Gareth stepped forward, his hands curled into fists. “I’m not the same stupid human you once manipulated,” he spoke through clenched teeth. “I advise you to back the fuck off and leave us alone.”
Mariza hissed at him before turning on her heels and stomping out of the house.
Gareth looked up to the ceiling. Somehow, he could tell Morgana was awake again.
“Morgana,” he growled, “I want a word with you.”
Chapter Two
Morgana had only pretended to fall back asleep and opened her eyes as soon as she felt Gareth’s presence depart. She decided she was going to go down there after him to talk.
Maybe to finally tell him the truth. The guilt, knowing about Mariza, gnawed at her insides.
She threw back the covers and swung her legs over the edge, then she heard their voices. Shit, Mariza was here.
It was quite obvious Gareth wasn’t happy to see her.
Then she felt her parents stirring. They must have come home while she and Gareth had been sleeping.
“Mariza?” She heard her father’s voice and his hasty movements climbing out of bed before the presence of her sister left the house.
“She’s gone, dear,” her mother said in an empathetic tone.
Morgana cringed, anticipating what was coming. Then Gareth’s growl drifting up through the floorboards from below.
He knew.
***
Gareth stormed upstairs. He wanted answers now. His heavy footfalls on the wooden floors had probably woken Oscar and Vivienne. But right now, he didn’t care.
Gareth stopped in the doorway when he saw Morgana standing at her bedroom window, her dark brown hair tousled from sleep, cascading down her back. She was dressed in a violet silk chemise, a favorite color of his. Ever since their first date, he loved seeing her dressed in purple, especially because she usually dressed in black, though he didn’t mind the black leather pants which fit snugly around her ass. He shook his head, clearing his daze. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by her beauty right now. She’d kept something very important from him.
Gareth slammed the door, feeling the need for some privacy. The trouble was, they didn’t get any privacy when they stayed at the Van Wildens—all to maintain the protection their home offered from uninvited vampires entering the house.
Morgana gazed out the window across the manicured lawns and gardens sprawling around the Van Wilden’s Victorian-style home. Nature always helped her to relax. “Mariza’s home,” Morgana spoke softly. It was a statement, not a question.
“You knew, didn’t you?” he cried, “All this time, you knew?”
“Yes.” Morgana turned to face him. The shock hit him like a wall.
“How could you not tell me?”
“When I first found out, I was angry at you for comparing me to her, and the second time I was interrupted.”
“But after that?”
She grimaced. “I try not to think about her. Or talk about her, so I didn’t want to raise the subject again, not while everything was so fresh and wonderful between us.”
“But don’t you think I should have known? You know, in case I ran into her like I did downstairs of all places?”
Morgana sighed. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon. She hasn’t come to visit for a very long time.”
“Why not?”
“She was banished from the family home nearly four hundred years ago.”
“What happened?”
Morgana opened her mouth to respond, but he held his hand up to stop her. “Scrap that, do I even want to know?” He ran his fingers through his hair.
Morgana frowned, looking at the floor. “It’s not a very pleasant story. Look, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry!” Gareth shook with rage. “How do you think this makes me feel? I’m dating my evil succubus of a creator’s sister?”
Morgana opened her mouth again, but he was pacing the room, ignoring her.
“No wonder you kept reminding me of her. You’re sisters.” He stopped. “Fuck.” He scrubbed at his eyes, a thought occurring to him. He lifted his head. “Are we related?”
Morgana gave him an incredulous look. “No. She turned you, but your DNA is still the same.”
“But her blood is what made me a vampire.”
“The Primus don’t see it that way.”
“Still, your sister is my creator. Doesn’t it all seem kinda sick?”
Morgana crossed her arms over her chest. “What we have is neither sick nor twisted.”
He started pacing again in the small space between the bed and the doorway. “And all the crap from Oscar about welcoming me into the family coven when technically I was already in it.”
“Well, he does have a point there.” Oscar’s muffled voice could be heard through the walls.
“Shhh, they’re not supposed to know we’re listening,” Vivienne’s voice echoed through as well.
“Great.” Gareth threw his hands up in the air. “Your parents can hear us.”
Morgana arched an eyebrow. “Well, they are vampires, after all.”
“Great. Just fucking great.”
Morgana let out a long breath. “Look, I’m sorry. I should have told you.” She reached for his hand. He let her take it for a moment. The warmth of her skin seeped into his own before he wrenched his hand from her grasp. The absence of each other’s touch was evident for both of them, judging by the hurt in her eyes. But he was just too angry to console her. “I’m going home.”
“But we’re not scheduled to return there for another two nights.” She reached for him again.
He stepped back out of her reach, edging toward the bedroom door. “You can stay here. I need space to think.”
She dropped her hand, straightening back up. “Fine. When will you be back?”
“I don’t know if I will be.”
Chapter Three
In the early hours of the morning, Gareth entered the living room of the home he shared with Alastor. He found Alastor dressed in gray sweatpants and matching anorak sweater doing tai chi in front of the mantelpiece.
“Shouldn’t you be doing training outside?” Gareth slung his bag onto the armchair.
