B007XKEWAE EBOK

by Lawson, Nicola

  “A vampire’s first blood should always be taken from someone they were close to in their mortal life. It severs the cord which held them to that mortality and frees them to embrace their immortality.”

  Gabriella watched the blood drain from her friends face as she closed up on her. She could hear her friend’s heart thundering inside her breast. Could see the twitch of her pulse in her slender neck.

  “Don’t be afraid.” Gabriella urged in a silken voice.

  Raquel’s breathing came in rapid gasps, her bare chest heaving up with every inhalation down as she exhaled. By contrast Gabriella’s respiration came steady and even. Raquel trembled in fear as Gabriella moved in closer.

  Gabriella was dimly aware that Francesca was heading back to Stefan, but most of her focus was centred firmly on her old friend. Her prey. Raquel’s eyes were staring so hard at her that it was simplicity itself for Gabriella to lock their eyes in contact. And then she had her.

  Raquel was no longer shaking. Her breath was settling back down to what was normal. There was a quite sound of skin being sliced open and then the scent of freshly spilled blood filled Gabriella’s head. Francesca was having her way with Stefan. Gabriella’s bloodlust was up to boiling point but she didn’t allow herself to rush the moment.

  She gently brushed Raquel’s hair off from her shoulder and down her back. “Tell me you want this.”

  “I want this.” Raquel said flatly.

  Gabriella focused her gaze more intently on Raquel’s eyes. “I want you to really want this,” she said softly.

  “I do want this.” And this time Raquel sounded like she did want it. There was genuine desire tinged with just a dash of trepidation in her tone.

  “Good.”

  Gabriella trailed her fingers down the side of Raquel’s face and along her neck. She stopped her hand above her friend’s breast. That really wasn’t what she was after here. Her hand came back up and this time as she dragged her nails along that smooth youthful skin she applied pressure. The skin broke under the force of her talon. Raquel didn’t even wince.

  Gabriella used her hand to move her friend’s head to the side. It took only a gentle touch and then Raquel tilted her head to the side, further exposing the cut on her neck. Gabriella eyed her victim one more time and then she could hold back no longer.

  With an inarticulate growl she gave voice to the bloodlust and moved in for the kill. She slid her ivory needles into the pliant flesh of her friend’s neck. As her teeth penetrated the skin hot blood oozed into her mouth. She sucked the living fluid into her mouth and let it slide down her throat. She tore the skin away from the wound to let the blood flow faster. Gabriella had to catch her friend and hold her in an embrace to keep her upright as the extreme loss of blood took its toll.

  All too quickly Raquel’s frail mortal heart gave up on the struggle of keeping her alive. Gabriella let the body drop to the floor. There was no blood left to flow out of her wound.

  “How was it?” Francesca was back with her. A similarly drained Stefan cast aside behind her.

  Gabriella used the back of her hand to gather up the blood which had spilled around her lips and chin. “It was fantastic.”

  She raised her hand to her mouth to lick off the remaining blood. Francesca caught her hand and took it to her own mouth instead. Her sensual tongue lapped at the back of her hand and traced swirling lines around her knuckles. And then they closed up together. Their mouths met and they shared a bloody kiss.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  There were lights on in his house that illuminated the garden somewhat, even without the additional light that should have been supplied by the broken street-lamp. Fulton stopped at the gate which marked the entrance to his parents’ garden.

  His garden.

  But now that it came down to it he was afraid to enter. It was as if crossing that boundary would be an enormous milestone. If he went past this point he would be committing himself to trying to reclaim his old life. He would need to be fully involved in this undertaking if he was to keep himself under control so that he wouldn't harm his family.

  But fear of what he could do to those he loved in a moment of weakness was not the only, or even the main, reason he was finding it difficult to pass this point. It was a fear of rejection that kept him standing there. Gabriella had forced him to consider the possibility that his parents could reject him when they discovered exactly what it was that he had become. The things that he had done. It wasn't the betrayal of such a possibility that would hurt him as much as the fact that his parents would have had to have turned their backs on him.

  Now that the time was at hand Fulton had no idea how he could explain to them what he was. How could he ever tell them all the things he had done? How could they ever forgive him if he did? But Fulton knew he wouldn't be able to keep it hidden from them. Even if he managed to hide his past atrocities from them he would have to feed soon enough and then they would be dragged into it vicariously through him.

  Now that he was finally here Fulton thought that perhaps it was better for his parents to think he was dead. But then he remembered the tearful appeal his parents made for his return. He could visit them briefly and then go back with Gabriella. He could live a dual life and protect his parents from the reality. He could be good with them, he could be like the human he had been. When he was with Francesca and Gabriella he could get all the evil of the vampire out of his system.

  His mind made up at last Fulton reached down to undo the latch on the small wooden gate.

  Xavier had wanted to arrive here before Fulton. He had wanted to get in and slaughter his family so that their corpses were all that was waiting for Fulton at his homecoming. But it had taken him too long to discover the address and it seemed he was just a little too late. Still, no matter. He would still be able to do the most important thing. Kill that upstart Fulton. And it looked like he would be able to do more than that because Fulton hadn’t come along. That bitch Gabriella had accompanied him. Why she had come along and Francesca had not, he had no idea.

