‘Elinor, you give me no credit for any intelligence whatsoever.’ Will’s words were measured, steady and filled with the anger I knew simmered just below the surface. ‘I am perfectly well aware Thomas has no need to keep our arrangement now he has the boy. I am not a fool. Please also remember the boy does not know the new security codes.’
Letting go of his jacket, I slumped back down on the sofa. Will sat next to me, and put a gentle hand to my cheek. ‘I know beyond any doubt he will almost certainly come here and try for you, but he will be watching our every move, and he needs to see me leave for the meeting at the appointed hour.’
‘Are you going to the cemetery anyway?’
‘I have to appear to.’
‘Then what?’
‘I shall not be far away, I promise you.’
The thought of being anywhere without Will – with Thomas still out there somewhere, filled me with terror. A part of me really thought we would lose this ultimate battle.
‘What about Sarah?’ My voice cracked with emotion. I would not allow myself to cry. There had been too many tears shed because of the odious Thomas and his equally odious woman.
‘Matthew has orders to stake her unless he hears to the contrary before dawn.’
‘But what if you aren’t able to make the call?’
‘She dies.’ Will stood, and grabbed his cigarettes from the top of the pine chest.
‘That makes you as cold and heartless as Thomas.’ I couldn’t believe Will could be so callous.
‘Elinor, if that woman comes to trial in front of me –which …’ he flashed me an angry glance, ‘she would have to at some point, the others will insist on death by fire. Have you learned nothing these past months?’
‘But you could pardon her …’
He made an exclamation of disgust as he stood up to pace the room, followed by several muttered words, which sounded like Italian curses to me.
‘If you just murder her in cold blood, then you’re no better than he is.’
Will lit his cigarette and flicked the match with unerring accuracy into the grate of the huge fireplace. ‘If I don’t, my community will demand a new Elder.’ He sounded bitter. ‘She has murdered innocent children for heaven’s sake! Helped to murder some of our own people. She would have very much liked to kill you. She has to die. Why must you be such a bleeding heart?’
The words cut me like real blades, and I clutched my hands to my chest, twisting my fingers in an effort to stop the tears that threatened. I looked down, in order to avoid his eyes, now filled with the demonic fire of pure anger.
Silence filled the room and I knew Will watched me, waiting for me to say something. I shook my head slightly, and then I was in his arms, held close to his chest, as he knelt in front of me, murmuring words of comfort. I clung to him, my hands balling the soft leather of his jacket. I breathed in the reassuring familiar smells of leather mixed with his expensive cologne.
‘Forgive me, sometimes I forget how young you are.’ He pressed soft kisses to my forehead and sighed. ‘We went through a similar thing with Katarina last year did we not? And yet, when it came to it, you killed her yourself.’ His lips suddenly twitched with wry humour.
‘That was self defence,’ I said, finally looking up at him. The angry light in his eyes had been replaced by glints of mocking humour.
‘What if Sarah attacked you, and you had to fight for your very existence?’
‘That’s not the same as cold-blooded murder.’
‘True. But if we allow her to live, she will come after you – and probably me – especially if we have already dispatched Thomas.’
I knew he spoke the absolute truth. He never lied.
‘I know you’re right,’ I said slowly. ‘But it doesn’t make things any easier.’
‘I understand that.’ He brushed my hair back from my face. ‘But some things have to be faced nevertheless, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you and my community safe.’
‘I want all this to be over.’
‘As do I,’ he agreed. ‘We have a wedding to organise I believe.’
I looked at him in surprise. It was the first time he’d mentioned the wedding since he’d proposed. In my normal paranoid fashion, I thought he’d changed his mind about a formal wedding, and I had been determined not to mention it first. Not that I could think about the wedding at this moment. It felt almost like he’d deliberately planted the thought in my head in order to distract me. Involuntarily, I found myself casting my mind back to the nights I’d spent trawling designers’ websites, looking at wedding dresses, searching for the dress. Happy nights.
