BloodWish

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  I turned to Adeline. ‘Where’s your religious section?’

  She pointed. ‘Up there. Next level, next to philosophy.’

  I all but ran, sure I was right, and scanned the titles. There, to my right, several Bibles sat together in a range of sizes, colours and languages. I chose the most non-descript looking one, pulled it out and peered behind.

  Barely visible, it’s dark brown leather cover blending with the timber hue of the shelf on which it lay, was Judy’s diary.

  I reached in and pulled it out.

  Over my shoulder, I heard Kari suck in a breath.

  * * *

  ‘Laura, neptis mea delictissima, what are you doing here at night?’

  ‘Arrgghh!’ Like a jolt of electricity, Marcus’s voice behind me made me jump, the diary dropping from my hands. My heart thumped triple time.

  ‘Didn’t mean to scare you.’ He stooped to retrieve the fallen notebook and handed it back to me. A smile played around his mouth, but sadness lingered in his eyes.

  He and Cal appeared from nowhere. I knew they’d been away quelling a dispute between prefects and were expected back any day, but I would never have imagined them suddenly showing up here.

  ‘How come I didn’t hear you, grandfather? Isn’t my hearing like yours now?’

  ‘Seems you were too engrossed in looking for that.’ His gaze panned to the leather bound book in my hand.

  True. Even from a young age, whenever I concentrated on a task, the world around me seemed to disappear. My friends had to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention for no matter how many times—or how loudly they called—I didn’t hear them. It had been one of the banes of my life. I had hoped that with my newly developed hearing, I could wave goodbye to that problem.

  Alas not.

  ‘How’d you know I’d be here?’

  ‘I didn’t. We came through the village on our way home and were stopped by the barrier. It doesn’t normally shield the village ... not in a long time.’

  ‘Soon as Alec let us through, he told us you were in here. Said you were looking for something,’ Cal added, his eyebrow raised.

  Marcus clasped his hands behind his back and rocked slightly on his heels. ‘Mea Neptis, ordinarily, I wouldn’t ask—it’s your business. But, by being here at night when our kind is active, with a vicious lamia on the loose—yes, I’ve heard—that requires the barrier to be expanded in order to protect you ... You do know that the wearer of the ward ring has to exert extra energy to extend its field?’

  Alec hadn’t told me that bit. If I’d known, I’d have waited until the morning ... and then what, drag him away from the lab where he and Jake were working?

  I swallowed as the blood drained from my face at his disappointed expression.

  ‘I ... uh ...’

  Kari sprang to my defense. ‘This couldn’t wait till daylight coz someone else could accidently find it and my blood vials are running low so I don’t want to use them all up and Laura can’t really go anywhere without me—’

  Marcus held up his hand for Kari to stop, but his gaze remained on me. ‘Why, Laura?’

  Well, there was no point in hiding it now. I sighed and held the notebook toward him. ‘Came to find this. Judy mentioned it in her diary. If I’m right, it contains the names of all Brethren and all the humans, including governments, that know about us.’

  Marcus’s eyes widened. ‘Deus!’ He took it from me and flipped the pages, his eyes scanning the contents at superhuman speed. Cal and Kari peered over his shoulder, and at one point, she released a drawn out whistle.

  Cal swore.

  Everyone was getting a look-in except me. ‘Will someone please tell me what’s in there? After all, I was the one who found it.’

  ‘You know, she worked out all the clues by herself?’ Kari gave me a gentle punch in the arm.

  Marcus smiled and extended his arm. ‘My apologies. You were right not to have delayed. Come, look.’ With his arm around my shoulder, Marcus drew me to his side and showed me the pages. ‘Powerful names here. Were it ever released to the public, it could topple governments and expose our world.’

  ‘See. Told ya.’ Kari grinned at me.

  One list alone contained well known businesses and the names of contemporary, as well as past, heads of states and even monarchs ... and what each owed Luc in terms of money, but, more importantly, favours rendered. Some CEOs owed their positions to him.

  So many.

  My head swam. ‘This is incredible.’ I glanced at Adeline, who stood to the side, hands on hips, shaking her head and glaring at the notebook as if it were some kind of intruder in her perfectly ordered domain. ‘And you had no idea?’

  ‘Milady ...’ She shook her head then spun on her heel and walked away, muttering, ‘Must check every shelf. Can’t have people hiding their things in my library whenever they want.’

  ‘Poor, Addy. I reckon we just ruined her night, but it hasn’t stopped her chatty-chatty.’ Kari chuckled.

  Marcus closed the notebook and handed it back to me. ‘Keep it safe. Tell no one outside the family about this ... I assume Alec...?’

  I slipped it into my shoulder bag. ‘Doesn’t know. I didn’t want to bother him with it until I was sure it was important. He’s got so much going on.’

