Red Knight Box Set (Books 1,2,3): Contemporary Vampire Romance

by L. C White

  “What the hell is this?” I shout, waving the smoke out of my way.

  I gaze through the fog to see Ben’s vampire eyes gazing into space. He’s as stiff as a plank of wood. I flick my fingers in his face, but he doesn’t flinch.

  “I’ve been trying,” Dom says. “I had to tie him to the chair, he had a smashed bottle to his throat, and then he tried to jump off the goddamn roof!”

  “He’s been programmed by Lillian to kill himself,” Gwen adds.

  I frown down at him. “Can you fix him?”

  “I think so,” she says. “It’s going to take some time though.”

  “Well,” I shake my head at this mess. “Don’t think, just do.”

  I storm ahead toward the elevator. I need some silence to get my head around this, before I go to see Liz and Adrien, to explain we’re screwed.

  “Nathan,” Sara yells after me. “Demetrius has been calling, he’s looking for you.”

  “Demetrius can go fuckin die as far as I’m concerned!”

  Chapter 30: Seeing the Unseen

  Liz

  I’m back in my booth, lying down in Adrien’s arms. I don’t need sleep, but my eyes are closed and I’m praying for it. To fall asleep and never wakeup to this nightmare. I met my daughter for real today, and now realise she isn’t really my daughter at all. She’s a dangerous product, and was never meant to be born. Maybe I should think the same of Daniel also; it was never meant to be. He was a result of something that would always turn dark, no matter how much love we gave him. Thing is, I can’t. Good or bad, he’ll always be my son.

  “Elizabeth,” Adrien whispers. “We need to talk.”

  “I can’t.” I brush my cheek against his chest. “No matter what we say, it won’t change a thing. It won’t help, or bring Daniel back.”

  “I can’t sit here with you, when you’re being like this.” He shuffles upright, away from me.

  Fuckin great. Now he’s blaming me. I guess the reason I’m so screwed up right now, is my fault. I’m a vampire, yet feel more like a human Mother since Daniel went missing. Adrien can never understand that.

  He walks away from me in a mood, reaching the brushed steel rail, then he turns to me, sharply. His eyes are searing, his shoulders tense, and his foot restless.

  “You never expected this day to come, Elizabeth, and that’s so foolish,” he says in anger. “You’re allowing yourself to be eaten up by guilt, when to be frank, none of this is your damn fault. You’re being weak.”

  I cannot believe what I’m hearing. What the hell am I supposed to act like? Shrug the whole time raising Daniel off, and move on. I dig my fingernails into the damask fabric of the seat, biting down as I glare right at him.

  “Weak?” I stand up, banging my hands down on the table.

  “Yes, weak, dammit,” he snaps, then takes a long breath. “You’re the same as me, so why are you sitting here like some emotional wreck, refusing to consider the fact there may be other ways to sort this out. We’re supposed to be a team.”

  “Well, I’m so fucking sorry my heart isn’t as cold and dead as yours!”

  His nostrils flare as he approaches my fury, and stands before the table looking down at me.

  “My heart is not incapable of love, and you know that you own it. But we need to try everything we can to save Daniel and Maeve,” he says in a gut-wrenching painful tone.

  “Don’t you think I know that!”

  “The way you’re acting, no.” He blows out in annoyance. “I’m going to find our son, and I’m going to kill Laurie.”

  “And how the fuck are you going to do that?”

  He smirks with this sinister glint in his eye. “You forget, a lot of vampires owe me. If it means showing my face again, telling them the truth about Daniel, then I will. It’s a damn better scenario, then allowing Laurie to win.”

  He’s right. We’ve been off the radar for far too long. We’ve been hiding Daniel away, when maybe it would have been better that vampires knew he existed. All the myths around Dhampir, are not realistic of what I’ve seen in Daniel. He isn’t evil, he’s just confused and hurting. Lillian is the real threat. She’s Laurie’s Daughter, through and through. Blood fed since birth. There is no way to bring her back, and that should pain me, but it doesn’t.

  “I’m going to have Gwen come and see you,” he says.

  As much as I like Gwen, I don’t see what possible good she can do, reading for me. It’s Daniel who needs to be read.

