“What will you do now?” Brother Martin asked, thrown off his planned speech by the Rev’s unexpected response.
“What I’m good at. What all of us here are good at. Severn, Aiden, myself, and Riley of course, make one hell of a good theatre crew. I just want to keep doing that.”
“What about the offer to the girls? Will that still stand if you’re not Grand Master?” Aiden asked.
“Absolutely. Like I said before, it’s coming out of my pocket. I can still afford it. All we need now is for the girls to accept it.”
Chapter 26
“I am glad you are so confident,” Brother Martin said. “I, maybe, am not so much but we will wait. And while we do, I will say that I am impressed by the precision in which you all work at your theatre tasks. You have good work ethics, all of you. I can now understand why you are so much requested.”
“I loved the show,” Finn said. “Good timing on your sound effects, Severn. Nicely done.”
“The Friar does not quite wear his habit correctly,” Brother Martin said, which made us all laugh, “but the fighting with the staves was excellent. They have been taught well.”
“My best friend’s boyfriend’s father taught them,” I said, watching the confusion on Brother Martin’s face as he figured out the relationship.
Beside me, Severn relaxed out of his hunting mode, grinning at Brother Martin’s language barrier. Finn, too, had pulled back as he talked about the show.
“So tell me how they did the arrow trick?” he asked. “How did Robin Hood hit that target so precisely?”
“Was he not just a good shot?” Brother Martin asked.
“No, it had to be a stage trick,” Finn said. “Back in the day, when I was young and fit, I could have made that shot multiple times, but I know all the health and safety regulations these guys have to go through, so I’m betting it was an illusion.”
“You bet right,” I said. “It’s on a wire. Come up to the stage and I’ll show you. It’s a neat trick, you’ll love it.”
With everyone following like sheep, I led the way down the narrow path and across the open lawn to the stage. In the dark the cardboard and corflute castle looked foreboding, its fake turrets looking real as they loomed ominously over us.
“Up here,” I said to Finn as I climbed the steps at the side of the stage. He followed me but the others stayed on the grass, not interested in the theatre prop. Finn, however, was fascinated. I showed him the hook that held the invisible wire in place until it was released and the tiny pulley system that pulled the arrow at lightning speed across the stage and through the centre of the brightly coloured target.
“I figured it had to be something like that,” Finn said, his head nodding appreciation of the clever device. “I could tell by the way the guy playing Robin Hood stood and held the bow that he’d never hit the target on his own, let alone the centre of it.”
“You sound like an expert.”
“I guess I am, girl. When I was growing up, down near the Welsh border, we fed our families by our ability with a bow and arrow.” He laughed at my incredulous expression. “Yes, we were poachers, but the best meat was the venison on the squire’s estate, if we were willing to risk it, and there were always plenty of pheasants and rabbits.”
“You could shoot them with an arrow? Seriously?” I was genuinely impressed.
“Oh yes. I can shoot a pheasant out of the air, or I could when I was a young man. I haven’t picked one up in a few years and I’m not sure if my eyesight would be good enough now, but I reckon I would have given the real Robin Hood a run for his money.”
“Was there a real Robin Hood?” I asked. “I thought he was just a story.”
“I don’t know, lass. That’s a bit before my time. You’d better ask the Reverend.” Finn chuckled to himself as he walked across the stage to take another look at the prop’s mechanism. “So where do you keep the bow and arrow between shows? Anywhere I can see it?”
“It’s under the stage with the rest of the props.”
“Can I have a look?”
“Hmm,” I thought about it. “I shouldn’t really you but you’re crew and I know you’re not going to do anything dumb, so okay, I’ll show you. Just don’t tell anyone I let you in.”
“My lips are sealed, lass.”
“You’re lucky I know where the key is kept or I wouldn’t be able to show you. And I only know that because my step-dad, Grant, got me to unlock it one day when we got here early for rehearsals. Come on. We have to go down these back stairs.”
“How have things been going for you since I last saw you, lass?” Finn asked as we made our way carefully down the steep back stairs to the backstage area.
