Deadly Beasts (The Curse of the Rose Book 1)

by T. M. Watkins

  I frowned at her and to Nick who was packing away the equipment. “What? Why not?”

  “We should have known, you are half fae. You aren't much use to anyone other than B and O, little miss rare blood. It's back to us then.” She sighed. “It's common for elders to keep usable blood types around for such emergencies.”

  She settled on the floor and rubbed my shoulder warmly, looking at me with a soft sympathetic smile. “It's appreciated Mary but the fae in you means that you have a greater chance of having their rare blood. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that you probably couldn't even donate blood for humans.”

  “I'm just a freak.” I huffed. “What are we going to do? We can't just waltz out the front door. I do not need another spike in my back thanks. Is he even improving? What the hell is wrong with him anyway? And why is he still on the floor?”

  Nick shot a wry smile at his sister as he settled back down to continue his donation.

  “He's on the floor because it isn't wise to move him when he's in this state, he needs to remain still and flat, not jiggled around as the only person strong enough to move him wrangles his body up the stairs. As for what's wrong with him, well, he's lacking in blood. Going out into the sun has caused it to dry up, too much longer and his insides would have cooked I suppose. No one has been stupid enough to go out into the sun so we don't really know.”

  “Yes, yes, make me feel worse than I already am.”

  He shrugged and gestured to the food.

  “Eat up, if you keep up your intake then I can feed from you.”

  “Oh my god, that is brilliant. I don't know why they call you spud.” I winked.

  Nick chuckled as Marty rolled her eyes.

  “Hope you're planning on having the two of us feed off you because unless the mountain out the front leaves, we are stuck here.”

  I shrugged and opened the tin of mixed fruit, grateful that there was still food here. The supply was beginning to get a little low. “Go easy on me, I'm sure we could last a fair while.”

  “Alright, we will take turns, small frequent feeds. You should drink lots of water and eat as much as you can.”

  Holding out my wrist, Nick took it and gently sank his fangs in, slowly sucking the blood from my body. He was right, it was easier the second time around, I did wince and it did hurt but it was a lot easier. Marty took a small drink, enough to hold her until her designated feeding time. In the meantime, I had to eat when I was hungry and drink lots of water. Marty had dragged out every single scrap of food she could find in the place and was constantly running back and forth with jugs of water. Then she proceeded to clean the mess on the floor, refusing any help. I wanted to tell her not to exert too much energy, that she should remain quiet as well but I said nothing knowing she wouldn't listen to me. Marty was strong and determined and if she set her mind to something, then that was it. There was no swaying her.

  I had asked for all that they knew on the fae as a species, they had little to offer. Marty went in search of something in William's library but all that could be found about fae and in particular, their mercenaries and warriors was a few books. William didn't have a lot of texts about them, I remembered what he said about them being rather secretive. So as I waited for the time to pass, I read all that there was on offer. The fae were a proud people, determined and strong. They made great warriors and were fierce in battle. A good friend could be found in a person of fae origin but it wasn't hard to annoy them and create an enemy out of them either. They were temperamental and stubborn and the more I read about them, the more similarities I found between them and myself. Hot headed, check. Stubborn, check. Difficult, definitely check. I wanted to know more about this Alvarie, the person that the elders thought might be my parent but there was nothing. Curiosity had certainly struck me, I wanted to find something.

  Secretly I was hoping for a picture to see how similar we were. Then niggling little thoughts crept into my mind, suggesting that finding my parents might be ideal, to ask them why they thought it was necessary to dump me. Wanting to know why I had to endure the life that I had, just because they didn't want their dirty little tryst to be found out. I was physical evidence of someone's misbehaviour and it worried me that the mountain that was standing on the other side of the fence line had been ordered by my parent, to ensure that their little secret was never found out. Surely it wasn't possible, if my fae parent wanted me dead they would have done it when I was a baby. Why go to the effort of placing the newborn child on the steps of a church only to return nineteen years later and kill said child? It did not make sense. So I continued reading, assuming that the mountain out the front was not ordered here by my fae parent. Whoever that might be.

