by LJ Swallow
The burgundy and gold carpets are worn, but the garish floral pattern hides their age. The walls were painted a few years ago, but that’s all the improvements I’ve seen since I was a kid. We’ve no money for much else. The compensation for Vincent’s death paid my parents’ debts and the fees for my schooling and left little for spending.
I drop my bag in my sparse bedroom, and on the way back peek into my brother’s old room. Mum keeps everything as Vincent left it—almost. She tidied up his discarded clothes, then arranged all his favourite possessions on the dresser and shelves. His trophies for sporting excellence—he was gifted in everything from rugby to athletics—take pride of place beneath a family photo. I avoid walking in; the room is filled with pain. Pain that accompanies Mum each time she walks out in tears.
Mum, who could be under the same threat.
I’m pissed off about a lot right now—on the drive over, Tobias explained little. He wouldn’t expand on Theodora’s news that the attacks had been blamed on Dominion. We’re either lucky, or somebody intervened. But does Tobias have that kind of authority? Never trust a vamp. Why would a professor lie like that for a bunch of us? The answer boils down to one reason: Andrei.
I’m equally pissed off Andrei is with us. Seriously? Two vamps in the town, one with uncontrolled blood cravings? Perfect. What if Andrei’s attack on the hunters and taste of human blood means he’s less controlled than usual?
If Andrei touches anybody in my town, I’ll break his bloody neck.
Taking a ragged breath, I walk back downstairs.
Tobias sits at a table with Maeve and Andrei, upright, hands folded in his lap. He’s focused wholly on his surroundings, disconnected from those at the table with him. Andrei hunches down, staring at his phone, and Maeve glances around uncomfortably.
Diane, the middle-aged woman who manages the pub when my family isn’t around, serves early evening customers.
“Ashley,” she says with a smile on her rounded face as she pulls a pint—a perfect glass of beer with a perfect head of foam, thanks to years of practice.
Diane isn’t the hugging type, even though she’s known me since I was a kid, so a smile is my only greeting. Out of habit, I join her at the bar to serve the man grumbling about slow service.
“Your parents' decision to take a trip was sudden. Where’ve they gone?” she asks and sets the pint glass on the bar.
“France. They’ll be back in a couple of days. Thanks for stepping in to help out. I’ll try to take over but—” I gesture. “School duties.”
“No problem, love. I told you I was happy to stay and run the pub while your parents were away.” She nods at the table where the others sit. “I haven’t met anybody from your fancy school since that skinny kid came with you for a weekend a few years back.”
“Jamie?” I chuckle. “He’s not so skinny anymore.”
“Oh? Is he a big lad like you now?”
“He isn’t quite as big as me.” I pat her curly brown hair and she swats at me.
Here, with Diane, I relax. Tonight is likely to be stressful, but I need to stop the hunters furthering their plans. My parents lead an ordinary life and they aren’t a threat to anybody. Why are the evil bastards targeting them? Mum and Dad haven’t shifted for over ten years, as far as I know. How are they on the hunters’ hit list?
I swallow. Vincent. A dark part of me hates that we can’t kill the hunters, because the desire for revenge runs like acid through my veins. But I need to ignore that side of myself, otherwise I’m no better than a murderous vamp.
Maeve’s quiet since we packed up and left the academy this evening. Like me, she never expected the field trip to take place this suddenly. Although Maeve says she doesn’t care, I know she wants Amelia here. Amelia joked that she had to stay and supervise Jamie, but we could all tell she’s happier to stay. Besides, Jamie knows what the hunters look like, and if they try to infiltrate the academy instead, he can pick them out.
They’d be dumb to try, but we can’t ignore the possibility.
I don’t recognise the man I serve and, as I take his money, I take a sly glance at his table. Looks like he’s with his wife and kids, the three sitting at the table in hiking gear.
“Are you staying long?” I ask him, pulling on my official barman role.
He shakes his head as he tucks his wallet into his waterproof jacket. “No. We’re staying in Halifax and stopping here for a meal before we drive back. You have a reputation for good food.”
