by Claire Cray
“You must write to thank him on our behalf,” Mum remarked from behind me.
I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and releasing it. I was remembering how I’d lain awake all through that last night, alone in the bed, determined not to sleep lest I miss him slipping through. Where is he? And how could he?
“Are you all right, my love?”
Forcing a pleasant face, I turned back to her, crossing my arms. “Yes, Mum.”
“You’ve had quite an ordeal,” she said gently, and looked thoughtful as she continued. “Are you glad to be back in the city?”
I glanced back at the view from the window. “I don’t know, Mum,” I murmured uncertainly.
“You have my blood,” Mum said knowingly. “You have a part of you for the wilds.”
“Why have you stayed here?” I asked then, curiously. “It seems to me you might have found a way to leave.”
She cocked her head, looking away for a thoughtful moment. “Well, there is opportunity here. I did not know if I would remarry…and I wanted you to have an education and a trade.”
I looked down and turned back to the window. My aching heart now longed to lead her out of this clean and comfortable little home, put her in a carriage, take her far from the city and walk with her into the misty gray woods and the dandelion pasture and along the edge of the silver marsh…
“And there was no easy place to go,” she added, a bit reluctantly. “I am not a good fit for any European village, and I do not know my mother’s people. This is a comfortable place for me.”
“But for the air and the trees,” I murmured, looking up at the blue sky.
She rose from her chair and joined me at the window, reaching up to smooth my hair. “You should rest, William. You don’t look like you’ve slept a minute.”
I nodded and then slowly turned to embrace her, closing my eyes as she rubbed my back. She spoiled me for a bit, feeding me toast and jam and adorably tucking me into bed, before she left for work.
Lying in her soft bed, I pulled the note from my pocket and unfolded it.
I think your mother will find some delight in this. Send her my regards. Please forgive me, William. You will be in my thoughts.
I folded it again, idly pressing it to my lips as I stared at the ceiling.
Chapter 21
A recent rain had left the cobblestones shining under the gaslights, and my boot heels echoed softly as I strolled slowly along the waterfront.
I came here nightly, now. The air was fresher here, and I needed it.
“You’re not the same since you’ve been back,” Jeremy had accused me that morning. “What happened to you out there?”
I wished I could tell him.
It had been fifteen days since I’d set foot back in New York City, and not an hour had passed I hadn’t thought of Merrick.
Why had he done it? I grew tired of the question, but I crumbled inside when I settled on the obvious answer: he simply hadn’t wanted me there.
He could have kept me. Instead, he had gone to lengths to…
“Sir.”
I stopped at the unknown voice and casually turned, readying myself to move quickly if the voice happened to belong to a tough.
It did not. Leaning against a lamp post, hands in his pockets, was a tall, slender, and exceedingly fashionable young man. He was dressed in dark breeches tucked into fine leather boots, and his black cropped jacket cut a satisfying shape over his fresh white shirt with its elegant cravat. He was as lovely as a girl, with a mop of soft auburn hair that fell in pleasing curls about his smooth forehead and his high cheekbones. The entire ensemble dripped with the chic sensibility one only achieved through close connections to the most fashionable streets of Europe. In short, he was as fine a dandy as I’d ever seen.
I looked curiously at him, feeling as though I had seen him before, but I couldn’t quite place him. “Yes?”
He had very blue eyes – so blue that they stood out brightly, even at a distance. “I’m looking for the Thirsty Fish.”
I looked skeptically at him. He would stand out there like a beacon. “Are you?”
“I’m told it’s this way?” He gestured to the direction I’d come from.
“No,” I said. “Up Pine Street. Straight behind you.”
He dipped his head in a nod. “Many thanks, sir.”
I nodded back and slowly continued on my way, sneaking an uneasy glance backwards as he remained where he stood. There was something strange about him.
