With a quick glance at the clock, she realised that it was late; midnight. But the thought of retiring to bed to toss and turn all night wasn’t tempting.
Her muscles itched to do something, her feet ached to move.
But what? She couldn’t go to the police, she didn’t know what to tell them. Her mother, well that was an absolute no-no. And those strangers, they’d disappeared without giving her any answers, only more questions and the blossoming bud of a freak-out.
Piper knew who she could call. And that would give her something to do. She ran upstairs, got dressed, and called April.
CHAPTER 8
The music blared against Piper’s head.
Her ears popped as she approached the cloakroom. Hip-Hop wasn’t to her taste, but it attracted a livelier crowd than the techno-rubbish every other club played these days.
Piper tucked her clutch underneath her arm and handed her coat to the attendant. She slipped her a ten-pound note to save her the bother of payment later.
The hem of her ivory dress grazed against her thighs as she joined the crowd. Dancers twirled on platforms, clubbers twerked and spun on the floor, and VIP tables curved around the dancefloor in a crescent.
The stink of sweat and pheromones swept up Piper’s nostrils. It wasn’t a smell she was used to, but she tended to be intoxicated before getting to the club.
This time was different. She was as sober as she’d ever been. Shoot-outs and home-invaders seemed to have that effect on her.
A girl in needle-heels crashed into her on the dancefloor.
“Excuse me,” snapped Piper.
The girl laughed and shoved into her again, this time on purpose. Piper made an ick noise and shouldered through the crowd.
She spotted April ahead, at a VIP table beside a raunchy go-go dancer. April danced on the table, knocking over glasses of vodka, and swayed her way through the night.
She bent, flipped her blond hair in circles, and swung back up to rock her curvy hips from side-to-side. Her porcelain skin glistened beneath the coloured lights, as did her metallic strappy dress.
Piper climbed up the steps to the booth. April saw her approach, and the excited squeal she released almost pierced through the music.
As Piper ducked under the red rope, April hopped off the table and launched herself at her. A shimmer of greying black swarmed Piper’s vision as April hugged her.
The embrace was standard—brief, firm and with a hit of Marc Jacob’s perfume.
“I’ll pour you a drink,” shouted April over the music. “I don’t know where that darned hostess has run off to. What do you want? Vodka Lime?”
Piper nodded and plonked down on the circular couch.
April made the drink, and Piper looked at the others in the booth. There were some faces she knew from school, and a few unfamiliar ones. A Chinese boy, around eighteen years old, sat opposite. They nodded at each other—a sign of recognition based purely on their shared race.
Piper suspected him to be Chen, April’s latest accessory in a string of guys she pulled along. But the others in the booth were April’s friends, not Piper’s. Filthy rich party animals.
Piper knew April in a way they didn’t—April picked out her friends for the day and night like one would an outfit, depending on her activities.
For Soho nightlife, she took her fancier friends; for shopping and grabbing lunch, she chose Piper and Nigel.
The blond snob sat down beside Piper and handed her the drink. April’s hazel eyes sparkled. She leaned forward, desperate to quench her thirst for gossip.
“You look rather glum,” she said. “What happened? Did Daddy-Dearest skip out on the cheque?”
Piper brought the glass to her lips and chugged. She guzzled down every last drop, and the vodka seared her throat. She slammed the glass down on the table and shuddered.
Piper looked into April’s cloudy eyes and told her everything, from the others at the restaurant who she assumed to be her half-siblings, the strange speech Colt had made, his obsession with red couscous, to the soldiers bursting through glass, how they’d chased Colt and shot at him, her escape from the restaurant, the two soldiers breaking into her house, and what they told her about halfbreeds and daywalkers. It was a lot to tell.
By the time Piper had stopped speaking, the others in the booth had gone home. It was just the two of them.
April blinked at Piper.