  Xavier licked his lips as he stalked them. He was glad Gabriella had come along. He would teach her a lesson for sticking him with that knife. He had something to stick in her.

  Fulton had hesitated at the gate. He stood just on the boundary of the property and waited.

  "Well come on," Gabriella said impatiently, starting to push past him. "Let's just go and visit the family and get this over with."

  "Wait," Fulton said putting his arm out stiff across her chest to hold her back.

  Gabriella was pushing against Fulton's grip. "Trying to cop a feel now," she said slapping at his arm.

  Fulton shoved his other hand down the front of his trousers as he pushed Gabriella down sideways into some coniferous bushes.

  Gabriella's eyes widened and her face returned to human as fear transformed it. "What are you-"

  And that was when Xavier attacked.

  Now Gabriella saw why Fulton had thrust her into the bushes. If she had been paying any sort of attention to her surroundings she would have smelled Xavier as well.

  As it was, she was out of the fight while the first blows were being struck. Xavier drew first blood, his larger blade scoring a shallow diagonal cut up Fulton's chest.

  Further blows were exchanged but no more blood was spilled while Gabriella got herself to her feet. She pushed herself from her backside and out of the bushes.

  Her face had transformed again to reflect her true vampiric self again upon the realisation that Xavier was here. Now she matched the vampiric images of Fulton and Xavier locked together in their struggle.

  Unarmed she was reduced to standing back and watching the two males go at it. Fulton charged inside Xavier's reach, connecting with his shoulder in the others gut. Xavier's feet actually left the floor and the two of them slammed through a neighbouring fence.

  Gabriella followed them into the garden and watched them rolling on the grass, splinters from the fence sticking both
of them in the back. She was waiting for an opportunity to get stuck in herself.

  The two vampires didn't restrict themselves to using their knives to inflict damage. They kicked, clawed and bit each other. Fulton was knocked reeling when Xavier slammed his forehead into his nose. The two of them were separated and Gabriella seized her moment.

  She rushed forwards and flung herself at Xavier before he could get ready to defend himself. She raked her nails across his face trying to get at his vulnerable eyes, to claw them out of his face.

  But Xavier was too strong for her. He ignored the scratches to his face and rolled over so that he was pinning her to the floor with his body.

  "Get used to this position," Xavier growled. Spittle sprayed from his mouth over her face.

  Gabriella struggled to force him away from her and then the pressure was gone, Xavier getting off of her so that he could defend himself against the returning Fulton. Again she had to get herself back to her feet and watch impotently while they continued their struggle.

  Light's were appearing in the houses surrounding them as the battle took them through walls, fences, hedges and anything else in their path. Gabriella saw faces appear at windows observing them. She found herself barely a metre from an elderly woman observing the proceedings from behind double-glazed glass. The woman's silver hair went a couple of shades whiter when she saw Gabriella's horrific countenance.

  There was no time to do anything about it as Gabriella hurried after Fulton and Xavier. Both vampires had managed to inflict more wounds on each other.

  She caught up with them just in time to see Fulton knock Xavier's knife out of his grip. In response Xavier took up a brick from the rubble of the last wall they had broken through. Before he could react Fulton received the good news with the side of the brick to his skull. He flew back across the garden, hit the wall of the house, and lay there not moving.

  After what had happened the last time she had tried to rush Xavier, Gabriella took things a little more cautiously this time. She circled him warily feinting in and then retreating repeatedly.

  In the end Xavier apparently grew frustrated with this activity. With a guttural growl he took the fight to Gabriella. She tried to move out of his reach, but the same brick which had incapacitated Fulton caught her in the left temple.

  She saw a flash and the next thing she knew she was dumped back on her backside. She touched a hand to her head and it came away wet. Then she remembered what had put her on the ground and caused that injury. Her brain was too slow to let her defend herself against Xavier and he forced himself on top of her again.

  "I told you to get used to this." He was breathing heavily all over her face.

  She couldn't find it in herself to come up with a comeback. She simply screwed up her face as she squirmed against him. The thin material of her shorts made it feel as though there was nothing separating them.

  He was too strong for her. The leer on his face told her he knew it as well.

  "Last time we met you stuck me with some steel," Xavier said, he pressed himself against her. "You feel that, I've got something to stick in you."

  "And I've got something for you."

  Gabriella saw Fulton looming over Xavier. Her attacker's eyes went wide as he heard the voice.

  Now it was Gabriella who held Xavier in place. She managed to keep him in position long enough for Fulton to slam the knife through his back and into his heart. Blood from Xavier's mouth splattered her face as Fulton gave the blade a twist.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  They ran up some steps onto the houses back garden and were caught in the bright light from an automatic outside light. Fulton grabbed hold of Gabriella, wrapping his arms around her tightly, and threw himself sideways through the fence and row of short, thick trees that separated the two properties. Branches clawed and scratched at his clothes and face, he felt the skin under his left eye break and cold blood oozed onto his skin.