At the moment the ultimate choice was between Vera Wang and Vivienne Westwood, but I still hadn’t decided on either classic ivory or dramatic black. Then I realised Will was looking at me in amusement, and pushed at his chest.
‘Good distraction,’ I said and he nodded an acknowledgement with a slight smile.
‘I aim to please.’
A light tap at the drawing room door signified the others had arrived.
‘Come on in Stevie,’ said Will, getting to his feet.
Stevie loped in, followed by Jake, Roxanne and Luke. Difficult to find a more attractive quartet anywhere – quintet, if I included Will. Stevie wore his usual casual attire of T-shirt, jeans and brown leather bomber jacket, he looked gorgeous, yet dangerous, Jake continued to look like an out-of-work rock star in his black jeans and black T-shirt, whilst Roxy just looked beautiful as always, dressed in hip-hugging black trousers and a tiny cropped red top. If I hadn’t known we could be about to fight for our lives – and probably Danny’s as well – it would have been easy to think we were all going to Dusk for a fun evening. Oh how I wished we were.
Will wasted no time in briefing Stevie and Jake, and I sprang to my feet to touch his arm. His eyes were wary when they looked at me. He probably thought I would continue our argument in front of everyone, which I had no intention of doing. I knew it would be futile.
‘Stay safe,’ was all I said.
He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me close. ‘You too,’ he murmured. ‘Do not on any account leave the house. I cannot stipulate enough the importance of this. Whatever ruse Thomas uses to lure you out, please ignore it – even if he uses the boy.’
He sounded fairly confident that Thomas would come here and not to the cemetery. I nodded.
‘Promise me, Elinor.’
I nodded again.
‘Say it.’
‘I promise not to leave the house on any account.’
His eyes searched mine for a moment, before he looked satisfied. Releasing me, he turned to Stevie and Jake. ‘Let us go.’ He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand and then he was gone. Footsteps sounded briefly as they all crossed the reception hall, and then I heard the front door close. I sat back down, mainly because my legs didn’t feel like they would support me at the moment. Roxy came and sat next to me, and Luke sat in the armchair opposite. I looked across at Luke but couldn’t think of a word to say.
‘He will be perfectly all right.’ Luke’s blue eyes held sympathy. ‘He is more than a match for Thomas.’
‘If that’s the case, how come Thomas has killed so many of us, kidnapped me and has now taken Danny?’ My words sounded bitter, even to me.
‘He would always have taken Danny. Will knew we would never prevent that.’
‘But he’s the Elder, shouldn’t he have been able to?’
‘The fledgling’s bond with its maker is stronger than anything. You, of all people should know that.’
Roxy put a gentle hand on my arm. ‘Danny would have to answer his maker’s call. You saw how he suffered when Thomas was outside the gates. He was in a terrible state because he couldn’t get to him. I had to hit him really bloody hard for heaven’s sake.’
‘Then he realised he could just vault over the wall, because he’d seen Will do it.’
‘You mustn’t blame Will. Danny would have found a way somehow, w
hatever the cost to himself. Fledglings would walk over burning coals in brilliant sunshine to reach their Maker, it’s just the way of things.’
At that moment the phone rang and Roxy and I both jumped. Luke rose to answer it.
‘Austen residence.’ He sounded like a butler. He listened for a moment. ‘No, he’s not here. Yes, she’s here. Very well, I’ll tell her.’ He hung up and frowned.
‘Who was it?’ I asked.
‘Matthew. Sarah’s dead.’
Whatever bad news I’d been imagining, I really hadn’t expected that.
‘How?’
‘Matthew heard terrible screams coming from his basement but when he got there, Sarah was already disintegrating. He said it looked almost as if she had swallowed rays from the sun. The light coming from her was so intense, he had to close the door to save himself, and when he went back into the room seconds later, she was dust.’
‘What the hell would do that?’