“Up and down, actually,” I admitted. “After the Dilys and Seth thing, I really thought I was changing into one of you, so I’ve spent the last few months wondering when my fangs and wings would grow. I have to admit it was a huge relief when the Rev explained why that wasn’t going to happen.”
“You don’t fancy becoming one of us?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m still thinking about, quite seriously. I just needed a bit longer to get my head around it all. Everything happened in such a rush last time. I just did what needed to be done in the heat of the moment. There wasn’t time to make a rational decision. Now there is, so if I do change, it will be because I want to, because it’s my choice.”
“Severn’s a good man,” Finn said. “If you did change, he wouldn’t let you down. He’s loyal. He’d still be standing beside you in a thousand year’s time.”
“I might have got tired of him by then,” I laughed. “I might have swapped him for a five-hundred year old toy boy.”
“Or me. You could always swap him for me, lass,” Finn said, chuckling at his own joke.
At the foot of the stairs a door led to a room under the stage. By the light of my tiny maglight, I rummaged behind the stairs to find the hidden box that held the key then fumbled with the lock until the door opened. I shone my torch around the small room and spotted the bow and arrow, leant up against the wall in the far corner. Finn picked up the bow, squinting at it in the bad light.
“It’s fake,” he said. “The woodgrain is just painted on. It’s fibreglass.”
“Yeah. I don’t think they make wooden ones any more. What sort of wood were they? Did they have to be something special?”
“They had to be able to bend without breaking,” Finn explained. “Wood from yew trees made good ones, but so did ash and maple. I had a lovely ash one. Used it for years.” He strung the bow and flexed it a couple of times. “This isn’t great but it’s not too bad. It would be adequate for a child to learn on. I don’t think it would bring down a deer but that’s not what’s needed here, is it. Can I take it outside for a better look?”
“It’s dark out there.” I pointed out.
“But there is a moon and I am a vampire.”
I couldn’t argue with that so I let Finn take the bow and arrow and followed him out. He was right. The night was much brighter than the total darkness in the small, windowless room. I walked to the side of the stage to see what the others were doing. They were standing together, all staring in the same direction. I looked the same way then ducked back to warn Finn. Meredith and Olivia had arrived.
Chapter 27
I was going to rush around the stage to join Severn and the others on the lawn but Finn held me back.
“Stay here, lass. Don’t get involved. Leave it to Brother Martin and Father David. They know what they are doing. Let’s just wait back here and watch, shall we?”
I shrank back into the shadow of the stage and watched the girls striding towards us across the lawn. They were dressed identically in full length, black cloaks, hoods covering their hair, high-heeled, black, leather boots flicking out the bottom as they moved. The men rearranged themselves as the girls approached, Brother Martin and the Reverend moving to the centre of their line, Severn and Aiden taking positions at each end.
> The girls stopped halfway across the wide lawn, planting their feet firmly and drawing their cloaks tighter around their bodies.
“Brother Martin, you’re an unpleasant surprise,” Meredith drawled. “Here we were, coming in good faith for a pleasant business discussion and you boys have brought in the heavy artillery. Such touching faith you have in us, Aiden, my darling twin.”
“Hey, don’t blame me.” Aiden held his hand up in a positon of denial. “I didn’t know he was here either until a few minutes ago.”
“Of course you didn’t. You would never be that treacherous to your sister. But he would,” she extended her arm like the Wicked Witch of the West uttering a curse and pointed at Severn. “That little weasel is such a goody two-shoes, with his little human girlfriend and her smarmy little family. I bet he made the call.”
She was right but she didn’t need to be nasty about it. I wanted to rush over and slap her face but Finn’s hand on my shoulder held me in place.
“You’ve never appreciated the finer and more glorious things about being a vampire, have you, Severn?” Meredith taunted. “Seth knew you hated hunting, that you couldn’t bring yourself to hurt anyone. That’s why we made you do it. You seem to think it mattered if those ridiculous, expendable, sad drunks lived or died. As if their pathetic, short lives had a purpose.”
