by Lola Gabriel
9
Rex
It wasn’t too hard to locate her in the end. The pub garden he had to pass after the scrubland was an issue, both in terms of being seen and in terms of stinking humans, smelling of their own warm, pumping blood and skin and sweat and cigarettes, fried potatoes, and booze. But he wandered around the car park for a while, trying to look like a man simply waiting and breathing, rather than an animal searching for a scent. Then he had followed it to the road, and again, the smell of fumes and the danger of Friday night rush hour traffic had been a problem. But he was on the front steps of a house now, a tall, thin townhouse with rotting wooden windows and an unkempt front garden. If this was where her attacker lived, where the vampires flouting the laws of the land lived, then they had been right under his nose all this time. Probably gloating.
Rex began by hammering on the door. He could have simply pushed his way in, but why not try a standard entrance first? He didn’t have time to create some plan of sneaking attack. He would startle them instead. For a while, though, no one came. He kept beating on the swollen wood of the door, and then moved back. He was intending to smash the door in, to barrel in there and find Maddie. Save her. Be a hero. There were so few chances these days to be heroic, but then the door opened.
“We have been waiting for you,” said the stringy, grey-haired old vampire in front of him.
Rex couldn’t help but laugh. “Henrick!” he exclaimed. “I assumed you were dead. I haven’t seen you in fifty years.”
“Biding my time,” Henrick said, “building alliances.”
“Right,” Rex replied, “I see.” He climbed the last couple of steps into the house and pushed gently past Henrick. “Where are your allies, then?”
“They have the girl,” Henrick said, letting Rex enter. “Why did you turn her? You should have let her die. I didn’t know you were so sentimental, Rex.”
Rex smiled. “What do you want, Henrick? My throne?”
“Of course,” Henrick said. He had long been a critic of the crown. Long been a thorn in Rex’s side. He had once started a rumor of vampires in an Oxfordshire village, risking his own staking in an attempt to get Rex murdered. But of course, as ever, the humans had simply ended up killing one another.
“It is time for vampires to be vampires again,” Henrick said. He was standing, seemingly, extra tall. “We kill, it is what we do. We were born for it. Created for it. You made a new one of us last night, and yet…”
“And yet I know times move on, and beliefs evolve. We can drink bagged blood. It’s just fine. Have you tried microwaving it?” He asked this and reached out a hand, as if to place it thoughtfully on Henrick’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort. Henrick knocked it away.
“It’s unnatural.”
Rex shrugged, “So are those mobile phones the humans all use now, but they seem to be working, don’t they? The whole world has transformed with them with the magic in their pocket! Can get anything at any time of—”
And then, there she was. Maddie, in the mouth of a doorway at the end of the hall. She was wearing a man’s shirt, she’d washed. Her hair was tied back but drying and trying to get out of its loose bun.
“You SHITHEADS!” Maddie roared. “You absolute—”
And then a skinny, blond vampire was on her from behind. He came out of nowhere and his arms went around her, and he tried to wrestle her to the floor, but her elbow went into his side and knocked him off course. She turned to grapple better, tugging on his sweater, but soon they both tumbled over and the blond was on top of her so that her face was buried in him. Underneath his weight she was shrieking and wriggling, and just as Rex moved forwards to try to help, he felt Henrick’s hands on him. As Henrick got ahold of him, Maddie freed herself.
“You stink!” she growled. “Nills, you stink. You smell like death. Like sweet, dirty death. You smell like…” Maddie took a deep, dramatic breath. Her eyes were beginning to glint with angry tears. “You smell like the last moments I had as a human.”
The blond, Nills, smiled. He picked himself up off the floor. Maddie was shaking with rage. Henrick was trying to pull Rex toward him, but Rex was resisting, couldn’t take his eyes off Maddie.
“Sweet thing,” Nills said, a new tone to his voice, sugary, “I’m going to win this fight and be part of a new court. Don’t you want to be my queen? I killed you, it’s only right.”
