there was more to it. Serge’s vein of hatred for Connor ran through every action he took. He’s becoming reckless because he wants to see Connor dead.
Julian shot along the dark, wet London streets, returning home. His jaw ticked as he faced the prospect that, having avoided touching Leizle, now he had no choice.
Plowing a trench through the ordered sea of gravel on his driveway, Julian used the traction to brake before entering the house, skimming along the polished floorboards, and going to find Leizle.
He appeared in the room and found her still asleep. But this time there was no escaping it, he was there to collect her. He put a cold hand on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and the cut on her arm throbbed as her heart rate peaked. The hypnotic cadence of her pumping blood drew Julian’s eyes to the red stain on the bandage. The smell of blood filled his nostrils and his slack jaw snapped audibly shut. Fixing his attention on her white face, he held out his hand and said gruffly, “We have to go, now.”
As Leizle sat up, unfolding stiff legs, the grating of her tendons vibrated inside his head like a chainsaw. But, it was nothing compared to the shock he got when she reached up and took his hand. A blade of hunger sliced through his windpipe, and every instinct screamed at him to pull her into his arms and bite into her carotid artery.
Unable to speak, Julian resorted to rudeness. He walked through the house, towing Leizle along behind, resolutely ignoring the sound of her heart scampering with confusion. In a seamless flow of movement, he collected a heavy black cape from a brass hook in the hallway, opened the front door, and stopped on the threshold.
Leizle shuffled her feet behind him, not sure why he was looking out into the night like a man waiting for rain to stop. She peeped around his shoulder, and he tugged her back into his shadow as he turned to face her.
“Okay, all’s quiet,” he whispered, looking stern. “Let’s go.”
Julian drew the cape around her shoulders, and, taking her hand, he swung her up onto his back. Pulling the cloak forward to cover his shoulders too, he stepped through the door, closed it behind them, and set off at a fast run.
He carried Leizle through the night at a face-numbing speed until even blinking required effort. Under the cover of the heavy black cloak, she hung on to Julian’s uncompromising frame like a pillion passenger without a motorcycle. His cold hands gripped her thighs, supporting her weight and pulling her closely into his back. Her stranglehold on his neck was of no consequence; he was not breathing.
Julian was risking everything to get her back to the eco-town, but he had to find Connor, so he had no choice. He hoped to fool all but the keenest observer. The cape is a little theatrical, but some vampires cling to clothing as a reminder of the era they lost in their turning, so- He grinned as his theater-going days and sitting with Eva in their box at the Astoria came into his head. It is mine, after all.
Julian covered almost twenty-eight of the thirty miles without breaking stride, adjusting Leizle’s weight while still running. Trying to ignore the burn where her breasts and stomach molded to his back, Julian filled his head with battle plans. The hunt is on. Serge’s guardsmen are on their way.
He was relieved to see Connor standing inside the entrance cave when they arrived at the eco-town.
It eased him through the awkwardness of releasing his grip on Leizle and lowering her to the ground.
If he had lingered too long over the sensations of her warm body slipping from his shoulders, her flesh dragging a burning trail over his tight back, he would not have been able to stop himself biting into her soft skin. I don’t want to be yet another monster in her eyes.
It gave him the excuse of being something he never would have been before, arrogant.
The moment her feet touched the floor, he cut her dead. Swallowing his hunger, he turned his back and launched into conversation with Connor. “I found out what Serge is planning, and we don’t have much time. But first, judging by your face you got here in time? Rebekah is okay?”
<><><>
Leizle’s chilled flesh tingled with disconcerting heat as she strode away from Julian. Grateful for the cover of shadow, she hurried into the darkened tunnel. Her cramped leg muscles screamed, but she needed to get away from Julian before tears scalded her wind-chilled cheeks.
Striding mindlessly forward, she ignored the throbbing ache of the cut in her arm which mocked her pretense of calm. When she found Rebekah alone in the meeting cavern, the reli
ef opened the floodgates and a sob grated in her throat.
“Leizle. Thank God, thank God.” Rebekah smothered her in a bear hug which would have made Oscar proud, and choked back her own tears. Holding on tight, neither girl moved. Finally, Rebekah whispered, “You’re cold, let’s find you a blanket.”
Lifting her face from the damp patch she’d made on Rebekah’s shoulder, Leizle said, “It’s okay, I don’t mind being cold.”
