by Maggie Mundy
By nine-thirty, the food was cold. Adele had checked her phone several times. Carla could be a ditz sometimes, but she would always let Adele know her location. Hunters needed to keep track of their backup. Each time she called Carla, it went to voicemail. Maybe she’d lost her phone. And maybe I’m trying to come up with some reasonable cause for lack of contact. She’d call Jake.
A few seconds later, he answered. “Hi, Adele. What can I do for you?”
“I can’t contact Carla. She was coming here at eight. I know it’s silly, but I’ve a bad feeling something’s happened.”
“I’m in Bath. I’ll be at your place in ten minutes. Get suited up and we’ll go look for her.”
Adele was always calm on a hunt, but this time she trembled as she dressed. This was personal. If a vampire hurt Carla, she’d make sure everyone she met in the future died.
Elect or Rogue.
The intercom went off, and she buzzed Jake up. When he walked in he gave her his raised-eyebrow-inquisitor look.
“You okay to do this? I can call one of the others in.”
Adele pursed her lips as she frowned at her uncle. “She’d be out there looking for me, so let’s do it.”
“I’ve heard rumors recently of people going missing, but no police reports to say a new wave of attacks was imminent. All I know is the last place we knew of anything happening was in Trowbridge.”
“Let’s go then. I don’t like the idea of her being out there alone.”
It took forty minutes to drive to Trowbridge and it was the longest ride of her life. Adele refused to accept something had happened to Carla. She wouldn’t consider her cousin might be dead.
It was a typical Monday night in Trowbridge, with most people staying at home. Jake found a local public house and they entered, each buying a drink.
Jake nodded in the direction of two men, one with a beer belly, at the end of the bar. “They sound like locals from the way they’re chatting with the barman. Let’s go over.”
After some prompting and buying them ale when the barman called last orders, the two men opened up.
“Been some weird stuff down Bren Street. Got the police out, but they didn’t find anything. People said they heard screams. Sounded like a woman. That was weeks ago, though. I still wouldn’t be going down there.” Bert, the portly one said. His mate, Harry nodded.
“Was a nice area once, but lowlife’s living there now. Reckon they’re doing drugs and stuff. Much nicer areas to live in than that.”
The barman flicked the lights on and off to let people know it was closing time. Adele stood. Her entire body was on edge, desperate to check out these new leads.
Jake found Bren Street on his phone as they headed out of town. In the lessening streetlights the roads grew dark, but they eventually found the place, a row of terraced houses built next to a field.
All looked as if they’d seen better days. Jake parked around the corner. Adele jumped out and hurried to the field. Jake joined her behind a bush.
The first three houses appeared derelict, with smashed windows and no lights. The next four had the odd light on here and there, but nothing untoward about them. The old-fashioned lace curtains in the windows gave the impression older people lived there who didn’t want to leave, despite the fact the street had fallen into disrepair.
Outside the next few houses, groups of chattering youths hung around. Cars pulled up now and then, their occupants calling back and forth, and then drove off. Clearly, drug deals were happening, and she couldn’t see a policeman in sight.
“We need to check out the last house,” Adele whispered, and Jake nodded. “Let’s skirt around the back of those houses and see if there’s a rear entrance.”
Jake lifted the latch on the gate, and Adele followed him into an overgrown backyard. The brambles scratched her hands as she made her way through. The back door was locked and Adele slogged across the tangled lawn to a window, attempting to see inside.
She squinted as Jake approached and stood beside her. The inside was dimly lit with what she reckoned were candles. The windows were filthy, and she rubbed the glass with her sleeve. Then her breath caught in her throat at the scene before her—
Carla, tied to a table. A hulking male loomed next to her, holding a knife above her chest. Carla’s scream rent the air.
Adele grabbed her sword from her back.
Jake shoved in the back door with one push. It fell off, hinges rusted with age, and Adele tore up the corridor after him.
Please don’t let us be too late.
She gagged at the smell from the interior, incense mixed with human effluent and rotten meat. Adele could only hope it wasn’t rotting bodies. How could the occupants of the other houses not have noticed?
Or maybe they didn’t care.
She charged in with Jake behind her. For a split second she froze, realizing it was a vampire holding a dagger above Carla’s chest. Then Adele flew at him, knocking the dagger from his hand, hearing it clatter on the floor nearby.
Metal hit metal as she and Jake were surrounded by at least four vampires. Jake held them off as Adele rushed to Carla’s side to cut her bindings, then handed her a dagger so she could join in the fight.
It would take a miracle for them to all get out alive.
Bounding forward, Adele stabbed at the nearest bloodsucker’s heart. He screamed and fell to the floor. She brought down her sword and beheaded him.
Adele turned to see more vampires entering the room, all of them male and in their early twenties. She slashed and parried as Jake and Carla fought alongside her. The three of them put their backs together so they could better decimate the threatening circle surrounding them.
Their attackers held knives and long metal bars. Adele killed another two, as did Jake and Carla, but there were too many to fight off.
