by Emma Mills
‘Maybe you should go and track her down?’ I said to Luke.
He nodded thoughtfully and looked at his phone.
‘Has she replied?’ I asked.
He shook his head.
‘Go! And let us know when you find her.’
Things were getting weird.
‘We should forget about the weirdness for a while and watch some empty-headed TV,’ Brittany declared, watching me.
‘Which would be a great idea if we hadn’t packed up both TV’s into safe storage,’ I said.
‘Duh! We’ll just go and chill in my room. We can watch instant download on my tab.’
I nodded.
‘Let’s watch another episode of Zomblog to get us in the mood,’ I said.
But as we were leaving the room my phone trilled.
‘It’s Daniel,’ I told Brittany.
‘Hi?’ I said into the phone.
There was a lot of background noise and interference.
‘Jess, are you okay?’ he whispered.
‘Yes of course. I’m just worried. What’s going on?’
‘Look, I can’t say, and I’ve only got about twenty seconds. I’m sorry about earlier, I really am. You don’t need to worry, okay, but… I’m sorry Jess, I don’t think I’ll make it back tomorrow.’
‘What?’ I asked shocked. ‘But you promised.’ I didn’t want to whine. I mustn’t whine! I gritted my teeth and swallowed.
‘Why can’t you?’ I added.
‘I told you already, I can’t say. It wouldn’t be safe… for either of us… I’ve got to go, but I’ll try my best to get back in time for midnight…’
‘But…’
Suddenly everything went muffled, as if he had put his phone in his pocket, and then the city noise began again.
‘I’ve got to go… and Jess, I love you.’
‘I love you too,’ I replied, but he’d already gone.
I slumped back onto the sheet-covered sofa.
‘That was weird,’ Brittany said. ‘What did he say? All I could hear was your part and a load of crackling.’
I looked up glumly.
‘He’s not coming,’ I stated.
‘What? He can’t just cancel after all the bloody hard work we’ve put in! Is Eva still coming? She better bloody had! I can’t believe it… why? But what I don’t get is this is not typical Daniel behaviour… Something’s up!’
I waited until she stopped ranting.
‘Something is definitely up,’ I repeated. ‘He didn’t mention Eva so presumably she is still planning to be here tomorrow afternoon. I thought they were in on the same thing, whatever it is, but maybe they’re not.’
‘Whatever is going on, we can’t do anything about it so we might as well try not to stress. Come on,’ she said.
We went up to her room and watched back to back Zomblog episodes until my phone trilled again, this time with a message from Luke. I read it out.
‘He says Caoimhe is back. She had to fly to London with the guard for a tipoff they’d had about some suspicious activity, but they didn’t find anything. He says they’ll see us tomorrow.’
‘Well at least that’s some good news,’ Brittany said.
‘Weird that it was London again,’ I said, thinking of Daniel.
‘We’ll finish this episode, then I’m going to crash for the night,’ Brittany said. ‘Will you be okay?’
I nodded.
‘Don’t worry, okay?’
The night was a long one because I didn’t need to sleep more than three hours, thanks to my earlier dinner. I was up at sunrise, adding the final flourishes to the house with some extra sheets I’d purposely destroyed, and I was happily banging in some extra planking along the hallway when a bleary-eyed Brittany appeared at the top of the stairs.
‘Is it necessary to make so much noise at eight o clock in the ruddy morning? It’s going to be a long day with a party at the end of it. I need my beauty sleep!’
‘I had a text from Eva. She’s en route which, the way she drives, means she’ll be here by eleven.’
Brittany sighed and stomped back to her room just as someone banged on the door.
‘It’s Luke, he’s gone!’ Caoimhe exclaimed, as I opened the door.
She ducked under the wooden barrier and squeezed past me.
‘Daniel called him this morning and asked him to go meet him. He’s taking Leo with him. They’ve got permission from the Council… and the Guard,’ she said, her words tumbling out in a rush.
‘What did he say?’ I asked, glancing at Brittany as she hurried back down the stairs, tugging on a jumper as she ran.