  “Why?” I roll my eyes at him.

  “You and Daniel share a connection. It may be torn now, but she might be able to pick something up.”

  I plonk my ass down onto the seat, only to find Adrien’s hands out before me. He’s waiting for me to take them. I gaze up. He wants me to sort my damn head out, which is impossible for me to do. But I’ll pretend for his benefit, and go along with his plan.

  The table in the booth has been dressed with all Gwen’s weird knickknacks. Sage candles are set out within the points of a pentagram. The awful herby smell snags at the back of my throat. Gwen insists that the vapour wards off evil, so I’ll have to just put up with the stink.

  I’ve never seen this kind of reading before, not even with Daniel. This is crazy intense, and I have a goddamn audience now. Nathan and Adrien stand almost identical, shoulder to shoulder. Dom and a rejuvenated grouchy Ben, bicker over a blood bag by the bar. And Sara is handing Gwen her cards with caution.

  “Do you all have to watch this?” I grumble.

  Gwen’s white eyes peer up over the flickering candle. “Just in case I need a little backup,” she winks.

  “Backup?”

  “Well sweetie, this isn’t the usual reading, as you can see. We require a lot more humph for this one,” she explains in a chirpy tone.

  I once would tell her to piss-off, using the darker stuff on me. But now everything hangs in the balance, we need a fresh view. Even Nathan and the coven understand that now.

  “Right honey,” Gwen says as she sits down opposite me. “This.” She shows me a small ceremonial blade. “This is yours.” I take the handle of the small silver knife, while frowning deep at her. “You’ve been given it by a witch born from the seventh sister.”

  Okay, this is ridiculously confusing. I just want the reading to start already.

  “Can you just let me pick the cards?” I say, going to hand her the blade back.

  She waves her hands, refusing to take it. “No, that is your personal sacrificial blade now. And these.” She picks up a deck of gold gilded tarot cards. “These are yours also.”

  “What am I supposed to do with those?” I nearly shriek at her.

  “She’s right to ask,” Nathan adds. “Though I appreciate what you’ve done for Ben. How is this helping? We don’t have time to piss around with magic tricks.”

  I watch Adrien’s head turn to face Nathan, noting that irritation on his face from old times. I don’t need them two at each other’s throats.

  “Okay, what do I do?” I huff, looking at the shiny deck.

  “I’m going to read,” she explains. “But you are the only one who can spread the deck. “Close your eyes honey, and keep them closed all the way through this.” I do as she asks, reluctantly. “Take the blade, and slice into the palm of your right hand.”

  “Are you nuts?” Nathan snaps.

  I strain not to open my eyes and mouth, to tell Nathan to shut the hell up.

  I take the handle of the blade and coil my right hand around it. Without thinking, I squeeze and slice quickly, to feel my thin blood dripping down my forearm.

  “Take the cards in the same hand,” Gwen says. “And spread them across the table.”

  My bloody fingers fumble over the surface until I feel the deck. I take the cards in my hand and feather them out across the table.

  “Okay Liz, I want you to think of one question to ask. Do not think of anything else. When you feel ready, point to the card.”

  I inhale and fill my mind with
nothing other than Daniel. I silently ask the same question over and over again, as my hand hovers over the deck. A flash of light beneath my eyelids makes me jump.

  “Keep them closed Liz, you’re getting closer. You will start to see things. They are not real, just fragments of information and time.”

  Another flash occurs and my forefinger, like it has a mind of its own, stabs down hard on the deck.

  I feel Gwen pull the card out, and I hear her turn it over, but I also pick up on something else. I see dancing lights. I hear strange music. I’m no longer sitting in the booth, I’m in a club, full of vampire. I can sense Daniel, he’s in pain, but I can’t see him.

  “Another card Liz,” Gwen’s voice echoes over the deep eerie beat.

  I’m panting, my eyes searching over and through the bodies, looking for Daniel. I push my way through the hazy dreamlike figures.

  “Another card Liz!” Gwen’s yell resounds.

  I stop in the centre of a dancefloor. I’m trying to call out, but I can’t make a noise. I bring my hand out before me, and notice I can still feel the table in the booth. This is so fucking bizarre.

