I’m on my own, and if Maria, a four hundred year old vampire has fled, then something is terribly wrong.
I see the door of the liquor cupboard is ajar. I grab the bottle of Jack Daniels and take a huge glug, contemplating what to do. Pack a bag, yes, and get the hell out of here. Screw going to The Shard. I need to get out of this city.
I charge into my bedroom, slam the bottle on my dresser, and pull out my case from beneath the bed.
Out of the blue, I hear a creak arise from the living room and freeze up in terror. My heart thumps in my confined throat. Shit, I’m not alone. I hold my phone so tight it slips, dropping through my nervous sweaty fingers to land on the carpet. As I bend over to retrieve it, music booms through the flat, making me squeal and jump back. With the phone clutched to my chest, I hesitantly take a small step, unsure whether to go and investigate, or shut the door and barricade myself in.
The deafening racket clouds my senses as I dial Adrien’s number again. It rings exactly four times, then goes onto that bitch’s voicemail tone again.
“Adrien!” I place my right hand on the door, listening to the beep. “Adrien, there is someone in my flat. Pick up the damn phone!”
I slope my body, picking up the JD bottle to use as protection. I know I locked that front door, and every window is shut. Who, and how the hell did anyone get in here?
I step out, peering apprehensively around the door frame. The CD player is on, playing an old Radio Head song. I know that disc has been stuck at the bottom of the rack since Cate moved in here, so someone has been rummaging thoroughly.
I take another step, holding the neck of the bottle firmly, ready to swing. Oh hell, I can see something on the wall in the lounge. A huge red symbol of some sort, and it’s dripping all down the skirting. Nathan was right. That’s blood, and this is some twisted vampire attack.
“Shit!” I drop the bottle as the front door is suddenly kicked off its hinges.
Oh god. I reel back and fall down onto the smashed glass. Frightened, I dig my heels and hands into the rug as I hyperventilate. With each movement, glass sticks into the palm of my hands. I cry out as I watch him. Adrien. He snarls with the darkness of his alter ego masking his eyes. I’ve never seen him like this. His sharp fangs are out and ready, and the look on his face, like he doesn’t even know who I am.
He leaves me in the carpet of slivers, and the whiskey from the smashed bottle stings my bloody cuts.
Adrien’s shadowy figure flits in and out of every room, panting like a rabid animal. He inhales high, tracing who was here. I want to move and call out to him, but something tells me not to.
I can’t help it, the pain from my hand makes me hiss aloud. He stomps and his heavy brown boots stop directly before my bent legs, crunching in the glass. He stares down as tears drop over my jawline. His eyes soften, reverting back to that impeccable golden hazel. He crouches down and lifts me up from the splinters.
I let all the fear out and sob against his chest, shaking uncontrollably. He places me down on the sofa and dashes into the kitchen. My left palm is bleeding badly onto my thigh. This is not good for him at all. I swiftly rise up to my feet. I can’t allow him to become lured by my blood.
I get as far as the bathroom door when I see him out of the corner of my eye. I halt and cautiously look across to him. He’s holding a bowl of water, some cotton wool, and a tea-towel.
“Elizabeth, sit down. I’m not going to lick your hand or anything like that,” he reassures me.
With vigilance and weak legs, I do as I’m told. Nathan told me to leave, but I can’t. And Maria told me to stay by Adrien, before leaving me to be attacked. God, I guess I’m asking for trouble aren’t I. My firm belief that Adrien will not harm me, is too strong to just get up and run away. I know he wouldn’t, and he is the only one who can help Nathan now.
“Sara is on her way. She’s good at the whole nurse thing.” He places the bowl on the table and studies my hand. “I knew I should have stayed away from you. This is my fault.”
I don’t have a clue what’s transpiring here and I should be finding out, but my head is still set on fright mode. To think straight is an impossibility when all I want to do is yell at him. I can feel it brewing up inside me, the anger, fear, and worry over Nathan.
“Could you just get me a drink?” I ask, quietly quivering.
