The one holding the gun walked over and stuck out his hand and I took it. “Names Daniel McGale and we have an accord…if the price is right. Though, I don’t normally do business before the crack of dawn.”
“That I understand but we just got off the ship this night and have no supplies at the new place, if you can call it that. You name your price, Mr. McGale, and I will see that you have it. But, I will need to take one of those goats back with us now. You have my word that you’ll get your pay.”
“I don’t know…”
“This should cover the cost nicely.” Jacob walked up and handed the man two silver coins.
“I’ll be right back.” He turned and he and Tink disappeared into the barn.
“Where did you have that hiding?”
“Tammy took it from a ladies pouch that she had between her breasts. I believe I will never grow so old that I do not learn something new from this younger generation. So tell me, should we not mark these normals for our own safety?”
“You can if you have a problem when you and a few others come back first thing tomorrow night to get what they offered to sell. That is, unless we can get them to deliver?”
The two men came back out with Tink pulling a not so willing, healthy goat between them. I noticed Jacob looking up, and then he rushed over and took the rope of the goat from Tink and shook his hand. Jacob spoke a few moments with the men and then we said our goodbyes and hurried back the way we had come. The sky was changing to a faded grey; telling all that dawn was on its way. One by one we rushed through the oval shaped hole in the wall, with Cates being the last. I looked back and saw him pull in a dried hedge to cover the outside view of the hole and once inside push the wood pile back in place.
Once inside, Jacob held the goat still by the cabinet with its neck pulled tight, while Garvin slid his blade quickly across. Tanda was there with the big bowl to catch the stream of steaming blood and all I could do was watch and lick my lips. The more I stared at the red flow, the more my mind went to the gala and what we were going to do to the sick of the city. I wanted to take the heads of Angelica and her twin and I wanted to sit back and watch as Tammy had her way with Bernard and Alex. I could envision Jacob and Cates slicing through flesh and bone as bodies dropped in solid to ash form. My mind was swimming with the visions of Sydney’s club coming down and crushing a breeders’ skull. All of the sudden I could hear Derek calling out my name.
“Renee, open your eyes!”
“Everyone just step back and give her some room,” I heard Tammy say in the distance, but then she too went away.
Chapter Twenty Four
Memory told me I had been in the sandstone wall room before, only the figure in the bed was not the same dark haired man that I had seen the last time my visions had brought me here. Yvette lay curled on her side, her lower half covered by a sheer white blanket of sorts. The rest of her was nude. I wanted to walk over and choke her to death again, but I didn’t seem to have a body. All I could do was watch whatever I was here to see.
“Bring me my drink, will you, love?” Yvette said, raising her hand lazily.
“You said you would help me take him down this night, Yvette.”
“And I will, my beautiful man, but you must trust me if you wish to have his throne. I do not care to have another ancient in my body. You will have to take him if you wish to have all that he owns. Of course, giving me half if I help trap him for the kill.”
“He is my father,” Martin replied, sitting on the bed beside Yvette.
“And you want to be free, do you not?”
I saw Martin lower his head as he nodded twice. He stood and walked to a wooden door and spoke too softly for me to hear. A few moments later the door opened and a young male that was bound and blindfolded was pushed in. Yvette smiled and pushed herself into a sitting position, as Martin grabbed the young male under the arm and forced him to the left side of the bed. I wanted nothing more at that moment than for Martin to turn around so I could see the look on his face. “Take that thing off of its eyes. I like to see the horror in these nasty beast’s eyes as I drain their pathetic lives away.” I was grateful when, for the second time, I witnessed Martin’s head dropping as if ashamed.
“You must wake before I am pulled under.”
“Go away, I wanna watch.”
“Renee, it’s Jacob. You have to come back to my voice.”
“Go away, little one.”
I felt the sting before the view of Jacob’s smile wiped the vision from my mind. “Did you just slap me?” He shook his hand as if he felt the sting as well, and then shook his head and stood up. “I gather I was out a little longer this time?”
“We are the only ones that have not been pulled under, but I am soon to be on my way.” Jacob pulled one of the high back chairs in his room over by the bed and sit down and lean back with his eyes closed.
I waited a few minutes before I spoke. “Jacob,” I whispered. When he didn’t reply I continued. “Martin had Yvette help him kill his dad, like, way back when. They were in that same room where she killed that man you called 'the Egyptian’. He said he lied, but I had no idea he was that old. The really bad thing…he held down a young man while she drained him; well you woke me before I actually saw it but it was about to happen.”
“I know, I have always known.”
“Good grief!” I all but jumped off of the bed. “You could have given me a heart attack. I thought you were out.”
“No, I could not do such a thing and I, as you say, I will indeed be out shortly.”
“Either way you look at it, Strawberry, that scarred the shit out me. Rest well, Jacob.”
***
I woke with a hand holding mine. It was hard to make out the face with the hair hanging around the features but when the fireplace came to life it was hard not to pull my hand free. It was Martin and all I could see was him by Yvette’s bedside. Then the memory of him being tortured replaced my childish jealousy. “Should you be up moving around?”