Darkness enveloped me. My arms were trapped under a heavy mass of fabric, and I ducked low, lunging against the arms that entrapped me. There seemed to be two sets of them, and they were much too strong for me. I was lifted from the ground, shouting and thrashing.
“This one here,” came a merry command, and I recognized the voice of the auburn-haired dandy.
My shoulder and side landed hard as I was thrown down, and when I struggled to rise my limbs knocked against what sounded and felt like wood barricades on either side of me.
“Don’t get all black and blue,” the dandy scolded. But I thrashed anew as a rope was wound around my ankles. I was no match for the closed space and the arms that held me, and soon I was trussed and panting. Then I was pulled up onto a raised cushion between two large bodies, and I realized I was in a carriage.
The sack was pulled from my head at last, and I found myself glaring at the auburn-haired young man. I tried to betray none of my shock, but a chill went up my spine.
His eyes were not merely very blue. They were luminous. Just like Merrick’s, they shined just too brightly, shimmered too beautifully, and caught more light than they should – as though they held some glow within.
Christ.
“Let me check his bonds,” the dandy said. “Dramatic forest chases are not at all my style.”
Forest chase? What in… “You’ve made a mistake, Sir,” I said sharply, just before the thugs roughly lifted me and turned me around.
The dandy scoffed lightly behind my back as he tugged the ropes binding my wrists. “I haven’t made a mistake in decades.” He clapped me on the back as he would a horse after checking its saddle, and I was deposited back in my seat.
“What do you want?”
He gave a kittenish smile and reached into his waist coat, producing a few coins which he dropped into the palms of the thugs before dismissing them with a few flicks of his hand.
“Dogs,” I spat at their backs, seething. As the second exited I lifted my bound feet and kicked his rear. He tumbled face first into the street and then sprang up with a snarl.
“Ah!” The dandy held up his hands. “You’ve been paid much for little. Get on while you’re ahead. Shut the door and bid the driver to depart. Merci.”
The coach lurched forward.
Alone in the cabin with him, my heart began to pound. What a terrible little comedy by Fate! Six weeks before, I had never believed in such things as vampires. Since then, one had stolen my heart and broken it; and now, another was about to drain it. Where had the bastards come from so suddenly? “I said, what do you want?”
“Just a little sunshine,” the dandy replied, drawing a pipe from his pocket. “In a foggy place.” He lit the pipe with a dainty flick of a match. He was really startlingly lovely, with cherubic pink lips and thick, feathery eyelashes. On his little finger was a silver ring set with a large sapphire that nearly rivaled his eyes in brilliance.
With a little smile, he lifted those eyes to mine. “Did he bite you?”
“Who?”
“We have two days in this coach, Lacy. Don’t be coy. You know who.”
Two days? For God’s sake! “I demand to know your name!”
Dramatic astonishment showed in his eyes. “Did I forget to introduce myself?” Everything about him was slightly theatrical. It made him seem unlike a real person. I supposed he wasn’t, technically. He tossed his hair lightly as he lifted his chin. “I am Theodore Verlaine. You may call me Theo.”
Theo.
I stared at him, trying not to show my thoughts on my face. Here was a French vampire named Theo. Was he not certainly the same French vampire named Theo whose letter I’d read in Merrick’s cavern?
Did that make my predicament better, or worse?
Damn it all.
“I’ve brought you some food,” Theodore said brightly, and lifted a basket beside him. Lifting the lid, he proudly showed me an assortment of fruits, breads, and cheeses.
I glowered at him. Did the twit expect me to eat with my hands bound?
“Oh, I’ll help you eat, of course. Speaking of supper…” he turned to the window and leaned to peer out of it.
“What is your business?” I snapped. “Tell me where you intend to take me!”
“Back to Silas, silly boy.” He was distracted, intent on the streets rushing past us. “Don’t pretend you’d rather not go.”
Back to Silas? That raised an uproar in my head, but there was no sense to it. I needed a moment. I needed to stop the carriage. So I shouted at him. “If I want to go anywhere, I can go myself!”
