by L.H. Cosway
“Hello?” he answered. “Who’s this?”
“Hi, Finn,” I replied, clearing my throat. “It’s Tegan, um, I’ve reconsidered your offer.”
“Oh, yeah?” I could hear the smug smile in his voice.
“Yes. Some of Herrington’s guards were outside my apartment just now—"
“What did I tell you about going home?”
“I just went back to grab some things before I went to stay with my dad, but now I’m wondering if that’s wise. I don’t want to bring any trouble to his door if the vampires are after me for their governor’s murder. I also suspect that the men outside my place weren’t human, which just makes things all the more worrying.”
“They’re probably shapeshifters,” Finn said. “There’s only a tiny population of them in the city, and they often work for the vamps or the magical families as security because of their strength.”
“Shapeshifters?” I said, stunned.
Finn ignored my question, his voice serious. “Look, you need to get off vampire territory fast. Meet me at Macken’s Bridge in ten minutes.”
He hung up, and I quickened my pace. By the time I reached the bridge, Finn was already there. I spotted him leaning against the ledge.
“Come on,” he said when he saw me. “I’m parked this way.” I followed him to a side street, where a nondescript black van was parked. It bore a similar licence plate to the green van from before, the letters DOH clearly visible. I felt strangely traitorous climbing into it, but needs must. Surely Ethan would understand …
Finn drove in silence towards a residential area on the north side of the Hawthorn river. The row of houses was similar to where Rita lived, though the neighbourhood was a little nicer.
“Here we are,” he announced as he pulled up outside a red brick house with a brightly painted blue door.
“You own this place?” I asked curiously.
“Nah, it belongs to my friend, Noel. He lets me rent a room. He’s higher up in the organisation than I am.”
“Oh.” I replied, monosyllabic. I felt a little out of my depth. Finn turned his key in the lock, pushed the door open, and an unusually large German Shepherd came running at us, barking and huffing happily when he spotted Finn. I went still because big dogs made me nervous.
“Hey, Wolf,” Finn greeted, petting the dog’s head before he noticed my anxiety. “Don’t tell me the girl who hangs out with vampires is afraid of a pup like Wolf here,” he said mockingly.
“He’s almost the same height as me,” I shot back.
Finn chuckled. “Ah, don’t worry about that. Wolf’s a big softie.”
“He doesn’t look like a softie. He looks like he takes after his namesake.”
Finn gave another chuckle as he stepped inside the house, Wolf hot on his heels. “You hungry?” he asked the dog, heading into the kitchen and opening the fridge to retrieve an airtight container full of red meat.
“You don’t feed him biscuits?” I asked, watching as he spooned the meat into a large silver bowl.
“No way. That stuff is crap. Wolf needs his protein.”
Once he was finished feeding the dog, Finn offered me a cup of tea, and I nodded, still wary of Wolf. He just didn’t seem like a normal dog. There was too much wisdom in his eyes. Though maybe I was just on edge because of the day I was having. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and now here I was taking refuge in the home of a vampire slayer.
When he was finished making the tea, Finn carried two cups alongside a plate of biscuits into the living room. He was strangely hospitable given his occupation. The furnishings were old but homely, and I took a seat on the couch.
Finn offered me a cup, and I took a sip, my thoughts still jumbled.
“You made the right choice coming to me. I know you don’t trust me fully yet, but you will.”
“I didn’t come here because I’m afraid of Ethan, you know. He’s not a bad person.”
Finn glowered. “He’s not a person at all.”
“You’re wrong. He has good in him.” Finn didn’t look convinced. “Anyway,” I went on. “I came because of Herrington’s goons lurking outside my apartment. Do you think they were there just to question me, or was it something more sinister?”
His expression turned thoughtful. “Hard to tell. But you had the right idea getting out of there, just in case.”
Wolf plodded into the room and curled up on a rug in front of the fireplace. The house really was quite cosy. My thoughts went to my own little apartment and what would become of it. I had enough to cover rent for the next month or two, but after that I was screwed. Walking out on two jobs in one day really wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had. What had come over me? I felt like discovering all this new information about my mother and my blood had me acting in a bizarrely self-sabotaging manner.
I glanced at Finn and found him studying me. His eyes traced my mouth, the line of my jaw, making me self-conscious. “So,” I said, clearing my throat. “How did you get into the slaying business?” I picked up a biscuit and dipped it in my tea before taking a bite.
“Why do you want to know?”
“You want me to trust you, right? In order to do that I have to get to know you better. Besides, we might as well talk. What else are we going to do to pass the time?”
Suddenly, his eyes took on a sultry gleam. “Come upstairs with me. I know a couple of fun things we could do.”
I tilted my head, arching a cynical eyebrow. “No, thank you.”
He winked. “It was worth a try.”
My stomach fluttered at his wink. Wait a second, did he fancy me? Was that why he was helping me? I really didn’t have time for that right now. I was trying to decide what to do to stay alive. Romance, or well, sex, seemed superfluous.
Finn eyed me. “What’s that look for?”
“It’s nothing.”
“No, go on. Tell me.”
