“No!” cried Rufus and Serafina together.
Serafina glared at Springer. “Anton, don’t you dare be so high-handed with us! Rufus and I have already made up our minds. We refuse to spend the rest of our lives fleeing from place to place. We’re going to get rid of Viviana, or die in the attempt! If you want to run, you can damned well do it on your own!”
“And you’ve agreed to this, Rufus?” Springer’s voice was calm, but his jaw was set and his hawkish eyes smouldered.
Rufus looked Springer in the face. “I have, yes. We had hoped you’d help us. Your experience would have been invaluable, I’m sure. Since you refuse, however, we’ll just have to rely on our own resources. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a desperate situation, but Serafina and I are together on this. We can’t let Viviana dictate our lives for us.”
“Then there’s nothing more to say.” Springer turned on his heel and left the room.
THIRTY
As soon as Springer had left, Serafina flung herself into Rufus’s arms and burst into tears. “How can he refuse to help us?” she sobbed. “How can he refuse to help me? All this time we’ve been together, and I never knew what a damned coward he is! I hate him, Rufus, I hate him!”
Rufus knew better than to try to reason with her, so he held her until she’d wept out her distress, then fetched a damp cloth from the bathroom and helped her to wipe away her tears.
“That’s better,” he murmured, stroking her cheek. “Would you like to hunt, or shall we leave it until tomorrow?”
“No, let’s do it tonight. If I stay here and do nothing, I’ll explode! At least hunting will give me something to focus on.”
Serafina set a furious pace as they walked into town. The rain had eased to a misty drizzle that gave the streets a sinister cast, with buildings and lampposts looming at them out of the fog like misshapen giants or monsters. As they approached the Albert Barracks, they caught sight of a man in military uniform some yards ahead of them, his scent informing them he was returning from an assignation with a woman. Serafina and Rufus glanced at each other and began to follow him in earnest, moving at vampiric speed to catch up with him. Serafina took him by the arm and gazed into his eyes. In seconds, he was quiescent, and she led him into the shadows by the barracks wall, signalling for Rufus to join her. Together they shared his blood, leaving him propped up against the wall semi-conscious.
Deep in the shadows, they kissed, licking the last of the soldier’s blood from each other’s lips.
“I’m still hungry,” Serafina murmured, her eyes glowing like the embers of a fire.
Rufus slipped his arm around her waist and they walked back towards Grafton Gully. There, amongst the tombstones that jostled for space with the overgrown grass and weeds, they found a sleeping vagrant and drank from him without so much as rousing him from his stertorous slumber.
They arrived home damp but elated, stripped off their clothes and tumbled onto the bed together.
Serafina ran her tongue around Rufus’s lips and down to his neck to one of the veins where fresh blood pulsed.
“Perhaps,” she murmured, nipping his skin with her teeth so that he could feel the points of her fangs, “this would be a good time to strengthen our blood link.”
Her tongue continued moving down his body, and Rufus felt his own body respond and his fangs begin to emerge.
“And,” said Serafina, “perhaps we can find another way to link at the same time.” She began to caress him in a way that left him in no doubt of her meaning.
“Oh, yes!” he whispered. “Oh, God, yes!”
They made love purely as vampires, every sense impossibly heightened, every touch a molten pleasure that flowed over and through them and fused them together. In the midst of this excess of delight, Rufus felt Serafina’s teeth pierce the vein above his left clavicle. He felt his blood well up, felt the soft pull of her lips as she drew his life force into her. At the same time, he felt his orgasm begin to take him over, and it seemed he might die of sheer ecstasy. Instinctively, he found a vein above Serafina’s left breast, bit into it, and became engulfed in the twin raptures of giving and taking pleasure. He heard Serafina cry out, and his own voice join with hers in a sound barely human, the cry of two vampires exulting in a ritual as old as time.