  He crossed his arms over his chest and regarded me with the age-old expression a parent uses with an errant child. ‘Commendable sentiment, mea neptis, but as princeps, Alec must be aware of everything, for his safety and yours. Even if you think it’s inconsequential, tell him anyway.’

  I sighed. ‘Yes, grandfather.’

  He laughed, a genuine booming laugh. ‘I enjoy being called grandfather.’

  We left the library and tramped outside. Marcus scanned the silent, empty street. His eyes narrowed as he gazed in the direction of the church, the hoot of an owl snagging his attention. A slight frown drew his brows together.

  ‘Sensing it, again?’ Cal stood by his side, his fingers stroking the smooth hilt of his sword.

  ‘Mmm ... not sure...’ He threw back his coat and unsheathed his sword. ‘Get the girls into the car.’

  My stomach sank. ‘I had a feeling we were being watched when we got here earlier tonight.’

  Marcus turned to me and cocked an eyebrow before addressing Cal. ‘Drive them back to the house, fast as you can. Zigzag.’

  ‘But there’s no way it could’ve broken through the ward.’

  ‘Unless it was already here when the shield was extended.’

  The implications of that didn’t need to be vocalised. Marcus’s grave expression said it all: the thing—if it was here—was trapped inside the protective shield ... with us.

  ‘Shit!’ Cal withdrew his own sword.

  ‘Go. I’ll join you back at the house soon as I’m satisfied that thing’s not in the village.’

  ‘And if it is?’

  Marcus slapped a hand on Cal’s shoulder. ‘You have your orders, legionary.’

  Cal sighed and sheathed his sword. ‘Sir.’

  Kari bustled me into the back seat of our car, as Cal slid into the driver’s seat.

  ‘Where’s your car?’ I asked. How had they gotten here from the airport?

  ‘Didn’t bother with one. We ran. Only takes a few minutes to get here from Avignon.’ Cal adjusted the rear-view mirror, staring back at the direction Marcus had taken, before starting the motor.

  I glanced back as we drove away. The lights in the library were still on. ‘Is Adeline safe?’

  ‘As long as she doesn’t come out. Lamia hate bright lights—burns their miserable eyes.’

  I thought back to Count Timur’s poorly lit, dingy fortress, and the lamiae clinging to the rafters. It was for their benefit the place had been so dark. Yet still it must’ve been too bright for them if they chose to hide in the darkest corners of the ceiling.

  ‘Cal, she can’t stay in the library all night.’

  ‘Ask Alec to keep the ward in place at least till sunrise.’ He ba
rely gave me a minute to do that before swerving the car wildly from one side of the road to the next.

  The seatbelt strained painfully against my torso as Kari and I were thrown about like a couple of rag dolls.

  ‘Sorry, ladies. This is the best way to stop a flying lamia from attaching itself to us.’

  I was too nauseous to respond. Thankfully, at the speed Cal was doing, we were through the gates of the chateau within a minute.

  The household staff ran out to us the moment we arrived. I glimpsed Alec as I exited the car then bent over and threw up.

  Chapter 12 - Nothing Stays Hidden

  ALEC

  ‘And you let her go alone, with only Kari for protection? She’s no match for a lamia.’ Marcus’s words kept coming back to me as I scrutinised data in the lab.

  Earlier in the night, I’d extended my senses, searching for unauthorised Brethren—and lamia—who could possibly be lurking in the area ready to take advantage of the raised barrier when I’d let Marcus and Cal through.

  All had been good. The only other presence I’d sensed out there had been my new charge, Dominik. I’d given him the night off, told him to hone his hunting skills by chasing down deer in the forest.

  ‘Laura’s safe, Marcus. Plus she’s within the barrier. You think I’d let her go if I sensed any danger? I can’t keep her cooped up here. She’s not a prisoner.’

  There was a long pause before he’d spoken again, his voice carrying clearly on the night air. ‘I’ll drop by the library to see what was so important for her to be there tonight.’

  He was beginning to sound like Luc. Why didn’t that surprise me? Too many years secluded in a monastery may have done wonders for his character, but it froze him in time in regards to modern women. Laura belonged to the twenty-first century. She was smart and independent, and I trusted her judgement.

  I got back to work. The screech of tyres at the entrance gates caught my attention. ‘Cal’s driving, right?’

  ‘Yep. Like an out-of-control chariot in the hippodrome.’

  ‘Remind me to never allow him to drive Laura again.’

  Jake’s laugh was cut off by Cal’s voice. ‘Alec, Jake, come quick.’

  The urgency in his tone was enough. I tore out of the lab. Kari was hunched over a vomiting Laura.

  ‘Blast your driving, Cal!’

  Laura raised her head, her face white as alabaster. ‘Not Cal’s fault.’

  ‘Sorry, Alec, I had to. Lamia. Marcus is out there trying to catch a scent.’ Cal inclined his head in the direction of the village.