“Really?” Rebekah asked with a knowing smile. “Principal Julian? I guess vampires are not so bad after all, hmm?”
Leizle swiped at the tears and laughed gently. “I guess not.” Looking at Rebekah for the first time, she searched her pale features. “Are you okay? Connor said you were in trouble.”
Rebekah rubbed her upper arms, a glint in her eyes as she said, “I’m okay, truly. It was nothing that a man-sized hot water bottle couldn’t fix.”
With a puzzled frown, Leizle opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Rebekah laughed. “Never mind, I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Looking around the deserted cavern, Leizle said slowly, “And, what are you up to now?”
“Nothing terrible, I swear,” she said, drawing a cross over her heart.
“Okay. So, what’s going on?”
Rebekah was saved from answering by Oscar walking into the room hauling a canvas bag so heavy, it tightened every sinew in his body.
The bag hit the ground in a dull thud the moment he saw Leizle. With a cry of delight, he hurried over and gave her firm squeeze. “Good to see you, lass, I knew Connor would see you right.”
“Hey, Oscar,” Leizle wheezed through her constricted chest. “Broken bones here.”
Oscar let her go, allowing Leizle to breathe again.
A few yards away, Rebekah grunted and flushed bright red when she tried to drag the bag across the floor.
Oscar laughed as he nudged Rebekah out the way and hoisted it up onto a wooden bench. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.”
Keeping her eyes on the bag, Rebekah directed a distracted comment to Leizle. “Connor says it’s only a matter of time before the vampires come after us again, and I want to be prepared.”
“Prepared how?”
“To fight, if I have to.” Rebekah’s jaw muscle ticked. “Connor mustn’t know. I’d just feel easier knowing I have a better chance than the last time I had a run-in with a vampire.”
“What have you got in mind?”
Oscar unzipped the bag, and pulled out rolls of canvas which contained an assortment of knives, metal spikes, and hammers. Frowning, he went through his own filtering process. He gave Leizle’s and Rebekah’s feminine frames the once over. He returned most items to the bag until he was left with four sturdy short knives and a small switchblade.
Julian’s body had felt like velvet-clad steel to Leizle, so she was less sure about the whole knife thing. But it can’t hurt, I guess.
Rebekah picked up the switchblade and tested the action. She pressed the trigger, and the blade shot out at a speed that almost yanked it from her grasp. “Will it work? On them?” she asked Oscar.
“It has a toughened steel blade, so, maybe.” Oscar shrugged and said darkly, “But this is last resort stuff, right? Don’t go looking for trouble, Rebekah.”
Frowning, she said, “Oh don’t worry, Oscar, I don’t want any trouble. It just always seems to find me.”
Oscar took the knife, retracted the blade, and engaged the safety catch. “But this is life or death stuff, got it?” He waited until he had Rebekah’s attention and then pressed the knife into her palm. “If Connor knew, he’d kill me.”
“Of course,” she said lightly, dropping it into her pocket. “I’ll sew a pocket inside my oilskin sleeve and forget all about it.”
“Okay.” Oscar nodded. Pushing his hand deep into his own pocket, he drew out a palm-sized kidney-shaped polished stone. Tossing it to Rebekah, he said, “Here, this is my lucky talisman. Maybe if things go bad, you could throw it at a vampire’s head.”
Folding her fingers around the stone, Rebekah’s face reflected his serious smile.
“We should know soon how the land lies, and if we have time to move out, we will,” said Rebekah quietly.
Leizle’s flesh had thawed out at last, but Rebekah’s words brought her out in a cold sweat. She murmured grimly, “If Julian’s face is anything to go by, I think time may have just run out.”
Chapter 36
Julian and Connor settled at the edge of the wood and looked down over the moonlit meadow. To their right, the tree line meandered away towards London, the direction from which the attack would come. The constantly moving shadows ambling across the face of the moon bode well for them. The darker it was, the better for hiding humans. They were waiting for the enemy to make a move.
“Does Serge suspect you made inquiries?” asked Connor, his tight lips suppressing a smile. He had never seen Julian look so alive. His hair was, by Julian’s standard, a mess. Thick blond strands of it brushed across his brow unheeded, and his eyes glittered with excitement.
“No, he was too busy acting, trying to put me off the scent.” Julian smiled thinly at the memory. “But, my unwitting informant appeared to have Serge’s measure. I assured him he would find the council guard more to his liking.”