Her lashes flittered over the brown and green flecks of her irises. She processed all that Piper had told her. Piper wondered if it was the right thing to tell April, perhaps she couldn’t handle it. But then April’s lips spread into a devious grin.
She raised her hand and wiggled her slender fingers—the diamonds on her rings blinded Piper.
“Have you been taking drugs without supervision?” said April. “I don’t judge you for it, but you know my stance on drugs, Pipes. I don’t want a part of it. Though, I must admit that I expected more from you.”
“It’s not drugs,” shouted Piper. Her voice carried over the music. The people in the neighbouring booth stared at them.
One man in a business suit leaned over the couches. “We’re looking for blow. You got any?”
April, eyes blazing, turned on the business man. “Do we look like sniffers to you?”
The man laughed, a drunken slurred sound, and slid back to his booth. April hmphed and turned back to Piper.
Before she could say anything, Piper leaned forward. “It sounds mad—it is mad. But it happened, April. I … I’m freaked out. This would be the perfect time for some advice.”
April pursed her lips. Her narrowed eyes betrayed her disbelief. But she sighed, a graceful tune, and reassured her.
“If I were you, I’d never contact this Colt-character again. If you see him, turn the other way and leave. As for the others … Get your locks changed for a start. And, honestly, I’ve been telling you this for years—you need a butler. A butler will take care of any unwanted guests. It’s much safer to have one.”
The hostess slipped through the rope, carrying a bottle of champagne. Piper slumped back in the seat, and watched as April berated the hostess for taking too long to return.
“Listen,” said April. She’d finished shouting at the hostess who was now in a sulk, pouring them flutes of champagne. “I’ll get the details of my mother’s private investigator. He specialises in stalker cases. With him on your side, you won’t have to worry about seeing any of those creepers again.”
A soft smile swept over Piper’s face. April’s mother had many ‘friends’, and each of them had their uses. It was a valuable offer. “You’d do that?”
April scowled. “Of course I would, Pipes. What do you think of me? I’d let you be kidnapped and not do anything to prevent it?” She shifted in the seat and flipped her hair over her shoulder. The dishevelled tresses, sweaty and sticky, gathered at her milky-white back. “Besides, I can come over tomorrow with info, and we’ll contact him together. Moral support, and all that.”
Piper nudged her on the arm. “Thank you.”
“Yes, well.” April sniffed. “Thank me when it’s been dealt with. Now,” she said. “Let’s get plastered!”
Piper giggled, a result of the champagne, and watched April prance back onto the table.
There, April was in her natural habitat; centre of attention, yet out of the reach of those she called ‘London’s peasants’.
Piper took another sip. The bubbles in the flute tickled her nose.
Her eyes moved over the top of the glass, scanning those on the dancefloor. Three people were tangled together in the crowd, arms wrapped around the others in a passionate embrace. Three-way kisses made Piper’s skin crawl. They always looked so sloppy.
She puckered her lips and stirred her gaze around, until she saw a mop of sawdust hover in the crowd. It was familiar, like the sun shining through a thick cloud of chaos. She narrowed her eyes and peered through the cloud from the smoke machine. The soft pink of his lips, the
waves of his pinewood hair, and the silver eyes that shone like daggers beneath his dark eyebrows.
Unlike a few hours ago, he was clean of blood, but he wore the same clothes as before.
It was Ash. Desmond stood beside him.
Desmond had the same eyes, the metal piercing through the darkness of the club, though they weren’t as striking as Ash’s. His were smoky where Ash’s were cutting. They could be brothers, she thought, but they looked nothing alike, other than their eyes.
Desmond looked up at the booth, but not at Piper. His focus fixed on April, dancing atop the table.
He stiffened, in a trance, watching her sway and shimmy off-beat.
Ash stared straight at Piper, and a lightning bolt struck her body. Her toes tingled in her stilettoes, and her fingers clutched the champagne glass. He lifted his hand and curled his fingers. He was summoning her.