She paused, waiting for Severn to argue with her but he stood motionless, his feet apart, his arms crossed, his head tilted slightly to the side – the pose I recognised as his silent way of saying “bring it on”.
“Oh well, back to you, Brother Martin,” Meredith said when the silence lengthened. “You’ve come to smack our bottoms for being naughty girls, haven’t you? But it won’t work this time. You’re not going to drag us, kicking and screaming, back to that cold, damp, boring hole of a monastery. We are party animals. We need nightlife. Don’t you agree, Olivia?”
Meredith looked sideways and Olivia took over with the practised precision of a wrestling tag team.
“We need more than nightlife,” Olivia agreed. “We need our own life. Away from you lot. We need big cities with alleyways full of lowlife who won’t be missed. We need crowds of humans, their tiny hearts pumping sweet-smelling blood. We don’t need meditation and hours of silent prayer.”
She stepped forwards one pace. “David, darling, we are going to accept your offer but we want one small change. Berlin instead of Paris. I’m sure you have a lovely house or two there. And we want the deeds to the properties. We want to own them. We don’t want to live there, waiting for you to change your mind and kick us out.”
“If it gets rid of you, I can agree to that,” the Rev agreed. “You are right, Berlin is much better than Paris, so I can do that as long as you agree to stay out of France, out of England and out of New Zealand. Permanently. For ever.”
“Oh, that is too easy. We hate all of those boring places,” Olivia replied. “Am I hearing you right? Do we have a deal?”
“We have a deal,” the Rev confirmed.
“Well, that’s peachy. That just leaves one more thing to tidy up,” Meredith said. “Aiden, my darling twin brother, come here, my love, so we can say goodbye properly. It may be a very long time before I see you again.”
Aiden looked sideways at the others for confirmation then hesitantly walked forwards, his hands outstretched to take the hands Meredith held out to him. Beside me Finn moved, preparing to join his family and farewell his daughter. Olivia was still standing just ahead of Meredith, fingering the toggle on her cloak as she watched Aiden approach. When he reached her, Meredith beamed a smile and took his hands, drawing Aiden close. Olivia pounced.
Before the men had time to react, Meredith had pulled Aiden off balance and snapped a pair of pink, fluffy handcuffs onto his outstretched wrists. Olivia swung her cloak in an arc, wrapping it around Aiden as it fell away from her. Under it, she was in her flight suit – nothing except the shiny, black, knee-high boots.
The men ran towards them but Olivia wrapped her arms around Aiden’s chest, spread her wings and flew upwards, effortlessly lifting him into the air. Aiden struggled but, handcuffed and covered by the cloak, he couldn’t free himself from her tenacious grip. Even without the cloak, he was still dressed in his blacks and with no way to get his t-shirt off, he would fall before he could unfurl his own wings.
“You’re too high. Don’t fight her. Keep calm,” Severn shouted. “We’ll get you.”
“No you won’t,” Meredith said. “If you want him back safe, if you don’t want Olivia to drop him, you will do exactly as I say.”
“What do you want?”
“You. I want you. I really wanted your little piece of human rubbish. I was expecting her to be locked to your side tonight. It was supposed to be her up there with Olivia and we really were going to drop her. But Aiden’s a good substitute. I will feel bad if we have to drop him, I do love my twin, but that’s up to you.”
“What do I have to do?’
“You have to find your little piece of human trash and give her to me so I can kill her.”
Finn pulled me back under the stairs but I didn’t need encouragement – I was just glad I hadn’t been with Severn when they arrived.
“Why should I do that?” Severn asked. “What have you got against Riley? What did you have against Julia, for that matter? If it’s me you’re after, I’m right here. Do your worst.”
“Julia wanted my man. She needed to pay.”
“But your man was already dead. And why Brighton? What the hell is this Brighton beach thing you’ve been doing for decades? What’s that all about?”