“Serge would never know they were here, unless someone gave him a grid reference,” Connor said slowly.
“Finding out how he found out will have to wait,” replied Julian.
“And no one saw you with Leizle?” Connor’s smile twitched at the corners of his mouth, but the darkness saved him from Julian’s irritation.
When Julian arrived at the entrance of eco-town and hastily shrugged Leizle from his shoulders, his agitation was obvious. Julian’s abrupt dismissal of the young girl contradicted his usual good manners, and Connor had raised a mental eyebrow.
As she disappeared down into the tunnels, briskly rubbing her arms, Julian’s narrow-eyed stare tracked her progress, and now, Connor suspected he was no longer alone in his Hell.
True, Julian’s message was urgent, but Connor knew there was more to it. Bitten by the love bug, maybe.
“No one saw us,” said Julian abruptly. The shutters came down as he groomed his hair with expert fingers and the veneer of authority smoothed his features.
Connor inhaled deeply, preparing to tease him a little more, when Julian changed the topic.
“Captain Laurence’s sweep for ferals came up empty. So, the humans can rest easy on that score, in any case. Ferals don’t have enough brain function to hide.”
“Let’s hope we’ve have seen the last of them,” said Connor. “Every vampire should understand by now that there is no way to survive without human blood rations.”
“Well, at least now, we can concentrate on the threat of Serge.”
A change of tempo in the nocturnal rustling inside the woodland made them both freeze.
“They are entering the wood on the northern boundary,” Connor said calmly. “Are you ready?”
Julian raised a sardonic brow. “Are the humans ready?”
Connor grinned as he shot smoothly to his feet. “They will be, when I tell them the plan.”
“Well, get it done. Their approach will be fast.”
Connor’s leaving generated a breeze that tugged at Julian’s jacket.
The woodland creatures responded to the advancing guardsmen with a Mexican wave of silent surrender. However, Julian was satisfied that the woods remained a hive of unperturbed activity for a couple of miles around where he now sat. Badgers clawed the undergrowth half a mile away, and dung beetles bundled up pungent parcels a mile further out than that. Humans had only the lumbering of obvious creatures to draw upon to assess their surroundings. A vampire’s spectrum was far more extensive, and the myriad of spiders and insects were the fine tuning on their environmental barometer.
Connor, too, listened to the cacophony of nature’s concert as, plowing across the unc
ultivated meadow, his down-force snapped blades of grass. So, we still have time.
There were no trees. When the vampires were still doing grid searches, the unobstructed view offered an early warning system. But things were different now, and the humans would not be safe until the eco-town moved on. After the last battle, Connor and Julian had excavated an emergency escape route through the hillside, which emerged on the edge of the wood.
When Connor entered the eco-town and whipped aside the sackcloth curtain, the thick smell of nervous human sweat registered as a wall of stagnant warmth. “They want to live, this will be easy,” he murmured.
Rebekah says they are drilled to move out fast. Connor made his way towards the dining cavern where the entire community waited. Well, the evacuation procedures are about to be put to the test.
He paused in the tunnel outside the dining cavern, where nineteen human hearts were beating, pumping nectar. The pheromone cloud of their sweat was guaranteed to draw in the guardsmen. Connor battened down his own hatches using revival sleep. Dragging a hand down over his face, he wiped the excited tension from his expression, and stepped slowly over the threshold. Oh Hell. They were still startled, and the canter of surprised heartbeats buffeted his senses.
All eyes turned his way as he said, “Okay. It’s time. We’re under attack.” He used words like a blunt instrument. “If you stay together, Julian and I can save you.”
Connor silenced the swell of muttering with an upheld hand. “It’s simple,” he said. “Do exactly what I say, and survive. Or-” He shrugged and let the alternative sink in, absorbing the varying degrees of fright on white faces.
“Tell us exactly what to do and we’ll do it,” Harry said with conviction.
Connor raised an impressed eyebrow. Found a backbone at last.
“You all know, a few hours ago, Rebekah laid the trail.”
It had been nothing fancy. She merely walked a route from the eco-town, a mile into the woods, and back again. Connor could not risk tainting the trail, so he had settled for keeping her in his sights. I was not going to lose her in the woods again. Now, I just need to get her safely through the night. A sardonic grin bowed his lips.