Oh yes, Vicken Clough was now definitely a mortal.
I put the flask down and turned to my bedroom; the door was open. I walked slowly across the living room, passing messy piles of books and an empty pack of cigarettes. When I placed a hand on my bedroom door, it creaked, echoing in the silent apartment as I pushed it open. There on the bed, where I expected to see ashes and blood, were messed sheets and a couple of pairs of jeans in a heap. When I came out of the bedroom, the living-room decor was unchanged from when I’d left it four days earlier.
The longsword on the wall.
The red couch.
The thorned iron candle holders.
And then there was a bang on the door! It had to be Justin, wanting an explanation after everything that had happened on the archery field.
I walked to the door, and as I grasped the handle I noticed out of the corner of my eye something on my balcony.
‘One second,’ I called out. I walked slowly, heel to toe over the hardwood floor. My toes curled over the metal of the balcony doorway. On the black tiles, thousands of tiny glittering particles shimmered in the moonlight. And there, in the centre, was the clear outline of a body – my body. It must have been where I’d lain after I performed the ritual for Vicken. The golden particles were scattered unevenly near the door as though I had been lifted from the spot and then brought back inside.
There are three ways to kill a vampire: a stake through the heart, beheading and very powerful sunlight. When a vampire is killed, she leaves behind only the dust of her supernatural form and there mine was before me, like small crystals.
Bang!
‘Coming!’ I spun round, quickly walked to the front door and opened it.
It was not Justin.
A young man with hair like a lion’s mane and a proud chin leaned an elbow on the door jamb.
‘About bloody time. You’d think I have all night to wait around,’ Vicken Clough said with a smile.
‘Vicken!’ I cried, and threw my arms around him.
‘Yes, that’s my name.’ His arm muscles contracted as he squeezed them around me. It sent goosebumps rippling over my arms to feel him curl around me and to hear him breathe in my ear – in and out. I pulled away.
‘Vicken! My God.’ I placed both hands on his cheeks. His fierce brown eyes warmed as he looked at me. ‘Look at you,’ I said with an amazed sigh. My hand pressed on to his back and I waited for it, for his chest to rise and then fall. It was quick but he did, a quick inhale, a quick exhale.
The ritual had worked. He was a living, breathing human. Officially an ex-vampire.
‘Hello, love,’ Vicken said, pulling back with a smile. He walked into my apartment, plopped down on my couch and rested his black leather boots on the coffee table. His shaggy hair was deliberately unkempt and he leaned back into the pillows and crossed his hands behind his head. It was so him I wanted to hug him again.
‘You look . . .’ he said, ‘terrible.’
I appraised his sleek shoulders and lean frame. It seemed impossible that the Aeris could blame Rhode and me for giving someone this gift. Looking at Vicken, what we’d done seemed so easy to justify. I wondered briefly if the Aeris made an appearance to Vicken too. He had also re-entered the natural world as a human without their consent. They might have visited and threatened to send him back to the nineteenth century, before I made him a vampire.
‘Vicken, have you seen the Aeris?’
‘Seen the Aeris?’ he asked, and his features darkened. ‘You mean they exist?’
Suleen was right, then. The Aeris did not show themselves to vampires just because they were evil. They had come for Rhode and me. They had come to make an example of us.
I explained to Vicken what had happened on the archery field. That Rhode had run off and left me with no answers.
‘That explains that, then,’ Vicken said with a chuckle.
‘Explains what?’ I asked.
‘I’ve been staying here in your room. Rhode walked in, grabbed a bag and said he had to leave.’
‘Did he say where he was going?’
‘No. I tried to follow, but when I went out on to campus, it was bloody chaos. Police cars, sirens, ambulances. I haven’t exactly got a pass to be on campus yet – you know what I mean? What happened out there?’
I stood up straighter and clenched my hands. I did not answer him right away.
Rhode had been staying in my room the four days I had been in the hospital, while I assumed he was dead? Last year, he existed. Somewhere in the world . . . just without me.