This lit a fuse in Rex. Not because he was the one who turned Maddie, not because he was king, but because the thought of someone laying claim to a woman so strong, so funny, so beautiful, was maddening. Rex let the rage take him, let himself take his vampire form, feeling his teeth grow and his face change shape a little. He twisted and scratched at Henrick behind him, caught the vampire by the hair and pulled so that Henrick shot forwards, eventually smashing his head into the side of the staircase.
The fighting was in full swing, but still Rex needed to talk to Maddie. Needed to make sure she knew he was the one who fed from stupid blood banks, who, though humans were undeniably an irritation, lived in harmony with them. And who could look after her, or show her this new world, at least. Because it didn’t seem like she needed much looking after. In fact, she had Nills by the neck, pinned against the hallway wall.
“You’re a WORM!” she was shouting at him. Her hair had come loose from its tie. She was shaking. “You’re disgusting. You ruined my life, you piece of shit!”
Nills was clawing at her hand. She had that fresh vampire strength and disregard for her own safety. Nills and Henrick should go to trial. They should. But who knew if he and Maddie would be able to get out alive, and get the two vampires restrained? Just as Rex was wondering this, two more faces appeared in the doorway.
“What are you waiting for?” Henrick snapped at the two, who looked almost like a double act, one fat and one skinny. “Have we not practiced? Go for him!”
Practiced? Rex had been surprised that these undesirables, these stains on vampire kind, were living quite so close to him. But maybe it was intentional. He found himself laughing again. “Bless you all,” he said, “you mean to overthrow me? This was a plan?”
“Some of it,” said the fat newcomer. “The girl’s a hiccup.”
Maddie threw Nills to the floor, and was about to grab for the vampires in the doorway, but Rex saw his chance. Back in his human form again now, he moved quickly away from Henrick and darted to Maddie. He grabbed her arm and pulled her with him up the stairs. But after a few steps, she was leading. She darted into a room that turned out to be a bathroom and slammed the door, pulling a bolt behind them.
“You’re really bloody bad news,” Maddie said, fixing Rex with a look that would melt ice. “What the hell is going on? I really need to feed my cat!” She couldn’t stop thinking about Sonny meowing for his dinner.
“Is that important right now?” Rex asked.
“It is to me.” She crossed her arms. Somehow, she was even more beautiful than she had been a couple of hours ago when he last saw her.
“Okay, yes, well, we have to maybe kill these vampires first. I’m sorry I don’t have time to talk to you properly. Do you trust me?”
Maddie’s eyes found his. They stayed fixed there as she nodded. “Yes,” she said, “I think, for some reason, I do. You really messed up this morning, though.”
“Fair,” Rex said. “Right now, we need wood through chests, okay? Wood, chests. And not your chest or mine.” She was looking at him intently. She nodded again. She looked tense, ready to pounce or to run a 100-meter dash. She was almost vibrating. “There will be time, afterwards, to process, and time to explain more to you…” Rex was getting emotional. Something that rarely happened to the vampire king. Maddie was undoing him. Without thinking too hard about it, he closed the space between them, swept her up, and kissed her. There were bangs on the door. Shouting. She melted into him. It felt like they were one creature for a moment, her soft mouth on his, her tongue lapping slightly, his hand supporting the small of her back as
he held her off the ground.
And then the door burst in, and they had to jump round to a defensive position. The fat vampire came at them first, and Maddie ducked and spun and got out of his way. Then, to Rex’s astonishment, she leaped onto the bath and then further, grabbing upwards and getting her hand around the old curtain rod.
Snap! It was wood. And now it was sharp wood.
“You’re brilliant!” Rex called. He wasn’t sure whether or not she heard him, but his moment of distraction cost them and the little and large vampire duo pushed Rex back into the cistern of the toilet. He ended up sitting at a strange angle on its seat, with the little, coathanger-bodied vampire looming greasily toward him. The big one had Maddie by her shirt tails, and his instinct was to protect her, but she kicked back and used the momentum of springing off the vampire behind her to leap at the skinny one, grabbing his greasy hair and then…
The curtain rod went through his back, and for a moment it was visible sticking out the front of his chest. Rex rolled off the toilet as the skinny vampire fell forwards, worried about being impaled himself. And then there was the scream of vampire death, and the body blackened, fell away in chunks of bone and ash and a clitter-clatter of teeth loosed upon the floorboards of the bathroom.