He darts up to the drinks cabinet and opens the door. He looks across at me, because all that is in there is a bottle of raspberry liqueur I usually add to cheap wine. Not really supposed to drink it neat, but right now I don’t give a shit.
“Yeah, just give it to me,” I order, wiggling my fingers.
I gulp down a large mouthful. It’s strong and sweet, so I have another.
“I’m going to take you to the emergency room.” He frets over my bloody hand. “Sara should be here by now.”
I drink what remains in the round gold bottle, taking deep breaths between gulps.
“No,” I snap. “What the fuck is all this... and... and Nathan... god Nathan!”
“What about him, Elizabeth?”
“He’s a damn vampire, Adrien. He was sent here to attack me, but instead warned me to run away from you, and this city,” I yell. “He’s out there now, alone. God knows what’s going to happen to him! It’s him, it has to be him that’s done this.” I clench my teeth, thinking about Laurie. I’m not supposed to say anything in-case it starts a war. But Maria just drove off and fucking left me. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
“Who Elizabeth?”
“No one.” I hold my face for a moment then peer up at him, so tempted to tell him what I’ve learnt tonight.
He turns to the front door as Sara flusters in. She pauses on the spot, gaping at the mess and the symbol on the wall. I don’t like it, the look she’s giving him. They’re having a silent discussion about this that I should be a part of.
“Sara, see to Elizabeth’s hand. I need to make some calls.” He pulls out his iPhone.
Sara sits down and looks beneath the tea-towel. She sighs and shakes her head as Adrien walks toward my bedroom. In a rage, I scram up to my feet and zigzag to him.
“You are going to put that phone down and tell me everything. You promised me you would. Leaving me in the frigging dark like a child, is not going to happen. Not when my friends are getting hurt!” Angry tears haze my view.
He lowers his head then looks up, bleakly. “I will hold that promise to you Elizabeth. But right now I need to get Nathan off the streets. Please understand that,” he appeals. “Go get cleaned up, then we’ll talk.”
I agree. I have to. The most important thing is getting Nathan back safely.
Sara plucks out the last splinter of glass from my hand with her tweezers. It’s not as bad as I expected. It’s amazing how much blood came from such tiny cuts. She ties the towel tightly around my palm, and drops the bloody cotton buds into the dish. I find it odd that all this blood doesn’t have an effect on her.
“Do you know what that is?” I ask, looking at the symbol.
She blinks slowly. “We all know what that is. Whether it’s real or not is another thing.”
Adrien emerges from my room as Sara takes the dish away. I’ve heard him yelling in there, and I’m sure it’s not all been about Nathan.
“Have you found him?” I ask, desperate for news.
He nods a no. “I’m tracing his cell-phone, Elizabeth. As soon as we have a location, he’ll be brought straight to me.”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
He sits down next to me and blows out. “He’s a vigore. I noticed the scent of him downstairs,” he explains. “New bloods have a pungent odour.” I stare vacantly because he didn’t smell of anything downstairs in that lobby to me. “He will look to feed, if he hasn’t already.”
I arch over, cradling my head with my hands. What has Nathan got to do with any of this? I’m the one involved with vampires, not him.
“He’s been enticed by them.” H
e glances up at the symbol. “He probably didn’t have a clue what he was getting involved in. Whoever he made a deal with, obviously played on his emotions.”
“What is that symbol?”
He looks back to the wall. “That is the symbol of the voax.”
I examine it. With all that’s gone on, I haven’t really thought of anything other than, shit, there’s blood smeared all over the wall. It’s a circle, and within the top and bottom half are what appears to be two triangles. Similar to a W in the upper half and an M below, meeting dead centre.
“It’s an ancient symbol that depicts supremacy over all who are seen weak. Humans. It’s the mark of the voax, a resistance group who believed that feeding from the living was a given right,” he angers. “And to go against their true nature is an abomination to all vampires. They haven’t been around since their last attempt to screw the world over in eighteen sixty-six,” he adds, with an uncertainty in his eyes. “They were all caught, and each one of them eradicated in a nemuritori purification ceremony, performed by the order.”