“Oh, that was just my little joke with Seth. My anniversary present to him. He turned me on Brighton beach. It’s my little bit of nostalgia for times past. Now stop wasting time. Where’s your girlfriend? I want her here.”
“Why? What’s your problem with her that you can’t settle with me?”
“I don’t have a problem with your girlfriend, except she was there when you ruined my life, and Olivia’s life, so it seems like fair payback for us to ruin yours. Tit for tat. An eye for an eye. A girlfriend for a boyfriend. You killed Seth. I kill Riley. Now fetch her!”
“I can’t. She’s in hospital,” Severn lied.
“Then we will hold Aiden until you make the trade. Olivia, darling, take him somewhere safe, where they won’t find him.”
Above us, Olivia changed from the small wing movements that had been keeping her hovering to stronger beats that lifted her higher. I could see she was beginning to struggle with Aiden’s weight as he had slipped down in her grasp. She beat her wings and angled her body to fly sideways, changing her grip on Aiden which left her bare chest now showing white above Aiden’s cloak-covered head.
Beside me, Finn had been watching, his gnarled hand clutching my shoulder for reassurance, in fear for his son’s life. As Olivia changed position in the air, he gave a small, unintelligible grunt and released his grip. Motioning me to stay still, he stepped away from the stage wall, walked out to where he could see her clearly, and notched the arrow into the bow. Olivia was now over Mona Vale’s decorative lake and losing height as her wings tired. Finn took his time. He planted his feet firmly, straightened his back, drew back the bow, and carefully sighted along her line of flight.
“Fly true,” he whispered then he held his breath and released the arrow.
It whispered back as it flew towards its target, striking just above Aiden’s bowed head. Olivia was flung backwards, losing her grip on Aiden who dropped like a stone into the lake. Olivia’s wings flapped in desperation as she dragged at the arrow, trying to pull it from her breast, then her wings drooped and with a plaintive cry, Olivia fell into the water beside him.
Finn dropped the bow and ran towards the lake, beaten there by Brother Martin and the Rev. Meredith watched Olivia fall in disbelief then she, too, ran towards the lake, screaming Olivia’s name. While the other three men plunged into the lake to rescue Aiden, Severn walked calmly over to m
e and kissed me hard. With a tight smile to reassure me, he entered the tiny props room and returned a few seconds later carrying one of the soldier’s fake wooden swords.
“This one is for us,” he said.
He took my hand and we walked together to the edge of the lake where Aiden sat, wet, gasping but safe. Olivia’s body lay on the grass beside him, Meredith crouched at her side, stroking her face and crying. When she saw us, she rose to her knees, hissing a torrent of vile abuse.
“Don’t get up,” Severn said. “Make this easy.” He stepped forwards until he was standing over her, grasped the wooden sword in both hands and lifted it up.
“Back in the theatre, when I drove that pole through your boyfriend, Seth, I should have killed you too. For Finn’s sake, for Aiden’s sake, I let you live.”
He raised his arms and with all his strength, plunged the sword deep into her chest.
“I don’t make the same mistake twice.”
########
Other Books by J.L. O’Rourke
Blood in the Wings
The First of Severn
Vampires and murder backstage in a Christchurch theatre. 16 year old Riley Lowe is working as a stage hand, backstage at her theatre company's annual show. Her classmate from school, Tasha, is also in the show as a dancer and, as usual, she is flirting with all the guys. In particular, she is trying to take the one Riley is attracted to. Severn is one of a group of professional theatre crew who are helping with the show but the closer she gets to him, the more Riley realises that there is something strange about the group who live and work in the dark. When Tasha is killed and Severn disappears, Riley learns their terrible secret. But can she solve the murder in time to save Severn?
Read an excerpt:
The rain came down red and Severn was gone.
The police asked me lots of questions, both at the theatre and, later, down at the police station but I couldn’t tell them much more than that. No, that’s not true. I could have told them heaps more, but I didn’t. Anyway, I wasn’t sure myself. No, don’t tell anyone anything. Just answer their questions, get out of here, find Severn and hope the answers are wrong.
Out for Blood Page 14