The fat vampire looked worried.
Maddie grabbed for her weapon, and he ran for it. Maddie went after him like a rocket. She was amazing. She was unstoppable! Rex dashed after them, and he got there just in time. The fat vampire had pinned Maddie against the wall with all his weight, and her arm was twisted behind her so she couldn’t move.
Without even thinking, Rex ran to the stairs and kicked out at the bannisters. More sharp wood. But the issue with this vampire was his size. Rex had to put all his weight behind the makeshift stake, and he was terrified it would penetrate through to Maddie’s chest. He twisted as he pushed, and the fat vamp tumbled down the stairs, landing smack against the front door before he became an unusually large lump of vampire rubble.
“Are you okay?” Rex asked, reaching out for Maddie’s arm.
“I’ll be better when we’ve gotten the other two assholes,’ she said, already running down the stairs. A force. Of. Nature.
Nills was in the hall, and he grabbed Maddie, his arms fixing around her waist. His mouth was up to her ear. “I’ve got you,” he half whispered, “again! You’re mine. I think maybe it’s supposed to be this way.”
As Nills was trying his best at sweet nothings, filling Rex with a boiling rage that would heat a house for a month, Henrick slipped behind the two of them. Rex threw himself over the bannister and landed on his feet next to Nills and Maddie. Nills had his hand on the former curtain rod, now a stake, that Maddie had picked up again in the bathroom. Maddie was beginning to tire. She didn’t know how to use her new strength, or rather when to stop using it, and she must be hungry. New vampires woke ravenous and she had consumed barely a bag of blood earlier on. She wriggled against Nills’ arms, but he had the wood. He lifted it.
“Or maybe,” he said as he got ready to stab her through, “maybe I will have to kill you, to teach this king a lesson. He seems so fond of you.”
Rex’s teeth shot out. He leaped at Nills and bit with abandon, bit without looking or thinking. Vampires are not supposed to bite vampires, of course. Nills tasted foul. But he didn’t care. By the time Rex was back on his feet, spitting and rubbing at his mouth to get rid of the rancid flavor, Nills’ face was in ribbons.
“Don’t you touch my mate,” Rex managed to say, a final line for Nills, as Rex pulled Maddie away and stabbed Nills through the chest with the chunk of banister.
“Your what?” Maddie asked. But the front door slamming caught the attention of both of them. Rex darted to it, looked out. No Henrick. He was gone.
Back inside, Rex slammed the door himself. “Bastard,” he said. “He’s always been an irritant. These stupid kids might have thought they were in charge, but there’s no doubt that Henrick planted this overthrowing the king crap in their heads. Not the last we’ll see of him, but the council will have everyone on the lookout.”
Rex realized he was still holding the banister. He dropped it on the charcoal-like lumps that had once been the fat vampire.
“What’s a mate?” Maddie asked. “Why did you call me that?” She was streaked in vampire goo and the charcoally remains. Her hair was everywhere. Her shirt was ripped at the right shoulder. She looked amazing. She looked perfect. Again, Rex walked over to her. He held her face in his hands, kissed her forehead.
“This is going to sound wild,” he said, “but will you please just hear me out? I know the world has changed for you in the last twenty-four hours. Can you let it change just a little more?”
She looked up at him, her eyes tired. And then she smiled, just a small smile, a weary smile. “I know I shouldn’t. Or, at least, I don’t know, logically, why I would, but it was trying to logic my way out of wanting you, feeling good with you, that landed me here. So, I guess, hit me with it.”
10
Maddie
They had stopped at Rex’s only for bags of blood to keep them going, and a change of clothes for Rex, who was dirty and tired just like she was. They had also picked up Maddie’s shoes, and her bag and phone. All of which she had dashed out on that morning.
“Don’t laugh,” Maddie said when she unlocked her door. “It’s not a castle. Or a penthouse.”
“Maddie,” Rex said, stroking her back, “I was born in a hut in the mountains of Eastern Europe.”
