Where Loyalty Lies

by Hannah Valentine

  I sat back and let him enjoy his new toy for a while before I had to ask, “How did you get them to agree to let me out?”

  “I just gave them a bit of the old Henry charm,” he said. “They said that as long as you had two enforcers escorting you and you were back by eight, then they didn’t see a problem.”

  “Two enforcers? But it’s only you,” I said, pointing out the obvious.

  Henry shot a look in his rear view mirror. “Well, here comes the second one.”

  I turned in my seat to see a motorbike in the distance. I opened my mouth to ask who it was but, despite the speed we were going, the bike soon caught up with us. I wasn’t surprised to see it was Saul.

  “Shouldn’t he be wearing a helmet?” I asked.

  “Not really. With his vampire senses, it’s damned unlikely he’ll crash and, even if he did, he’d be able to heal.”

  “What if the police stop him?”

  Henry shrugged. “It’s nothing a little Influence won’t fix.”

  Saul drew up next to the passenger window and looked in at us. He gave a small salute. God he couldn’t look sexier if he tried. I wondered if he could sense my emotions and, just in case he could, I scowled at him and gave a slight shake of my head to show I wasn’t impressed with his recklessness. He was wearing a pair of black sunglasses so I couldn’t see the expression in his eyes but the slight twitching at the corner of his mouth told me he wasn’t buying my faux irritation.

  He gave a little signal with his hand and I frowned harder trying to work out what he meant. It must have meant something to Henry, though, because he chuckled.

  “Oh, it’s on,” he said and then his foot pressed harder on the accelerator. The car spurred forwards in compliance and for a brief second Saul disappeared behind us before appearing again and overtaking. The roaring of Henry’s engine grew louder and our speed picked up. I had no idea how fast we were going, but it was a hell of a lot faster than I ever thought a car could go. I muttered a string of curses under my breath, as I was pressed back into my seat.

  Saul was directly in front of us now but we were gaining on him. When we were about a foot away from Saul’s back tyre Henry swerved the car to the right. I closed my eyes thinking we were going to crash into each other but, when I didn’t hear any bangs or thuds, I peeked out to see Saul was once again outside my window. Thankfully he hadn’t seen my face as he was hunkered down over his bike, staring ahead, only a slight crease in his brow giving away his concentration.

  The countryside was whizzing by so fast I couldn’t even make out shapes; it was all a greenish blur. I turned back to Henry. He had exactly the same expression as Saul and I would have found it amusing if I hadn’t been so terrified. I caught a glimpse of the speedometer and my stomach gave a crazy flip.

  “Henry!” I screeched. “Slow down.”

  “It’s fine,” Henry said. “I’ve been driving since cars were invented and I’ve never crashed yet.”

  “That’s lovely but if you don’t slow down, this new car smell is going to be replaced by the permanent smell of vomit.”

  Henry’s head snapped round to face me. I must have looked as queasy as I felt because he immediately lifted his foot off the accelerator.

  Saul went flying off into the distance. I swear I could hear him laughing but, right now, I couldn’t bring myself to care. I relaxed into my seat and ignored the worried glances that Henry kept giving me, no doubt wondering if I was actually going to be sick or not.

  I knew we were still going well above the speed limit but, as the blurring outside the window turned into the visible outlines of trees and grass, my stomach began to unclench.

  “Rillith really is out in the middle of nowhere,” I said.

  Henry nodded. “There are only two ways out of Rillith; this one and a back entrance that goes into the staff houses. Both of them go on for at least five miles before you even have the option of turning off. It’s to make sure we don’t get unknowing humans turning up at the gates.”

  “Makes sense, you’d have to be pretty lost to go veering off five miles into the middle of nowhere.”

  We chatted idly and I was surprised when signs of civilisation started to appear. Holt had told me that Inverness was about a forty-five minute drive away and, glancing at the clock, I found it had taken us only twenty minutes to get here.