I groaned. How strange it was to stand here now looking at his longsword and our photos without the pit of grief in my stomach. It was the same apartment, but everything was different.
‘Oh!’ Vicken said, interrupting my thoughts. He stood up and reached deep into the pockets of his jeans. His fingers curled around something I could not see and he opened his palm. ‘This is for you.’
A ring dropped into my palm. My onyx ring.
‘I found it out on the balcony after I . . . after I awoke,’ Vicken said. ‘You were gone.’
The legend of onyx was that it could hold on to spirits left lingering in a world that no longer wanted them. I immediately thought of Rhode holding my hand on our long walk to my orchard so many years ago. I tried to push away the words he’d said on the archery plateau but they sifted into my mind anyway . . . I didn’t want to come back. I had to.
‘I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you,’ I said, clearing my throat and pushing the ring on to my finger. ‘Justin took me to the hospital after the ritual was completed.’
‘Typical mortal . . .’ Vicken grumbled. ‘All you would have needed was some simple . . .’
‘Lavender water,’ we said in unison, and shared a smile. I kept looking down at the onyx ring on my finger. I focused on its black smooth surface. The stone had no end, no beginning and no glint of light. Just darkness.
‘Hey . . .’ Vicken said. ‘Your hands are shaking.’
Were they? I sat down on the couch, placing my head in my hands.
‘Is it me?’ he continued. ‘I just got back here. You can’t possibly be angry with me yet.’ I met his eyes. ‘Seriously – what is it?’ he asked.
‘The chaos on campus was caused by a murder. A student was murdered tonight. By a vampire.’
‘Anyone we know?’
‘Yes, I recognized her. Remember the maid from Hathersage? In 1910? I can’t remember her first name.’
‘Was she alone?’ Vicken asked.
‘As far as I could tell. I didn’t see anyone else.’
I rested my elbows on my knees and looked to Vicken for answers. He would know what to do. He was once one of the leaders of my coven.
When he offered me no answer, I stood up and walked to the balcony door. Outside, I watched the moonlight shine over the sparkles of my vampire remains . . . such a strange remnant of a life so dark, so empty.
I thought of Rhode running from me and a pulse of pain rippled through me. I hoped, wherever he was, that he was safe.
Vicken joined me at the balcony door.
‘We didn’t tell anyone,’ he said, referring to my coven and their arrival at Wickham Boarding School only a few weeks before. ‘No one in the vampire world knew we were coming for you.’
‘No,’ I said, as Suleen’s words echoed in my mind. ‘It’s not your fault. This vampire was drawn here by the ritual.’
Vicken turned to me, a thought forming in his mind. I could see the excitement building in his eyes.
‘She’ll probably wait around. Wait to see who was performing that kind of magic.’
‘You can count on it,’ I said.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, walking back across the room.
‘Go?’ I asked. ‘Do you have any idea the kind of night I’ve had?’
‘Bollocks. Let’s go find her. See what we’re up against. See if there’s more than one.’
‘So you’ve gone mad. The ritual destroyed yo
ur mind,’ I said.
‘A simple hunt. That’s all. Just to size up what we’re dealing with.’
‘Now? Tonight?’
I was exhausted to the core, but something in Vicken’s idea made adrenaline fire up my muscles.
‘Why not now? She killed that girl tonight. Should we sit around until there are more murders?’
I had to admit it was a better idea than just waiting. But I had to be logical about this.
‘We don’t have Song or Heath. We’ve got no coven. We’re human, with no back-up and no supernatural abilities,’ I added.
‘Not true. I’ve still got my vampire sight and extrasensory perception. If vampires are nearby, I’ll be able to feel them, sense what they’re up to.’
True! Vicken still retained some of his vampire abilities because he had only recently been transformed. He would have sight like a vampire, and a sixth sense. He would be able to pick up other people’s emotions and their intentions.
‘Come on, then, let’s go,’ I said, walking out of the apartment.
‘Oh, please,’ Vicken said, shutting the door behind us. ‘Don’t act like this was your idea.’
