Revenge is Sweet

by Berni Stevens

  Two nights had passed now since my rescue, and there hadn’t been any more murders, turnings or thefts. It would have been optimistic and actually rather stupid to assume Thomas had left the city, although we knew this was not the case, because Danny said he could still sense him. Will’s scouts were back on red alert searching for him, led by Luke, and I found myself worrying about his safety now too.

  To say my confidence had been completely shattered would be an understatement. Will hardly ever left my side, and whenever he thought I wasn’t aware, his vivid gaze would fix on me, as if he would never let me out of his sight again. For the moment I agreed wholeheartedly with this sentiment, and never wanted to be too far from him either. The thought of leaving the house or ever going back to the cemetery, filled me with a sick dread, almost like a panic attack. But I could already see how quickly everything would become claustrophobic if we sat around the house doing nothing.

  Will and Luke, accompanied by Isaac, went to interrogate Sarah on the third night. Danny and I sat upstairs watching one of the MTV channels with the sound turned up, so we wouldn’t hear anything – should anything happen. I never wanted to know what they did, or who did what. Somehow I knew it would feel ten times worse for me if Will inflicted any torture, but I think this was the very reason Isaac had been brought in, or at least I hoped so.

  Sadly, I found it difficult to feel any sympathy whatsoever for Sarah. She’d helped Thomas kidnap and murder innocent children, and I would never forgive her for that. They had also taken Danny’s life, such as it was, and forced him to remain a fifteen-year-old forever. In my mind I likened her to Myra Hindley, the infamous child murderess from the early 1960s. Another hard-faced blonde held in thrall by a manipulative, murdering psycho.

  The drawing room door opened and I jumped violently. Ridiculous. I had no idea who I had expected to walk in. My nerves were in shreds.

  Will had even persuaded Stevie and some of his friends to take turns in watching the house during the daylight hours, in an effort to reassure me. He came in now and frowned at my over-reaction.

  ‘Elinor, he cannot get into the house,’ he said. He sat down next to me and draped an arm across my shoulders.

  ‘You said Danny couldn’t get out of the house, but he did,’ I said with a shiver.

  Will turned his attention to Danny, and motioned at him to turn the sound down on the TV.

  ‘Music to make the ears bleed,’ he said dryly. ‘Daniel would you please give us a moment?’

  Danny rolled his eyes, but obediently left the room.

  I found myself clinging to the collar of Will’s leather jacket. ‘I can’t stop thinking about Thomas and what he’s done – what he might be doing even now – I’m sorry, but I can’t.’

  Will gently brushed my hair back from my face, his fingertips lingering on my cheek for a moment, and his expressive eyes full of concern. ‘I do understand Elinor,’ he said. ‘You need never explain yourself to me.’

  I felt an overwhelming sense of relief at his words, along with the realisation that he didn’t think me a complete basket case.

  His lips twitched. ‘I have no idea what a “basket case” is, but I assure you, I do not think of you in that way.’

  ‘You took that random thought out of my head,’ I said thumping his chest, and he laughed.

  ‘I did indeed and I apologise.’

  ‘Did Sarah say anything helpful?’ I changed the subject.

  ‘Unfortunately not.’ Will sighed and pulled me close to his chest. ‘It would appear Thomas has programmed her well.’

  ‘She’s not a robot.’

  ‘Nevertheless she is in Thomas’s thrall which will have removed a lot of her own thoughts.’

  ‘She didn’t appear like that to me … when …’ I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  ‘I believe it to be a recent affliction.’

  ‘He knew we would take her.’

  ‘No. He wanted us to take her.’

  ‘Why?’ I clutched at Will’s jacket again. ‘We must get rid of her … Will … take her back …’

  ‘Elinor, the only way to find out what Thomas’s intentions are, is to play directly into his hands.’ Will’s voice was gentle, patient, as though explaining something to a child. He put his hands over mine. ‘We have Daniel, whom he still wants for some reason, and now we have his woman. Neither of them are expendable in his eyes. Sarah has been with him for more than a hundred years, but she is still his fledgling.’