“You slept in the guest room. I do not like waking without seeing your face. Not if you are under the same roof.”
“We got in late and I didn’t want to disturb you,” Jacob said as he stood beside the fireplace.
“I understand my young friend. I, too, have held the curse of drinking from an ancient,” Martin looked at me as I pulled my hand free and sat up, bringing the covers to my chest as I did so. “I just hope she can forgive what she sees from the ancient that she now owns.”
“I’d look pretty stupid if I held something that happened longer than I can even imagine, against you. But, that doesn’t mean I won’t ask you about it. Like what was the deal with you needing Yvette’s help to kill your father?”
Martin took in a deep breath, stood and limped over in front of the blazing fire. He kept his back to me so I got up and walked over and gently wrapped my arms around him from the back, resting my hands on his chest. Jacob looked at me and was about to turn and leave. “Stay,” I whispered. I then lay several kisses on Martin’s shirtless back. “I love you and we can talk about anything, just like you said.” Martin reached up and rubbed the back of my hands with his left, as he leaned his cane on the side of the chair with his right. He then pulled me around and into a hug.
“I love you and will answer all that you ask.” He looked down at me and I rose onto my toes. The kiss was magical and must have lingered a bit too long because Martin didn’t release me until Jacob cleared his throat. I heard nothing but the soft humming of spring. I was in love and it showed no matter what I did to hide it. “I needed her help to seduce my father into going to a place where his guard could not follow but his trusted son could, and would. I saw them together many times before, being a slave to them both. Now I was using her when she thought she was using me.”
“Your father would have been an elder, had he lived, is that correct?”
Martin nodded several times. “Because I was his blood kin, I was given to him from birth a
nd told he was my father. Yvette had no idea what I was to inherit by taking his last drop but it was enough to rid myself of the likes of her.”
“And the story about the man you saw burn in the tunnel?”
“Very true, Renee. My father had this piece of London since it was created. But, we had not come to this stay for many years, leaving London to the likes of those you have met, or others much like them. We had only been here a short time when some of the slaves my father had bought, escaped. It was then that the old man with us lost his mind and walked out into the coming dawn. We woke in the cover of that tunnel and the first thing that I did was step out into the night to see the charred remains that the day had left behind.”
“I’m so sorry, Martin.”
“I wish you would all change your minds and not go this one time. Renee, would it be so hard to gather your family and take a break? You can always make a better plan later and go do what you all do best once you have rested well and trained to your best ability.”
“If we take down the elders, we can live in peace, Martin. If not we all have to watch over our backs and stay in hiding. I’m not willing to do that. Not even for a little while. I know you mean well, but the plans are in motion and they can’t be stopped now or Angelica and Inara will be worse than when we got here.”
“She’s right, Martin. If we were to leave now they will find it as a victory and London’s dark world will pay with their cruelty.”
“You few are going to go to a place where there is going to be at least fifty, if not more. And you plan on being the only ones walking out…” Martin held up his hand before I could speak. “I know you think if you take down the main heads that the rest of the body will fall, but what if you only anger the body and it retaliates?”
“Then we’ll fight our way out. It won’t be the first time,” I shrugged.
“How can you be so nonchalant about this matter, Renee?”
“The same way that you’re so bothered about it I guess, Martin. I don’t know. You know, I can see you being upset because you can’t join u, but I don’t get why you pretend that this shouldn’t happen. I’ve told you that I will join you after we take care of the beginning of all of this and we will live a very happy life.”
“But, not until then,” he whispered, lifting my hands and kissing the backs of both. “I shall keep my word.”
A light tap sounded on the bedroom door. “Are you guy’s about ready to get these stupid clothes on? Tanda’s having a fit waiting to see if the things she fixed are going to work out okay,” Derek spoke loud enough for us to hear him through the door.
“I will go and try on the pants she worked on of mine. Don’t be too long, Renee, your hair will take time.” Jacob left Martin and I alone.
We both said each other’s name at the same time and started laughing. “I’m sorry, you go first.”
“No, ladies first. I insist.”
“If all of this is meant to be, if you and I are meant to be forever, then those who are doing these horrid things will go down and we will see it happen. Those who follow the ways of their makers will turn tail and run or they will go down as well. One night it will all end and our kind can live in peace, just like us.”
“You have my support this night and you may take anything that I own. Whatever is mine, is yours. The unmarked coaches are hidden under tarps at the back of the stalls.”
I couldn’t resist, I reached up and put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to meet me and pressed my lips to his until he opened to me. Our tongues mingled as the taste of his blood rushed through my senses like a wildfire in a wheat field on a windy day. I had pressed too hard on his lips and nicked his already scarred bottom lip. He was so sweet, that I wanted more. Martin broke the kiss and moved my head to his neck. “Take from me, I am your maker.”
“No, I can’t.”
“I will make you stronger and I will be with you on this battle tonight. Take from me, my love, and satisfy us both. My promise to you is to return that satisfaction when I am healed,” he spoke low by my ears and sent chills cascading over my entire body. “Now, take from me, my love.”
