Jesse ran upstairs and burst into the room. He looked down at where I was sat and offered me a hand. After I was back on my feet we both worked to keep Gabriel down. Eventually his body calmed and Jesse sat down on the window seat, opening the window behind him.
I fetched a bowl of cool water and a cloth, and once I was sat on his bedside I bathed his forehead.
“Jesse, could you check on the bath?”
Gabriel’s eyes flickered open as Jesse left the room.
“Gabriel, can you hear me?”
He smiled faintly and closed his eyes. “When can’t I hear you?”
I let out a breath and smiled broader than I had done in a long time. “It’s my job to talk your ear off you old fool.” I took his hand and squeezed it gently, “Jesse’s running you bath, I’ll carry you in.”
“Have you gotten under his skin yet?”
“Do you know what happened to Oliver?”
“Jesse brought him here; he didn’t look too good is he ok? Oliver’s across the hall if you want to see him.”
“He’s fine. Let’s get you sorted, no need to disturb the dead just yet.”
“The bath is ready,” Jesse called from Gabriel’s bathroom.
I lifted my maker up into my arms and carried him into the bathroom. He was wearing no shirt, but his grey sweatpants were clinging to his body from the convulsions. He looked away from me as I took them off. There was nothing left of his legs, he was a fraction of the man that I had known when I was a girl youthfully naïve. I walked him to the bath and kissed his head as he melted into the warm bubbly water.
“How did you find it?” he asked, his voice was still weak, and his body immensely fragile.
“You need to get your strength back so that you can care for Oliver and me,” I said avoiding his question.
“The day that you need caring for…”
“Might come sooner than you or I care to imagine.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. “I hope that you didn’t do anything too damaging to help me.”
“Would I?”
“Of course you would.”
“Of course I did,” I said with a sigh and pushed his hair from his eyes, “You need a haircut.”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Gabriel commented as I walked through into the drawing room. It was the day after I acquired the cure and he was beginning to look more like the Gabriel that I had once loved. I had stayed the night to watch over him, after calling Levi and reassuring him of my well being.
I shook my head. “You look like a ghost. Excuse me,” I said as I answered my phone. I walked over to the window that faced the calmer side of London where trees grew and flowers bloomed freely.
“Hi, my darling,” Clarence said whispering.
“Where are you?” I asked.
She coughed and I could hear her feet over gravel as she walked, “I’m out having a smoke.”
Clarence didn’t smoke, she detested the habit.
I looked back to Gabriel and Jesse, who had been following me around like a lost puppy, and closed my eyes, “are you safe?”
“Oh I’m perfectly safe. It’s you boys that I’m worried about.” I could hear her continue to walk over gravel which soon turned into dried leaves or cracked ice.
“Where are you?”
“I’m undercover with the psychos.”
“Psychos? Clarence, what are you doing?”
She sighed and her steady walking footsteps turned into fast paced running ones. Without warning she stopped running and it sounded like she sat down. “I followed you to the grave yard on Levi’s orders. I saw the crazy bitch that sent them after you so I followed her into town and made sure that I bumped into her, light off of course. She invited me to hers and insisted that I stayed. So far all I know is that she has been collecting hunter’s hearts and that she is deeply involved in the corruption.”
“You’re with Francis?”
“Bernadette Francis? That’s what she has been calling herself. She’s well and truly dead.”
“An imposter?”
“You got it.”
“Why does she trust you?”
“I’ve had a lot of practise blending in with the dead.”
“You need to get out of there Clarence, if you’re not back at Gabe’s in an hour I’m coming to get you.”
“Ok, calm down, I’ll be with you in ten minutes.”
I turned back to Jesse and Gabriel who were looking up at me with worry painted on their faces.
“I guess you heard,” I said.
Jesse turned around and held out his hand, “Throw me your phone.”
Once I handed it to him I walked over to the window which looked down the driveway and said, “We have no option but to take her out.”
“Good luck.”
We all turned in shock and I smiled automatically as I saw Roberta standing in the doorway. She met each of our eyes individually, but paused as she found mine, and then left with no other word or gesture.
I followed her out and stopped her at the end of the driveway out of sight of the house, “Roberta, can I ask you something?”
“You must go to the ball; there the first battle will begin. I suppose now that means that you will have to choose who to take.”
I closed my eyes and nodded slowly. Biting my bottom lip I took a step towards her and lowered my voice. “Is he who he says he is?” I asked.
She smiled and took my left hand, her fingers traced my scar and then she frowned. Shaking her head she uttered, “Each of us carries a mask.”
“Does that mean you’re not going to tell me?”
With a slight nod and a beautifully charming smile she turned from me and continued to walk on away from our little slice of madness.
When I returned Jesse was hooking my phone onto his laptop. Gabriel was looking at me with mild curiosity and I smiled down to him becoming uncomfortable being his one subject.
“How did that delightful dead woman get into my house?”
“She’s magic,” I said with a shrug.
