by L.H. Cosway
I instantly shushed her, eyes shifting to the people standing close by. “Less of the ‘v’ word around here, please. Unless it’s vagina. You can say that all you want.”
Alora’s mouth quirked in a small smile, and I smiled back at her even though she couldn’t see me.
“You should have seen him speak to them last night at the Market Below. It was an eye-opener. They all really respect him. Well, most of them do. It’s not like it was with Whitfield. Ethan is going to be a different kind of ruler.”
I stared at her cynically. “I’ll believe that when I see it. And what, pray tell, did you think you were playing at going to the Market Below? It’s ‘vagina’ central, and you might as well be their favourite kind of snack.”
“Ethan brought me. I knew nothing would happen if I was with him.”
“Oh, because he’s just such a big swooning hunk of manliness?” I said sarcastically.
She grinned. “That’s one reason, yes. Oh, and you better not refer to him as a ‘vagina’ to his face. I don’t think that would end well.”
“When people tell me not to say things, it kind of makes me want to do the opposite.”
Tegan groaned. “Don’t I know it.”
A silence fell between us as I sat beside Alora and scanned the gathered crowds for any early signs of disruption. I had to give it to her, Tegan had chosen a good spot. It was nice and elevated to take in lots of what was going on. There was a restless tension in the air. These people really wanted to burn themselves some vampires.
I glanced at Tegan, and she was twisting a strand of hair between her fingers. I’d noticed this was something she did when she was anxious.
“You really think Cristescu is going to be a good ruler?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered seriously, her eyes on the crowd below rather than on me. “I do.”
I hated how her reply filled me with such hope. I wanted it to be true. I wanted Cristescu to rule peacefully, but I still disliked him as a general rule. “Hmm, we’ll see.”
“The day is going to come when you eat your words, Finn Roe.”
“I hope you’re right,” I replied, watching the mass of people. I spotted movement up ahead and pinpointed Theodore and Rita walking hand in hand through the middle of the crowd. They were dressed the same as they had been when they were on TV, looking like a holier than thou preacher and his daughter instead of an evil sorcerer and his newly-turned-evil witchy progeny.
Theodore had a loudspeaker in hand, which he lifted to his mouth to address the crowd.
“Thank you all for coming. Before the day is through, we will have purged the vampire infestation from Tribane once and for all. Now, to get down to business. Please organise into groups and begin visiting homes on the south side of the Hawthorn. I have it on good authority that’s where most of the vampires reside. Leave no stone unturned. Maps are currently being distributed among you with clearly defined markings for all residential areas. When you discover a house without a chalk circle, do not knock on any doors or give any signs that you are there. Set fire to the residence and leave immediately. The vampires will be too deep in slumber to notice the fire until it is too late.”
I watched as several individuals moved through the throngs, handing out small maps. I recognised one of them as Marcel, and my blood boiled. I used to know that man, used to be on reasonably friendly terms with him, and although I knew he was capable of a lot, I didn’t think he would be capable of this. This was genocide, no matter what way you wanted to spin it. I had my fair share of bones to pick with the vamps, but burning them while they slept was nothing short of barbaric.
Theodore and Rita began leading a large crowd of people away from Campion Row, an eerie death-by-fire parade.
“We’ll follow Theodore and Rita,” I said, pulling my hood up over my head. I couldn’t risk being recognised. At the same time, Tegan withdrew a small cap and sunglasses from her bag and put both on. Ira was already wearing a black beanie. I wasn’t sure if Alora needed to worry about being recognised, but since Michael Ridley was a follower of Theodore’s he could be around here somewhere. Pulling her up from the step and standing in front of her, I tucked her long ponytail inside the blue hoodie she was wearing and pulled up her hood.
“Just a precaution,” I said, leaning close to her ear, and she nodded in silent acquiescence.
When I pulled back, Tegan was watching us both with one eyebrow raised over her sunglasses and a smirk tugging at her lips.
“Got something to say?” I asked.
“Nope. Nothing to say at all,” she answered with a cheeky lilt to her voice.
I took Alora’s hand, and together the four of us blended into the crowd. All around me I heard stories about Theodore spreading like wildfire. Not a single one of them was true. The most prominent was that he was a widowed doctor who spent most of his time providing free medical care for the poor. What a load of bollocks.
“I don’t doubt it,” one woman said to her friend as they walked past. “I like to think you can judge a person from their eyes, and Mr Girard has the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
I did my best not to laugh. More like the craziest pair of eyes she’s ever seen.
“He’s done such good for the city by organising all of this. I think he should be voted in as mayor once the vampires are all killed,” said the other woman.
Okay, I couldn’t contain my laugh this time. Both women shot me dirty looks before continuing with their Theodore Girard panegyric. When we reached the first residential street, not a single house was without a chalk circle on the door. The people mumbled about it being a good, respectable neighbourhood, which explained why no vampires lived there.
I felt like telling them I knew for a fact that vampires lived in some of the most respectable areas in the city, but I held my tongue. We were on the fourth street now, and still, no circle-less homes had been found. A restlessness began to take hold, and people were growing suspicious.