  Nick had fallen asleep leaning on the wall in the corner of the entry, Marty was in the parlour watching the mercenary. William had not changed, he still laid on the floor surrounded by the sticky floor cleaner that had been used to clean away my blood. If it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, I would have thought he was dead. He wouldn't wake up, I leaned on the door and watched him for ages, thinking about it. Was he in limbo like I was? No, he was still alive, I had died. I leaned down to him, kissing him softly on the lips and then to his ear to whisper to him.

  “I'm sorry, please wake up.”

  Tears rolled down my cheeks, Nick had woken and offered a pained smile as he pulled me into his arms. I don't know how long I laid against his chest watching William before I fell asleep. Lethargy was our enemy, it was night and no one had the energy to leave, even if it were possible. I woke some time later to the sensation of my arm moving, my eyes fluttered open to Marty with a hesitant smile.

  “Sorry.” She whispered. “I tried to hold off for as long as possible. Do you mind?”

  “Sure.”

  I held out my wrist, flinching as she sunk her fangs in. William was still on the floor, Nick was still asleep. As I sat up I jostled Nick awake, whispering that he should feed too. Now I had both of them, feeling like some kind of odd milking cow. When Marty was done she opened a tin of food and rushed off to get another jug of water for me.

  “Will he wake soon?”

  Nick nodded as he pulled his fangs out, with a wicked grin he lapped up the oozing blood.

  “Never had fae blood before you. I have to say, you are a mighty fine drop Mary.”

  “Half fae.” I breathed as I rubbed the sore wounds.

  He began to check over William again, it was like routine for him. Every ten minutes he would take his pulse and monitor his breathing, opening his eyes and checking them.

  “How long before the mountain figures out that the shit has hit the fan in here and sends word to his mates?”

  “I'd say he would have done it a few moments after William brought you back in. He probably thinks you are still dead.”

  “Who the mountain or William?”

  Nick looked up at me morosely. “Both.”

  I shook William's body, moving it a little too harshly. “Wake up you bastard. Wake up and tell us what to do.”

  Nick chuckled as he shook his head. “That ain't helping. All you would be doing is pissing him off.”

  “He can hear us?”

  Nick shrugged and then a brilliant thought struck me. One that was pure gold. I covered Nick's mouth to stop him from talking, he frowned at me as I held my finger to my lips, telling him to be quiet.

  “Nick, don't do that!” I whispered. “No, I don't want to kiss you.”

  I could see the amusement in his eyes as he pulled my hand away, he winked at me and began to play along.

  “Just one little kiss, he'll never know.”

  His eyes were fixed on William as he spoke the words, waiting for him to show some sign of activity. He grinned as his eyes lit up with delight, something naughty had clearly crossed his mind. I chuckled, he was a devil. Nick gasped, feigning his mock horror.

  “Mary, what are you doing? Don't undo my buttons.”

  He gently pushed on William's body, preten
ding to make space.

  “Oh alright, if you insist. Just once okay? I'm rather tired. You can climb on and do all the work.”

  “You are a charmer.” I said dryly. “No wonder you've got the girls queueing at the door.”

  He held his hand to his heart, pretending to be mortally wounded by my nastiness. “Mary! Put your clothes back on, you dirty tart. Oh wow, them's some nice….”

  Out of nowhere William's hand reached up, gripping Nick around the throat. He began to choke, the sound of a strangled gargle echoed the room. Nick's face began to redden as William's grip deepened.

  “You're awake!”

  I pushed him off Nick and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him hard. His body was tight at first, slowly he relaxed into me, his hands settling on my back.

  “You're wearing clothes.” He murmured into my hair. He had paused for a moment as the sudden realisation hit him.

  “You're alive.”