He shook his head and brushed his curiosity about Roberta off, knowing that I would be no more inclined to tell him who she was than I would be to climb into a pool of manure.
“How long does Clarence have before you rescue her?” he asked, watching me like an anxious father looking over his newborn.
I looked at the clock on the wall, the thick black arms against the coffee coloured backdrop, and looked outside at the darkening sky. “It’s only been five minutes,” I said absently as I pulled the petals from a bunch of chrysanthemums.
Gabriel placed his hand over mine and caught my eyes. Jesse looked up at us both, his curiosity about our relationship growing. With a sigh I opened my fist and dropped the petals into the vase.
Gabriel looked down to Jesse and asked, “Do you have her location?”
“She’s almost here,” he said as he returned his attention to his laptop.
I walked behind the sofa where he sat and leant over him, resting my chin on his shoulder. “Where did you learn to do all of this?” I asked.
“It’s really not that hard when you know what you’re doing.”
Clarence walked into the room with a perfect smile on her pink lips distracting me from Jesse. I ran to her and kissed her quickly before pulling her into my arms. “If you ever do anything like that again I’ll hunt you down myself.”
She laughed and walked with me to Gabriel’s sofa. “Oh you drama queen, I was perfectly safe.”
I sighed and shook my head, “You’re safe and we have the basis to a plan thanks to Roberta, so…”
We all sat in silence for a second and looked around at each other. If we were the Justice League then the world would have been screwed.
“Imposter Francis needs to be dealt with,” Clarence said, “But it won’t be a simple job, she has security to shame the Queen’s.”
“If she is taking hearts like you said that means that she has Oliver’s. We ha
ve to find the hearts, then find her and sort it from there,” Jesse suggested quietly from where he sat.
I shook my head, “Roberta said that the first battle will occur at Gabriel’s ball.”
“So we wait,” Gabriel said, sitting back and looking across to me. “What do you say?”
“I can warn the remaining hunters and have them keep their guard up,” Clarence suggested.
Gabriel looked up to Clarence and asked, “Did she mention where she is storing the hearts she collects?”
Clarence shook her head.“No, had she I might have joined them.” She laughed and stroked my cheek as I shot her a disapproving look and thunder played on my face. “Stop worrying about me Victoria.”
“Yes, but…”
“But nothing, Vic, please. I’ll tell Levi now, and we can start the hunt,” she said quickly, shooting me an apologetic smile.
“No, you should stay here with Gabriel, he’s been marked out for attack once, and now that Oliver is in the house it’s even more important that they have some form of protection.”
After she reluctantly agreed to stay put I gave Jesse Gabriel’s car keys and told him to wait outside for me.
Gabriel pulled me aside as Clarence left the room to walk Jesse out. I met his eyes and I smiled hoping to encourage him to follow suit.
“Oh come on, we’ve won.”
“Not yet we haven’t,” he said as he took in every detail of my face.
I sighed and kissed his cheek lightly, “we have the upper hand, we…”
“There’s no saying that when you walk out of this house they won’t have your heart in a jar.”
I put my hand onto his chest and lifted his chin. “You’re freaking out, calm down.”
“They nearly had it Victoria…”
“They didn’t get it, they didn’t get it.” I forced his hand onto my chest above my heart, “Do you feel that?” He nodded hesitantly. “There is nothing to worry about. From here on out the skies will be crystal clear.”
“Oh my beautiful delusional child,” he said softly, “I’ve said it a million times, be careful.”
Did I really believe my words? There was no doubt that a small part of my mind was sitting pretty in the highest room of the tallest tower dreaming of her prince, the one who would ride upon his white steed, slay the dragon, sweep her off of my feet, and then take her to live happily forever after in his kingdom of love, joy and all things wonderful. In the bitter reality she was wrapped up all in white on a hospital bed, a pitiable thing.
Chapter 14
1820
“Isn’t he wonderful?” Sophie sang, as she twirled one of her perfectly made ringlets around her little finger.
I looked across the hall into the drawing room and let out a breath of admiration. As my eyes flickered over Sedric he smiled across to me and bowed his head holding onto his smile as I stumbled forward and blushed furiously.
Sophie caught my arm and her laughter rang out. Of course she wasn’t referring to Sedric, she was referring to Peter her fiancé. Sedric and Peter had been best friends since they were boys, their bond was of brothers. Peter would travel to Scotland with us when the unfortunate time came around.
“Sedric has spoken fondly of you to Peter,” she said, as we walked around the garden.
I kicked my feet in the grass pretending not to hear. We stopped as our aunt appeared from behind a rose bush as if she herself had been planted there, only to bloom as we arrived.
“Good afternoon my darlings, have you seen the boys?”
“Father is entertaining them in the drawing room. They’re going to be serving the tea soon, we came to find you.”
She smiled and tucked a fallen rose behind my ear, “I feel another engagement party will be needed soon,” her smile was intoxicating and I kissed her cheek lightly.
“Perhaps we could marry together,” I said pulling Sophie’s dress.