Alastor turned to face Gareth. “Didn’t expect to see ye. I was getting some practice in before training.”
Gareth shifted his bag, sitting heavily into his favorite armchair. He didn’t have this back at the Van Wildens. “I think training is off today, mate.” He stared into the unlit fireplace. Alastor took one look at his best friend’s face, then disappeared to the kitchen. Gareth could hear the fridge door opening and the clinking of glass, then the smell of blood wafted through.
Alastor returned within seconds, handing a small tumbler to Gareth filled with the blood. “Here, I think ye need this.”
Gareth took the blood, thanking him—he never did get to finish the other blood bag. He sighed, looking down at the glass held in both of his hands. “I saw Mariza today.”
Alastor stiffened. He grabbed the glass off Gareth. “On second thought, I think I’ll be drinking this.”
“Hey,” Gareth protested. Alastor sat on the matching sofa gulping down most of the contents. He handed the dregs back to Gareth, the last of the blood sliding down the sides.
“Gee, thanks.”
Alastor grinned but turned serious. “Where did ye see her?”
“She was at the Van Wildens,” Gareth said, his voice monotone.
“Feckin’ hell. How did she even get in?”
“Oh, that’s the corker. Mariza is Morgana’s sister. She’s always invited,” he said, sneering the last sentence.
“Yer kidding me. Didn’t ye tell Morgana about the night ye turned?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think I told her the name.” Realization dawned on Gareth. “Yes, actually, Morgana asked me her name. Then I saw her as Mariza, and I may have even told her she was like her. That’s when she slapped me and stormed out. Goddammit.” Gareth went to throw the glas
s into the unlit fireplace.
Alastor grabbed his hand before he could. “If ye keep doing that, mate, we’re going to run out of glasses.”
Gareth dropped his hand and placed the glass on the coffee table. He stood and began pacing the small area between the armchair and fireplace. “How could she not tell me? I mean, we’re mates for fuck’s sake.”
“Aye, not exactly the sort of bomb ye want dropped on ye.”
“And we couldn’t even discuss the matter because her parents could hear everything. Nowadays, half our time is spent over at the Van Wildens. We have no privacy.”
“If ye guys need me to move out, ye could have asked.”
Gareth shook his head. “No, it’s not you, you’re fine. Part of it is the fact we stay over at her parents’ place, with vampire hearing no less. Who wants to have sex with their girlfriend when her parents can hear everything?”
Alastor snorted. “Ye don’t seem to mind me hearing yer sex life here.”
Gareth chuckled without humor. “Well, think of it as payback for you and Ava.”
Alastor grinned wickedly. Gareth plonked himself down in the armchair. “What am I going to do?” he moaned, leaning forward, placing his head in his hands. “I’m dating my creator’s sister.”
“Aye, the bitch who let ye die.”
Gareth looked up, giving his friend a nod. “So you realize the predicament I’m in?”
“Aye.”
“There’s got to be a reason she kept it a secret.”
“Aye, she plain forgot.” Alastor looked hard at his friend. “It’s times like this I wish we could get drunk.”
“Same here, buddy. Same here.”
Gareth felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He didn’t bother to answer it. He knew it would be Morgana checking up on him.
When he didn’t answer, Alastor’s cell phone began vibrating. Alastor pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID flashing on the screen. “It’s Morgana.”
“Don’t answer it. She’ll want to talk to me.”
“Aye.” Alastor nodded, pocketing his phone. “Ye know I could never forget the way ye looked lying there, starving in that alley.”
“What did I look like… one of the African kids you see on TV?”
“Nay, ye were worse. It ain’t a pretty sight seeing a starving vampire. There was something about it. Ye know how everything with a vampire happens quicker.”
Gareth nodded.
“Aye. I suppose starvation would be no different. Ye were like rotting flesh while ye were still alive.” Alastor’s stare focused on the wall. “The look on yer face look still haunts me.”
“Yet I’m now somehow related to the woman who left me to die.”
Alastor’s phone vibrated again. He ignored it.
Gareth was so absorbed in his sorrow he didn’t realize Ava had arrived. He was startled when her voice broke through his thoughts.
“What are you guys doing here?” she cried, entering the living room, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. She was either coming straight from the gym or on her way there, dressed in a pink tank top over tight black Capri tights. Her sweater was zipped up halfway, and a laptop bag was slung over her shoulder. “Morgana’s been trying to call you. I’ve tried to call you.” She gave Alastor a stern look when she said the last comment.
“I’m pondering the woes of my new family tree.” Gareth stared into the fireplace.
“Well, snap out of it,” Ava demanded. “There’s been another attack.”
***
Gareth and Alastor followed Ava to the scene of the newest attack. Gareth was surprised to see it was not very far into the woods and closer to town than the previous attack on the two teenagers. The thought sent shivers down his spine.