Luke frowned again. ‘I can’t be sure, but I think she may have swallowed some kind of suicide pill which contained either molten silver, or Holy Water.’
‘Thomas must have brainwashed her to do that.’ Roxy ran her small hands through her glossy hair.
‘She must have had the pills on her.’ I couldn’t help but feel she had probably preferred to die by her own hand rather than suffer a stake or public cremation.
What a dramatic and sad self-inflicted end for a centuries-old vampire. One down, one to go.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Will
Stevie, Jake and I left the house thirty minutes before the appointed hour of the meeting. I know full well that Thomas has no intention of keeping the appointment. I am also aware he is watching the house. I know it is Elinor he wants, not myself, not even the boy particularly, although of course he has him now anyway. He clearly believes I will not function without Elinor, and the position of Elder would then be his for the taking. Although I suspect Luke might have something to say about that.
Thomas’s irrational way of thinking should work in our favour, for I do not believe he is exactly sane at the moment. Keeping the boy with him will not help much either. In spite of the fact he should be able to manipulate Daniel with consummate ease, I am sure the boy will continue to be his aggravating self. That thought alone, makes me smile in spite of the circumstances. Spending any amount of time alone with Daniel would almost certainly endanger my own sanity, and eventually be very unhealthy for the boy.
The three of us walked quickly towards the cemetery without seeing another person. If Thomas had been close to the house, I neither saw him nor sensed him, and if he does have the boy with him tonight, he has somehow managed to keep him exceedingly quiet. An admirable feat in itself.
Jake’s mobile phone rang as we walked up Swain’s Lane. He answered it, keeping his voice low and quiet. When he finished the call, he turned to me.
‘Sarah’s dead,’ he said.
‘How?’
‘Matthew thinks some kind of suicide pill containing silver or Holy Water.’
I could not imagine how such a pill had been constructed, although whatever form the drug had taken, it had most certainly worked, because the woman apparently now resembles the contents from a large ash-tray. At least it saves us from the deeply unpleasant task of disposing of her.
‘Should we actually go into the cemetery?’ Stevie stopped by the huge gates.
I pulled the large key from my pocket. ‘I think it wise to do so, just in case we are being watched.’
I unlocked the gates and we filed in quickly and silently. I closed and locked the gates behind us and we quickly moved further into the cemetery and away from the prying eyes of any late night dog-walkers. We walked towards the Egyptian Avenue, stopping under the great arch, just before we reached the vaults. I held up my hand to stop Stevie or Jake from speaking, and we listened for sounds of anyone approaching. I heard only the leaves of the many trees whispering together, and the distant squeak of an occasional bat as it searched for a midnight snack. I smiled when I remembered Elinor asking me last year if we could transform ourselves into bats. Mr Stoker certainly has a lot to answer for; it is indeed a pity I never had the chance to meet with him. I feel his fictional account of the undead would have been somewhat different if I had.
‘I think it unlikely Thomas ever had any intention of meeting with us tonight,’ I said quietly. ‘But he has to be watching the house.’
‘How can we get back to the house without him seeing us?’ Stevie continued to look around, nostrils slightly flared, eyes wary and his body poised to flee. Tension emanated from him, I could feel it in waves. Werewolves – like their canine cousins – are very susceptible to ghosts. He clearly did not feel at ease among the long dead, unlike we vampires.
‘I am banking on him trying to use the boy to get inside, which means they will definitely go around to the back, because the boy doesn’t yet know the security codes have been changed. We will go to the front.’
‘So we … what? Wait another few minutes and then go back?’ Jake looked ill at ease too, probably because his precious Roxy was in the house.
‘I think so, yes.’
We stood quietly after that, listening to the night sounds. Nothing disturbed the peaceful surroundings of the cemetery. I felt anxious myself about both Elinor and Roxy, I would trust Luke with my own life, but I find it difficult to entrust Elinor’s safety to anyone but me. Arrogant perhaps, but old habits die hard.