A half an hour passed and still no houses to burn. A man standing several feet away from me looked like he was about to start lashing out, but then all of a sudden his face lost its agitated expression and a look of calm overtook his features.
I turned immediately to glance down at the pretty blonde whose hand was in mine. “Did you do that?” I whispered to Alora.
She nodded. “I could sense his rage. In situations like this, all it takes is for one person to lose their cool, and before you know it, there’s chaos.”
“I don’t doubt that,” I murmured, and we continued walking.
Tegan drew close, her voice a whisper. “At some point, Theodore’s going to know that something is up.”
“I think that point has already arrived,” Ira said.
Theodore walked down the centre of the crowd. It instantly parted for him, and all movement stopped.
“I think we have spies amid our ranks,” he announced as his crazy gaze inspected each person he passed. How could those two women mistake such crazy eyes for kind ones? I guess people sometimes saw only what they wanted to see.
Rita walked closely behind Theodore, inspecting people right along with him.
“Somebody has warned the vampires of our plan,” Theodore said loudly as he continued to walk through the crowd. “And I have a feeling that person is among us now.”
Outraged murmurings drifted among the gathering.
“Who is it? Who is it?” one lunatic woman cried.
I wanted to take my three friends and get the hell out of here, but if we moved now, we might as well be wearing big flashing signs on our heads that read, SPIES. All we could do was stay put and hope Theodore somehow managed to overlook the four people who had very subtly obscured their faces from view.
When I glanced at Tegan, she looked like she was holding her breath. I might’ve been holding mine, too. I’d been in so many dangerous and fucked up situations in my life, but this one took the cake. We were surrounded by several hundred angry people, and
if Theodore pointed us out as traitors, we’d probably be crushed to death by the sheer numbers.
Remind me why I thought it would be a good idea to leave my safe, warm bed this morning for this shit?
Oh yeah, because I was a stupid, brave idiot with a hero complex.
I squeezed Alora’s hand and tugged her closer to me. She was shaking, but I couldn’t tell if it was because she was afraid or if she was using her ability to calm the people around us. When I noticed her lip tremble, I decided it was the former. She was scared and that only made me want to protect her more. I let go of her hand to wrap my arm around her shoulders, rubbing up and down in soothing motions.
A couple of yards ahead of our group, Theodore stopped in front of a skinny, brown-haired man and looked him up and down.
“Forgive me for saying so, but you seem rather nervous, sir,” Theodore commented.
The attention of the crowd zoomed in on this man and anticipation rose. They needed a scapegoat, someone to channel their outrage on, and this man was a prime target.
“You’re right. I am nervous. The idea of vampires terrifies me,” the man replied, his voice a jittery mess.
Theodore took a step closer to him and pursed his lips. My attention was drawn to Rita. She wasn’t looking at the man her father had singled out. Instead, she was scanning the crowd, inspecting each face one by one. Thankfully, we were too out of the way for her to see us yet.
“Oh? And what exactly happened to your neck?” Theodore questioned.
“M-my neck?” the man stammered. “I don’t understand.”
“Some sort of marks are present,” Theodore explained before grabbing his collar and pulling it down. Those standing nearest to the man gasped in horror, and although I wasn’t close enough to see, I had a good idea what was discovered. Vampire bite marks. This guy must’ve been a blood donor for some vamp who told him to go along and observe what was happening.
“You are the spy,” Theodore accused in what I assumed was feigned shock and indignation. I had to admit, he was putting on a good show for the crowd.
“Please,” the man cried, tears running down his cheeks. “I was only doing what she asked me to. She compelled me to tell her of the plans to burn the homes of vampires. I had no other choice but to do it.”
“We always have a choice,” Theodore said dismissively. “And now you will have to face the judgement of your peers for what you have done.” He stopped and turned to address the crowd. “What do you all think we should do with him?”
I liked to think I was hard to shock, but I was taken aback when people started shouting suggestions like, “Hang him,” and “Shoot him.” How quickly they resorted to savagery. Whoever coined the term, ‘the madness of crowds’ was spot on, because this was pure insanity.
A conflict raged within me. I didn’t want to allow this man to be killed. But if I stepped up and tried to stop it, I’d basically be putting nooses around all our necks.
“Shoot him?” Theodore questioned. “Are you sure?”
My gaze was drawn to the hand that emerged from his pocket. Nobody else was looking, but his fingers began to move in rapid motions. He was casting a spell. Something small and dark formed in his hand. He’d just magicked himself a gun!
A man standing behind him got an odd, glazed look in his eyes as he stepped up close to Theodore, who then slipped the gun into his hand. The man stepped in front of the vamp blood donor and raised the gun to his head. Exclamations of surprise and shouts of encouragement erupted as the man prepared to shoot the guy who’d been labelled as a spy.
My fingers twitched as I held Alora close. I only had seconds to decide whether or not to intervene.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to act, because someone else did.
Unfortunately, that person was Tegan.
9.
Tegan
Why was I doing this?
Why the hell was I doing this?
Of course, I knew the answer. I couldn’t stand by and let a man be killed. I simply couldn’t
“Stop!” I shouted, stepping forward with my hand braced in front of me. Sparks trickled from my palm, and I kept them there, a steady stream of magical defence.