His attention was drawn away from the location as his eyes fell on Morgana. She’d dressed in her signature black leather slacks, showing the curve of her ass, making him grunt from desire or anger, he wasn’t sure. She was crouched over examining the blood spots on the ground. He wasn’t sure if he was pleased—her usual tank top had been replaced with a t-shirt, and he would be missing out on looking down her top. Her eyes flickered toward him as they approached, but she was in business mode. She wouldn’t dare deviate from the scene at hand.
“Where’s the body?” Gareth asked, looking around.
“They took the body away.” Morgana pointed to the marks on the ground. It indeed looked like someone had dragged a large object across the dirt and fallen leaves.
Ava gasped. “Why would they do that? Don’t they usually feed and dump the body where it is?”
“They could be turning this one,” Morgana stated.
“Turning? Locals?” Gareth asked.
“Yeah. The night you killed Randalf, I killed a few of Ragnorok’s men. He could be looking to replenish his members.”
Gareth cringed. Morgana was still crouched over the bloodstains, digging into some of the dirt. She sniffed the dirt clods and placed them in her mouth. Ava watched in fascinated horror. Even Gareth thought it was strange his girlfriend would do something like that. But then again, he’d only known her for a few weeks. After all they’d been through, she still kept secrets from him—big ones.
Morgana made a clicking noise with her mouth as she tasted the bloodied dirt. “Tastes like a male, young.” She spat out the mud which had formed from her saliva onto the ground. She turned to Ava. “Can you use your contacts at the police station to find out if anyone has been reported missing recently?”
Ava nodded, a wide smile on her face.
Gareth rolled his eyes. She would be loving this.
“We’re going to have to follow these tracks to see if they’ve moved the boy to hide it away from us or if they’ve really taken him.”
Gareth raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said they could have turned him?”
“That’s one possibility. But Ragnorok knows we’re here now, so he might be trying to cover up his clan’s feeds.” She began walking off in the direction of the drag marks.
Gareth ran up to her, grabbing her arm. “You could have told me about her.”
Morgana stopped and turned her head to the side. “You know, you’re not the only one with Mariza issues.”
Gareth turned her around to face him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, if you bothered sticking around this morning, you might have found out.” Morgana crossed her arms over her chest.
“But you’re going to keep it from me now?”
Morgana sighed. “Gareth, now isn’t the right place to talk about this.”
“Fine, we’ll talk later.”
Morgana’s cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked down at the caller ID. “Father is calling. Can you go report back what we found here?”
Gareth winced at the mention of him, crossing his arms over his chest.
Oscar had spawned his evil creator.
“Why can’t you do it?”
“I’m going to follow the tracks into the forest.”
“Well, ye know where they are. Can’t we go straight to them now?” Alastor asked.
“You guys don’t have any weapons.”
As much as Gareth hated to agree with Morgana right now, she did have a point. They couldn’t exactly go into a vampire lair without weapons.
“Fine, I’ll go. Is she going to be there?” Gareth sneered, and his eyes flashed. “I don’t want to be going back to your parents’ place. Not while she’s there.”
“She won’t be staying with us. Mother won’t allow it.”
“More people with Mariza issues?”
“See, you’re not the only one.” Morgana sighed again. “I don’t even know why she’s here in the first place… probably to get her trust account topped up.”
“Her trust account? Oscar gives money to that thing?”
“Yeah, when she’s not being a succubus,” Morgana joked feebly.
Gareth growled.
&nb
sp; “Too soon?” Morgana asked.
Gareth ignored her jibe. “Alastor, are you coming, too?”
“Aye, I’ll go.” He gave Morgana a small smile, patting her on the shoulder as he passed.
Gareth stalked passed, deciding not to look at her. Fucking women.
Chapter Four
Morgana felt Gareth leave as she crouched back down to re-examine the scene of the crime. Lately, there was a tangled web of emotions in her which disappeared when he wasn’t around. She shook those thoughts aside and concentrated on the task at hand.
She gingerly touched the footprint. If she tracked them using the scent of the human, she still might be able to follow their trail.
She sniffed the air. The scent was faint but enough for her to follow.
Morgana stood, tracking the scent as it wound its way deeper into the woods. She did know which way to go, but she was doing this by the book. The Council had yet to reprimand her for going off on her own when she thought Ragnorok had abducted her parents. Plus, the slow movements of tracking gave her time to think. Why hadn’t she told Gareth about Mariza? Part of what she had said to him this morning was true. She didn’t want to think about Mariza again. What Mariza did to her was unthinkable. Sisters were supposed to be there for each other. Not feed off each other.
Morgana sighed and wiped her brow. She had reached the edge of the trees, and the trail had grown fainter.
She looked up in the closest tree. If they were traveling through the treetops carrying a body, it wouldn’t have been very easy, even for a vampire. There would be broken tree branches and a trail of destruction even they wouldn’t have been able to avoid.
She leaped straight up in the tree, landing on a sturdy branch. She looked around. To the right was a broken branch, jagged end tipped with blood.
Morgana crept closer, taking a sniff. It was human. If they were draining the bodies and turning them, there shouldn’t be any blood left in the human.
Or were they taking humans to use as living blood bags? It wasn’t an unheard-of practice of Night Dwellers.
The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3 Page 23