She laughed and took my hand, “I would love that, oh auntie could we?”
“Calm down girls,” she laughed, we both knew that she was as excited as we were. Laughter filled my ears and the beauty of our lives overwhelmed me.
I woke with my head resting on Levi’s hand. He was stroking my hair and watching me with quiet intensity. I sat up and wiped my eyes. Levi’s hand had been painted with my tears and I apologised as I wiped them on my duvet cover.
“What did you dream of?”
“My sister,” I said quietly.
It was only when I was in London that I would dream of them. That was the reason why I so often tried to avoid the monstrous city. It held so many memories that were more often than not too painful to remember. It had been years since I had stayed for so long in London. I had been there for almost a month and with the past being thrown at me from every angle, escaping it was near impossible.
“The fates were too cruel to you,” he whispered with a gentle smile.
I pushed myself out of bed and wrapped my dressing gown around my shoulders, “the fates are cruel to no one. We are cruel to ourselves. The pain we make from loss is our own doing for loving in the first place.”
“Do you really believe that?”
I closed my eyes and shook my head, “But it makes staying alive a hell of a lot easier.”
“I almost killed a boy yesterday.”
I turned to look at him, my hands on my hips and asked, “You nearly did what?”
“Jones,” he muttered, “George’s butler boy.”
“Is he ok?” I asked, picking up my hand cream.
He nodded. “Almost scared to death, but he’ll live.” He sighed and stood from the edge of my bed. “You never finished telling me about Clarence last night.”
When I returned I had asked him to stay with me, my mind was spiralling out of my control and I needed someone, anyone, to keep me in place.
I had told him our plan and about imposter Francis’s involvement. He wasn’t shocked, but furious. And I regretted somewhere within myself ever using the real Francis as a clause to mine and Victor’s relationship.
“Let’s not talk about her now,” he said, reading the look in my eyes. “George was talking about you before you got back. It sounds like you two had quite a time in the fifties.”
“We all did,” I said, remembering my first night with George and the mess that I had been.
1955
It was half past four. I ran around to the back of Gabriel’s house and unlocked the back door. I crept through into the drawing room and lit the fire. Lounging on the large hideously printed sofa that even then I knew wouldn’t last long in fashion I held a glass of whiskey to my chest and hummed quietly.
The door opened without my notice and cold lips pressed against my arm. “You’re late, or should I say early?”
Clarence was wrapped in her usual night robe. She pushed my bare legs from the sofa and pulled my dancing shoes from off my feet. I pulled my skirt and curled my legs up under my body.
“Don’t tell Gabriel, will you? He’ll only lecture me on this and that,” I waved my arms around and lay my head over the arm rest. “The world is so wonderful upside down.”
Clarence pulled me up and took my glass from me. “The world is wonderful to the love drunken eye, yes.”
“Oh I don’t love him Clarence. He’s just a fantastic waste of my time. How is that wretched brother of yours?”
“Still causing trouble with Gabriel I’m afraid. Francis called earlier,” she said with caution.
“What did she want?” I asked, not caring much for the answer. I had left Scotland two weeks before to visit Gabriel and she had called everyday asking when I would return.
“The same as before,” she said. “You really should just talk to her.”
“No, I will stay here with you, Gabriel and George for a while. I will forgive her soon.”
Clarence smiled and kissed my cheek.
Levi’s cool fingertips drew me back to the present and I smiled onto his hand.
“This wi
ll all be over soon,” I said.
He nodded and met my eyes. “I thought you’d be happy.”
I shrugged and ran my hands through his hair. “I am and I will be.” I sighed and shook my head, “Francis is just one of a thousand Levi, you know as much as I do that this won’t be the end. I tried to reassure Gabriel, but how can I tell him that everything is going to be okay when I don’t believe it?”
Out of nowhere he suddenly said, “I’ll take you to New Zealand.”
“New Zealand?”
“If you want to,” he said, he sounded happy almost, something that I had never heard before. He sighed and clasped my hand in his, “What do you say to a day’s hunting?”
“I say yes please.”
Chapter 15
Levi and I stalked the city streets, never certain as to what we were looking for, always expecting the worst.
“Are we not even attempting to take her down?” Levi asked, the silence becoming too much for both of us.
I shook my head, “Roberta said that the first battle will be at the ball. Clarence warned us about her security, it will be almost impossible to take them all out on our own. At the ball we will have a party’s worth of hunters to our advantage.”
“Good point,” he uttered, returning to silence.
The kisses, the looks, the agonising touches, none of them made sense alone, but together it was obvious. I refused to even think it, to think the truth, but everyone else could see it, so why couldn’t we?
The day passed us by faster than I had anticipated.
On returning to George’s house Levi stopped and looked sharply across to me, motioning for me continue on as he retraced our path.
I mocked the shadows as I merged in to them and became one with the night, suppressing my light, keeping my true self at bay, the best hunting technique any hunter would ever learn to master.
“It’s clear,” I whispered.
An Immortal in London: Corruption Page 13