Panting, they clung to one another, unwilling to release themselves from the spell they had wrought. For a long time they lay there, enjoying their closeness, licking the remains of blood from each other with slow, sensuous tongues, basking in the embers of the fire of their passion.
Later, they made love again, their shared blood binding them together until it seemed to Rufus they had truly become one. As he felt the strength of their bond, their minds and bodies working as one, he was certain they could overcome anything, so long as they were together.
* * * *
“Does it never stop raining here?” Rufus stared in disgust at the rain streaming down the parlour window. “And people say the English weather is bad!”
Serafina came to stand beside him. “Well, at least we won’t be snowed in during winter.”
Rufus, remembering his childhood at Ravenswood in Cumberland, flashed her a rueful grin. “True enough. Well, if we’re going to hunt, I suppose we might as well get it over and done with, but I don’t relish sitting in the rain for hours waiting for someone to leave Viviana’s house.”
“Then why don’t we just come back here and practise for when we go to…” Serafina hesitated for a moment as though unwilling to give voice to their mission, “…to kill her?”
“You mean using both our minds together?”
“Yes, and using weapons. We’ll need all the powers available to us, and to be able to work closely together, mind and body, if we hope to overcome her.”
“But we haven’t any weapons with which to practise – unless you count my paper knife.”
“Then we’ll improvise.”
Serafina went to the fireplace and picked up the poker, thrusting with it as though it were a sword.
Rufus laughed. “All right, we’ll do that when we get back. Let’s get our coats.”
As they walked towards town, Rufus recalled the previous night, and how they’d fed together, sharing the pleasure of drinking in blood and warmth and life, and later sharing the pleasure of drinking in each other, and he knew the memory of it would remain with him for as long as he lived, even to the end of time itself.
When they reached Grafton Gully, he and Serafina slipped down the bank and into the cemetery, and before long found what they sought: a vagrant couple curled up together against the bank where they had some small shelter from the rain. By mutual consent, Serafina took the man and Rufus the woman, a poor, bedraggled creature who smelled of gin. After they had fed, Rufus pulled some coins from his pocket and dropped them into the bosom of the woman’s gown. She looked as though she needed a decent meal, though he suspected the money would be used to obtain more gin.
They returned home then, and spent the rest of the night practising with their makeshift weapons until they felt satisfied with their ability to coordinate both movements and minds.
* * * *
The following night was fine, and Rufus and Serafina decided to watch first and hunt later.
“If luck favours us,” said Serafina with a predatory smile, “we’ll be able to combine the two.”
A brisk breeze was tugging wisps of cloud across the sky as they walked to Epsom Avenue, and the full moon hung above the eastern horizon like a huge ball of orange light, washing everything with a subtle golden sheen.
Serafina and Rufus settled into their now familiar hiding place, focusing all their senses on the task at hand. They’d been there for about an hour when they saw the gates begin to open. Serafina took Rufus’s hand, and he felt a cool, sharp energy flow between them like an electric charge. As they watched, the figure of a man emerged from the gateway and turned to close and lock the gates. Rufus stifled a gasp of recognition. It was the young Ma
ori he’d seen with Serafina, the one called Tamati. A surge of fury coursed through him. Serafina absorbed it and fed it back to him as a heightening of his senses, so that he could hear the man’s heartbeat and the blood flowing in his veins, could smell the warm, musky scent of him, although he was under Viviana’s control and it wasn’t possible to read his mind yet.
Tamati loped off along Epsom Avenue, unaware of the two shadows slipping though the darkness in his wake. He kept up a good pace, and had soon reached Newton, where he turned into Newtown Road, and then wound his way through several narrower, poorly lit streets where rough, down-at-heel cottages, shops, and the ubiquitous grog shops stood among areas of scrub. The stench was appalling, most likely from open drains or sewage ponds. Raucous noise emanated from the grog shops, and elsewhere dogs barked, babies cried, and people quarrelled and sang and conversed in rough tones. At length, Tamati entered a grog shop. Surmising that he would eventually leave again, Rufus and Serafina remained outside in the shadows. Overhead, the moon, now a butter-coloured disk, progressed across the sky trailing a train of clouds like chiffon draperies. After about half an hour, Tamati emerged from the grog shop in a waft of warmth and smoke and noise and alcohol fumes, and began to retrace his steps.