The door suddenly flung open . . . and this time Tristan and Vincent charged in.
What the hell are they doing here? She struggled to protect herself, let alone having to safeguard them.
Vincent grabbed the vampire in front of him and twisted his neck, dropping the dead body to the floor. He pulled a sword from his back and beheaded the creature. Tristan rushed another and did the same. In the dim light of the room, both Tristan and Vincent snarled, revealing fangs.
Fangs.
For a second she froze, refusing to believe what she could see before her. This couldn’t be true.
Too late, she regained her composure. The young vampire in front of her slashed out with what looked like a carving knife. The blade sliced through her shirt, and Adele felt the warm spurt of blood on her abdomen. When he lunged at her, she flung her sword up in defense. This time she sliced through his throat as he fell toward her.
As he crumpled at her feet, she peered down to see the carving knife impaled in her chest.
When did that happen?
She sank to her knees as the searing pain ripped through her.
“No!” she heard Vincent scream and looked across to see him fighting to get close to her. He barreled forward, twisting necks and slashing with his sword until he knelt before her.
She fought to keep her eyes locked on him, but they kept trying to roll back in her head.
This was all wrong. He couldn’t be a vampire.
The others kept fighting as he carried her to the couch on the far side of the room. She wanted to hate him but she couldn’t. His fangs were now gone, but Tristan’s were still exposed.
Neither man would be able to deny what she had seen.
“I’m sorry, Adele. I wanted to tell you so many times. I’ve been a fool and left you in danger,” Vincent rasped brokenly.
“This wasn’t your doing. . . seems we both have . . . secrets.” She could barely form words as her chest grew ti
ghter, her breathing difficult. She had been a hunter long enough to know her injuries were fatal. She reached a hand up to touch his cheek, hating how her fingers shook. “We have to accept . . . not meant to be.”
“I can’t accept that. I love you, Adele.”
The fighting stopped as the last attacking vampire fell. Jake, Tristan, and Carla had dispatched them quickly.
A light suddenly formed by the fireplace and in its glow Adele glimpsed a shimmering image of the ancient tree, blurred by her tears. To find my soul mate, only to lose him? Life is so unfair.
‘Save her, Vincent.’
Through the ringing in her ears Adele caught the words as if someone had spoken aloud. Could the spell from years ago really be working now?
“Can you see it? Did you hear what it said? Adele, please,” Vincent begged.
She nodded weakly but the light faded around her, and she couldn’t hold out much longer.
“The tree appeared to me the night I was changed. It showed me you. I’ve been searching for decades, well over a hundred years. We’re meant to be together.” He clasped her tightly. “I won’t lose you. I can save you if you let me give you my blood.”
Adele gazed at him through dimming eyes as the others stood before her. He was asking her to become what she had hunted all her life.
Jake knelt before her. “Let him help you, Adele. He can slow the bleeding, and we can get you to our healers.”
Adele gave the barest nod, the effort of staying with them proving too much. Vincent closed his eyes, and when he opened them, his fangs reappeared. He leaned in so she could feel his lips against her neck. His fangs scratched her skin. Her breath caught as he pierced her flesh.
And the world turned to black.
Chapter 14
Vincent prayed the presence of the soul mate tree indicated he could save her. He leaned in, and the aroma of Adele’s blood overwhelmed him as he pierced her skin and entered the blood vessel in her neck. He took some of her blood and then injected his own back in.
He didn’t expect such an immediate connection. Sensing her pain, he nearly passed out as it poured over him. His woman was strong and yet suffering so much. She had fainted, but he needed to find a way to take some of the pain from her.
When he examined her wound, the bleeding had definitely slowed. Jake took hold of the knife in Adele’s chest and pulled. Vincent ripped his own wrist and let the blood trickle into the wound. The bleeding slowed, but didn’t stop. He would never give up.
If she died he would hunt Henry Rushton down.
Make the monster suffer greatly.
Then personally decapitate him.
Vincent carried Adele to the car and cradled her in the back seat, draping her across his lap. Carla sat beside him, while Jake and Tristan took the front. In all these years Vincent hadn’t shed a tear, but now they silently flowed down his cheeks as he held her.
As they drove out of Trowbridge and back toward Bath, he wondered what would happen when Adele’s parents saw what he was. Tristan should have stayed behind. It wasn’t his battle, and he didn’t want his friend put in danger.
The journey seemed to take forever, and Vincent kept dripping his own blood into her wound to slow her blood loss. Once they arrived, he licked his wrist to stop the bleeding. Adele was still unconscious when he carried her inside and laid her on the couch. Her mother rushed into the room and sat beside her daughter with tears in her eyes.
While Jake haltingly explained the situation to Adele’s parents, Vincent held her hand, noting with despair she hadn’t responded. When blood started to ooze from her wound, he looked to Adele’s mother.
“Please don’t hate me for what I’m about to do. I love her, and I must save her.” Vincent let his fangs grow and tore his wrist open so the blood would flow.