Piper stood up on instinct. Whether it was the fierce glow of his eyes that drew her to him, the champagne and vodka, or the need for answers, she didn’t know.
April saw her get up. “Powder room? I’ll come!”
“No,” she shouted. April tilted her head, a curious glint in her eyes. “Sorry,” said Piper. “I just need a dose of fresh air. I’ll be back in a tick.”
April shrugged and continued to dance. Piper left the booth and delved into the dancefloor. She searched, but couldn’t spot either Desmond or Ash among the clubbers. It was as though they’d disappeared again, vanished through an air vent perhaps.
She went outside to the front of the club.
CHAPTER 9
The club was tucked away in a wide alley, just off a main road. The queue for entrance ran along the side of the building, and the smokers gathered by wheelie bins at the opposite wall.
Desmond and Ash stood on the pavement a few metres away from the club. The heat of Ash’s eyes seared her skin.
She marched over to them.
“Where did you go?” Piper stopped in front of them, her clouded eyes piercing into Ash’s. “At my house, you were there and then you were gone.”
Ash seemed to understand what she’d meant, despite her garbled speech. “Out the window,” he said. “I thought it was obvious. That was my intention when I left it open.”
Desmond’s weary sigh floated through the air. He reclined against a black lamppost and stared ahead at the face of the club.
“Can we hurry this up?” he said, observing the smokers. “I despise dullborn nightlife. I am tired, and we have things to do.”
Piper scoffed and rounded on him. “Such as? Break into houses, or shoot more people?”
Desmond’s upper lip curled as he dragged his frosty stare to her.
Ash grinned, a crooked smile, and said, “Forgive him. One might think he’s a Nightwalker with the things he comes out with.”
Her filled eyebrow arched. “A what?”
“Oh, only our greatest enemy,” he said. “Born a daywalker, brews a dangerous potion, drinks it, sacrifices someone, then wakes up a nightwalker. Ash added, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. We’re not here for that.”
“Why are you here, then?”
The grin faded from his sun-kissed face. “We have reason to believe that Colt will come back for you. Or,” he added, “come after you. There’s a reason you were all gathered there.”
“And what reason might that be?”
He ran his fingers through his hair, looking a little sheepish. “Can’t tell you that until we know for certain.”
Piper ticked her jaw and dropped her hands to her sides. “What can you tell me?” The impatience laced her tight tone. “Not much so far. I don’t think you know a darn thing.”
“If you come with us, we can explain everything.”
Piper barked a bitter laugh. “Last time I trusted a stranger, it didn’t turn out too well for me.”
“Listen,” snapped Desmond. “You’re half dullborn, half daywalker. Your father, Colt Stirling, is a fugitive, and for some reason he mated with a bunch of humans to make your kind—halfbreeds. He has a purpose for you all, and he had most of you eat the banyon. There is one reason to use a curse like that. Each halfbreed who ate it would have no choice but to follow him. He wanted puppets, and he’s pulling the strings.”
Desmond shot a tedious look at Ash.
Piper dug her nails into her palms, and felt a warmth touch her fingertips. She suspected she’d cut her skin and bled.
“We,” added Desmond, “are here to help. Stop wasting our time.”
Piper clenched her hands and curled her upper lip.
Before she could bite back, a cry shouted behind her. She looked over her shoulder. A man by the wall had tried to light himself a cigarette and singed his hair instead.
The flame flew up from the lighter even as he tried to blow it out.
Piper shook her head and turned back around.
Ash stared at her, a curious gleam in his mercury eyes. “It’s a matter of time,” he said, “before Colt comes looking for you. With us you’ll be safe.”
“But he’s one of your kind,” she said. “Why should I trust you?”
“He’s as one of us as Hitler was one of you,” said Ash. “Some go bad, some have ideals and will do anything to reach their goals. True daywalkers, like us, serve the world—not ourselves.”
A blankness spread through her eyes and a small smile jerked at her lips. It took the scraps of strength left within her to not laugh in his face.