Mum would love to hear this, and I glow with pride for her. “Cheers.”
As he walks away with a beer and soft drinks on a tray, I turn to Diana. “Are many tourists still visiting?”
She shrugs. “A few. Business is slow.”
“That’s not good,” I murmur to myself.
“Things will pick up around Christmas. They usually do.” She pats my hand.
Leaving her distracted by a new customer, I head back to the table. Maeve looks up as I sit. “Everything alright?”
“All good.”
Tobias’s distraction remains as he taps his fingers on the table. “It’s possible they’ve done this to lure Ash home,” say Tobias. “We shouldn’t stay here.”
“They’re dumb bastards if they think they can attack and get away with it,” I mutter.
Tobias frowns. “This is a lesson in the correct way to deal with hunters, Ash.”
I glance at where a quiet Andrei ignores us and focuses on his phone. “Is there someone important you’re always texting?” I ask. “You never put the thing down.”
He looks up from beneath his fringe. “No. Anything is more interesting than banal conversation.”
Maeve cranes her neck. “He watches movies, mostly.”
Andrei scowls at her. “How do you know?”
“Movies, huh? Is vampire porn a thing?” I ask him with a snide smirk. “Like, is it sex or feeding? Both?”
“That’s enough, Ash,” Tobias interrupts curtly.
Andrei leans across the table. “How about you shifters? Any bestiality involved in your porn?”
“Omigod! You’re disgusting, both of you. Grow up,” Maeve snaps.
Tobias bites away a smile at her outburst as he looks the other way, and Maeve switches focus to the glass of coke I gave her when we arrived.
“We need to work together,” says Tobias. “Stop your ridiculous sniping.”
His chastising silences me. I can’t help how I respond to Andrei, even though I’m in debt to him for helping me on Halloween. My years of prejudice to vamps won’t be wiped away by one incident.
Andrei is around us more, and this is becoming normal. Watching Maeve. Helping. I’m certain that some of the ‘Maeve watching’ is because he’s attracted to her, which irritates and worries me. Attracted to her, or her blood? As if she’d be interested in him. I snort. Still, if his feelings mean he’s protective of her, I’ll accept the situation.
Ha. Like that’s my decision to make. I blow hot and cold with Maeve too. I was instructed to watch her at first, then became intrigued—and more. Now she has others on her side in the academy, my task is done and I don’t need to stay around.
Every time I consider backing off, I picture myself without Maeve and something nags at me. I don’t want to be sucked into trusting or caring for a future-sighted witch, but the bond I suspected grows.
If only she could be like Amelia and Jamie with a safer power, then I could give in to whatever’s growing between us. Instead, I need to back away.
I’m fooling myself if I think I can. We’re a group—the gang Andrei teases us we are and that he’s becoming part of. The warm glow the pub gives me grows because I’m here with her.
I’m so damn confused.
Chapter Thirty-One
MAEVE
I agree with Tobias on this issue—I don’t want to stay in public. I sit between Ash and Andrei, our stools close together as we’re crammed in the corner of the pub. Ash’s unnatural heat and Andrei’s s
trange warmth surround me. I expected Andrei to be cold like vampires in stories I read. One day soon, I’ll need to stop making these comparisons. The nervous fluttering about tonight grows in my chest, added with more from the butterflies in my stomach caused by my closeness to the two guys.
In the weird moment where my vision seemed real, Andrei’s lips were warm and soft— his body too. The blurring between the present and the future scared me and I try to forget, but Andrei’s kiss stays lodged in my memories.
I shift slightly but I can’t avoid our legs touching in the confined space. The movement presses me closer to Ash and triggers memories of him touching me too.
Ash reaches out and holds my hand. “Don’t be nervous.”
I look down at where his fingers surround mine. Each touch and smile since we almost kissed holds a greater meaning to me. Does it to Ash? “I’m fine. We’ll be fine.”
“Hey, what if I need someone to hold my hand?” asks Andrei with a mock protest.