“I just have this suspicion you might have a little bit of a crush on me, so I’ll tell you upfront I’m not interested.”
Now he barked a laugh. “Modest, aren’t we?”
“I don’t see the point in beating around the bush.” I folded my arms.
“Well, you can relax. You’re not bad looking, but I don’t have any designs on you. I’m helping you purely out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Right,” I scoffed cynically and took another sip of tea.
“You’ve an attitude. Bit of a thick shell, too. Why’s that?”
“The why is none of your business,” I shot back and motioned to some framed pictures on the mantelpiece. One looked like a class photo, except all the men and women wore strange black uniforms. Slayer uniforms, I realised belatedly. “Do slayers have graduation ceremonies or something?”
Finn’s eyes flicked to the picture. “Or something.”
There was another photo of Finn grinning into the camera with an older man beside him. “Is that Noel?”
“Yeah. He’s my superior in the DOH. He’s also one of my closest friends, in a fatherly kind of way.”
In the picture, Noel wore his uniform, several medals pinned to his breast. “What’s with all the medals? Please don’t tell me they award them to you for killing vampires.” I bristled at the thought.
Finn set his mug down and eyed me a moment. “Don’t waste your sympathy on them. Vampires have killed far more humans than humans have killed vampires.”
“Oh? Can you point me to some material on that statistic?”
“Don’t be smart. My job is to protect humans. You should be on my side.”
“I’m not on anybody’s side but my own. Think of me as a slightly grumpy version of Switzerland.”
“Sometimes it’s impossible stay neutral, Tegan,” he replied, staring me down. A long moment of silence fell between us before he blew out a sigh. “I came here about three years ago. Tribane has one of the largest centres for vampire slayers in the world.”
“You moved here to join the DOH? That�
�s a fairly drastic life decision.”
“Yeah, well, I had my reasons,” Finn went on.
“And those were?”
His expression darkened. I didn’t think he was going to respond, but then he spoke, his voice subdued. “A vampire back home killed my mother and my sister, the only family I had. He’d developed some kind of sick obsession with the two of them and messed with their heads for a while before he finished them off. Exactly what Cristescu will do to you in the end. He might toy with you for a little longer than usual since you’re an anomaly and he can’t use his compulsion on you, but believe me, once he gets bored, and they always do, he’ll drain you until you’re nothing but a shrivelled old corpse.”
“Lovely,” I replied, my blood running cold at the imagery. A knot of dread began to form in the pit of my stomach as I wondered if he was right. Ethan claimed vampires didn’t kill, but that could very well be a massive lie. I looked back to Finn. “So, you think I should stay away from Ethan altogether?”
“If you want to live long enough to see your next birthday, yes, that’s what I’d recommend.”
An icy tendril wrapped itself around my chest at his warning just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Rita’s name on the screen.
“Hi, Rita,” I answered.
“Tegan!” she replied, breathless. “You need to get down to the port right now.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The whole city’s running wild on a rumour that Theodore is going to show himself there after sundown, which is approximately twenty-five minutes from now.”
I looked at Finn, and his eyebrows shot up. The volume on my phone was loud enough for him to hear what Rita said. In fact, he was already standing and grabbing his jacket.
“Okay, I’ll see you there.”
“See you soon,” Rita replied before quickly hanging up.
“Come on,” Finn said. “We need to get a move on. We don’t have much time.”
18.
Before we even got close to the port, we were slowed down by crowds of people all going in the same direction as us. Rumours travelled fast in this city, it seemed. There were so many people that Finn eventually had to park the van so we could get out and walk the rest of the way.
“Stay close,” he urged as we joined the crowd. I nodded, but only because the people I was surrounded by struck me as not quite … normal. These weren’t humans. At least, most of them weren’t. These were witches, warlocks, and dhampirs. The average person might not recognise the difference, but I was starting to sense “otherness” in people the more entrenched I became in this world.
When we reached the port, I spotted a crowd of vampires gathered on the other side. I worried about what would happen if the two sides mixed. Would there be a fight? A riot? Was Ethan among them?
My heart rate picked up just thinking about him. Would he be angry if he saw me with Finn? Did I care?
If the squeeze in my chest was anything to go by, then yes, I did care.
“This isn’t good,” Finn muttered to himself, and I agreed with him. Everyone was on a knife’s edge waiting to see if Theodore would show his face, the air markedly tense. And a tense atmosphere amongst sworn enemies was not a good combination.
As I took in the very evident divide between the two sides, I remembered how I was supposed to present myself in front of the two governors and declare my position as neutral. I had a funny feeling that wouldn’t be happening now, especially since Herrington had been murdered.
Something buzzed around my head. I swiped at it, thinking it was a fly, before noticing a tiny gold speck of light, like the tip of a very small torch.
“Do you see that?” I asked Finn.
He glanced at me, perplexed. “See what?”
Before I could reply, Rita and Alvie appeared. Rita caught the speck of light between her thumb and forefinger and it blinked out of existence.
“Hey,” she said with grin. “Cool trick, huh? We couldn’t find you in the crowd, so I used a little locating spell.”
“Very cool,” I agreed. “How come Finn couldn’t see it?”