‘Let me make you a brew,’ she told Caoimhe, steering her into the kitchen.
‘Thanks,’ Caoimhe said quietly.
‘Luke said you were sent to London last night?’ I queried.
She nodded.
‘Yes, the Guard had a tip-off about some rogue vampires in the capital. They thought they might be planning something for New Year, but we searched all the places suggested and couldn’t find a thing.’
‘Daniel has been in London all week. Sebastian sent him there last Friday and I’ve barely heard from him in the last three days. Something is going on, but they won’t tell me what,’ I added.
Caoimhe frowned.
‘It sounds like it’s all the same thing, especially now that Daniel has asked Luke to join him and the Guard have sanctioned it,’ she said.
‘Luke… and you, are the only angels Daniel would trust to voluntarily work alongside. He wouldn’t ask for anyone else; in fact I’m surprised he asked for help from angels at all! It must be something big.’
‘So do you think the Council is working with Sebastian on this?’ Brittany asked.
‘It sounds like it,’ I shrugged. ‘Yet Eva is on her way home.’
‘Unless she’s turned back. What time did Luke go?’ Brittany asked.
‘Just now. Daniel called about thirty minutes ago.’
‘Well I had the message from Eva around then as well, and as she only answers to Connor, maybe she isn’t needed there today?’ I said.
‘Call her,’ Brittany said.
‘I can try.’ I grabbed my phone from the table and pressed her profile. She answered immediately.
‘I’m on a blissfully empty stretch doing ninety, so make it quick,’ she said.
‘Are you on hands free?’ I asked quickly.
‘Of course! What is it?’
‘So you’re on your way then?’ I asked.
‘Yes, I messaged you half an hour ago. Didn’t you get it?’
‘Yes… it’s Luke. Daniel has called him to London and I was, err… wondering…’
She cut me off.
‘Oh yeah, I know, sorry. Everything’s crazy right now, but I’ll be there in a couple of hours… gotta go!’
She hung up. Again!
‘She knew,’ I told them. ‘And she’s still coming. She said she’d be here in a couple of hours.’
‘Shenanigans!’ Brittany said, frowning. ‘We’ll grill her when she gets here.’
‘You can grill her, and then I’ll patch you up, when she’s torn you to pieces!’ I said.
‘So what are we going to do for the next two hours?’ Caoimhe asked quietly.
I could tell she was worried. So was I.
‘Going back to bed seems like the best option to me,’ Brittany grumbled, just before a quick flash of light illuminated the room.
‘Magic!’ We all cried simultaneously, jumping up from our seats and racing to the kitchen window. We looked out through the gloomy winter dawn across the long garden.
Of course I could see them well before the other two, so I darted past to get to the door.
‘Suze, Saffy!’ I exclaimed, welcoming my cousins as they appeared out of the trees which bordered the garden. ‘I thought you weren’t coming till later? You must have set off in the middle of the night?’
‘Mom thought you might need us early,’ Saffy said, grinning.
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‘A coffee would be great though,’ my eldest cousin, and the new leader of the family coven, said.
‘And a Great British Fry-up, with real smoked bacon please,’ Saffy added.
I raised my eyes and smiled.
‘On it,’ Brittany said. ‘Caoimhe can help me. Jess, why don’t you update them on the goings on?’ she added pointedly.
Chapter Four
Eva roared into the drive in her bright red Porsche shortly before eleven. I’d heard the car and raced to open the door, unsure of how she would react to my boarding up the main access to the house, but she only smiled grimly and ducked past me into the hall. She looked tired. Her face was so pale it was tinged with grey and her skin had lost its porcelain quality. Her dark russet eyes were almost completely black and her cheeks were slightly hollowed.
‘Eva, how do you like the decor?’ I asked.
‘Bloody hell, Jess! Give me a minute to get through the door,’ she snapped back.
I frowned, and noticed Brittany and Saffy slinking quietly back up the stairs.
