by Mia James
Davina began a laugh, which turned into a cough as the wine caught in her throat. ‘What makes you think I know?’ she said. ‘I’m out of the gang, remember?’
‘I’ve just seen Gabriel and he says he knows.’
Davina looked up, her eyes suddenly focused and sharp. ‘What did he say?’
‘Nothing, as usual. He wouldn’t give me a name, wouldn’t tell me where he was going either.’
Davina nodded. ‘I’m not surprised,’ said Davina distractedly, as if she was thinking of something else.
‘What’s that mean?’ said April, putting her hands on the counter and leaning towards her. ‘Tell me! Who is the King? Where has Gabriel gone?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Please Davina,’ said April, softening her tone. ‘I’m terrified Gabe’s gone off on one of his mad hero missions, trying to take on the King single-handedly.’
‘Yes, that sounds like Gabriel,’ said Davina bitterly. ‘Always thought he was something special.’
‘Dammit, Davina!’ shouted April, slamming her hand down on the table. ‘I’m sick of all these bloody riddles – just tell me what you know.’
‘You don’t want to know,’ said Davina, lifting her glass. ‘Believe me, you don’t.’
April backhanded Davina’s glass across the kitchen, shattering it against the fridge.
‘YES!’ she yelled. ‘Yes, I do. Now are you going to tell me or do I have to drag it out of you?’
Davina looked at April, her smile changing to something more unpleasant. ‘Gabriel’s a killer, April.’
‘I know that.’
‘No, you don’t,’ said Davina. ‘Because you don’t want to believe it. You want him to be your version of a vampire, some neutered, scrubbed-clean version who never gets his hands dirty. But look at the facts: your precious lover-boy has been drinking human blood for a hundred years. Do you seriously believe he’s never killed anyone in that time?’
April began to protest, but the words stuck in her throat. Did she really believe it? After all those dreams, all those visions of the past plaguing Gabriel? What if he really had been stalking those women? What then? Could she really live with that, could she look at him the same way?
‘He made a promise ...’ said April and Davina laughed.
‘That promise he made to Lily, his poor, dead, pox-ridden girlfriend? How he’d never, ever take another life? You really bought that crap? Jesus, think about it. Put yourself in Gabriel’s size twelves. He’s become a vampire for the sake of his one true love, but his master refuses to save her, so Gabriel’s forced to watch Lily die. How do you think he would react? Do you really think he shrugged his shoulders, then went into hiding for fifty years? Rubbish, April. He went on a killing spree and he didn’t stop until he was knee-deep in bodies.’
April tried to take a breath, but found she couldn’t. Davina was vicious and spiteful, but her logic was persuasive. Would he really have taken it lying down? No, he would have wanted revenge – bloody, violent revenge. Had he killed before? More importantly, once he had, did he ever stop? April turned to Davina, looking straight into her eyes. ‘Did Gabriel kill Isabelle?’
She tried to remember all the things Gabriel had said about that night, what he said he had seen, how he had struggled to protect Isabelle from a powerful vampire seized with a terrible blood-lust. Could he have been talking about himself?
‘No,’ said Davina finally.
‘But how do you know for sure? How do you know Gabriel didn’t kill Isabelle?’
‘Because I killed her.’
April’s eyes opened wide. ‘What? No! How could you?’
‘How could I?’ snapped Davina. ‘I was doing the world a favour! It was like putting down a rabid dog. Do you know what she was? A Fury.’ Her voice dripped with disgust, as if she was describing a revolting breed of snake. ‘She was diseased. You heard what happened to Milo? His skin rotted off the bone and he bled from his eyes. That was who Isabelle Davis was and she had to be destroyed.’
April’s heart was in her mouth now, her head pounding. How could she have allowed Davina to suck her in, make her believe that she was half-human, that she was capable of pain and remorse? All vampires were the same, nothing more than killing machines. She realised just as suddenly how much danger Gabriel was in. He had gone to take on the most powerful, most ruthless of all the vampires stalking the city. April’s eyes searched Davina’s. ‘Who else have you killed, Davina? How many?’
