On the Death March goes.
I find it unnerving how there are actually a large number of human police among those present. They wear their uniforms and take part in the march without any qualms whatsoever. I suppose even police get scared about vampires, too.
An hour passes and still there have been no opportunities for killing. I have this odd feeling that one man standing a couple of feet away from me is going to start throwing a fit, when all of a sudden his face loses its agitated expression and a look of calm overtakes his features.
I turn immediately to look down at the pretty blonde whose hand is in mine. “Did you do that?” I whisper to Allora.
She nods. “I could sense his rage. In situations like this, all it takes is for one person to lose their cool and before you know it there’s chaos.”
“I don’t doubt that,” I murmur and we continue to walk.
Tegan tugs on the arm of my jacket and I turn to her. “What’s going to happen?” she asks urgently. “At some point Theodore’s going to know that something is up.”
“I think that point has already arrived,” says Ira in a deep voice and I know it’s serious. Ira chooses his words wisely; he only ever really speaks when he has something of importance to say.
I look in the direction he’s gesturing to see Theodore walking down the centre of the parade of people. They instantly part for him like the Red Sea and all movement stops.
“I think we have spies amid our ranks,” he announces as his crazy black gaze inspects each person he passes, like a Nazi officer trying to sift out Jews. I repeat, how on earth could those two women mistake such crazy eyes for kind ones? I guess people believe only what they want to believe.
Rita walks closely behind Theodore, inspecting people right along with him.
“Somebody has warned the vampires of our plan,” Theodore says loudly as he continues to walk and my immediate reaction as he gets closer and closer is, oh fuck. “And I have a feeling that person is among us now.”
Outraged murmurings drift among the people of the Death March.
“Who is it? Who is it?” one lunatic woman cries.
I want to take my three friends and get the hell out of here, but if we move now we might as well be wearing big signs on our heads that say SPIES. So, all we can do is stand in our places and hope that Theodore somehow manages to overlook the four people who have very subtly obscured their faces from view.
When I glance at Tegan it almost looks as though she’s holding her breath. I feel like I might be holding mine, too. I’ve been in so many dangerous and fucked up situations in my time, but this one takes the cake. We’re surrounded by at least a thousand angry people, if not more, and if Theodore points us out as traitors we’ll probably be crushed to death by the sheer numbers.
Remind me why I actually thought it would be a good idea to leave my safe, warm bed this morning for this shit?
Oh yeah, because I’m an idiot.
I squeeze Allora’s hand and tug her closer to me. I can feel her shaking and I can’t tell if it’s because she’s afraid or if it’s because she’s using her ability to calm the people around us. When I notice her lip tremble I decide it’s the former. She’s scared and that only makes me want to protect her more. I let go of her hand to wrap my arm around her shoulder, rubbing up and down in soothing motions.
A couple of yards ahead Theodore has stopped in front of a skinny, brown haired man and is looking him up and down.
“Forgive me for saying so, but you seem rather nervous, sir,” says Theodore.
The attention of the crowd zooms in on this man and anticipation rises. They need a scapegoat right now, someone to channel their outrage on, and this man could be it. Oh shit, can I actually live with myself if I let them accuse an innocent of betrayal?
“You’re right. I am nervous. The idea of vampires frightens me,” says the man, his voice a jittery mess.
Theodore takes a step closer to him and purses his lips. My eyes are drawn to Rita. She isn’t looking at the man her father has singled out. Instead she’s scanning the crowd, inspecting each face one by one. Thankfully, we’re too out of the way for her to see us yet.
“I apologise,” says Theodore. “But I must see your neck.”
“M-my neck?” the man trembles. “Why?”
“Please don’t ask questions. Show me your neck and I will see your innocence.”
When the man still doesn’t show Theodore his neck, the sorcerer grabs his collar and pulls it down. Those standing nearest to the man gasp in surprise and although I’m not close enough to see, I have a good idea what’s been discovered. Bite marks. This guy must be a blood donor for some vamp who told him to go along and observe what’s happening.
“You are the spy,” Theodore accuses in what I’m assuming is feigned shock and indignation. I have to admit, he’s putting on a good show for the crowd.
“Please,” the man cries, tears running down his cheeks. “I was only doing what she asked me to. She compelled me to tell her of the plans to burn the homes of vampires. I had no other choice but to do it.”
“We always have a choice,” says Theodore calmly. “And now you will have to face the judgement of your peers for what you have done.” He stops and turns to address the crowd. “What do you all think we should do with him?”
I like to think of myself as being hard to shock, but I’m taken aback when people begin shouting suggestions like, “Hang him,” and “Shoot him.” How quickly they’ve all sunk to the level of savagery. Whoever coined the term, ‘the madness of crowds’ was spot on, because this is pure insanity.
A battle rages inside of me. I don’t want to allow this man to be killed. But then if I step up and do anything to stop it I’ll basically be putting a noose around our necks as well.
“Shoot him?” Theodore questions. “Are you sure?”