  The few houses and shops soon increased and before long we were screeching to a halt in a parking space at the side of the road in a busy high street. Everyone stopped to look round at the noise and their attention was held by the bright green intruder to their town. I climbed out of the car, feeling embarrassed as there was an almost audible groan from the onlookers when they saw it was an ordinary girl wearing jeans and T-shirt, and not a model or a film star.

  When Henry got out the car, it was a completely different story. Exited chatter broke out as he casually swept a few loose strands of hair out his eyes and locked the car with a beep. Show off. Everywhere I looked, I could see women of all ages checking their reflections in shop windows and straightening their clothes. Then my attention was held by something else.

  Saul’s bike was parked just a little further down the road from us. There was a bench on the pavement just next to it and Saul was sitting on it, reading a paper as if he’d been waiting there for hours. He looked up at us, pretending he’d only just noticed our arrival.

  We headed towards each other and met somewhere in the middle. It struck me as odd that everyone in the street seemed to have changed their minds about where they were heading and now they seemed to need to go wherever would take them past us.

  Henry and Saul didn’t notice the disruption they were causing. I suppose they were used to it. Of course the vampire blood in me meant that I was getting a few approving looks from the men but it was nothing compared to the full-on Attraction I was witnessing.

  “Well, that’s settled then.”

  Henry’s words sunk into my brain and I realised I’d just missed an entire conversation. Not wanting to seem like an idiot, I nodded in agreement and let Henry lead me off towards the shops. As Saul started in the other direction, I hesitated.

  “Where’s he going?” I asked Henry.

  “We’re meeting him back here at three.”

  “But I thought I was supposed to have two enforcers with me?”

  Henry gave a casual shrug as he led me into a women’s clothes shop. “Who’s going to find out? I know you’re not planning on doing a runner; as long as we all arrive back at the same time, there’s no harm done.”

  Great. I’d spent time thinking up witty conversations that I could have with Saul while we wandered around town and now it turned out that I wasn’t even going to see him. I knew I was being ungrateful; Henry had managed to get me almost ten hours of freedom and I was upset that I didn’t get to spend it with Saul. Determined to stop acting like a brat, I pushed all thoughts of Saul out of my mind and brought my attention back to the task in hand. Shopping.

  Chapter 25

  Shopping with Henry turned out to be exhausting. Usually I put it off unless it was completely necessary, so that I could avoid the stiflingly warm shops and crowds of people knocking into me. Whenever I did summon up the energy to go into town, I was rarely there for more than an hour and a half. Over the years I’d mastered my shopping technique and now I had it down to a perfect art. It consisted of a quick stroll around the shop to see if anything grabbed my attention; if nothing did I left and went somewhere else. If something did jump out at me, I picked it up, gave it a quick once-over and bought it; I only bothered trying it on if I was buying trousers and that was because I had trouble finding a pair that would fit over the curve of my hips.

  Henry had been horrified, insisting that I should take time to rummage through the rails and that I definitely needed to “try before I buy”. We spent more time in the first shop than I usually spent in six shops and Henry kept digging stuff out and ordering me into the changing rooms. If I’d known I
was going to be shopping with the fashion police, I never ever would have said the Lambo was better.

  As I thought of the Lambo, I wished I could be back in it, giving my poor aching feet a rest from trudging around and my poor battered brain a rest from lectures about what colours and designs I should be wearing.

  I’d already insisted on stopping for coffee twice and had dragged it out for as long as I could. In the second coffee shop I’d lucked out; the girl behind the counter had been gorgeous and that had bought me an additional twenty minutes of peace while Henry chatted to her. Eventually the girl’s manager had threatened that he’d give her the sack if she didn’t get some work done and, before I knew it, Henry had tugged me back to the shops.

  When it got to three o’clock I was relieved that shopping time was over. Saul was again sitting on his bench waiting for us. There were three large bags on the ground by his feet.

  “Wow,” I said. “A love of shopping must really run in your family.”

  Saul grinned and then caught sight of my own heap of bags and raised an eyebrow. “So few bags? That must be a record for you, Henry.”