  ‘Did she tell you that?’

  He nodded. ‘She did.’

  I wondered how she’d been persuaded to give Will that snippet of information, but had no intention of asking.

  ‘Where is everyone?’ I asked instead.

  ‘Luke and Isaac are still with Sarah, I have no idea where the boy has gone.’

  ‘Can I talk to her?’

  Will looked puzzled. ‘Do you wish to?’

  ‘Perhaps she’ll give something away to me.’

  He stood up, holding a hand out to me. ‘I am not sure how good an idea it is … but I am happy to try anything if you are.’

  I put my hand in his and got to my feet. I didn’t feel exactly confident either, but sitting around feeling afraid was really getting on my nerves. Of course, on the way downstairs, I began to think the idea was definitely a bad one. Me and my big mouth!

  I trailed after Will as he led the way downstairs to Danny’s lair. There was no other word to describe the cellar now. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and the noise of an Xbox game hit me like a hard slap. Will shook his head slightly as he picked his way through the forest of discarded clothes and I really felt for him. It was to his credit that he didn’t say anything to Danny on the way past. I knew all too well how he hated mess and disorder. Not that Danny would have heard him anyway. I doubted he would have heard a bomb drop above the noise of the game.

  I waved a hand at him as we went through, just in case he noticed us, but he appeared too engrossed in his game.

  Sarah sat on the floor in the second cellar, secured by chains, and she glanced up at us when we walked in.

  ‘Great. All I need to make my day perfect is a visit from the head honcho and his whore.’ She still managed to look elegant in spite of the ugly words twisting her features and her uncomfortable position on the floor.

  ‘I see your manners have not improved.’ Will put an arm in front of me to stop me going any closer.

  Luke and Isaac had been talking quietly together, but stopped when we came in.

  ‘Elinor thought Sarah might like a girl to girl chat,’ said Will.

  Luke’s lips twitched into a slight smile. ‘Would you like us to leave?’

  ‘Not at all.’ Will turned to look at me. ‘What would you like to ask her Elinor?’

  ‘Do you want to go back to Thomas?’ I was curious to see whether she would try to bargain her way out.

  ‘All I want is to see you destroyed,’ she said nastily, her eyes travelling up my body. ‘I have no idea what the Elder sees in you.’

  I looked back at Will and shrugged, ‘Me neither.’ He raised an eyebrow.

  It’s always fun to agree with people when they’re trying to be insulting.

  ‘But then I find it difficult to see what you find so attractive about Thomas.’ I could see I’d scored a point this time, because her eyes widened. ‘I mean he’s not exactly nice to you is he? I saw that for myself, and let’s face it, he doesn’t have an awful lot going for him in the looks department.’

  Sarah sprang to her feet, but luckily for me the chains kept her from attacking me.

  ‘You little bitch!’

  I decided to carry on talking. ‘If anything, he’s really dull to look at, and as old as dirt, so how has he held on to you all these decades?’

  Sarah struggled against her restraints. ‘I swear I will destroy you the first chance I get.’

  ‘Well that’s one good reason to make sure you never leave here at all.’ Will decided to join
in.

  Sarah’s blue eyes flashed in anger. ‘You can’t keep me here. Thomas will come for me, and when he does, you will all be destroyed.’

  ‘Have you noticed Elinor, how people always tell me what I can or cannot do?’ Will sounded amused.

  ‘Clearly they don’t know you very well,’ I said.

  ‘Thomas has already dispatched some of your soldiers,’ Sarah almost spat out the last word. ‘He could have destroyed your little fledgling any time he chose …’ she threw herself back down on the floor with a defiant rattle of chains.

  ‘So why didn’t he?’ I felt curious now, and that particular question had been burning inside me for a long time. ‘Why did he take me back to the cemetery where Will could easily find me?’

  Sarah opened her mouth but shut it again quickly, almost as though she had just been told to. Maybe she had.