“So they mean to kill me, why?”
“It may not be as cut and dry as that.” He sweeps his fingers over my hand. “I have informants, and there’s no evidence, apart from this, that they’ve reformed.” He hums in confusion. “There is no need for it now. Blood is easy to come by in this era. This, it makes no sense. Look, I will not let anything happen to you, Elizabeth. I will get to the bottom of it quickly,” he says, clamping down his jaw. “Now, you go and finish packing that bag on your bed. You’re going to be staying with me.”
“I need to tell you something. Something about Laurie.” I can’t stop the urgency in my voice.
“What?”
“He...” Just as I’m about to tell him that both Maria and I think that Laurie is a traitor, his phone rings and he springs up from the couch, pressing his finger on his lips to silence me.
Dammit.
Chapter 30
Adrien
I usually have a good control over the thirst, but all that changes when I’m livid. It comes over me like a cold wave sucking me under, and I have to fight against a dark tide as ancient as biblical times. It reminds me just how thin the line I walk on is. One mistake, and I give in to my demons like I did before, when the order commanded me to do so.
“Adrien, here.” Without even looking over my shoulder, I catch the blood bag Ben has tossed my way. I could smell it as soon as it was taken out from the cooler.
Reverting back to my animalistic nature, I rip through the bag as I would rip through the flesh of a man, taking my remedy within seconds. I have no etiquette tonight, only rage. And this blood is the only thing that will take the edge off. Ben knows it. He can see me boiling over.
“Hmm.” I arch over my desk, filling my lungs as I wipe the blood from my chin. “Elizabeth?”
I turn around to Ben who is holding another bag, just in-case one wasn’t enough for me. He’s seen me at my worst many times and had to restrain me. When I was first turned with my men, we had to look out for each other, just like a family. And we got through it, after many years of blood spilled. I was always the calmest and managed to keep control, unless it was required of me to do otherwise. I could flick the rage on and off like a switch. This situation however, makes my heart beat like a new bloods. It beats for vengeance.
“She’s fine. She’s in the guest bedroom.”
“You and I both know that’s far from true. Goddamn mess we’re in.” I make my way over to my whiskey decanter, and pour myself a large stiff drink. “Why didn’t any of you stop me?”
“What?” Ben scowls furiously.
“When you saw how she got to me, why didn’t you or any of the others stop it before it came to this?” I bark at him, dropping down into my chair, drinking the whiskey to the last drop.
“Pull your head out from the sand, Adrien. Don’t throw the blame at those who have stuck by your fuckin side for over a century. What did you expect us to do; chain you up? You’re our executive. You make your own decisions, you always have. And it doesn’t matter what we think!”
“Sorry.” I rub my tender head. “I know what you have all done for me.”
“You know why I never stopped you; since you’ve been dating her, I’ve seen you as you were when we served together. When you were a human man. I didn’t see any harm in that, only good. It was refreshing to see you have fun, instead of being so serious and fucking meticulous all the time.”
“A stupid mistake, don’t you think?”
“Stop whining.” He helps himself to a glass of my whiskey. “It’s too late to change things.”
He’s right. Though I will not give him the satisfaction of telling him that. Not until this is over anyhow.
“Send Connor and Laurie out to search for Nathan. If he’s so much as sniffed a human, kill him.”
“Are you fuckin serious!”
“What am I supposed to do with him now? He’s not only a vampire, but a vigore. You know we can’t risk having our identity exposed. The last thing we need is a string of bodies leading toward our exposure.”
“Think Adrien, for Christ’s sake. Be rational. Nathan is only one small part of the problem. Something is brewing up out there, and it’s going to blow up in your face if you go down this route. Not to mention the fact you’ll lose the girl for good. Like it or not, they’re friends.”
Again he’s right, and the thought of Elizabeth’s breaking heart is making me second guess my own decisions. I do not care for Nathan, but she does.