  Henry gave me a mock scowl. “Well, it’s not easy shopping for someone who’s as stubborn as a mule and impatient as a child.” Then he wandered off to his car to load my bags. I wondered if they’d fit.

  Turning back to Saul I read the name on the side of his bags and raised my own eyebrows.

  “Leather Gear?” I asked. “Been buying presents for Thomas?” I’d heard a few mentions of Thomas’ fetishes and I’d a feeling that leather was probably a key feature in his wardrobe.

  Saul smiled. “Actually, for you.”

  “Oh.” That was about all I could manage as thoughts of Thomas’ fetishes, leather gear, me and Saul spun around my head. I felt warmth creeping into my cheeks. “Well, thanks,” I finished lamely.

  “You don’t even know what you’re thanking me for yet. Why don’t you open them?”

  Saul was obviously enjoying this. I looked around. It was less busy than it had been earlier but there were still a few people wandering around.

  “Um, maybe I’ll just wait until we get back.” I tried hard not to give away how uncomfortable I was feeling.

  “You can’t do that,” Saul said. “The bags are too big to fit in Henry’s car and I can’t carry them on my bike so you’ll have to open them now and wear the stuff home.”

  Okay, there must have been some crossed wires here. I didn’t know Saul that well but I was sure he wouldn’t actually buy me a dirty leather outfit and ask me to put it on right here in the middle of the street. Well, there was only one way to find out.

  I stepped forward and cautiously opened the first bag. I pulled out the leather heap and it unfolded into a jacket. It was made out of distressed-looking leather and it was gorgeous. I had always wanted one but had never been able to justify spending money on a really nice one and the cheap ones just didn’t look the same. Saul didn’t know that, though, and I thought it was an odd gift to buy someone that you didn’t know that well.

  “Thank you, it’s lovely,” I said, feeling embarrassed at the thought of how much it must have cost him. He said nothing but nodded to the other two bags. My embarrassment grew but now I was intrigued and I delved into the next bag.

  Looking down on it, I couldn’t work out what I was looking at but, as I pulled it out, it all became clear. Suddenly I understood the reason for the gifts and why he’d bought me the jacket. It was a motorbike helmet. I couldn’t believe how pretty it was. There were tiny blue stars dotted around on a black sky and down one side was an angel with a serene look on her face and electric blue wings spread out like she was flying.

  I grinned up at Saul. “It’s beautiful.”

  “You don’t mind going on the back?” he asked, pointing to his bike.

  I shook my head. Was he kidding? It was something I’d always longed to do and the fact that I’d be snuggled up to Saul made it even better. “As long as there’s no racing with Henry, that was bad enough in a car.”

  If Saul was surprised by my willingness, he didn’t show it. Henry was back now and he eyed my bounty.

  “Well, that’s lucky. Turns out my boot is a tad on the small side. Most of your bags are on the front seat.”

  I missed another conversation as I ransacked the third and final bag. It revealed a pair of blue leather gloves and a black scarf.

  I handed over my handbag to Henry who left, roaring off down the high street. I think he must have been glad to be able to go and have some fun in it without worrying about a sickly passenger.

  Saul helped me get all the stuff on and then he disposed of the rubbish. I felt a little silly wearing so much protective gear when all he had on was his sunglasses, but my excitement overrode my discomfort.

  Saul got on and indicated for me to climb up behind him. A thrill ran through me as I gently put my hands on his waist and held on. I decided not to grab him too tightly because I didn’t want him to think I was a wimp. That thought was soon forgotten as he pulled away and started weaving in and out of the traffic. I wrapped my arms around him and held on for dear life. He wasn’t going that fast but I was suddenly all too aware that there was no metal shell between me and the road to protect me.

  When we broke away from the town I started to relax. There was no more swerving from side to side and I let myself enjoy it. Fifteen minutes later all my fears were forgotten and I never wanted to get off. I was still aware of the road flying past underneath us but now it created a rush of adrenaline that I soaked up. I hadn’t had a rush like this in ages. I wanted to throw my arms out and feel the wind beneath them but I knew better than to do that and it would have meant letting go of Saul which was something I really didn’t want to do.

