The Key to Erebus (The French Vampire Legend. Book 1)

  ***

  I woke up in bed to find Rodney sitting anxiously on a chair by my side.

  “Hello, luv.” He smiled at me, his face full of anxiety. “I brought you a nice cuppa, put the world to rights that will,” he said, his voice soft.

  I smiled back at him and sat up in bed while he handed me his favourite mug, the one with Animal from The Muppets on it.

  He scratched the shaved sides of his head, the short hair rasping under his nails. “Bloody ‘ell Jéhenne, I’m so glad you’re alright,” he said, and I could hear the strain in his voice. “You didn’t half give me a turn when Corvus turned up with you completely out of it - I thought you was dead.”

  I blinked hard, touched by how upset he was, feeling my lip tremble a little. “S--sorry, Rodney.”

  He sniffed and spoke in a wobbly voice. “S’alright. Don’t go apologising after you been so brave. I’m just glad you’re safe.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and coughed.

  “Me too,” I agreed, taking a deep breath and steadying my voice. “What time is it?”

  “About sixish, nearly dinner time eh?” He grinned. “You got back just after midnight.”

  I raised my eyebrows in shock. I’d slept for hours and still felt shattered.

  “Did Corvus go back to the Château?” I asked, biting my lip.

  “Yeah, he wanted to stay to make sure you were alright but I said I’d phone him this evening and let him know. I think you scared him more than me, fussing like an old woman he was. He didn’t want to leave you here.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “You know, I think he’s a bit jealous … of me like,” he said pulling absently at a hole in his T-shirt. “I think he’d have been happier if you’d gone to the Château.”

  I felt an ache in my chest. “I know he would have, Rodney but I was so tired and … it’s just too complicated at the moment. I just wanted to sleep. I used a lot of magic.”

  “I bet you did.” He shook his head. “Corvus said Reina was going to kill you?”

  “S--she was trying to get the ring.”

  “An’ you fought her off,” he said in awe. “You really are somethin', Jéhenne.”

  The image of her corpse was suddenly vivid behind my eyelids and I took a breath. “Did … I mean … what happened to the body?”

  Rodney stiffened a little and then smiled uneasily. “Ah, don’t you worry yourself about that. It’s all been taken care of. Now do you want something to eat?”

  I looked at him carefully and decided I didn’t want to know if he’d taken care of the body, so I just nodded.

  “OK luv, I’m going to fetch you some grub. Why don’t you go take a shower, make you feel better?”

  He bustled off and left me alone, a shower sounded like a wonderful idea, so I flung the covers off and sat on the end of the bed.

  It was only then that I noticed I was still dressed and suddenly the stench of Reina’s burning body drifted to me from the fabric of the clothes. I retched and ran to the bathroom, just making it in time, and vomited until my stomach ached and my throat was sore. As soon as I was able to stand, I ripped off my clothes and threw them out the bathroom window. I’d get Rodney to burn them for me. I never wanted to see them again.

  I turned the shower on and the hot tap up as high as I could bear it, scrubbing myself vigorously all over. I stayed in the shower until the water ran cold, feeling guilty and hoping Rodney hadn’t wanted one.

  I knew that the smell had gone, but somehow it lingered around me and with it came the picture of her lying dead in the woods. In the end I grabbed some of Rodney’s aftershave and doused myself liberally.

  “Grub’s up, Jéhenne!” bellowed a voice from downstairs. My stomach twisted and I wasn’t sure I could eat anything, but Rodney was being so kind I needed to try. I pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and headed down stairs where a wonderful smell was wafting from the kitchen.

  “English bacon! Oh I haven’t had bacon for so long. You’re spoiling me.” I smiled, and sat down at the table where Rodney handed me a bulging plate filled with bacon, eggs, beans, fried bread and tomatoes.

  “Don’t be daft, need to keep your strength up don’t you? Now eat that and then you can decide what you want to do.”

  I did as I was told and found ruefully that I had no problem eating it whatsoever. Rodney said that he’d left Corvus a message saying I was fine and that he’d probably call me as soon as he was up.