There was no way that I could look up before I sank my fangs into that amazingly soft flesh, but I did as my maker asked. I took a small amount, enough to feel it coating my stomach and making its way through my veins. I licked the wounds clean that I had made. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off of Martin. His head was slightly tilted back and his eyes were closed. He was beautiful! I continued kissing my way up his chin then cheek and that’s when he stopped me.
“You must go and get ready, and I must go to our room and rest,” he said, with both hands on my shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
“I am in a bit of pain but Tammy was kind enough to leave a little wine in the room. I think it best if I go and have a small drink.” He kissed my forehead, leaned over and picked up his cane and slowly made his way to the door.
“Can I at least help you to the room?” I asked, walking over and touching his back.
“No, I believe that would do more harm than help. I do not mean to hurt your feelings in any way, my love, but I have told you that it would be very hard to be around you until I have healed. This, I am afraid, is one of those times.”
Blushing would be an understatement to what I must have looked like after I realized what Martin was talking about. He had become aroused from me drinking from his neck and it was causing him a great amount of pain. I felt like he had given me a gift, one that I could feel rushing through me. Every sense that I had was because of touching him in some way. I could smell him, see his eyes when mine were shut, hear his breath on the vibrations of my ear as if he were whispering something to me. It was if he was walking with me as I walked into the room with the others.
Chapter Twenty Five
Tanda had already worked on half of the group, putting their make-up on after they dressed. Derek, Sydney, and I were the only ones left waiting to sit in her chair that soon became known as, Tanda’s torture throne, and to feel her wrath; but she was having the time of her life. Fala stood back and watched it all. All that he had to do was get a light powder on his face with a touch of cheek blush. Once the others were finished I knew it was my turn. I for one was ready for a good laugh. Just the thought of all of my little ones playing dress-up was a hoot to me.
If I was going to look anything like Tammy then I was going to look ridiculous. The white could not get any whiter than Tanda painted on her face and her cheeks and lips were a bright red. On one cheek she had a black mole painted on, and her eyes were extremely heavy in make-up. It looked as if her face would crack in half if she smiled even a little. The boy’s thought they would get away with a mask but because we were doing our best to not be noticed as breeders who were not known to the area, they all had one form of make-up on or another. That made it very hard to not have some form of a smile on my face when I finally stepped into the room instead of peering at them from the secrecy of the shadows of the foyer.
Jacob, Cates, Tammy, and Garvin turned and looked at me at the same time I stepped into the room laughing, thinking they would join me. My laugh slowed to a giggle, then stopped all together. Tanda and Derek came around me, with Sydney and Fala following them. “What’s wrong with all of you?”
“You walk with a power of Martin all around you,” Jacob replied. “Why would you feed on him at a time like this?”
“You cannot go to the gala with his aroma all over you. They will know you belong to him as soon as you walk in the front door,” Cates growled, shaking his head.
“Renee,” Tammy walked up to me. “Why didn’t you wait until we came back?”
“What the hell are y’all talking about?”
“You drank from your maker, did you not?” Jacob snapped.
“He said it would make me stronger!” I snapped back.
“He has fooled you, Renee. Martin knows they would feel his blood in your veins. You cannot go with
us and that he also knew.”
“That son-of-a-bitch,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Well, I’m going no matter what he thought feeding on him would do.”
“If you do, we will all die.” Jacob turned his back to me. “There is only one way to mask what Martin has done… and you will not approve.”
“I did what I did to protect the one I love,” Martin spoke as he stepped into the study.
“Oh, you have just opened a whole new door of piss-me-off is what you did,” I spun around so fast he stepped back. “How could you, Martin?”
“How could I not do whatever I could to stop you from dying this night? There will be too many, Renee. You are putting all of our people in harm’s way.”
“Don’t you say that…don’t you ever say that! These are my people and I would never stab them in the back the way you did me.” I turned back around and looked at Jacob. “What do I do to take this off?”
“You can only mask his mark by taking in others.”
“Are you saying that I have to drink from more of you to get rid of his…” I paused.
“Odor,” Derek smirked.
“Yeah, what Derek said.”
“You can look at it as finally marking those who follow you,” Cates added, walking up to me and going down on one knee. It was then that I heard Martin going back up the staircase. “You need but take a small amount.”
“Is this really necessary?” I asked all who were in the room.
“If you wish to join us in taking down the two heads of this great city, it is.” Jacob walked up behind Cates and put both hands on his shoulders.
They each stood in line. I looked down at Cates, fear gripping my stomach so harshly that I felt that I would be ill at any moment. Cates reached around and moved his hair and then leaned his head to the side, exposing his neck to me. My eyes rose to find Jacob looking back at me. He nodded once, then looked down at the matter at hand. I smoothed my hand over Cates’ arm as I bent over, then I sank my fangs into the pulsating invitation. I only took a small amount; swallowing twice, maybe three times, before I felt Jacob’s hand on my back. By the time I had reached Tanda, the last, I was so full I thought for sure I would burst at the first foul scent that we passed.
Bloodbreeders: Lies Beneath London Page 24