  As we passed a lake, I frowned. There had been no lake on the way to Inverness. I wondered if our destination had been mentioned while I was opening my presents and I told myself that I’d have to start paying more attention. For now there wasn’t anything I could do, so I just sat back and enjoyed myself.

  Chapter 26

  I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Saul finally slowed to a stop. He’d made a few turns on our journey but we seemed to be even further away from civilisation than Rillith was. The last road we’d come down had been smaller and seemingly unused. Now we’d reached a dead end – a small patch of gravel surrounded by woodland.

  My legs felt a little worn and tingly so I stretched them out as Saul wheeled the bike off the gravel and under the cover of the trees. While his back was to me, I pulled off my helmet and shook my hair out, hoping it looked dishevelled in a sexy sort of way rather than just a mess. I placed my helmet on the seat of the bike, unzipped my jacket and looked around. There was nothing to see. Just trees, trees and more trees.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “You want me to tell you, or do you just want to wait and see?”

  I had a feeling that he wouldn’t tell me anyway so I started walking in the direction he was heading. There was a path worn into the grass and I wondered if this was somewhere he came often. I hoped it was. The thought of him bringing me to a place that he liked to spend his time made a grin want to spread itself across my face and I had to work hard to hide it.

  The forest grew denser around us and, although Saul was careful to hold branches back for me and make sure I didn’t trip, I began to realise that I was in a forest, with nobody around for miles and I didn’t even have my mobile phone because I’d left it in my bag.

  “You know, I’m not sure what things were like back in your times but in this day and age, a guy bringing a girl out into the middle of a deserted forest usually indicates that he wants to do one of two things, and seeing as one of those things is murder I’m thinking that maybe you should be giving me some sort of hint as to what exactly we’re doing here.”

  Saul didn’t answer my query. Instead he asked, “What’s the second thing?”

  I couldn’t tell from the back of h
is head, but I got the impression he was smiling.

  “You know damn well what it is,” I muttered and then I crashed straight into him as he stopped and turned to face me. He reached out to grab me and held onto my arms, even when I was steady again.

  “Yes, I do know,” he said.

  My heart raced. I thought about how close his mouth was to mine and I made a massive effort not to let my eyes flick down to his lips, in case he guessed what I was thinking.

  “Do you really think I’d do either of those things to you?” he asked.

  My exhilaration plummeted. I couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Sure, it was nice to know he wasn’t planning on murdering me, but did he have to make the other thing sound like it would be so awful? My humiliation was accompanied by prickles of anger.

  “It’s not like it matters anyway. I wouldn’t let you get away with either one.”

  I shrugged his hands off and marched past him, grateful that the path was a little more worn here so at least I knew I was stomping in the right direction. Talk about mixed signals. Since the Autumn Ball I’d seen Saul numerous times and I’d always thought there was a mutual attraction there. Had I misjudged his feelings so much? He always seemed to be watching me, though. Paranoia set in and I wondered if maybe he saw his relationship with me in the same light that Henry did. Maybe I’d been making a complete fool of myself.

  As I passed a protruding branch, I held it back so that it wouldn’t flick back and hit Saul, but I really needed an excuse to see his face, to try to work out if he really did just want to be friends. As I turned, I found that he was indeed staring at me and his look was dark and intense. I heaved a sigh of relief. That was definitely not a “let’s just be friends” look. It was a good job really because, if it had been, I think I’d have let that branch go so that it smacked him right in the face. It would have saved me a job.

  My inward turmoil continued all the way up the hill. I knew Saul could sense what I was feeling but I didn’t care. In fact I was glad. Let him see how pissed at him I was. The woods began to thin and the path became less obvious. Every now and then Saul’s hand would reach out and nudge me a couple of inches over to stop me from going the wrong way but that was the only communication between us.