Down near the library, a security van was pulling towards the chapel, away from Seeker.
Vicken motioned to the trees. ‘Go,’ he whispered.
We darted down the path into the shadows, keeping close to the buildings. We turned at the infirmary and ran down its length towards the woods beyond. I couldn’t make out the stone wall but I knew it was there. Vicken’s footsteps matched mine and when I caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye, a small smile was playing on his lips.
‘You’re enjoying this too much,’ I hissed. We reached the stone wall, which was as high as Vicken was tall. He placed a motorcycle boot in between the mismatched stones and pushed himself up, then pulled me up behind him. We climbed down to the other side on to Main Street, outside the protection of the Wickham Boarding School walls.
Now that I stood there on the street, it did seem a rather stupid idea. Vicken and I hadn’t taken any precautions. We could have tied rope around our necks in a knot with a protection spell. We could have tried a whole array of spells to arm ourselves.
I drew a deep breath, taking in the long view of Main Street.
‘I can do this,’ I said, extending my hand to Vicken. ‘I’m not bad with a knife.’
‘There’s my girl,’ Vicken said, and reached into his boot. He handed me a dagger wrapped in a leather sheath. We continued along the wall, down Main Street, away from school, away from the cafes, and in the direction of Lovers Bay Cemetery.
‘Besides,’ he added, ‘we’re here to see what she wants. To observe. We won’t have to fight anyone if we stay out of sight.’
I couldn’t allow myself to be afraid, even though she was more powerful than we were. Anyway we weren’t helpless. By nature vampires do not have super-strength or speed. They are just hyper-aware; they can smell flesh in an instant, read thoughts and intentions, even track a person from miles away. Vicken and I could outrun a vampire over a short distance, but eventually the need for breath would weaken us. We just had to stay out of sight so she couldn’t sense us or see us.
Already I was feeling better. I had been a vampire queen for almost six hundred years, and I knew vampires. I knew more than she did, a vampire barely a century old. Vampires by nature were loners. They usually only travelled in a maximum of five, a coven. Too many vampires together were too many vampires fighting for power. We walked past the cemetery, down towards the end of Main Street. As we walked, we could see the ocean at the end of the street.
‘Do you sense anything?’ I asked Vicken.
‘Just how scared you are,’ he said with a devilish smirk. But it vanished immediately. He inhaled deeply. I did too.
For there had been a shift in the air. A light breeze picked up, bringing with it the smell of . . .
‘Musk,’ we said together. Musk was a very specific fragrance, one used in many spells.
‘Where’s it coming from?’ I asked. He pointed towards the end of the street. The wind blew again, and the smell was stronger this time.
I touched Vicken’s arm. ‘What are the odds?’ I asked.
‘Pretty good, actually. You said it yourself,’ he whispered, his eyes darting down the street. ‘The ritual drew her here.’
I inhaled the strong scent of musk again and looked to the sky. Right above where we stood was a constellation I knew very well.
‘Pegasus,’ I said. My old friend the winged horse. Vicken and I shared a knowing gaze. Vampires looked to Pegasus for the time – you could tell how long you had until sunrise based on its position in the sky. The time now was nearing midnight, a powerful hour for vampires performing spells. Even though we were mortal, I hoped Pegasus might give us some strength.
With the musk came hints of earth and vanilla. The smell deepened; this was not traditional musk, this was different. I had smelt that combination before.
‘Of course,’ I said knowingly. ‘This musk is being burned over a fire. Don’t you smell the wood?’
I had performed this exact spell with Heath, Gavin, Song and Vicken when they first became my coven. The annunciation spell was used to cement a coven, binding their lives together. Forever.
‘And it’s meant to be performed before midnight at the beach. They’ll need seawater,’ I said, and with renewed focus I ran towards the end of Main Street.
‘That’s why she killed Kate. She had to be full so that she could share her blood with her coven,’ I continued breathlessly.