  Will looked interested. ‘It is a good question, and one I should very much like answered.’

  Isaac moved nearer to Sarah, and for the first time a flicker of fear flashed over her delicate features.

  ‘I can’t say …’ she scooted back to press against the wall, her eyes never leaving Isaac. I watched her, watching him. What did he do to her?

  Will lifted a hand to stop him from going any nearer, and looked down at her. ‘Well?’

  ‘I can’t say,’ she said again, shaking her head.

  ‘He’s done something to her so she can’t give anything away,’ I said, ‘He always meant for us to take her.’

  ‘I agree.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Perhaps he hopes we will finish her and he will then be rid of her.’

  At that Sarah leapt to her feet again. ‘Thomas loves me – he’s loved me for decades! He would never allow any harm to come to me.’

  ‘And yet he allowed us to take you with the greatest of ease.’ Will walked a small semi-circle in front of her and back again. ‘I really do wonder why it is so important to him for you to be our guest.’

  ‘Perhaps Isaac should take her home with him,’ I said, watching her face for a reaction.

  To my horror, pink-tinged tears began to trickle down her cheeks and I have never felt more revolted with myself than I did at that moment. Involuntarily I stepped towards her, but Will grasped my arm and pulled me back.

  ‘Elinor’s idea of moving you to a different house is a good one, but even I would not allow Isaac to take you,’ he said with an apologetic glance at the big man.

  Suddenly I wanted out of that cellar, some place where I couldn’t see Sarah’s tear-stained cheeks. Knowing I had caused her tears in the first place, would haunt me for a long time. I turned to Will and touched his arm. ‘I have to go.’

  His stern expression softened when he looked at me. He brushed his fingers softly across my cheek. ‘Of course you do,’ he said quietly. ‘Luke will take her to another house in a while, and we shall see what her maker does then.’

  I nodded and fled from the room.

  Danny was still happily deafening himself and I didn’t feel like talking, so I flitted silently and unnoticed to the serenity of the bedroom. When Will came to find me, I was sitting cross-legged in the huge bed, swathed in the duvet, with the four poster’s heavy curtains pulled tightly round to form a blue-tinted sanctuary inside.

  Will’s tall frame eased through a slight gap between the curtains, and I watched him sit directly opposite me on the bed, mirroring my position as he crossed his long legs and leaned toward me, resting his arms on his knees.

  ‘You are devastated your words produced tears.’ It was a statement.

  ‘I have never felt so spiteful in my life.’

  ‘I understand that.’

  ‘What did Isaac do to her, to make her so terrified of him?’

  ‘Isaac has inflicted no physical harm to her, Elinor. I would not allow it. But he does use psychological torment, in which he excels, and he has told her things he wishes to do. The thought of those things are usually enough for most prisoners to tell us everything we wish to know.’

  ‘But just the thought of being alone with him made her cry.’ I still felt like the biggest bitch in the world.

  ‘You weren’t to know.’ He edged closer and pulled my duvet-wrapped body against his. Amused green eyes looked down at me. ‘You look like a rather beautiful caterpillar.’

  His teasing remark made me smile in spite of myself.

  ‘Where will you take her?’

  ‘I am happy to report she has already left with Luke, and Isaac has gone to do whatever Isaac does in his spare time.’

  I shivered. ‘He’s a very scary man.’

  ‘He can be.’

  Suddenly the mobile phone rang, making me start violently. Will released me and stood up.

  ‘I swear that infernal thing will be at the bottom of Hampstead ponds very soon,’ he muttered as he retrieved it from the chair next to the bed. ‘Yes?’ He almost snarled into it.

  His expression stilled and I knew without question the caller was Thomas.

  Will’s Journal, 11th June

  Elinor’s kidnap caused me more distress than I could ever have imagined, so to have her back with me, has since held all of my attention. She has lost much of her confidence, and I find myself watching her more than I should, which can only add to her insecurity.