He ignored me. Furious, I kicked my legs up. “Hey!”
Theo yelped as my boots hit his shin. “Merde! You animal!” He flashed me a petulant scowl and lifted a finger to wag it at me. “You’d better behave if you don’t want –”
I kicked him again, quite enjoying his yowl of offense before he leaned forward and grabbed my knees.
I gritted my teeth, stifling a sound of pain. He seemed to exert no effort at all, and yet my legs were pressed so hard downward beneath his hands I felt my bones creak in protest.
“Do you feel how strong I am?” he asked with a huff. “Or do I have to break something?” He squeezed.
I hissed. “I get it, you girly bastard!”
“Good.” He let go, and the wagging finger return. “Now, if I’m to be stuck here with you for three days, we’ll be needing a bit more civility. Shit.” He straightened his jacket, gave me a haughty sniff, and turned back to the window.
I looked at him, aghast. The audacity! As if this were my idea! What an infuriating, pompous little chit! And Merrick had his letter on his desk? I wished I could recall each word, but all I remembered was a charismatic arrogance and a penchant for the word “shit.” It was certainly a positive match.
“Aha,” Theo said suddenly, and rapped on the top of the carriage. A moment later, he was swinging lightly out of the car. He slammed the door shut behind him, and I heard his boot heels moving quickly away.
“Driver!” I bellowed, and threw my legs against the door with all my might. It was quite hard to get the momentum I needed, and so my efforts fell in vain. Then I tried to turn my back on the door and open it with my bound hands, but I could not get the grip I needed. “Driver!” I continued to shout as I struggled, until I heard a boot kicking angrily against the walls and a nasal voice ordering me to quiet down.
I slumped back in the seat with a huff.
Back to Silas. Had Merrick bid his friend to fetch me? Surely not. He had been cordial to my mother, and I felt sure he would not have risked worrying her with my sudden disappearance.
No, this graceless abduction was entirely out of Merrick’s character. Could there be some emergency at hand? No…surely if that were the case, Theo would not seem so unbothered – not that I doubted he was a shallow little mite, but I guessed he’d show a bit more strain under a real crisis.
Then what? Was Theo snatching me off of the street without Merrick’s knowledge? The signs pointed that way. But why?
Less than five minutes after he’d run off, Theo returned. There was a pretty flush in his cheeks, and his lips looked even pinker. His eyes, too, looked glossier and sparkled even more than before.
I stared, feeling a little numb.
Blue eyes met mine with a wry gleam. “What’s the matter, Will-iam?”
My mouth stayed stubbornly closed. How could I help but imagine what he had just done? Had he not just drunk a person’s blood? Had he drunk it all? Had he killed? Of course he had. A man? A woman? Someone I knew, perhaps? God! “Who was it?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Theo snickered a bit. “Who was it,” he repeated, and straightened his cuffs. “Heavens, how would I know? Merde, I hate traveling by coach! I’m bored already.”
“This is unnecessary!” I shouted suddenly, and pulled against my bonds in a moment of fury. “Release me!”
Theo scowled. “Stop kicking up a fuss!”
“Then tell me the meaning of this!”
He began to shift around on his bench, looking for a comfortable way to sprawl or lean. “This is miserable,” he muttered. “Complete shit.”
“Answer me!” I shouted.
“Christ, are you always so impatient?” Theo shed his jacket, then glanced down at my feet. “Your feet won’t fall off or anything, will they? Stuck in those boots for days?”
What kind of idiotic question was that? I glowered at him, refusing to answer.
“I am taking you back to Silas,” he said with a sigh. “It’s a surprise.”
“Why?”
“Because he likes you.”
Then why did he send me away? I bit my tongue. “Then why didn’t he send for me himself?”
“Because he’s an idiot. This is nice, us talking. Why don’t we play cards?”
“With my hands tied?”
The look of disappointment on his face told me he hadn’t thought of that. “Merde,” he muttered. “You’re right.”