  I close my eyes, sweep my hand across the cards, and again stab down my finger.

  “That’s a girl,” Gwen says. “Describe where you are, Liz.”

  “I… I’m in this shit nightclub, full of vampires.”

  “Okay. Now I want you to focus on Daniel and Maeve. Let your body and mind lead you to them.”

  I close my eyes, as I’m knocked by dancers who haze in and out of focus. I hear a cry as the shitty music dies out. It’s a girl’s cry.

  “Now, what do you see?” Gwen asks.

  I blink then open my eyes fully. There’s a locked steel door right in front of me, and the sobbing sound is coming from the other side. I float to the door and open the viewing hatch. Oh shit, Maeve. Poor Maeve is chained to a bed.

  I bang on the steel and the door drifts open. I try to call out to her as I move inside, but again no noise comes from my mouth. I think this is a dream, well, a nightmare.

  “Daniel,” Maeve weeps. “You have to stop this.”

  My vampire heart stops beating as I turn my head slowly. Daniel is stooped over in the dark corner. I hover toward him, and he leaps up with dazzling red eyes, evil on his sweet face, and fangs stained in blood. I scream and thrash, trying to grab him.

  “Liz, Liz sweetie, come back now!”

  Hands grip my arms and shake me. I gasp out and growl, my fangs breaking through my gums.

  “Elizabeth… Elizabeth!” I feel Adrien’s hands pressing against my cheeks. “It’s okay,” he yells.

  Panting for air, my view moves around the room. I’m back at The Mill, surrounded by the cautious eyes of the coven.

  “Astral projection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Gwen says, studying the blood coated cards I chose, with a worried look on her face.

  “What is it?” my voice cracks.

  “What you saw hasn’t happened yet, and these cards are the outcome,” she replies. “The Tower represents upheaval. It can represent the destruction of what you know.”

  “I saw him Adrien, Daniel. He was with Maeve. She was in chains!” I grab and claw at his forearm.

  “Hold on there,” Gwen says. “This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Liz. The one who has had to fight the hardest battle, will be the strongest in future wars. The Tower can represent building anew.”

  “Okay, fuck this.” Nathan stomps up to the table. “So what does that mean?” He points to the next card.

  Gwen scowls up at him. “Your aura is in need of a cleansing. You lack tolerance. It is a shit quality for an Executive.”

  “Gwen?” Adrien pushes for more info, straightening up.

  “Okay,” she blows out. “The Magician reversed. Now this is not what I expected. Liz honey, Daniel is still in limbo. This card is one of power, in reverse it indicates he still is yet to make a decision. He will fight this with everything he has, and that is because of you.” She takes a small cloth from her side, and places it in my bloody hand. “You need to be stronger than you have ever been for him.”

  I’ve heard enough. After what I saw, I need to make sure he doesn’t fall. I won’t allow that twisted dick Laurie to take him away from us.

  “Leanna is gathering what resources she has. Adrien,” Nathan says, “I think you better call in all those favours of yours. I have the clubs location. Let’s just say it’s fortified. Ben, Dom, there’s a supply of blood in an unmarked van, back at The Shard.” He tosses his keys and Ben catches. “Take it out and distribute it to the needy. If they want to join us, the more the fucking merrier.” He looks to Gwen. “Any voodoo shit you can muster up for us?”

  “I ain’t no fighter. I’m a lover.” She waves her hands. “Maybe I can conjure up a mass spell, disorientate the Voax.”

  “By?” Adrien squints at her.

  “Put it this way, it will be like one giant acid orgy,” she winks. “Just make sure you’re not in there when it goes off. Don’t want you all bumping and grinding up against each other.”

  “The club is on the outskirts of Potters Bar,” Nathan says. “Used to be an old rave club on an abandoned industrial estate in the nineties. It’s secluded, but I’ll call on the Sangs in uniform still loyal, and warn them to keep civilians out of the area.”

  I cover my mouth, lowering my head to the table. I don’t want this. I don’t want a war. I just want things the way they were.

  “Liz,” Nathan calls over. “Fuck them all. What did I used to tell you; man-up. We’ll get Daniel and Maeve back.”