  Luke has taken Sarah to Matthew’s house – he is trusted implicitly by us both, and is a tenacious warrior. At a hundred plus years, he should be able to keep the odious Thomas at bay if necessary. However, as an added precaution, Luke has instructed two other men to join Matthew. The extra security makes me feel a little easier. Thomas will come for his woman, of that I am certain. He must have realised by now we no longer have his little cameras trained on my house, so I expect him to make a move soon.

  However, I find I cannot second-guess Thomas, and it has become more than just tiresome – it is now exceedingly dangerous. That he is unhinged is apparent, but he is clearly also of considerable intelligence. I am still trying to place him from my past, for the clues have to be there somewhere. He and I must have crossed paths at some time, and I am surely the cause of his anger and the sole reason for seeking revenge. So who the hell is he?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Thomas’s voice could be heard distinctly, even though Will had stepped away from the bed and moved to the far side of the room. I shook uncontrollably when his hateful voice filled our haven. For the first time in my life, I wanted someone destroyed and I knew I would not feel any guilt whatsoever. It should have disturbed me, but sadly it didn’t.

  ‘You have something of mine Elder.’

  ‘So it would appear.’ Will’s voice had returned to its usual calm tone. He sounded courteous, but vaguely disinterested.

  I disentangled myself from the duvet and left my sanctuary to join him.

  ‘I tire of silly games my Lord Duke, and crave an end to them.’

  I saw enlightenment flicker over Will’s face at the cold words. He knew. He remembered. I touched his arm and he looked at me without appearing to see me. He turned back to speak into the phone. ‘I too, tire of you, and wish to free my city from your odious presence.’

  ‘Give me Sarah and the boy – then we will talk.’

  ‘On the contrary, I shall give you nothing and no-one, but we will talk anyway.’

  ‘You are no less arrogant in this century it would seem.’

  ‘Do you wish to meet or not?’

  There was silence for a heartbeat and then Thomas’s cold voice replied.

  ‘Very well Elder, when and where?’

  ‘The cemetery, tomorrow at midnight.’

  ‘How very clichéd.’

  ‘Indeed it is, but you appear to have a fondness for the place.’

  The phone went dead and Will dropped it onto the oak chest at the foot of the bed.

  ‘You’ve remembered, haven’t you?’ I pulled on his arm until he looked at me again. ‘Haven’t you?’

  At last he nodde
d, his face bleak. ‘Yes. For my sins, I have.’

  I waited. He didn’t say anything, just sighed, and sat on the oak chest next to the, now silent, mobile.

  ‘Can you tell me?’

  He looked up, his eyes shining like a green ocean, unfathomable, deep and beautiful.

  ‘I do not want to tell you, but you deserve to know.’

  I sat next to him, taking his hand in both of mine, a gesture he so often did for me.

  ‘You can tell me anything,’ I said. ‘I love you, and that will never change, no matter what lurks in your dim and distant past.’

  He smiled and touched my cheek with his other hand. ‘I do not deserve you.’

  ‘Oh I think you do.’ I grinned back at him. ‘Together with all my insecurities and foibles.’

  Will looked serious again. ‘I was young and arrogant when I inherited the Dukedom–in that statement Thomas is quite correct. I had the world at my feet; riches, a country estate, plus a large house in London. I had recently married Emily who was totally infatuated with me, and to be utterly honest, I was an absolute pain in the arse.’

  ‘Most young people are full of themselves to the point of crass stupidity,’ I agreed.

  He raised a dark brow. ‘Maybe not quite that bad.’

  ‘So who is … was Thomas?’

  ‘He was in love – possibly engaged – to Emily.’

  Ah. Suddenly everything became crystal clear.

  ‘He courted her for a short while, even though he was her senior by more years than I.’

  ‘I thought you said he was your senior by many vampire years?’ Now I felt really confused.

  ‘I genuinely thought that to be the case at first.’ He frowned. ‘But I know now beyond any doubt – he is the very same Thomas whom Emily left in order to become my wife. In fact, I made it my quest to steal her, and unfortunately for him, it was very easy.’