“Fine. If he’s not fed, and can be caught, have them bring him here. I have favours owed to me in Paris.”
Ben grabs the neck of my decanter and pours me another drink, then one for himself.
“So, let’s move onto the next problem,” he says. “We need to plan for every eventuality. Is this the voax?”
“My gut says no. This is about me dropping my guard. Elizabeth, she needs to be taken out of the city. Sara will go with her. Whoever is doing this is using her to get to me.”
“Then what?”
Dom suddenly bursts into my office, trips over the leg of Ben’s chair, and slams a bloody box down onto my desk. Not only is there blood on my shirt, it’s also on my goddamn face.
Ben springs up out of his chair, as do I.
“Sorry, couldn’t risk your girl seeing this,” Dom wheezes. “This came up in the elevator.”
“When?” I ask, knowing exactly what’s inside before looking.
“Just now. Good job I found it,” Dom adds, catching his breath.
“What do you want, a pat on the back?” Ben frowns at Dom.
I flip open the lid. “Fuck... fuck!” I’m looking at Maria’s decapitated head. She was a good friend and one of our best allies. “Fuck!”
“Jesus,” Ben murmurs through his hand.
“Any message, or demands with it?” I ask.
“No.” Dom shrugs.
I take one last look at what remains of Maria, knowing this may break up the trust in all the covens.
“Get this out of here.” I close the lid on the box. “I need to meet with the vigore council. Nathan is connected to this somehow. He was turned and recruited to take Elizabeth. Ben, send some of the devotees to the farmhouse in St Albans. I want the place swept. And both of you, tell nobody about this. This stays between us, in this room. Understood?” Both of them nod in agreement.
“You want Elizabeth to be taken to that old shithole?” Ben asks. “There’s no protection there.”
“Sara will be with her. It’s secluded and no one knows it exists but us. It’s for her own safety. I want transport organised, ASAP.”
“You sure sending her away is the best thing though boss?” Dom asks.
“I’ve just had the head of one of the oldest covens delivered to me. Do you think she’s safe here?” I yell at him. “Take this, and destroy it.” I push the box across my desk.
I watch him carry the box out of my office. Dom is lo
yal, but he’s still so young. And at times like this, I don’t have the patience to explain practicalities to a child.
I frown down at Maria’s dark blood on my desk, gripping the back of my chair. “What the hell do we do now?”
“We deal with this the same way as any other shit-storm that has tried to bring us down. Adrien, you know you’re needed here. And you know the order will not let you go. I’m going to arrange the meeting with the vigore council. I’ll have this entire building secured and locked down. And you, you stay here until you’ve fixed that head of yours. We’re not going to achieve a fucking thing if your head isn’t in the game.”
Chapter 31
Elizabeth
I haven’t slept a wink. Most of last night and today, I’ve been wandering aimlessly around Adrien’s penthouse, biting the hell out of my fingernails, while he makes call after call with no result at all. It’s now growing dark again, and Nathan has been out there alone for almost twenty-four hours.
The door opens and in walks Dom and Ben. I race out from the kitchen, hoping for some news, any news that will put my mind at ease. Dom lowers his head, pursing his lips as Ben skulks away. They don’t have to say anything; it’s clear they have no idea where Nathan is.
I curse and slump down onto the sofa, heavyhearted. I’m no vampire, and I need to rest. Just a power nap would do, but how can I when he’s still out there. This is all my fault. I’m an awful selfish cow of a friend.
“Adrien, the vigore council have been informed and are on their way,” Ben says, heading into Adrien’s office.
I remove my hands from my face to see Sara holding out a mug. The steam floats under my nose. It smells herby with a hint of lavender.
She looks great. Her usual dolled-up self. She’s had a shower and changed into black leggings, boots, and a cream vest. Her hair is neatly tied back, and she has even had the audacity to do her frigging eyelashes. I on the other hand, am still wearing the same clothing I had on yesterday: blood stained jeans, scrappy hair because I’ve been constantly twirling it, and I reek to the high heavens.
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