The girl’s face twisted with spite. ‘You mean did I kill your father? I wouldn’t have dirtied my hands.’
April’s fingers were around Davina’s throat before she knew what she was doing. She squeezed as hard as she could, seized by a terrible desire to kill this girl – this disgusting creature from the darkest pit. She wasn’t human, she was unnatural – she didn’t deserve to live. Everything in April’s vision reduced to a single point, where her thumbs were pressing on Davina’s windpipe – all the rest was a red haze. Then she felt herself yanked backwards. Losing her footing, she crashed into the fridge and she felt hands grabbing her, holding her in place.
‘April, stop!’
She could hear the voice, but she couldn’t recognise it. She struggled to get back to Davina, every nerve and sinew desperate to hurt her, to sink her nails into the girl’s eyes.
‘April, it’s Caro,’ said the voice, frightened but firm. ‘Look at me.’
Finally, April tore her gaze away from the vampire across the room and looked at her friend. Caro’s face was white, her brow furrowed with concern.
‘That’s it, now take a deep breath. Good. Here, sit down,’ she said, scooping up the stool April had knocked over.
Davina was still squashed up against the kitchen counter where April had pushed her. For a moment, April thought she was choking, but she was laughing.
‘Damn girl,’ said Davina, rubbing her throat. ‘That’s some grip you’ve got. Was it something I said?’
April lunged at her, but Caro jumped between them again.
‘STOP IT! Come on, what the hell is going on here?’ she said, looking from April to Davina. ‘Will someone explain to me why I found the front door open and you two in the middle of a catfight?’
Davina sneered, waving a hand at April. ‘Your little friend can’t take a joke.’
‘A joke?’ spat April. ‘You call that a joke?’
‘What joke?’ said Caro.
‘Oh, I’ll explain the hilarity, shall I?’ said April. ‘Davina here is a vampire, a killer, a cold-blooded murderer.’
Caro didn’t even blink. ‘Yes, and?’
Davina began a slow hand-clap. ‘At least someone gets it. Well done, Caro Jackson. You win the “staring you in the face” prize.’
‘Oh shut up,’ said April, turning back to Caro. ‘On top of being a vampire, she freely admits that she killed Isabelle Davis and who knows how many other innocent people.’
‘Isabelle Davis was no innocent,’ said Davina. ‘She was greedy and stupid. She was quite happy to sell her people out – all of you Bleeders – in order to get herself a position in the Regent’s cabinet. When that didn’t work, she tried blackmailing us – thought the fact that she had some foul disease meant that she should be treated like a superhero.’ Davina made a mocking sad face. ‘She got that one wrong.’
‘All right,’ said Caro, raising her eyebrows meaningfully towards April at the mention of the Fury. ‘So Davina’s a horrible murderer, I get that. But why were you trying to throttle her when I came in?’
‘She’s worried about poor little Gabe,’ said Davina. ‘Thinks I know where he’s run off to. Which I don’t. I mean, if he was my boyfriend, there’s no way he would have left me all alone.’
Caro put up her hands to stop April launching at Davina again. ‘Okay, let’s start at the beginning, tell me everything – both of you. Then I’ll decide who needs strangling.’
Glaring at Davina, April told Caro about Gabriel’s revelation in the park and then what D
avina had said about Gabriel and a killing spree. When April had finished, Caro looked over at Davina, her face serious.
‘Oh bugger,’ she said.
Davina nodded. ‘See? Caro gets it.’
‘Gets what?’ said April impatiently. ‘Gets what?’
‘Look A, I know you’re worried that Gabe’s going to run off after the King and get his neck snapped,’ said Caro.
‘I could have done without the detail, but yes.’
‘Well ...’ she pulled a face. ‘Don’t you see? We might have more of a problem than that.’
April looked from one to the other. ‘What? Tell me!’
‘It’s not just the danger he’s in from the King, is it? If Gabriel has remembered who the King is, then there’s a good chance he will remember everything. Gabe’s a sensitive guy, isn’t he? He’s certainly spent the last hundred years convinced he’s kept his hands clean because of that promise he made on Lily’s deathbed. Now, all of a sudden, he starts to think he’s Jack the Ripper? What do you think that’s going to do to him?’