I meet his eyes, which glitter with amusement. He holds out a hand and I stare at his slender fingers. Is he serious? With an exaggerated sigh, he drops his hand and shifts to angle his body more towards Tobias.
I don’t know why his reaction bothers me, but I pull my hand from Ash’s.
Tobias watches, silently.
Since the strange tuition from him, he’s retreated from me and I’m annoyed he now treats me the way he does Katherine: aloof and guarded. I’m freaked out by what I heard Tobias discuss yesterday, but what could I do? I don’t know who to speak to, or if I misinterpreted what I heard.
Tobias is a skilled pneuma vampire who could easily challenge me or persuade others I’m a silly girl making up stories. This guy convinced Confederacy leaders a Dominion member attacked hunters; I can’t compete with that. People like Tobias come unstuck eventually, and I’ll wait for that to happen. If I step in, I could risk my life.
“You look nervous, Maeve.” Tobias smooth voice snaps me out of my thoughts. “Everything will work out just fine.”
“I’m sure.”
Although Andrei chose to wear his usual ensemble today, Tobias has switched to more ordinary clothes similar to the other night. His plain grey t-shirt beneath an open navy hoodie and blue jeans are finished with black combat boots. His flawless skin and angular features mean telling his original age is impossible. I thought Tobias was in his mid-twenties the day I first saw him. How old was he when he became immortal?
“Do you know where we need to go?” I ask.
Tobias scratches his cheek. “The Confederacy militia who tracked the hunters’ movements say they’re staying in a small cottage on the outskirts of town, confirming what Jamie saw when he touched the bullet.”
“Why didn’t the militia do something?” I ask.
“Like what?” asks Andrei. “All supernaturals are told to keep away from hunters unless instructed to approach them.”
“But mental magic?” I suggest. “Surely militia must be trained in that.”
Tobias gives a tight smile. “I requested we deal with this personally, and you know why, Maeve.”
Because someone told you to kill them? “Because the hunters have information about Halloween. I know.”
“Then what’s the plan?” asks Andrei. “We’d better get this over with, because I don’t want to stay for the weekend.”
“We intend to end this situation tonight,” Tobias says. “I also have more interesting ways to spend my weekend than supervising kids.”
“Then why did you want to take us on a field trip?” asks Ash.
“I didn’t want to. We are doing this out of necessity,” replies Tobias, sharply enough to raise my curiosity. “And I suggest you stop complaining. You were involved and you need to fix your mess too.”
“Fine, I’ll tell Diane we’re leaving,” mutters Ash, his expression hardening.
Ash heads away to the bar. We lapse into silence, and the music plays around me, the sound accompanied by squabbling kids and their mother shushing them.
I yawn as our stressful day catches up and stare into my glass. The coke should help me stay awake for the long night ahead. The bubbles fizz to the top of the glass, joining the fizzing anxiety in my stomach. As I stare, the world blackens for a second, and I blink.
The blackness strikes again and sounds around me dull.
Crap. No. I suck in a breath and grip the glass, but I can't feel it in my hand anymore.
The room morphs until I'm sitting in a bubble where I can't see outside of my immediate surroundings. I'm close to the bar now, where Ash pours two pints of beer and chats to the tall man he serves. Ash can't see me, and the echoing voices and blurring at the fringes of the world tell me this is a vision, not reality.
With a broad smile, Ash thanks the guy for buying him a drink too, before he turns away from the bar to grab the guy a packet of crisps from a box behind.
In the few seconds Ash's back is turned, the guy holds his palm over the top of a glass before swapping the drinks around. If he didn't glance around the pub as he does, my suspicion wouldn't be as high. I take a mental note of his face. He's ordinary looking with no distinguishing features. How would I remember him? I focus on his clothes instead. There's a tear on the green jacket sleeve.
Ash lifts his glass to the guy, and they toast before Ash takes a sneaky drink and pushes the glass to one side. He looks towards our group; no doubt concerned he'll be reprimanded.
