by Helen Harper
‘You think that’s a win for your kind?’ she sneers. ‘It’s not much of a happy ending.’
‘This is about survival, not vengeance. Nobody needs more blood on the streets. There’s been enough already.’ I pause. ‘Consider the vampires as peacekeepers rather than warmongers. That makes us better than you. We have the method to destroy you and we choose not to use it.’ I smile again. ‘Unless you force us to.’
‘That doesn’t make you better, it makes you weak,’ she spits.
I gaze into the distance. ‘Aggression is so unbecoming, don’t you think?’ I smile. ‘Now scat.’
She stares at me. I can almost feel the ice emanating from her. ‘Fine. We’ll leave you alone. There are hardly any vampires left anyway.’
‘There’ll be more some day soon,’ I respond calmly. ‘By removing the Families, you’ve removed centuries of irksome tradition. We’re no longer above human law but we no longer have to abide by our ancient strictures either. I wonder what will happen when we start recruiting Romany people as vampires,’ I muse.
‘You wouldn’t dare.’
I shrug and smile. The daemon throws me one more glare, then spins round on her heel and stalks away.
O’Shea moves up beside me. ‘Man, I’m still shaking.’
Michael walks up to my other side. ‘Well done.’
I bite my lip. ‘I hope I’ve done the right thing. In truth they all deserve far, far worse and we all know it.’
‘It’s harder to stop a fight than to start one. We’re safe. And every vampire has a new beginning. They don’t have to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.’
I slip my hand into Michael’s and he squeezes it. We watch the Kakos daemon as she reaches her car and gets into the back. Someone else steps out and I draw in a shocked breath as I realise it’s X. Perhaps he’s being punished after all. He raises a hand, whether in gratitude or acknowledgment or flippancy, I don’t know. Then he returns to the vehicle.
As the three of us watch them drive into the city dusk, lights begin to spring up across the skyline, illuminating London. I smile. She might be a bitch sometimes but she’s my bitch. I love this damned place.
My phone rings, breaking the temporary peace. I glance at the caller ID and answer. ‘What’s up, D’Argneau?’
Michael stiffens.
‘The lengths I go to for you, Bo Blackman! It’s taken me days of digging but I think I finally have something. It turns out that Streets of Fire is involved in some serious illegal activity. I don’t know about Kakos daemons but this could bring them down. They’re breaking just about every rule in the book. In fact…’
‘Don’t tell me,’ I interrupt.
There’s a moment of silence. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Put it in a file and sit on it. It’s information that might come in useful in the future but I don’t want it right now.’
‘Do you have any idea how many hours I put into this?’ His voice is rising.
‘Feel free to bill me.’
‘You bet your sweet arse I will, darling.’
Michael leans across. ‘Call her darling again,’ he growls into the phone, ‘and you’ll live to regret it.’
‘Who’s that?’ D’Argneau asks suspiciously. ‘It sounded like Michael Montserrat.’
‘Mm. Thank you so much for everything, Harry,’ I say warmly. ‘You’ve been fabulous and I’ll make sure all the other vampires know in case they wish to procure your services for themselves.’
D’Argneau manages an impressive volte-face. ‘All the vampires? I know there’s not very many left but all of them?’
‘You could be the sole vampire representative if you play your cards right,’ I purr. ‘They’re no longer above the law so you might find yourself very busy indeed.’
Appeased by thoughts of legal grandeur, D’Argneau hangs up. I lean my head against Michael’s shoulder, pretending not to notice that O’Shea does the same on his other side.
I’m a vampire, a creature of the night with occasional psychotic tendencies. Surprisingly, I think I’m alright with that. Maybe the world needs people like me, at least for now.
I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, whether it will be good or bad or simply ambivalent. I’m not convinced any more that tomorrow matters. Today is what counts and today I have the man I love by my side while the people who matter to me are hale and hearty. Sure, tomorrow’s another day. But today is pretty sodding good – and that’s all any of us can ask for.
Thank you so much for reading Dark Tomorrow. I truly hoped you’ve enjoyed it and all of Bo’s travails and adventures. If you have a spare minute, it would mean a huge amount if you could leave a review on Amazon. All reviews make such a massive difference to independent authors like myself and every single one is very much appreciated. If you would like to keep up to date with any future releases, as well as the chance to receive exclusive content and giveaways, then do sign up for my newsletter here.
All the best,
Helen
About the Author
After teaching English literature in the UK, Japan and Malaysia, Helen Harper left behind the world of education following the worldwide success of her Blood Destiny series of books. She is a professional member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and writes full time although she still fits in creative writing workshops with schools along with volunteering to teach reading to a group of young Myanmar refugees. That’s not to mention the procession of stray cats which seem to find their way to her door!
Helen has always been a book lover, devouring science fiction and fantasy tales when she was a child growing up in Scotland.
Helen currently lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with far too many cats – not to mention the dragons, fairies, demons, wizards and vampires that seem to keep appearing from nowhere.
Other titles by Helen Harper
The Blood Destiny series
Bloodfire
Bloodmagic
Bloodrage
Blood Politics
Bloodlust
Blood Destiny Box Set (The complete series: Books 1 – 5)
Also
- Corrigan Fire
- Corrigan Magic
- Corrigan Rage
Corrigan Politics
Corrigan Lust
The Highland Magic series
Gifted Thief
Honour Bound
Veiled Threat
The Olympiana series
Eros
Lyre
The Bo Blackman series
Dire Straits
New Order
High Stakes
Red Angel
Bo Blackman Box Set (Books 1 – 3)
Vigilante Vampire
The Dreamweaver series
Night Shade
Night Terrors