  And then his lips were on mine, kissing me hard. I could hear Spud snickering and then with another swift moment, I could hear the strangled gargle again. The sounds of sorry being croaked out made me giggle, I reached along William's arm to his hand and guided it back to my body.

  The feint sound of Nick making some excuse to leave us alone was barely a whisper to me as I wrapped myself up in William's kiss. Something that I was beginning to doubt I would ever get again. I was a fool for thinking wrong of him. He had said that he had banished his wife for me, he had asked me to stay here with him, why did I not believe him? The kiss slowed and I could feel the weight of the past few hours begin to drag me down.

  “I'm sorry.” I lowered my head, willing myself not to cry.

  “We all make mistakes my love, I understand how you could misinterpret those few moments. And I too am sorry, I should not have rushed off in such a way, I should have explained it better.”

  He lifted my chin to make me look at him, wiping the tears from my eyes.

  “And of course, the aftermath.” He grinned. “Who would have thought that could happen? He overdosed on the chemical, that's what killed you. He didn't take into consideration that you are only half fae. As a bonus, you now have something to send him and the rest of his ilk packing.”

  William toyed with the strands of hair that had managed to free themselves from the hair tie, curling it in his finger and then letting it tumble back down.

  “I failed to protect you. You died and I should have prevented it from happening.” He smiled softly. “You came back.”

  I nodded.

  “I did, for you. The master said that you needed me and asked me if I would go back to you. I would have said yes regardless of whether you needed me or not.”

  “Not wanting to sound like a hypocrite?”

  “Stop it.” I playfully smacked him. “I said yes because I love you and this is where I want to be, with you.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  When William was feeling strong enough, we helped him into the parlour. He had sat there for about five minutes without saying a word, just sitting and resting. Then out of nowhere he stood to his feet and said to Nick that they had duties they had to attend to. Now I was sitting in the parlour waiting for word on what was going to happen.

  “This is going to be a long and rather tense stand off.” Marty murmured as she let the edge of the curtain go. “He has ignored our demand for him to leave and he has ignored our threat to haul him in for the overdose.”

  I looked up from the book I was engrossed in, it was about the male fae warriors. I was trying to find Alvarie. The book was old, the leather cover was worn and tattered and William said there were many a great warrior in this book. A third of the way into the book and I still held hope of finding a picture of my father in here.

  “Has William said anything yet?”

  “Nope.” I shook my head.

  William and Spud were in the depths of the house somewhere, doing something. I wasn't sure of the plan for the future but I knew that we were leaving, that much was obvious. We couldn't stay, sooner rather than later I would run out of food and the three vampires in this house, well they had food but she wasn't too impressed at the thought. My arms were littered with puncture wounds, William looked at them and said nothing though I knew he wasn't impressed. Sure, I had kept his vampires alive but it was going against the rules of the claim. I could not be harmed or fed from without his permission, regardless of whether I had given it. But still he said nothing about it and simply stated that it would be wise to be free of the house and the surveillance team at the fence. There was only one out there but it wasn't to say there wasn't more that were hiding. And if they weren't, it was only a matter of time before they would be. So we had to leave, we had to get past the mercenary that was still out there. Sometimes he would stand and stare at the window trying to be intimidating, sometimes he would pace back and forth along the fence line. But the worst of the times was when we couldn't see him. We all figured he was in the woods eating or relieving himself but it was a worry. No one knew if he was in fact in the woods or if he was trying to find a weak spot around the back fence line.

  “Why hasn't he left if he thinks I'm dead?”

  “We only assume he thinks it, until we provide a body I can guarantee he will remain out there.”

  Marty huffed as she dumped herself onto the lounge, tucking a leg under the other as she leaned on the back.

  “How come you get to wear pants?”

  “Oh, that.” She grinned. “I duked it out with him in the late sixties. You know, I have my rights, I won't have any males dictating to me what to wear. Since then he says nothing, it's almost like he respects me more because I had the guts to stand up to him. Kind of like you really.”