Theodore’s gaze immediately darted to me, and a grin shaped his lips a moment before he plastered a look of terror on his face. “My goodness, who are you? What are those?” There was a false look of fear in his eyes as he stared at the magic coming from my hand.
Some people saw my sparks and screamed in terror, while others simply stared at me, gobsmacked. Rita walked through the gap in the crowd until she was standing in front of me. Her head tilted to the side curiously, like I was a stranger she had the odd sense she knew from somewhere.
I wanted to say so many things to her, but my mouth wouldn’t work. Emotion caught in my throat. Seeing someone you considered one of your closest friends look at you like they didn’t even know you was heart-breaking.
“Rita,” I whispered.
Her name seemed to be the only word I could think to say in that moment.
“Who is she?” someone shouted.
“What’s wrong with her hand?” another wailed in fear.
“Rita,” I whispered again but saying her name didn’t elicit any response.
Suddenly, Theodore marched toward us and pulled Rita away from me as though to protect her. I felt like laughing and crying all at the same time.
“Don’t hurt my daughter, you … you abomination!” he cried, loud enough for everyone to hear.
The word ‘abomination’ seemed to create a frenzy among the crowd as they shouted in agreement that yes, the woman standing before them was an abomination and needed to be dealt with.
A sharp pain shot through my scalp as a woman grabbed my hair from behind and pulled hard. Another woman smacked me across the face, and I let go of the sparks for a moment to clutch my cheek in surprise.
The noise of a gun firing rang out, and I heard Finn shouting, “Get away from her, all of you, or I’ll shoot.”
Some people moved, but others continued to attack me. I regained my composure long enough to summon my sparks again, throwing them haphazardly at my attackers. Finn was still too far away to be much help, but seconds later, the attack stopped, and all I heard was an eerie snarl. I turned my head and found Ethan behind me, facing my attackers. His fangs were out, and his silvery gold eyes were murderous.
“It’s a vampire!” somebody screamed in terror. “A vampire in daylight!”
Complete and total chaos followed as a stampede formed, the crowd now desperate to get away from Ethan. I couldn’t decide if one guy was courageous or just plain stupid when he jumped on Ethan with a stake. Ethan swatted him away like he was nothing but a fly. The man hit the ground hard and scurried off, quickly realising the error of his ways.
Then, from somewhere close by, I saw a white light. I pulled myself to my feet and stood to see that the light was emanating from Alora. Wow … just wow. The people who hadn’t yet fled were strangely beginning to calm down. Finn stared at her with a look of amazement mirroring my own. Was she doing this? Was she somehow calming them?
My attention was drawn away from her when I heard Ethan snarling again, but this time his anger was directed at me. He pulled me into his arms and glared down at me.
“Coming here without informing me was a very bad idea, Tegan. If I hadn’t found you in time you could have been beaten to death by those humans,” he seethed.
“I know, but I wanted to see Rita,” I said, tears forming, emotion clogging my throat.
“The witch is not worth risking your life for,” he replied, his tone softening a smidge.
“She’s risked plenty for me before all this happened. I know I can get her back. I just know it.”
Ethan’s hard expression faltered, and sympathy filled his gaze. “Don’t ever do anything like this again,” he said. “If you want to go somewhere dangerous, I won’t stop you, but at least let me come so I can protect you.”
“Jesus, that was a close call,” Finn said, coming up to us with Alora at his side. Ira was on the other side of him, and I looked around to find that Theodore, Rita, and everyone else had fled the scene.
“The humans have seen you in daylight,” Ira said, addressing Ethan. “Even though it’s not exactly true, rumour might spread that vampires are not confined to the night and things should settle down.”
“In other words,” Finn added. “They’ll be too scared shitless to leave their homes, and the city will be a ghost town again.”
“Well, it’s not ideal, but it is preferable to what happened here today,” I interjected, meeting Finn’s eyes.
“Theodore knows we’re onto him now. He also knows where you live. You must all come and stay at my house until we know it’s safe,” Ethan said, and his words surprised me.
To be honest, I didn’t think he gave much of a crap about my little group of friends, but now I saw that he did, and my heart didn’t know what to do with that information.
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right,” Finn agreed, dismayed. “And I’ve only just gotten back into my own bed.” He paused and eyed Ethan. “Is there room in your place for all of us?”
Now I was surprised that Finn was going along with this and not putting up a fight. Perhaps we were all maturing.
“There is plenty. Go pack up your things and gather the others. You’ll need to act fast before Theodore decides to pay you a visit. I’m sure he knows where I live, too, but he’s scared of me. He won’t dare come to my house.”
Finn quietly agreed and began leading Alora and Ira back to wherever he parked his van. Silently, Ethan lifted me onto his back, and moments later, we were outside his house.
“I’m still mad at you,” he said. Something about his husky tone caused a deep, erotic stir in my belly, and I decided to goad him.
“Be mad all you want. You’re not the boss of me,” I retorted before sauntering into the kitchen to make something to eat. I left so early this morning that I didn’t have the chance for breakfast. My stomach rumbled.