“So, what,” she said. “You’re like the protectors of mankind? Fighting in the shadows against all evil?”
Ash threw his head back and laughed. His chest rumbled against his black sweater. He stopped and wore a grin from dimple to dimple. “You watch too many movies.”
“No,” said Desmond. “She’s just like every other dullborn—arrogant, thinking they’re the centre of the universe, and the motivation for everyone.”
Ash elbowed Desmond on the arm. Piper slewed her gaze between the two. “If you’re not guardians,” she said, “what are you?”
“What are you?” hissed Desmond. “The humans, what are their purpose? What do they do for this world, or anyone but themselves?”
“We are here for the same reasons as humans.” Ash shot Desmond a warning stare. “Whether by cosmic chance or will of the Gods. And you,” he said, tilting his head toward her, “are both—one of us, and one of them.”
He paused and looked around at the street stragglers, watching them laugh and stumble against walls.
“There is a place,” he said, returning his gaze to Piper. “A place for people like us, and you. We want to take you there. You can see what we are, learn what we do, have your questions answered. You’ve been invited.”
He said the word ‘invited’ with such conviction that she wondered if it was an honour or order.
“This place—”
Piper was cut off by the deafening clack of heels. The rapid clicks bounced off the stone ground behind her.
Dread pooled in her stomach as she turned around and saw April storming over to them. Piper had forgotten where she was and who with.
Piper whirled around to Desmond and Ash. The last time they were interrupted, they’d vanished through a window. But this time, they stayed on the street. Ash hadn’t taken his calculative eyes off her face. He studied her, as one would a dancing butterfly.
Desmond, on the other hand, gazed over Piper’s head.
His eyes locked on April and his lips pressed together into a thin line. His sweater seemed to tighten around his torso like cling film, and blood gathered in his high cheekbones.
April stopped beside Piper. The fierceness of her glaring eyes raked over the three of them. “Outside for some fresh air?” said April.
Piper watched as April raised her upturned nose and glowered at her from beneath her lashes. Piper inched closer to her and whispered, “They’re the ones I was telling you about.”
Ash tilted his head. “We can hear you. We are literally standi
ng right in front of you.”
April snapped her gaze to him.
Piper could have sworn Ash flinched. But once she blinked, he stood there in all his casual arrogance, hands in his pockets and a brow arched on his patient face.
“What do you want with my friend?” The words oozed from April’s lips and gritted out from between her teeth.
“That’s private business,” he said.
“Nothing is private between Pipes and I.” April flicked her hair over her shoulder. “For instance,” she said, “I know that the both of you came barging into a personal dinner and shot people. Then, you broke into her house before you jumped out of a window. Not to mention that you lit her fireplace, which is … weird.”
Ash glanced at Piper, a question in his mercurial eyes. April clicked her fingers in front of his face.
“I’m not finished,” she said. “You’re home-intruders, attempted-murderers, and you’re here, which means you’re also a pair of stalkers.” She turned to Piper. “Who shall we call first? The police or my mother’s dearest friend? He’ll have these two sent to some off-the-grid prison within the week.”
Ash considered April. “You remind of me a yappy chihuahua,” he said before addressing Piper. “I wouldn’t have travelled all the way to Soho I didn’t think you should at least hear us out. Come to the Academy before tomorrow night and we’ll do what we can for you. If you decide not to, we’ll take it as a rejection of our offer. You’ll be on your own.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Dullborn law won’t protect you, and dullborn law-keepers can’t help you. We’re the best chance you’ve got.”
Piper sighed and rubbed her hands over her face.
Answers to her questions was a tempting offer, but she wasn’t in the reckless state of mind to run off with strangers in the middle of the night.
A few hours ago, she’d gone to have dinner with her estranged father, and ended up in some sort of daywalker underground. That is, if she believed what these people were telling her, and she wasn’t sure she did.
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