‘I’ll get out of your way,’ I said. ‘I boarded all the ground floor doorways, but they’re all easy enough to climb over or under. Give me a shout if you want a hand with anything.’
I was halfway up the stairs when she called out.
‘How many witches have you filled the house with?’
‘Just Susie and Saffy. They arrived this morning,’ I answered, as I retreated up the stairs.
‘And Caoimhe, I presume? I can smell her sickly sweet angel odour,’ she added.
‘She came round after Daniel called Luke away, not that anyone’s told us why they were needed,’ I grumbled, returning to my friends.
‘She’s in a right mood! Hell knows what’s going on,’ I said to them, as I closed the door behind me.
‘Weird! I’ve never seen her act like this on New Year’s Eve,’ Brittany said quietly. ‘Do you think it’s the décor?’
I shook my head.
‘She barely noticed it. It must be whatever’s going on in London.’
Susannah nodded.
‘We already know it’s something big, because Mom wouldn’t have heard rumours in Boston and sent us over here early, if not,’ she said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
Since Saffy and Susannah’s mum, my aunt Sarah, had stepped down from her role as High Priestess to allow Susannah to take over, she’d been working within the North American branch of the Council. According to Susannah, Sarah had informed both girls, the day before, that she’d heard there was potential unrest within the UK vampires. As our families were intrinsically linked with the Northern vampires, due to me and my dual blood, they had wanted to up the protection.
‘I’m sure that Daniel would have told me to keep a lookout if we were in any danger,’ I said, forgetting to drop my voice. ‘Or Eva, for that matter. She might be in a stinking mood, but she would let me know if we were in danger. I think she’s just tired from over-working and lack of…’
Behind us the door swung open.
‘Blood,’ Eva finished. ‘Yes Jessie. I know you love it when you’re right, and you’re spot on. I am hungry. I am over-worked. And the proverbial shit is just possibly about to hit the proverbial fan. Daniel had to stay, as he thinks he’s found a fresh lead… but as Connor had already given me leave, Daniel made me come home… to babysit!’ She shook her head and sank down onto the floor, her back against the wall. ‘I should’ve stayed.’
The room was eerily silent for a few minutes as we contemplated her words.
‘Eva, what’s going on?’ I asked. ‘Why does Daniel want you back here if something is going on in London?’
Eva shook her head again and sighed.
‘We’re not sure. It’s so frustrating. It’s all rumours… We only have one contact and on Sunday he disappeared. Initially we just thought it was some pro-divide vampires stirring up trouble for Sebastian and Connor, but now… I’m not so sure. Something feels off… We were given a tip-off that there would be a protest of some sort on New Year’s Eve, but we haven’t found any mention of one and none of our usual contacts have come up with anything. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’m going crazy!’
‘But why would Daniel call in Luke if this was just vampire business?’ I asked, frowning as I turned over the facts. ‘Why would the Council agree… and how on earth has Sebastian agreed?’ It seemed ludicrous.
Eva held her head, her palms pressing into her eye sockets.
‘You’re making my head hurt. Seeing as you have a dark witch…oh sorry, I meant High Priestess, the illustrious crime fighting duo, over there…’ she nodded towards Brittany and Saffy, ‘…and a member of the Angelic Guard, I think you’re safe enough without me for a couple of hours. I need to see Sebastian and I need to feed. I’ll be back by six.’
Neither of us spoke until we heard the front door slam and the roar of her Porsche starting up several minutes later.
‘Well, that was interesting,’ Saffy said. ‘She has such a superiority complex. I don’t know why you’re missing her!’
I smiled.
‘She’s a lot older than us… a lot! And, you know, she’s normally pretty chilled,’ I added.
‘She looks ten times worse than you did yesterday, so she must be starving! We’re probably safer with her gone,’ Brittany said.
I frowned and looked at my phone. I’d messaged Daniel hours before, and neither I nor Caoimhe had heard anything back.
‘Still nothing from Luke?’ I asked Caoimhe.
She shook her head and pulled out her phone again as Susannah’s phone bleeped instead. We all looked across expectantly. She shrugged.