Oh no, thought April. It’s going to tear him apart. She remembered the terror and remorse on his face when he had admitted to her about having turned Jessica. He’d worn that regret like a crown of thorns for decades – what would the sudden realisation that he was a repeat killer do to him? April made another grab for Davina, but she dodged out of the way.
‘You knew about this! Why didn’t you help him?’
‘Oh, yes,’ said Davina, tutting. ‘Blame the vampire. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, April Dunne. Haven’t you ever heard that one?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Do I have to paint you a picture, April? What has caused this change in Gabriel? He’s been blissfully unaware of his true nature for a hundred years. Then you waltz into his life and the sky falls in.’
‘This is my fault?’
‘I think what Davina is trying to say,’ said Caro, glaring at Davina, ‘Is that you have unlocked him emotionally. Your love has made him want to live again.’
This is all my fault thought April.
‘If he wants to live, he’s gone to the wrong place,’ said Davina. ‘The King is a true vampire, ten times as strong as a turned vamp like Gabriel.’
‘Not helping,’ said Caro. ‘Do you know where he is?’
‘No,’ said Davina.
‘She does!’ cried April, ‘She must do.’
Davina put up a hand. ‘If you’d just let me finish,’ she said, standing up and smoothing her creased shirt. ‘I was going to say that no, I don’t know where he is, but I know someone who might. Get your coats.’
‘Where are we going?’
‘We’re going to a party.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
They could hear it all the way up Swain’s Lane. The thudding “boom, boom” of the bass coming from a powerful sound system – it was like walking past the back of a music venue when a band were on stage. As the three girls approached the gates of the cemetery, they could see two burly security guys dressed in standard issue black, one holding a clipboard – there was even a little velvet rope stretched between two silver poles.
‘A party in the cemetery? How the hell did they get permission for this?’ said April.
‘The cemetery is owned by a trust, presumably they wants to make a few quid,’ said Caro.
Davina shook her head. ‘More likely the trust has been infiltrated by vampire-sympathisers and they voted “Yes” for a party.’ She gave April a sarcastic smile. ‘We do love a good party.’
April tried to imagine Miss Leicester’s face when she was told there was going to be a load of teenagers dancing to loud music in the cemetery, but she couldn’t. For all her possessiveness towards Highgate’s graveyard, Miss Leicester was just an employee who would have to do what she was told.
‘There’s no way they’re going to let us in there,’ whispered April.
‘You forget who you’re with,’ said Davina, ‘I’ve never been turned away from a party in my life.’
April and Caro hung back as Davina walked confidently up to the doorman with the clipboard. She leant in and whispered something in his ear, simultaneously touching his arm with one finger. The bouncer’s stony face broke into a grudging smile, then a wolfish grin. While they were alone, Caro turned to April, ‘Listen, what’s going on? How come we’re talking to a vampire all of a sudden – and this one in particular?’
‘I don’t like it either, Caro, but we’ve gone past the point of picking and choosing our allies. If Davina’s angry enough to help us get in the door, we have to take advantage of this opportunity. We’re running out of options. And if Gabriel’s really found the King, we’re out of time too.’
Caro paused for a moment, then nodded. ‘Fair enough. But what was all that stuff about Isabelle and her “disease”? Do you think she knows you’re a Fury?’
‘Who knows, but if she wanted to kill me, she could have come into my room and done it while I was asleep.’
‘Nice thought. Okay, we’ll play along, but remember whose side she’s on.’
‘And you remember that I’m only here to find Gabriel, okay?’
Across the road, Davina and the security guards were laughing and chatting like old friends. The first man nodded and beckoned to April and Caro.
‘In you go, girls,’ he said. ‘Behave yourselves, yeah?’
‘Until later, anyway,’ said Davina as the guard unhooked the velvet rope and allowed them all inside.
‘What did you say to him?’ whispered April as they crossed the courtyard and up the stone steps.