‘Yeah, I remember,’ Vicken said darkly as he followed me in the direction of the beach. ‘Look, if there’s only one or two, we can stab them right in the heart. Get it over with quickly.’ The smell of musk was nearly unbearable now. ‘Get out your knife,’ he commanded.
I slid the knife from my boot, and my fingers gripped around the butt of the dagger. The sidewalk ended with a gated string of houses, separated from the street by a long driveway. Vicken’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and he pulled me into the shadows at the edge of a small parking lot.
His profile was serious as he looked down to the sea.
‘Come on,’ he whispered. I followed, crouched over as we made our way across the parking lot to a sea wall that bordered the sand.
Vicken crouched down and leaned forward.
‘Stop,’ I whispered. ‘They’ll be able to feel our presence.’
‘Not if they’re in the middle of their ceremony,’ he said.
He inched forward so he could look around the side of the wall. His body was still as he looked down the beach.
‘Well?’ I asked, unable to bear the anticipation.
He sat back on his heels. In the moonlight his mouth opened and he looked at the ground before quietly saying, ‘There are five. Four men and the one woman.’
Without letting him go on, I positioned myself so I could look. Without any remaining vampire sight, all I could make out were five figures, just as Vicken had said. The fire burned before the coven and tiny flickers crackled in the blackness. I inhaled musk and frankincense.
It was done. She had a coven.
As I watched, she turned her head, highlighted faintly by the moonlight so that I could see her profile. She had a small upturned nose and a pronounced collarbone, as if she hadn’t eaten enough as a human. Then she spun on her heel to face me, lifted an arm and pointed up the beach directly at me.
‘Run,’ I said, scrambling backwards. ‘Vicken, run!’
I pushed my body as hard as I could as we ran down Main Street back towards civilization. My legs, my poor legs, were shaking so badly that if it wasn’t for the mental image of the vampire’s arm pointing right at me, I would have collapsed to the ground. That blonde hair and the familiar slope of her nose. How could she have known I was here? Here in Lovers Bay?
Run, Lenah. Stop thinking and run.
If we could find a crowd, we would be safe. Vampires don’t
expose themselves to humans en masse. But she wouldn’t give up. She had seen me, her maker.
Oh, what was her name?
‘Here, here!’ Vicken said, skidding to a halt at what seemed like a random part of the street. He started to climb over the stone wall, and only then did I realize he knew exactly where we were thanks to his lingering vampire sight.
I checked around again. Luckily the long trees curved over the wide street and it remained empty.
He extended a hand to me and together we climbed over the wall. Once my feet hit the grass of Wickham, I felt a bit better. Vicken and I crept back towards the campus through the trees, but when we were close to the pathway he stopped.
‘Wait,’ he said, holding out an arm.
A security car drove by, causing both Vicken and me to retreat deeper into the shadows. Once we were safe in the darkness, Vicken asked, ‘What did you run like hell for? Did they see you?’
‘Yes! Of course,’ I said, still trying to catch my breath.
‘Let’s keep to the back of the buildings,’ Vicken said. ‘We have a better chance of staying hidden.’
We walked towards Seeker.
‘Her name was Odette,’ Vicken said. ‘She did not linger long after you took your hibernation.’
I could see the back of Curie Building and the greenhouse as we walked.
‘Odette?’ I said. Her name felt odd and foreign as I said it aloud. ‘I don’t remember that.’ I remembered her face though. I never forgot the faces of those I killed.
‘If the power of the ritual called her to Lovers Bay, then she’s here to find that elemental magic,’ I said. ‘She’ll want it to use herself.’
I didn’t need to explain to Vicken that she desired power.
‘Well, we won’t be performing the ritual again any time soon, so maybe she’ll leave when the magic doesn’t present itself again.’
I hoped that was true, though I didn’t know Odette’s intentions. But as Vicken and I hesitated at the back of the infirmary I did know this: a vampire’s number-one priority is blood. Second on that list would be power. If Odette wanted to find out the source of the magic of the ritual, she would have a plan. Vampires always have a plan.