Now she winked. “I cast it so only you could see. Can you imagine what would happen if every misfit here saw the light? They’d think it was Theodore and chaos would break out.” Her gaze travelled to Finn. “What are you doing with him anyway?”
I bit my lip. “Herrington’s guards were waiting outside my apartment when I got home this afternoon. Finn’s been helping me stay safe.”
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Has he now?”
“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I can be trusted,” Finn said in protest.
“Anyway,” I went on, changing the subject. “Do you think it really is Theodore behind all this tonight?”
Her expression sobered. “I don’t know. Only time will tell. Come on, let’s try to find a spot with a better view.”
We managed to squeeze our way to the front of the pier, and I spotted Marcel and Gabriel nearby. Marcel nodded to Finn, but didn’t bother to acknowledge my presence. Guess he was still pissed at me for quitting.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Finn said, lightly touching my elbow before he went to join the two men. The three of them huddled together to talk, but I couldn’t hear what was said. Rita and Alvie stared out at the water, anticipation in their eyes. I stepped close to Rita and linked my arm through hers. She accepted it wordlessly and continued staring.
“What are you two looking at?”
“The Island,” Alvie answered, nodding to Ridley Island, which lay in direct view of the port. It was probably less than a mile out, and it seemed so empty in the dark.
“Why?”
“It’s too obvious,” Rita said. “We were all instructed to come to the area of the port with the best view of Ridley. Something’s going to happen over there. I can feel it.”
I gazed out again, noticing that other people’s attentions were drawn to the island, too. Suddenly, I understood what Rita meant about being able to feel it. There was a buzz of electricity coming from the direction of Ridley, even though the entire place was cloaked in darkness.
A cold shiver tiptoed down my spine.
I sensed someone’s attention and glanced over to where the vampires had gathered. There stood Ethan, his eyes boring into mine. His expression was stony, his entire demeanour tense.
Why the hell are you standing over there with my enemies? His face seemed to ask.
I frowned, my stomach twisting, because I felt like I was betraying him despite having made no pledges of allegiance. He never dropped my gaze, and my attention wandered to those he was with. Beside him stood Delilah and Lucas. My chest constricted when I spotted the recently bereaved Antonia Herrington standing to Ethan’s left, alongside Dru and the guards who’d come to my apartment.
Well, shit.
I slid my arm from Rita’s and positioned myself behind her and Alvie, hoping Antonia didn’t spot me. She had an air of sorrow and fury about her tonight, making a potent mix. Even from a distance, she looked severe with her white hair pulled back into a bun. She wore a black pantsuit with pearls around her neck, along with a small mourning hat and veil shielding her face. Dru stood close beside her, scanning the area for threats. I tried to make myself as small as possible in the hope that she wouldn’t notice me either.
Finally dragging my eyes away from the group of vampires, I brought my attention back to the island. It was completely barren, just a bare expanse of land. Rita had mentioned that there was once a mansion there surrounded by carnival rides, but that had been decades ago. Now it was flat, lifeless, and dead.
Anticipation filled me, along with a certain degree of dread. I wondered what Nicki was up to right now. Life would be so much simpler if I were with her, drinking a bottle of wine and talking about mundane, average things, instead of standing here waiting for a fearsome sorcerer to appear.
In an instant, everything and everyone grew silent. Rita gripped my h
and in hers. As our palms met, music started to play. Where was it coming from? Something about it tickled at my memory, and then it occurred to me. This was the same music I’d heard walking home from Crimson that night when the street had suddenly emptied, leaving me completely alone with the sense that someone, or something, was watching me.
Had it been Theodore? And if it was him, why was he interested in me?
The thought that he somehow knew about my blood gave me chills. But no, that was impossible, wasn’t it?
I glanced at Rita as the music grew louder, the circular tune reminding me of a merry-go-round. Rita closed her eyes as though trying to sense where the music was coming from. When she opened them, they were round with shock.
“It’s him,” she breathed. “It really is him.”
“Where is he, Rita?” Alvie asked urgently.
Before she had the chance to answer, the ground began to shake. I looked around, my gaze drawn out to the water. It was rippling violently, and I gasped when I saw the island. Objects rose miraculously from the ground. Gravel and mud and rocks shot up into the air as something pushed its way to the surface. The music grew louder, so loud it hurt my ears. I closed my hands over them to block out some of the noise.
“It’s his house,” Rita said as we watched the building rise from the ground like an enormous zombie rising from a grave. Goosebumps pinched at my skin. I’d never seen anything like it.
Tangled vines and mud coated its exterior. It was huge, taking up a large part of the island. “That’s Theodore’s old mansion, the one that disappeared after he died. I’m certain of it,” someone commented close by.
I turned to look over at Marcel, Gabriel, and Finn. The three of them stood frozen in shock. How much magic would it take to pull off a stunt like this? Perhaps more than all the witches and warlocks present held combined.
I jumped when my pocket began to vibrate. It was just my phone though. The mundane sound snapped me out of my fear, and I laughed involuntarily. I lifted my phone to my ear, chest thrumming when I spotted Ethan’s name on the screen.