Adele’s father charged forward, but Tristan and Jake held him back.
“You bring this filth into my home and let him pour his soiled blood into my daughter’s wounds?”
Jake flung up a staying hand. “He fought with us. He’s the reason she still lives. Adele would’ve died from blood loss already.”
“Calm down, Bill. Let me look at her.” Eileen closed her eyes and ran her hands over her daughter’s head and body. When she opened them, she smiled at Vincent, before turning to her husband.
“For a bloodsucker, he tells the truth. His blood is keeping her alive. My healing won’t save her, Bill. He’s taking her pain away and keeping her unconscious so she’ll not suffer. I never thought I would say these words, but he is a decent man, despite being a vampire.”
Vincent saw tears in William’s eyes.
“What can be done?” William asked.
“He could turn her, and she’d survive,” Eileen replied haltingly.
“If you can call it surviving. Do you believe it’s what she wants?” William demanded.
Eileen met Vincent’s eyes. “You love her, don’t you?”
“I’ve been searching for her since the year 1858. I would do everything in my power to save her. But if this isn’t what she wants, I wouldn’t force it upon her.” Vincent paused, swallowing painfully. He had to offer even if the end result wasn’t anything he wanted to hear. “Do you wish to ask her? I can bring her to consciousness, very briefly.”
In tears, Eileen nodded.
Vincent sent his thoughts into Adele’s mind. Their connection was drifting away, and she would soon be beyond his reach.
Come back to me.
Her mind clung to his, trying to cope with the onslaught of pain. He fought to keep it from her, but Adele’s tissues were screaming their agony. When she finally came around, her eyes grew wide as she registered where she was.
Her mother took her hand. “Vincent brought you here, but I can’t heal you, my darling. He’d change you, but only if it’s what you want.”
His heart breaking into pieces, Vincent gazed down at the woman he loved and waited for her answer.
Her voice thready and weak, she whispered, “I’ll do this, but . . . you promise me. If I go . . .” She paused, painfully. “I turn bad, you kill . . . me.”
It was the hardest thing Vincent had ever vowed, but he knew the responsibility would be his. “I promise, and I’ll get Tristan to do the same for me. I don’t wish to live without you.”
Her voice was so very faint. “Then . . . yes—”
Sudden pain hit his chest as her lips turned blue. Her heart was stopping, and he feared he was too late. Tears fell down his cheeks as his fangs grew. He plunged them into her neck so he could send his blood into her veins to finish the transformation. His own world became distant as his body reacted to the loss of blood.
A hand gripped his shoulder. Tristan.
Vincent withdrew his fangs and licked the skin to heal the wound. All he could do now was wait.
Finally, Adele breathed, though her pulse was weak and her lips were still blue. Tristan helped him to a chair nearby as Eileen covered her daughter with a blanket.
Tristan leaned in and whispered, “You need to drink, my friend. It will do no good if she survives to find you gone, or worse, that your hunger caused you to attack others.”
The thought of feeding in front of Adele’s family pained him, but he had to do it. Tristan offered his wrist, and Vincent let his fangs grow, plunging them into his friend's arm. The flow of vampire blood was powerful, and he could feel the strength bursting through him. He took only enough to stabilize himself, withdrawing his fangs before he became euphoric with the power.
Joining the others in their vigil for Adele, he waited.
~ ~ ~
Twenty-four hours passed, and people came and went, but there was no change. Tristan left to search for Henry with the other members of their group. The Witch Council was due to arriv
e as well. If Adele didn’t survive, he knew what his fate would be. A moot point, because he wouldn’t want to live if she died.
The doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the council. Two men and two women strode in. They raised their eyebrows as they took note of Vincent, holding tightly to Adele’s hand, but he didn’t care anymore.
One of the women stepped forward. “I’m Chereen. We’ve come to witness whether Adele survives what you’ve tried to do. If she does, this changes things. New rules will need to be set in place. If she does not, the war will increase and you’ll die.”
“So be it,” Vincent rasped, heartsore.
Suddenly Adele gripped his hand, strong enough to break his bones, as a scream escaped her lips. As he held on to her, an image of the soul mate tree formed across the room.
From the trunk another image formed, of a tiny sprite who glided forward. No one else in the room reacted, and Vincent knew only he could see her.
‘She’s in great pain, Vincent.’ The sprite’s thoughts clearly resonated in his brain. ‘You must bring her back from the brink. I’ll do all I can, but your love must bring her back.’
Chapter 15
Adele’s body burned as if on fire. For a moment, she wondered if the religious comments she’d heard about hell over the years were true. Her skin stung as if peeling off the bones. She could hear screams. They were her own.
There was no way she could cope with the pain again. It was too much for anyone to bear. It was as if the sun bore down, close enough to kill her.
She trembled all over as the next wave of flames hurtled toward her. This time, it didn’t hit, and a protective wall appeared in front of her. The flames licked at it but couldn’t get closer. Now that the pain had lessened, she never wanted to experience anything like that, ever.