  I nodded quietly, even though I was still made to wear dresses. Standing up to William wasn't all that hard, we would fight, he would take off somewhere and I'd sulk around the place waiting for him to come back and we would make things better again.

  “Did she ever stand up to him?” I whispered.

  Marty shook her head with a wild smile, her eyes widening with humour. “She might have been a total bitch but she was completely weak to him in that respect. Personally I think it was all faked, I think she just wanted him to spend money on her and allowed it so that she could lord the wealth over his followers.”

  “Gee I bet that went down well.”

  She scoffed with a snort of laughter. “Like a lead balloon. There is a certain element of movement that can happen with vampires. Whilst we might be claimed or be a member of a family dynasty, it doesn't mean that we can't leave. This is life, there are a lot of vampires that actually have jobs believe it or not. Night workers of course.” She grinned.

  “Of course.” I chuckled.

  “So sometimes there is the need for a vampire to move, promotions, new jobs, family reasons, whatever. A vampire can leave a family for another with no issue or repercussion and take up with another family if they like. We don't have to be associated with one, it's only for a sense of belonging that a lot of us do it.” She looked a little sad as she gazed at the fire. “Sometimes a vampire needs a family to remember that they are loved, that they are needed. Sometimes they are too young to be on their own and they are taken into a family out of necessity. Then there are those that hang around certain families purely for the sake of being known as a member of that family. William had many like that, many people that were not worth the time he gave them. When she came onto the scene it got worse, she persuaded him to allow any sort into the family. All she wanted was to be the matriarch of the most powerful family that any of us had ever seen. She thought that with more followers came more power but that's not always the case.”

  Marty slid closer, now she was at whispering distance. Her eyes glanced at the door behind me, checking for any signs of William's return. “This is the crash course on his history that we were going to give you when you got out of here. Seeing as you aren't going anywhere, now is a good time. She
began allowing humans into the folds of this family, claiming that they were feeders, that it was good that we had humans around. After all, they are our future, right? Without them we are dead. Problem was, not all humans can be trusted.”

  I wanted to gasp, William had said that they day I arrived. Not all humans are trustworthy. I held my tongue and continued to listen to Marty's whispers.

  “She was being unfaithful with at least one of them, though we have no proof. We suspect that the child was fathered by a human turned vampire who was a supposed follower. Supposedly loyal to the vampires and their beloved master. They were also stealing things, right from under William's nose. Nick and I have scoured the local pawn shops trying to find his things. We have managed to get most of them back, all but one piece. It's the one thing that I know he would give anything to have back. It was his mothers, a bronze statue of an angel. Vampires aren't generally the religious type but this was a stunning piece and a well loved piece of their collection. It was old and had started to discolour with tinges of blue but it just added to its beauty. It was so detailed, the warrior, the angel.”

  “An angel and a warrior?”

  She nodded with a soft grin. “The battle for earth, it's mythology of course but the angels fought the demons. The angels won and cast the demons into hell. The statue is quite large, broad wings, a large shield and sword. Serpents under foot represent the demons. If you ever see it you make sure you grab it, no matter how much it costs.”

  “I don't have any money Marty.”

  One eyebrow was raised at me as I got a strange look from her. “I wouldn't worry about that. William doesn't like to talk about the past or anyone to talk about it either, so back to it before they return. What we didn't know at the time was that the proceeds of their little sales were going into a bank account that would become her funding him into becoming an elder. Their plan was to become vampires, build their wealth quickly and then demand that their request be accepted. There's a tiny loop hole, one that not many know about. If someone wants to become an elder it is possible but it's not easy. First of all, they have to be a vampire. Second, they have to have an elder approve them for the placement, third the elder that approves them has to petition the other elders and ask to be accepted. This little loop hole, as the wife of an elder she had the ability to approve the placement.”