  The two vampires tumbled down a small slope and stopped with Fulton on top of Gabriella. Both their chests were heaving with the exertion. They lay quiet listening for sounds of pursuit and sniffing the air. Gabriella's scent was so intoxicating this close. Fulton shook his head to clear it.

  "So what happens next?" She whispered breathlessly in his ear.

  Fulton rolled from on top of Gabriella and used his arms to support his weight.

  Gabriella started to stand almost the instant his body was lifted off her. She stood fully upright and started to brush dirt and dead leaves from her clothes and skin. She had lost her cap somewhere in her tussle with Xavier and now she had to brush errant vegetation from the newly raven tangle of her hair. Fulton pushed himself up to a crouch and reached up to tap her arm to get her attention.

  "Stay low." He spoke in a voice so low that it would have been inaudible to her had she been human.

  He looked back over his shoulder at Gabriella making her way up to the shelter of the house following in his footsteps. It would be easier for him to head back on his own. But he kept her with him. She caught up to him and he touched her hair freeing a small cluster of dead leaves that had been missed by her own sweep. He couldn't leave her behind. He told himself that he didn't want to have to go back and tell Francesca he had lost Gabriella because he wanted to see his parents. He told himself this to provide an excuse for his desire to protect her other than the fact that she was Gabriella.

  "Now we're much better off." Gabriella was tired and she was dirty. And when she was willing to admit it to herself she was absolutely terrified. Not that she would let him see that. Her close call with Xavier had her pretty well shook up.

  Nor would she give Fulton credit to his face for getting rid of Xavier. What she would do was call him up on it now that he had made a mistake.

  "I thought you said there were trees and cover over here."

  Fulton ignored her.

  "This is just perfect," Gabriella said sarcastically. She looked around at the police officers who were rapidly arriving in the area with numerous others from the various emergency services. The commotion they had caused with Xavier had been well and truly responded to.

  “Why are we running from them instead of just killing them and getting out of here?”

  “We can't kill them all. And I don't want to have to walk all the way back. We need transport to get to safety before dawn."

  "We don't have to kill them all, we just need two."

  Fulton hesitated. He didn’t want to kill anybody, he never had, but he had killed plenty of times before. But he could rationalize those killings because he had to eat. To kill police officers for simply doing their jobs. It didn’t sit right with him.

  “It’s them or us,” Gabriella said. She moved away from him. “If you can’t do what you have to I’ll have to take my chances alone.”

  Gabriella waited where Fulton had instructed her to. He had said that the police were bound to do a door to door and he had been right. A pair of officers had been dispatched to start knocking on doors on each street. Fulton had positioned himself and Gabriella on opposite sides of a garden that had large, thick bushes to hide it from the other police. All they had to do was wait for a pair of police officers to come into the garden.

  Voices could be heard from the house next door where the police were questioning an aggravated sounding old man. No he hadn't heard anything, he was a very heavy sleeper and he had to be at work in the morning. Yes he would be careful and he would report anything suspicious.

  The officers left him and had a joke at his expense. By the sound of their voices both of the police were male, but they couldn't be choosy. Police uniforms were pretty much unisex anyway.

  The gate opened with a rusty squeak. The vampires were upon the police before it had closed, each took the police officer closest to them. Gabriella hooked her arm around her targets neck just as Fulton had showed her hand cut off his air supply. She squeezed harder until she felt and heard his windpipe collapse and life left him. Fulton had dis
patched the other in the same way.

  When Fulton had told her how he wanted her to make the kill she had shot back telling him she had been killing for longer than he could dream of. But his arguments, that they needed this kill to be silent and not to spread blood over the uniforms, were compelling and she acquiesced.

  They determined which officer was the larger and Fulton started stripping him of his uniform. Gabriella pulled the clothes of the other, forcing herself to take her time so as not to rip them.

  Next Fulton started stripping out of his own clothes and getting into the uniform. Gabriella stood watching him as she finished undressing the corpse at her feet. The wounds on Fulton's body had started to heal but many still looked very angry. Gabriella's new found respect for him increased when she realised he had orchestrated their escape after taking injuries like that. Fulton was almost fully clothed by the time Gabriella started to undress herself.

  Fulton finished getting into the police uniform. Doing the belt up and clipping the radio to the hook at his shoulder he looked across to see how Gabriella was coming along. She had just finished stripping her corpse and started to undress. Fulton made sure he could watch her out of the corner of his eye but made it look like his attention was elsewhere. Even grubby from their escape she was a beautiful looking woman.

  He admired the curves of her body and felt guilty like he had never done when he was checking Francesca out. It wasn't that he felt he shouldn't be admiring Gabriella because Francesca wouldn't want it. It was more a feeling that he should obtain Gabriella's permission before seeing her like that. He averted his gaze to prevent Gabriella's accusations of him being a pervert becoming true.

  When he looked back she was tucking in a shirt that was too big for her. She had kept her own boots on but had hidden them under the police officers trousers which had been turned up at the bottom and rolled over at the top to make them look like they fitted. She covered the top of the trousers with the belt which she had to adjust to the smallest setting to make fit.