Rufus and Serafina followed him back along Mount Eden Road as far as the reserve next to the Mount Eden Stockade. They glanced at one another, deciding not to try to intercept him there, since Rufus had already used it with Elizabeth, and it would not do to risk arousing Viviana’s suspicions. However, a short way further on, just as Tamati turned into Epsom Avenue, another area of scrub presented a further opportunity. Moving at full speed, they closed on him. As Rufus took hold of him, pinning his arms to his sides, Serafina knocked him unconscious with a blow to his head that carried the full weight of her anger. For a moment, it seemed she might have killed him, but a low groan reassured them. Together they dragged him into the bushes. By the time he was able to stand up again, he was in their power – for the time being at least.
One holding each arm, they marched him the few blocks to their house.
Rufus spoke to Serafina, mind to mind. What are we going to do if Anton’s at home?
If we take him to the garden shed, came Serafina’s reply, it won’t matter whether Anton’s there or not.
But surely he’ll know.
Oh yes, but that doesn’t matter. He knows what we’re planning to do – he just doesn’t want anything to do with it himself.
We’ll have to keep Tamati there until tomorrow, since we’re planning to go to Viviana’s during the day.
Serafina shrugged. If we tie him up well, we can keep him until we’re ready to use him. And we can gag him too, to keep him quiet.
Rufus looked at Serafina. I had no idea you were so ruthless.
Serafina returned his look, her eyes smouldering. You forget what he did to me.
They took Tamati straight out to the garden shed, a damp and musty place that had clearly not been used for some time. A variety of rusting garden implements hung from the walls. Along one side, beneath a dusty and cobweb-shrouded window, ran a bench cluttered with mouldering plant pots, seed boxes and more tools. Taking in its contents at a glance, Rufus ran back to the house to fetch a chair and something with which to bind and gag Tamati, while Serafina held him quiescent by mind control. He still looked groggy, and there was a red swelling on the side of his head where she had struck him. Rufus returned with a chair from the dining room and a couple of damask tablecloths, which he tore into strips, tying them together into longer strips. He sat Tamati down on the chair, realising anew just how handsome he was, with his dark skin and eyes, and his thick, black, curling hair. He looked strong and virile, too. No wonder he was Viviana’s favourite. Serafina, unimpressed by his good looks, bound him tightly to the back of the chair with his arms at his sides and his legs tied to the chair legs.
When Tamati regained full consciousness, the first thing he saw was Serafina sitting in front of him on an old wooden crate and staring at him with undisguised loathing. His dark eyes opened wide with surprise, but he showed no fear. “You!” he exclaimed, struggling to loosen his bonds.
“There’s no point in trying to free yourself.” Serafina’s voice was cold and hard. “If you do, I’ll knock you out again.”
“You knocked me out?” said Tamati, staring at her with scorn. “You? A woman?”
Serafina returned his look, and enquired with an arctic smile, “Would you like me to give you a demonstration?”
“Why have you brought me here?” he demanded, ignoring her offer.
“First,” said Rufus, “tell us what you were doing in Newton?”
“He was collecting money for Viviana,” said Serafina, her lip curling in distaste, “probably from brothels.”
Tamati’s expression confirmed this.
“How soon is she expecting delivery?” Rufus asked. Tamati said nothing, but directed a look of contempt at him. Rufus shrugged. “Have it your own way.”
He entered the man’s mind to learn that Viviana had expected him back already, and that beneath his bravado, he was as terrified of her as he was enraptured by her.