  In the meantime, I asked if Rodney would watch a film with me, I didn’t want to be alone and I needed something to occupy my mind. So he let me take my pick from his DVD collection. I noticed, with a smile, that he had Sean of the Dead, but decided I needed something without dead bodies in. We settled on Notting Hill which Rodney insisted actually belonged to Amelia.

  Rodney talked over most of the film, but it was actually more enjoyable that way, and he made me laugh by making fun of the actors. I tried hard to relax, but every now and then Reina’s face would drift before me and I’d have to really concentrate on the film to push it away again.

  The sun had just gone down when Corvus rang.

  “How are you?” he asked, the sound of his voice enough to make my heart beat a little faster.

  “I’m fine, really … much better.” I assured him. “Thank you so much … for yesterday.”

  “There’s no need to thank me. If anything had happened to you … I …” He paused and I quickly filled the gap.

  “But it didn’t and I’m fine - honestly.”

  “What are you doing?”

  I shrugged though he couldn't see me. “Oh, nothing much, I’ve just been watching a film with Rodney.”

  There was a pause.

  “Can I come over?”

  I hesitated for a moment. I wanted to see him very much, but in reality nothing had changed and things were complicated enough.

  “Actually the film’s nearly finished and I’m pretty tired so ... I think I’ll probably go to bed.”

  The silence at the end of the line was deafening. Rodney’s groan as he put his head in his hands wasn’t. I elbowed him and mouthed, “What?” but Rodney just rolled his eyes at me and drew his finger across his throat.

  “Er, Corvus? Are you still there?”

  “Yes, Jéhenne. I am still here and you are there.” Each word was crisp and clear.

  “Corvus we did agree …” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. “That we wouldn’t see each other for a while.”

  “No. You decided. I had no choice,” he answered bitterly. “If you force me to I will wait for you, Jéhenne, for as long as I must - but I don’t expect me to like it.”

  The line went dead.

  “Oh gods, Jéhenne, you’re going to get me bleedin' killed,” Rodney moaned, his head in his hands.

  “What?” I demanded, totally perplexed. “Why?”

  “He was already upset that you wanted to come here, last night. He was your knight in shining bloody armour and now you’ve told him, you had a nice, cosy evening with me and you don’t want to see him!” he yelled, looking wide eyed with horror.

  “No, I--I didn’t,” I stammered.

  He rolled his eyes and grasped my arm, his hold surprisingly firm. “Jéhenne, listen to me. He’s a seriously powerful vampire. He’s used to getting his own way.What he wants, when he wants it. If anyone else … anyone, spoke to him the way you do … well … well they just wouldn’t that’s all.” he said with a huff.

  “Oh.”

  “Oh,” he repeated sarcastically and gave a heavy sigh. “Listen luv, you’ve just hurt his feelings. If he really believed there was anything between us you’d be picking bits of Rodney out of the friggin' light fittings about now.” He gave me a crooked smile. “Lucas was right about one thing, he don’t think clearly where you’re concerned and I’d just rather not end up in the middle of it. OK?”

  “OK,” I muttered. “So what do I do now?”

  He brightened up at that. “Well you could phone him back and make it
up with him.”

  I shook my head. “If I do that, he’ll persuade me to let him come over.”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  “No, it wouldn’t. That’s the problem.” I blushed and looked sideways at Rodney who snorted. “Can he text?” I asked.

  “Well, I did show him how. “He frowned. “But I’m not sure he was paying attention. I wouldn’t expect a reply for a bit.” He patted my arm with a smile. “I’ll leave you to it then, luv - night, night.”

  “Night, Rodney,”

  It took me about seven attempts before I was satisfied and in the end I decided to keep it simple. I just wrote, miss you :(

  I sat staring at my phone, willing him to answer me and when it finally bleeped, about twenty minutes later, I almost dropped it in shock.

  When I saw what he’d written I smiled with relief.

  miss you too :(=