My gaze is drawn to the hand that emerges from his pocket. Nobody else is looking but his fingers begin to move in rapid motions and then something small and dark begins to form in his hand. It takes me less than a second to realise it’s a gun.
A man behind him gets a weird glazed look in his eyes as he steps up close to Theodore and Theodore slips the gun into his hand. Again, nobody else has seen it and something in my gut tells me that Theodore has spelled this random man into taking the gun from him. I know why he’s done it, too.
Theodore can’t be the one to shoot the spy, because that would paint him as a killer in the peoples’ eyes and he wants to be seen as the saint he’s fashioned himself to be.
The man steps in front of the vamp donor and raises the run to his head. Exclamations of surprise and shouts of encouragement erupt as the man prepares to kill this guy who’s been labelled as a spy.
My fingers twitch as I hold Allora close and I know I only have seconds to decide whether or not I’m going to stop this.
Fortunately, I don’t have to act, because someone else does.
Unfortunately, that person is Tegan.
Chapter Nine
I’ll Always Fall on My Own Sword in the End
Tegan
Why am I doing this?
Why the hell am I doing this?
I’m not sure I know the answer to that. Actually no, that’s not true. It’s partly because I can’t let this foolish blood donor be killed, partly because I have some screwed up notion that Rita will see me doing a good deed and remember what it’s like not to be evil…and partly because I can’t help being a martyr.
“Stop!” I shout, stepping forward with my hand braced in front of me. Sparks trickle from my palm and I keep them there, a steady stream of defence.
Theodore’s gaze immediately darts to me and a grin splits his lips. “Ah, treasure. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he says, but then a second later I realise he didn’t actually say it. He spoke the words inside my head while he stands there with a false look of fear in his eyes as he stares at the magic coming from my hand. Keeping up appearances, I presume.
Some people see my sparks and scream in terror, others remain silent and gobsmacked. One person who doesn’t do either of those things is Rita. She walks through the gap in the crowd until she’s standing in front of me, her head tilted to the side curiously as though I’m a stranger she has the odd sense she knows from somewhere.
I want to say so many things to her in this moment, but my mouth won’t work. Emotion catches in my throat. Seeing someone you consider one of your closest friends look at you like they don’t even know you will do that.
“Rita,” I whisper.
Her name seems to be the only word I can think to say in this moment.
“Who is she?” one woman shouts.
“What’s wrong with her hand?” another wails in fear.
“Rita,” I whisper again, but saying her name doesn’t seem to elicit any response in her.
Suddenly, Theodore is marching to us and pulling Rita away from me as though to protect her. I feel like laughing and crying all at the same time.
“Don’t hurt my daughter, you abomination!” he shouts loud enough for everyone to hear.
The word ‘abomination’ seems to create a frenzy among the crowd as there are shouts of agreement that yes, this girl standing before them is an abomination and needs to be done away with.
I feel a sharp pain shoot through my scalp when a woman grabs my hair from behind and pulls down hard. Another woman smacks me across the face and I let go of the sparks for a moment to clutch my cheek in surprise.
The noise of a gun firing rings out and then I hear Finn shouting, “Get away from her, all of you, or I’ll shoot.”
Some people move, but others continue to attack me and man does it hurt. I regain my composure long enough to summon my sparks back to me and I throw them haphazardly at my attackers. Finn is still too far away to be of much assistance, but then seconds later the attack stops and all I can hear is an angry hiss. I look up to see Ethan standing before me, facing my attackers. His fangs are out and his silvery eyes are murderous.
“It’s a vampire!” somebody screams in terror. “A vampire in daylight!”
Complete and total chaos follows as a stampede forms, the crowd now desperate to get away from Ethan. I can’t decide if this one guy is being courageous or just plain stupid as he jumps on Ethan with a stake. Ethan swats him away like he’s nothing but a particularly irritating fly. The man hits the ground hard and then scurries off, realising the error of his ways.
Then, from somewhere close by I see a white light. I pull myself to my feet and stand to see that the light is emanating from Allora, and the people who haven’t yet fled are strangely beginning to calm down. Finn stares at her with a look of amazement that seems to mirror my own. Is she doing this? Is she calming them?
My attention is only drawn away from her when I hear Ethan hissing again, but this time his anger is directed at me. He pulls me into his arms and glares down at me.
“Coming here without informing me was a very bad idea, Tegan. If I hadn’t found you in time you could have been beaten to death by those humans,” he seethes and his silver eyes go dark.
“I know. I wanted to see Rita,” I tell him in a chocked voice, tears forming in the back of my throat.
“The witch is not worth risking your life for,” he replies, his tone softening.
“She’s risked plenty for me before all this happened. I know I can get her back, I just know it.”
Ethan’s hard expression falters and sympathy fills his features. I don’t want to see that. It’s worse than the anger.
“Don’t ever do anything like this again,” he says. “If you want to go somewhere dangerous I’m not going to stop you, but at least let me come with you. I can’t lose you.”
His heartfelt words give me pause and I wrap my arms around his waist, pulling his rock hard body into mine. I kiss his collarbone, which is basically the highest part I can reach on his tall frame without him bending down to me.