Serafina spoke to Rufus, but her words were for Tamati’s benefit. “Viviana will get her money – and her little pet – when we choose to deliver them. Meanwhile,” she turned to Tamati with a predatory smile, “we have a more pressing matter to attend to.”
For the first time, Tamati’s fear reached his face. “What do you want from me?”
In reply, Serafina stared into his eyes until they went blank. Then she tore open his shirt at the neck. Rufus saw her fangs emerge, and felt his own begin to do likewise. A fierce elation coursed through him as he watched Serafina begin to feed, his mind so melded with hers that he felt every nuance of her experience. As soon as she had finished, Rufus took her place, trusting her to let him know when he’d drunk enough. They mustn’t allow Tamati to grow too weak to recover by the time they needed his help with the next stage of their plan. Their feeding over, Serafina tore off a piece of tablecloth, screwed it into a ball and stuffed it into the unconscious man’s mouth, binding it tightly in place. Then, for good measure, they tied him, chair and all, to one sturdy leg of the wooden bench. Together they entered the man’s mind and did what they could to prevent Viviana from regaining control of it.
As they walked back to the house, Rufus saw that the sky was beginning to lighten. “I suppose we shouldn’t go to sleep,” he said, “in case we don’t wake again in time.”
“You’re right. It’s important to attack Viviana in the middle of the day, when she’ll be most deeply asleep.”
“It’s a long time to stay awake.”
Serafina smiled at him. “Then we’ll just have to find some way to pass the time, won’t we?”
THIRTY-ONE
The sun rode high in an azure sky strewn with puffs of white cloud when Rufus and Serafina left the house, shivering both with fear and excitement. In the little shed, Tamati lolled in his chair, dozing fitfully. Shafts of sunlight shone through the dusty window, catching and gilding the motes of dust dancing in the air. Blinking in the glare, they shook their prisoner awake. Serafina, holding his face so he had no choice but to look into her eyes, soon rendered him quiescent so they could safely remove his gag and bonds and lead him outside.
As they walked along the sunlit street, one on either side of their captive, Rufus began to feel a profound unease that had nothing to do with his and Serafina’s mission, nor with his lack of sleep. It was as though something deep within him was crying out for relief, for the comfort of darkness and sleep. He realised it was the daylight itself that was causing his discomfort. It was not that the sunlight was causing him any physical harm, but that his entire being was now attuned to darkness. Just as his vampiric eyes could see clearly in the dark, the daylight was confusing his mind so his vision seemed less defined. The light cascaded over everything so it resembled a blurred kaleidoscope. No wonder he felt diso
riented. He could only be grateful the effects were not physical as well.
As they reached Viviana’s house, they each took a firm grip on one of Tamati’s arms and Serafina released him from her power. At first, he stared at them with surprise and fear in his eyes, then he drew himself up to his full height and looked straight ahead, stony faced and impassive, and opened the gate with steady hands. Rufus could not help admiring his ability to suppress his emotions and deal calmly with the situation at hand. He supposed it came from his warrior ancestry. The Maori had a reputation as fearsome fighters, and he knew from listening to his Uncle Sebastian, who had fought in Crimea, how important discipline and a cool head were in war.
Just as the night revealed its own dark palette to Rufus’s sight, so the midday sun imparted an almost surreal quality. The broad expanses of grass seemed to glow like molten glass, and the flowers in their formal beds shone like jewels on black velvet. The darker hued stands of trees lining the walls overlooked all this brilliance like dour and vigilant guardians. Together with the rambling two-storeyed house at the end of the gravel driveway, it was like an English country estate in miniature, but without the human element. Here, no gardeners went about their work in the grounds, no horses whinnied in the stables, no dogs bounded down the driveway to greet them. And no birds sang. Silence lay over the house and its grounds like a shroud. It seemed the very presence of the ancient and powerful vampire had banished all signs of life, as though she exuded some baleful influence that clouded the minds of all who drew near, keeping her stronghold safe from the attentions of the outside world.
A Different Hunger Page 28