“Then untie me.”
“Maybe later,” he dismissed. “Now, Will-iam, tell me about yourself.”
“Are you a vampire?”
“Of course I am. How did you know? Was it the eyes?” he grinned at me. “Aren’t they lovely? One of many perks.”
“You killed someone back there.”
“Oui.”
“What if I knew the person?” My throat burned with indignation. “You just snatched –”
Theo groaned and fell back into the corner with a look of agony. “Spare me the scolding! A man has got to eat, Will-iam. Leave it at that.”
“Stop saying my name like that.”
“You are a handful!” Theo complained, scowling. “I do hope you quiet down.”
Fortunately for him, I had nothing more to say for a moment. I simply glared at him, seething. But why was I angry? Theo was taking me back to Merrick, and though I doubted Merrick was one for surprises, the little bastard had said Merrick liked me…
A moment of grim clarity hit me: I was bound hand and foot, being taken out of the city against my will by one vampire to be delivered to another, and I was trying to look for a bright side that involved Merrick opening his arms to me. Christ, I was pathetic. I slumped back in the cushion, sullen.
“Are you not pleased?”
Theo was looking at me curiously, his arms crossed and resting lightly at his trim waist.
“Why should I be pleased?”
“Why, because you are heading back to where you belong!”
“Against my will,” I snapped. “Without notice to my friends or partners, leaving my things to be pillaged and sold, and my mother to fret! You idiot, how could I be pleased?”
Surprise showed on his face. “That’s a fair point,” he admitted. “But, anyway, that will all work itself out –”
“And tied in filthy ropes!” I shouted. “What is the matter with you?”
He pressed his fingers to his fine brow as though I had given him a pain. “Stop shouting at me.”
“This is absurd! Take me back to the city! Merrick can find me himself, if…”
“Control yourself!” Theo snipped. “For shit’s sake, we have two days to –”
“Cut these ropes and let me go!” I roared.
Theo shook his head, raised his hands and rolled his eyes upwards in a sort of exasperated prayer. Then he reached forward and caught my throat in his hand, pinning my head to the back of the coach.
“Don’t you find me very patient?” he asked with a sigh. “You must know I could bleed you until you lacked the strength to harass me. Now, I don’t like it when Silas is angry with me, but I am well used to it – if I leave a bite or two on your pretty skin, I’m prepared to weather his fury. And I’m already curious for the taste of you, anyway. So, Will-iam, I pray you, stop testing me.” He released my neck.
“Now,” he continued, staying close. “Once we’re far enough from the city, I’ll untie you. And if you try to escape, I will stop you. Because I am a dozen times faster than you, and a dozen times stronger. My eyes and ears are sharper, and even my nose. And if you make me dirty my clothes, I will sink my teeth into your smooth young neck and relish every swallow of your delicious-smelling blood until your heart quiets down to a whisper. Tu me comprends?”
“Yes,” I growled. I wanted to kill him.
“Marvelous.” He leaned back in his seat again. “Now, let’s not speak for awhile.”
Chapter 22
I was almost sorry for the silence, for it meant I was left with my thoughts. I wondered what Merrick was doing at that moment. The cottage was clear in my mind. He’d be in his cave, perhaps, doing God knows what. Or perhaps he’d be talking to a guest in the main room. Or might he be bathing in the lean-to? Or maybe he was riding through the woods looking for his own supper.
And what would he do when he saw me? What would I do, for that matter? I was furious to be taken out of the city in such a manner. And I was sure Merrick would not react gently to Theo’s strange stunt. No, this would be no sentimental reunion.
But, yet…my chest was tight with that faint, lonely tingling when I thought of seeing Merrick again. I had been sure I’d never get the chance again. God, I longed for it. For him.
And so my mind floated up and down these few tired paths again and again, leaving me in a distant state of gloom that, at the very least, helped me ignore the insufferable little prince just before me.