  Chapter 31: Bloody Goodbyes

  Maeve

  “You can let me go now Maeve.”

  I feel the sharp flick of a finger at the centre of my forehead. My eyes are open, but I can’t make out where I am. I can’t remember a thing other than standing in the ladies bathroom at Kings Cross station, surrounded by vampires, being completely freaked-out.

  “Maeve, wakey-wakey!” I receive another flick to the head. “You want to see Daniel or not. I haven’t got the time to stand here all night waiting.”

  I finally manage to see who the fuck is flicking me. It’s the psychotic Vampire, Dhampir, whatever the hell she is, Lillian, dressed head to toe in black.

  I’m in a cold room with dirt beneath my feet. It’s damp and mouldy, and I see this bed. Not a dirty metal frame bed, with a torn piss-stained mattress, which you’d expect to see in the basement of a serial killer. This is a fancy solid wooden bed, with gold and cream silky bedding, which belongs in a five star luxury hotel. It’s damn right bizarre, and filling me with dread. A bed more than suitable for a passionate encounter, in a prison like room, has warning bells going off in my head. I gulp the air down passed the tight knot in my neck, my frightened eyes narrowing on Lillian.

  Lillian grins and sneers at me, making my trembling body back up. I remember Daniel using his freaky gifts to get us to France. She’s used the same thing on me, she must have. I would not go off willingly with the scariest bitch, I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. Oh god, I need a damn time machine to take me back, so I can avoid getting stuck in the middle of all this evil crap. I’d still have my dad. It wouldn’t even bother me, him being a vampire. And I would have refused the job in Killiecrankie, so I would have never fallen for Daniel Knight.

  My eyes close and squeeze out tears. I can hear her thigh-high leather boots creak closer as I take another step back, so I’m pressed up against the wall. She leans over me, one hand against the wall, and the other she lies over my cheek.

  “Snivelling little girl, this is not the look we are aiming for.”

  I force a scowl to replace the fear in my eyes. She clearly needs me alive for something, and looking at that bed, I’m guessing for something along the lines of rape.

  “Well, look at those sexy eyes,” she taps my cheek. “Now that’s more like it.”

  “What do you want?” I shuffle a side step away from her. “Tha
t bed is for me I’m guessing.”

  She moves to close the tiny gap I’ve created. “Your guess is right.”

  “Is it that Laurie guy who wants me?”

  “Regrettably, no,” a deep and bitter male voice comes from the back of Lillian.

  I remember him, from the ladies bathroom at Kings Cross. The vampire behind all this. The vampire who probably ordered my father’s death, Laurie.

  “That was your daddy’s fault,” Lillian says, having just read my mind. “Humanity has no place with the Voax.”

  I don’t really care if she hits me, bites me, or kills me with her wicked mind. I want her to know how fuckin sick she is.

  I’m filling up with a boiling heat, which burns my cheeks, and makes my fingers curl into my hands. My arms twitch down by my sides. It is as though the grief I have inside for my dad, is heating my blood to a fuming anger. I hate this bitch with a passion.

  “We may need your body, but I’m quite sure you can still please with a few broken bones.” Lillian threatens my silent intentions.

  “What was it like growing up without a mother,” I say, boldly. “What was her name, Maria Anne?” I manage to say, before she has the chance to get inside my head again. “I read her last letter in France. How sorry she was for leaving you. How much she loved you. And she didn’t have a choice. She must have suffered terribly at the hands of your father!”

  She sniggers, looking over to an amused Laurie. It’s not the reaction I was expecting; not after she has just learnt that Laurie killed her Mother.

  “She wasn’t my mother silly.” Again she taps my cheek in a patronising way. “You see, I don’t have parents. Laurie has been so good to me. He’s taught me a lot, and has shown his loyalty and dedication to the new ways, to the Dhampir. For that he will always be my counsel, and the leader of the Voax.”

  “So,” I look at Laurie. “You’re like her minion then?”

  Lillian grabs my cheeks, hard. “Before I allow my dear Brother in here, so he can join my side, do you have any last requests?”

  “Last meal, or maybe a glass of bubbly,” Laurie asks in a laugh.