“Yes,” Maddie agreed, pushing the door open, “but it’s been a while. Oh, Sonny, hello, Sonny!” Sonny let out a mewl and then purrs as he jumped up to be caught by her. She buried her face in his fluffy grey and brown fur. “You will not believe what’s been going on, Sons.” Then she looked up at Rex. He didn’t look perturbed, but neither did he look particularly amused. “I have a very intense relationship with my cat,” she said. “We’ve been alone together a long time.” Then she addressed Sonny again. “This is Rex. He’s going to be around, and we’re going to decide whether or not to keep him. He claims it’s something about destiny or maybe magic, unclear, but we’ll decide, won’t we?”
“The cat will decide?” Rex asked, finally sounding a bit worried.
Maddie shrugged. “He has a vote.” She put Sonny down and got him his food, changed his water, washed her hands.
“Magic and destiny, sort of,” Rex said, standing in the kitchen area with her, “But you can feel it too, can’t you? I don’t know if I can ever be away from you again, Maddie.”
Maddie grinned at him. “Romantic,” she said. “Will I be your queen?”
“Well,” Rex’s eyebrows knotted. His stubble was heavier than it had been earlier. The neck of his t-shirt was stretched so she could see that lovely, nibble-ready collarbone. “I mean yes, technically.”
Maddie reached up and wiped a dark mark from Rex’s cheekbone. “Shall we shower?” she asked. “It’s not a huge shower, but we should both fit if—” Rex had his t-shirt halfway off before she had even finished her question.
Maddie led Rex by the hand into the bathroom. She pulled off the weird leggings, and then the man’s shirt, and she threw them into the corner. She never wanted to see them again. Maybe tomorrow she would burn them.
Rex stayed a step away from her, looking her up and down. “You’re perfect,” he said, his voice softer than usual. “In all my years, I have never seen anyone so beautiful.”
Maddie shook her head. “That’s ridiculous, Rex,” she said, and she moved toward him, undid his belt and then the zip of his trousers. “I’m just a girl—”
“You’re my mate,” he said. “I’ve been looking for you for centuries.”
“I haven’t been here centuries,” she said, and she kissed his chest, ran her hands up and down his sides, let her thumb play along his ribs lazily.
“I’ve been waiting for you to arrive, though,” Rex said. And he leaned down to kiss her deeper than he had yet
, his hands in her hair, as if both of their lives depended on the moment being perfect. And it was, it was perfect.
In the shower, they couldn’t both be under the spray at the same time, so instead they washed one another. Rex’s hands were rough-skinned at the fingertips, but they moved with amazing precision. He oh so gently rubbed the dirt from her face. He massaged her head when he shampooed her hair. He kissed her forehead as he rinsed off her shoulders, and then he kissed each shoulder, and then her breasts, one and then the other, his tongue teasing her nipples.
Rex was getting hard as he sucked and nibbled first her nipples, and then lower. She could feel him pressing against her. Then his tongue found her belly button, which made her squirm, before he got on his knees to kiss and stroke her thighs, knees, calves, even the tops of her feet. Then up again, up, up, to the hair between her thighs, which he brushed with a thumb, looking up at her with his light blue eyes, his wet hair slicked back, water running down his face and body. He looked imploring. Innocent. Young. He was asking to be allowed in, so she let him in, let in his careful, exploring fingers and then his tongue, which felt cool in comparison to the warm water. He used the tip of it, and then the flat, and then the tip, and Maddie leaned against the glass shower wall. As pleasure began to well up in wave after wave, she thought yes, yes, maybe you were waiting for me. Maybe she was supposed to be here, with Rex. Maybe she was supposed to have become this thing she had become, monster or miracle. Who could really say?
Maddie pulled Rex up by the hair, roughly, until he stood. She kissed him hard. “Bed,” she said, “now.”
The two of them only got as far as the floor halfway to the bed. There, Maddie stopped to kiss Rex again, being rough with him, but being careful too. Her newfound strength had really showed itself in the last few hours.
Rex moaned as she bit his bottom lip. He pushed himself against her, and his left hand searched again for her wetness, her center, as his right held her breast and his thumb brushed her nipple.