I'm locked in the vision and unable to shake myself out—I want to hit reality again and stop this. But what happens next? In my mind, I reach into the darkness, picturing time as a line I can walk along.
Hoping I don't walk too far.
My mind jumps, and I'm still in my dark bubble. Ash walks through the pub's kitchen with a bag filled with rubbish. He seems happy for a guy who complains he hates working at his family's pub but wary as he watches around him in the yard.
I tense in case people spring from nowhere, and I'm ready to memorise their faces too. Nothing and nobody. Forcing my vision to sharpen, I look around. There's nothing but the recent snow melted on the ground; no sounds but that echoing voices and music from the pub, and a car driving along the street.
Ash staggers and drops the bag in his hand, the contents spewing from the bag and across the ground. I try to turn my head to look for an assailant but see nobody. Ash falls to his knees, then onto his hands too, retching. His back heaves as he struggles for breath, and he chokes.
What the hell is happening?
Ash's arms giveaway and his whole body slackens as his massive frame hits the floor.
Panic bubbles through me as I begin to lose sight of the scene. Ash's prone body fades from view as I'm pulled back to reality, mentally clawing at the images, trying to hang onto the vision. As the scene blackens from my mind, a male figure steps towards Ash.
I don't have a chance to see who as I snap my eyes open to someone shaking my shoulders.
Andrei stares at me, wide-eyed. "What's wrong?"
I dart a look around the pub, at the elderly couple staring too.
I blink away the black dots clouding my visions and focus on Ash.
Ash who's toasting a guy with a glass of beer.
Chapter Thirty-Two
ASH
Maeve charges across the room like a hellion and grabs the glass from my hand. The beer sloshes onto my skin and over the carpet.
"Don't drink that," she says in panic.
"Tobias can see me drinking, and I'll only have one. It's no big deal."
She grips the glass and looks to one side. Then over her shoulder. Her hand shakes and the beer almost spills again "Where is he?"
"Who? Maeve, calm down."
Diane looks on in shock, unsurprisingly since Maeve's voice is edging towards hysteria.
"Him."
I look to the doorway where a figure slips from the pub.
"Follow him!" she calls to Andrei and Tobias.
Wow. I walk to the other side o
f the bar and place my arms on Maeve's shoulders. "What's wrong? Calm down."
But I've seen this before. She's trembling, her pupils dilated and face pale. Crap.
"Are you about to faint?" I whisper.
Tobias appears and touches her arm. "Maeve?"
"I said, follow that guy! Now!"
Whoa. Way to talk to a professor, Maeve.
"Is he a hunter?" I ask as quietly as possible.
She bites her lip and nods.
I'm impressed when Tobias manages to keep his strides from the pub at a human speed. Andrei's vanished already—through the door too, I hope.
Maeve stares at me, continuing to tremble. "Did you drink the beer?"
I wind an arm around Maeve's shoulders and guide her behind the bar, away from the amused onlookers.
"Is everything okay, love?" asks Diane glancing between Maeve and me.
What do I say? I give a weak smile and walk Maeve into the kitchen.
Our customers don't see many out of control drunks; let's hope that's what they think she is.
I pull a chair from beneath the table and gently push her shoulders, so she sits. What do I do if she collapses?
My hand itches and I rub the skin. "Tell me what happened. Did you have a vision?"
"He tried to poison you. I think. Can shifters be poisoned?"
"Only by wolfsbane and it's one of the only ways to kill a shifter. Why? What did you see?" I urge.
She tells me the story, and as she does, I continue to scratch at my hand. No way did the guy have time to add something to my drink.
"He can't. I poured the beer." But the answer is in front of me. My skin burns as if scalded, and when I look down, I know her vision is real. My skin weeps, red as if someone poured boiling water on me. The pain spreads through my hand to my fingers, intensifying by the second. Shit.
"He dropped something in the glass when you turned your back. The guy only took a second. Doesn't wolfbane taste of anything?"
I shake my head. "No. And if the herb is powdered, it dissolves in seconds."