After a few more minutes, Jake spoke again. ‘Shall we go?’
I put a steadying hand on his shoulder. ‘So young, so impatient.’
He shrugged away my hand. ‘Anything could be happening.’
‘Very well. Let us go.’
They both followed my lead back to the main gates. There was no sign of any movement, either vampire or human, and we let ourselves out of the cemetery.
Jake headed off towards my house with all speed, and I grabbed his arm to stop him blundering headlong into my street.
‘Remember we are going to the front of the house.’
He nodded but kept his speed up. Stevie and I exchanged glances but matched his pace.
The house looked quiet enough from the front, the drawing room lights were on, the shutters closed as I had instructed, although chinks of light still shone out. I looked from right to left in case Thomas was lurking in the shadows of the wall, but there was no-one. I keyed in the new security number and the gates swung open. The three of us stepped into the garden and I secured the gates behind us.
‘Jake, would you check the back?’
Jake nodded and slipped away into the night. Stevie and I walked silently to the front door. I had just spoken telepathically to Elinor and all seemed to be well. When, suddenly, her scream ripped through the peaceful night.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We had decided to put the television on, but kept the volume low. We all have exceptionally good hearing as most vampires do, but we needed to be able to hear anything untoward above the sound of the programme.
Will had apparently instructed Luke to keep the wooden shutters closed but the curtains open. He seemed worried that Thomas might try to fire some kind of weapon through the windows and he didn’t want us to present him with well-lit targets. Sounded a good idea to me, but sitting here waiting like big fat bait didn’t exactly fill me with happy thoughts.
Conversation had become almost non-existent between us now, whilst we sat waiting for something to happen, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I wanted Will – wanted him here, with me. I let my thoughts reach out to him; I knew he’d be able to hear them.
‘Will, where are you?’
At first there was no reply, and panic gripped me. ‘Will?’ Then I felt him inside my head, with a rush of emotion and warmth.
‘Elinor? Are you all right?’ He sounded anxious even telepathically.
‘Yes I’m fine. I want you back here.’
‘We are almost at th
e house. Do not worry.’
I was just about to say ‘fine’ or ‘see you in a minute’ when I heard someone thumping on the door downstairs and I screamed instead. Luke sprang to his feet and ran for the door. Roxy and I leapt up at the same time.
‘They’re trying to get in through the cellars,’ said Roxy. ‘Come on.’
We both ran out and I was about to lead the way downstairs, running down to who-knew-what, when I had a sudden thought.
‘Wait … hold on …’ I ran back to the drawing room and pushed the papers and remotes off the top of the chest and onto the floor. Opening the lid, I rummaged around in the chest until I found what I was looking for – the bottle of Holy Water that Will always kept for emergencies. Something told me to take it with me now. I stuffed it into the front pocket of my jeans and re-joined Roxy.
We had already started down the stairs when Will and Stevie charged in through the front door.
‘Elinor! Wait!’ Will yelled, but I was already hurtling down the stairs after Roxy. Luke must be there by now, but there was still no time to lose. I heard Will’s muffled curse as I ran through our bedroom and continued through the bathroom and out the other door.
Running into Danny’s room, a swift glance around told me it was still empty, and I continued through to the second cellar. Thankfully, the door to the garden remained closed, but I knew we had company out in the garden. Luke stood by the door, listening, he held up his hand to stop us from speaking.
A cold voice I had never wanted to hear again spoke from outside, ‘I shall tell you now the same fact I told your warrior, if you do not let me in, I will snap the boy’s neck like a twig.’
I shot a glance at Luke, I didn’t doubt Thomas would do just that.
‘Let him go.’ I felt terrified for Danny.
‘Yes of course I will, what a good idea.’ Thomas sounded faintly amused now, and perfectly in control of the situation. ‘But I have a better idea. If you give yourself up to me, fledgling, I might just let him go.’
I could hear Will, and Stevie running through the other cellar.
Revenge is Sweet Page 20