‘Oh, just a little bit of harmless flirtation. Muscles and his friend think they’re going to cop a feel in the bushes later.’
She glanced at April. ‘Oh, don’t look so shocked, Little Miss Prim. Don’t tell me you and Gabriel haven’t rustled a few leaves in this cemetery. Besides, I did that meathead guard a favour. If they go into the bushes with anyone else here, there’s a good chance they’re not going to come out again.’
They walked up the steep pathway and April couldn’t help casting a glance down towards her father’s tomb.
Watch over me, Daddy, she thought, wherever you are.
The music was getting louder now and, between the trees, they could see flashing lights.
‘Where the hell are we going?’ whispered Caro.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ said Davina. ‘We’re going right to the heart of the darkness, as William Dunne so eloquently put it.’
April grabbed her arm. ‘What do you know about my father?’
Davina brushed April’s fingers off disdainfully. ‘And they call us arrogant,’ she said. ‘Do you really think you’re the only ones who can use a computer? University of Strathclyde, February, two years ago. Your father gave a talk called “The Devil’s Disease”. There’s a transcription of it on the University’s website.’
She saw April’s blank expression and rolled her eyes. ‘Your father hypothesised that all large-scale violent crime – riots, serial killers, even wars – could be down to a certain strain of disease. He thought it was all coming from underground. And if he’s right, then ...’ They walked around a corner and Davina gestured dramatically. ‘This is where it’s coming from.’
‘Bloody hell!’ gasped Caro. They had come to the gates of the Egyptian Avenue. The carved stone gateway was grand enough during the day, but tonight, next to the pillars either side of the opening, there were flaming torches, the inside of the sloping passageway lit with a glowing red light.
‘It looks like the mouth of hell,’ said Caro.
‘Could be right, darling,’ said Davina, leading the way inside. Exchanging nervous looks, April and Caro followed her. The passage was filled with smoke and there were dark figures hanging about in the swirling red-lit mist, drinking, necking, swaying to the music. April was relieved that they paid no attention to them as they passed.
‘What is this place?’ whispered
Caro.
‘This corridor is a series of burial vaults,’ said April, nodding towards the iron doors lining the alleyway on either side of them.
‘It’s making me claustrophobic,’ said Caro nervously.
‘Don’t worry, it opens out at the end.’
‘Behold! The Circle of Lebanon,’ said Davina, raising her voice to be heard over the now pounding music.
‘Wow!’ said Caro as they stepped out. The walls curved off on either side, open to the sky, but packed with undulating bodies – they were clearly using the circle as the party’s dance floor. The girls threaded their way through, half-hidden by the billowing dry ice and the flashing lights set over the circle on scaffolding – presumably that was what April had seen being unloaded earlier. Davina led them to a set of stone steps; from the top they could see down into the circle. It really did look like one of those medieval paintings of the underworld – the dancer’s hands reaching up out of the flames and smoke. They walked away from the pit, towards a makeshift bar piled high with bottles and set up close to the cemetery’s catacombs.
April glanced over at Davina. If the girl felt any discomfort being this close to the spot her brother had killed Layla, she didn’t show it. April couldn’t bring herself to turn that way; when she closed her eyes at night, she could still see Layla’s white face, the eyes open, her legs dangling. Remember it, she told herself. Remember what these creatures are capable of.
She turned up the collar of her coat, suddenly feeling cold. Caro, however, seemed as unconcerned as Davina, returning from the bar with beer for them both.
‘This is off the hook,’ said Caro, grinning.
‘You’re not supposed to be enjoying yourself,’ snapped April.
‘Hey, lighten up, sourpuss,’ replied Caro. ‘I know you’re worried about Gabe, but let’s not jump to conclusions until we know exactly what’s going on, okay?’ Her gaze switched to over April’s shoulder. ‘Anyway, it looks like we’ve got problems of our own.’
Chessy. She was striding over, with Ling, Simon and a gang of Suckers trailing behind her like a royal entourage. Chessy was wearing a tiny red dress and Ling, despite the uneven ground, was in sky-high heels. One look at Chessy’s face and April knew she’d made a mistake coming here.