‘I texted Mom just now, updating her about Eva’s whirlwind visit,’ she said.
‘And…?’ I asked.
‘Nothing! She’s been in the New York offices this morning. She says people are on edge, but there is no news… nothing official, anyway.’
‘It’s driving me potty. If I wasn’t still employed under the Council’s goddamn contract I’d take off and go down to London myself, but I can’t risk it, not now I want to persuade them to let me leave…’
‘And Daniel would be pissed, especially as he wanted Eva here protecting you,’ Brittany said with a smirk.
‘Protecting me from what, though? No-one seems to have any idea what we should be keeping an eye out for, do they? Mary’s long-lost vengeful nephew, a coven of zombie-raising witches…’
‘I get the feeling that no-one has any idea,’ Susannah interrupted quietly.
‘So why all the panic?’ Saffy questioned.
Brittany suddenly jumped up and crossed the room, pulling her laptop open.
‘Saff, what’s the one thing we’ve learned over the last five years?’ she asked.
‘I dunno… How not to kill each other?’ she smirked. ‘Having an ocean between us helps.’
‘You’re hilarious, but other than that, about solving cases?’
‘Oh… not to look at the obvious and it’s always in the details,’ she said.
‘And it seems to me that all the Council and Sebastian’s vamps are doing is looking for the obvious. They’re all stuck thinking it’s about some North/South divide issue, but what if it isn’t about that at all?’
‘I’m sure they’ve thought of that,’ I said. ‘I mean Eva just said that she didn’t think it was about that.’
‘Look!’ Brittany said quietly, beckoning us over.
She had displayed a website, its bright white font displayed on a deep red background. The Church of the Superior Races it said.
‘No way!’ I said. ‘They’ve got a name now? How did you know this?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t,’ Brittany shrugged. ‘It literally just occurred to me to do a search. I’d forgotten about that flyer until now.’
‘I doubt Paulo has got anything to do with it,’ I scorned.
‘What is this?’ Saffy said, looking over our shoulders.
‘This or
ganisation was responsible for the flyer you see there being distributed throughout Sebastian’s night clubs a few months ago. He had them removed and never found out who put them there… and believe me, he tried!’ I said. ‘But nothing ever came of it.’
‘Until now,’ Brittany added, skimming past the full page flyer and pointing to a scrolling message at the bottom of the screen.
Fed up of playing by rules you didn’t vote for? Fed up of watching humankind bicker over religious differences? Let’s start a new one. Join our campaign and watch the world change. Click for details.
Brittany hovered her mouse over the click button and looked at me.
‘No,’ Susannah said. ‘We don’t know who these people are or what they’re capable of. They could track the internet clicks. If this is what’s at the bottom of the trouble in London and the Council haven’t worked it out yet, we don’t want to attract attention to this house.’
‘And if they have worked it out, that could be why Daniel sent Eva home,’ Brittany said.
‘And why the Council approved Luke and Leo’s assistance,’ Caoimhe added.
‘So do we think they know or they don’t know?’ I asked.
‘It might not even be this,’ Susannah said. ‘It seems a bit extremist to me and you said Sebastian looked into it a few months ago?’
‘I should go and see Sebastian,’ I said.
‘Oh, I think he’ll know, and you said yourself it’s unlikely Paulo is even involved. He probably just picked up a flyer and hasn’t had the guts to do anything about it,’ Brittany said. ‘Sebastian’s coming to the party anyway, isn’t he?’
‘Hmm, I’m still popping out. Two minutes wasn’t enough yesterday and I won’t be able to feed tonight…’
‘Eew! Too much information,’ Saffy interrupted.
‘I’ll be back before Eva,’ I said, avoiding Brittany’s searching stare.
I was going to pop into the café-bar, but first I wanted to follow a hunch. If Daniel and Luke were ruining their New Year’s Eve trying to stop these lunatics then the least I could do was check something out that could help them, and as Paulo had a serious grudge against Brittany I really couldn’t risk bringing her along. Equally she would never forgive me if I asked Susannah.