“Jesus, that was a close call,” says Finn coming up to us holding Allora’s hand. Ira is on the other side of him and I look around to find that Theodore, Rita, and everyone else has fled the scene.
“The humans have seen you in daylight,” Ira says addressing Ethan. “Rumour will quickly spread that vampires are not confined to the night and things should settle down.”
“In other words,” Finn adds. “Even though that’s not exactly true, they’ll be too scared shitless to leave their homes and the city will be a ghost town again.”
“That’s preferable to what happened here today,” I interject meeting Finn’s eyes.
“Theodore knows we are onto him now. He also knows where you live. You must all come and stay in my house until we know it’s safe,” says Ethan and his words surprise me.
To be honest, I didn’t think he gave much of a crap about my group of friends up until this moment.
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right,” Finn agrees with a dismayed expression. “And I’d only just gotten back into my own bed and everything.” He pauses and eyes Ethan. “Is there room in your place for all of us?”
Now I’m surprised that Finn is going along with this and not putting up a fight. Perhaps we’re all maturing.
Ethan nods. “There is plenty. Go pack up your things and gather the others. You’ll need to act fast before Theodore decides to pay you a visit. I’m sure he knows where I live, too, but he’s scared of me. He won’t dare come to my house.”
Finn quietly agrees and begins leading Allora and Ira back to wherever he parked his van. Silently, Ethan lifts me up onto his back and only minutes later we’re outside his place.
“I’m still mad at you,” he says as he opens the door and gestures for me to go inside.
The way he says it makes something erotic stir deep in my belly and I decide to goad him.
“Be mad all you want. You’re not the boss of me,” I say and then saunter into the kitchen to make something to eat. I left so early this morning that I didn’t have the chance for breakfast. My stomach is rumbling for food.
Opening his fridge I find the ingredients for a Spanish omelette and proceed to throw them all together in a pan. While I’m doing this Ethan watches me. I haven’t glanced at him once, but I can feel his eyes and from that feeling alone I know they’ve grown hot and needy.
He might be mad, but he still wants me.
“Your face is bruised and I think you might have a couple of bruises elsewhere, too, given the hits you took before I got to you,” he says a few minutes into my food preparation.
“Do you want some of this?” I ask, ignoring his statement because I know what he’s thinking and I can’t let it happen. I told myself I wouldn’t drink from him again, and despite the fact I’m seriously sore all over right now, it’s nothing that a week or two won’t heal. Still, I love drinking his blood. I love the connection and the feeling it gives me.
Ethan seems to get the message even though I haven’t said anything about what he’s inadvertently trying to suggest. “Have it your way,” he says. “And yes, I would like something to eat if it’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s your house, your food,” I reply.
Once the omelette is done I cut it in half and divide it onto two plates. Ethan eats quickly and efficiently and I’m not even halfway done by the time he’s finished. He leaves the room and I continue eating. When he comes back his shirt is off and the button at the fly of his jeans is undone.
Gulp.
He walks to a cupboard, rummages around for a minute and pulls out a new bottle of body wash.
“The one upstairs is empty,” he says, silently referring to the ways in which we used it all up. “I’m going to take a shower,” he continues. “Call me if you need anything.”
I need you to put some clothes back on so that I can physically close my gaping mouth. Even though we’ve had quite a bit of sex in recent days, this is all very new and I still find myself staring at his body in slack-jawed amazement so
metimes.
The bastard knows it, too.
I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of begging him to do me right here on the kitchen counter, so I say nothing until he leaves. Then I take in a deep breath for the willpower not to climb right up those stairs and join him.
I hear the shower come on and a couple of minutes later the doorbell rings. When I answer it I find Finn, Allora, Ira, Gabriel, Alvie and Delilah crowding the doorstep.
“Delilah, welcome home,” I say in a humorously cordial voice. “The rest of you, come into my lair.”
Alvie lets out a yip of laughter and is the first to walk inside. “More like your hunky vamp boyfriend’s lair,” he replies with sass.
“And that,” I grin and then he’s hugging me.
“I heard about what happened with Rita today,” he says softly and I squeeze his thin body.
“Yeah, it was hard,” I reply.
He releases me and I lead them all into the living room, helping with bags. Delilah looks a little disgruntled to be back, and I wonder if it’s because she doesn’t want Ethan controlling her comings and goings like when Whitfield was in power.
I give them all a tour of the downstairs and then Ethan decides to show his face, looking sexy just out of the shower. He kisses me briefly on the lips and begins to guide everyone to their rooms. There are a lot of bedrooms in this house since it’s got three floors; one bedroom downstairs, four on the first floor and three on the top floor, plus Ethan’s study.
I suddenly realise that almost everyone I know in this city is now living under the same roof. Just one big happy family – or not-so-happy as the case may be.
I go to check in with Amanda and Rebecca, who have taken to each other like ducks to water since meeting last night. Unlike me, Amanda knows exactly how to act around kids because she had four younger siblings growing up. When I go inside Rebecca’s room I find them both playing an elaborate game of Barbie dolls. I ask where all the toys came from.
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