  My insides may as well have turned inside out. Lamia! ‘How the hell did it get into the village? I would’ve sensed it!’ Damn! This was my fault. ‘I should’ve been with you.’ I picked her up and carried her into Luc’s old office in the library, gently laying her on the leather sofa. ‘Kari, glass of water from the fridge.’

  Laura drank. Colour soon returned to her cheeks. She pushed herself up on her elbows. ‘Funny how water tastes so sweet after throwing up.’

  My pulse steadied. ‘Feeling better?’

  ‘Yeah.’ She smiled and placed her hand on my cheek. ‘Sorry to have scared you like that. I don’t normally get car sick. Baby’s changing everything.’

  I placed my hand over hers and kissed the base of her palm. ‘Until that lamia’s caught, you’re not going anywhere without me. Understood, Laura? I can’t begin to imagine....’ My throat constricted.

  She leaned forward and lightly kissed my lips. ‘I’m all right. Nothing happened, and I was safe with Kari.’ She glanced up and gave Kari a wink. ‘Actually, we don’t know if the lamia is here. Maybe I was just being over sensitive.’

  Now the hairs on the back of my head did rise. ‘You sensed something and didn’t think to tell me?’

  ‘It was probably nothing. Overactive hormones.’

  ‘Marcus didn’t think so.’ Cal walked in to the room. ‘He’s on his way back and wants to see everyone.’ He grabbed a chair, brought it close to the sofa and straddled it. ‘You okay, angel?’

  ‘Fine, Cal. But I’m not driving with you again.’

  He chuckled.

  Marcus strode in, acknowledged us and then stood facing the window that overlooked the garden beyond, hands clasped behind his back. In the reflection from the darkened glass, his face looked grim.

  Looked like lab work was over for the night.

  The other men nodded as they entered. Stony faced. Even Terens. He could usually find some amusement in almost any situation.

  Not this time.

  My scalp prickled.

  Laura sat up, handed her empty glass to Kari and took hold of my hands, her face etched with concern. ‘Sorry if I got you in trouble. I should’ve told you, but ... I wanted to be sure first.’

  My scalp didn’t just prickle. It outright itched. ‘Sure of what?’

  Her anxious lavender eyes bored into mine. When she bit her bottom lip my gut tightened. ‘Laura, what did you not tell me?’

  ‘Close the door.’ Marcus swung around as Jake shut the door and leaned back against it.

  Kari left Laura’s side to stand next to him.

  I found Judy’s diaries in the closet when cleaning out. She kept a hidden notebook, with names in it. All humans who know about us ... the Brethren, that is. She hid it in the library. Her voice spoke in my mind.

  The tightness in my gut spread to my chest. Luc never kept written records of his human contacts. Security. I had to memorise the list. What had possessed Judith to do that? Then hide it in a public place?

  And you couldn’t tell me...?

  Her eyes flared. Same reason you didn’t tell me about the lamia! You were so busy. I thought to save you ... She released a curt breath. What if it had all been nothing and I’d had dragged you from the lab, huh?

  I was caught. Damned if I agreed and damned if I didn’t. Promise me, if you think anything’s important, let me in on it.

  That goes both ways.

  How could I argue with that?

  At least now we’re even.

  She kissed my cheek and sent me a mischievous smile that shot my blood straight to my groin. Little witch! I didn’t know whether to laugh or smack her bottom. I stored the latter idea for later.

  She sat on the sofa, while I took Luc’s place in the deep leather chair behind the princeps desk. He may have passed over, but his presence still lingered. I picked up his favourite fountain pen and ... set it down again. It didn’t belong in my hands. Leaning back in the chair, I waited for Marcus to begin.

  ‘As you all know, one of the lamiae escaped the destruction of the Rebels’ hideout and is presumably on its way here. Tonight, both Laura and I had a sense of its presence. I scouted round the village and the perimeter of the ward but couldn’t detect its scent anywhere.’

  My fingers curled over the arms of the chair. ‘You and I both know I would never have allowed Laura to enter the village had I sensed presence of a lamia.’

  Marcus raised his hands. ‘It’s all right, Alec. I’m not accusing you. On the contrary, you were right to do so.’ He glanced at Laura. ‘But, we’ll get to that shortly.’

  I sat back down, somewhat confused, expecting Marcus to explain that shortly.

  ‘I was wrong then?’ Laura’s gaze flitted between Marcus and me.

  ‘No, not at all.’ He glanced at each of his men. ‘Those of us who’ve hunted this creature know that it homes in on its prey by entering their minds from even hundreds of kilometres away.’ He turned to me. ‘It explains why you didn’t sense its presence.’

  ‘Small consolation.’

  ‘Like any predator, it enjoys the hunt, loves the taste of fear in it’s prey. Makes it all the more satisfying when it kills.’

  A strange quiet descended. We all knew that feeling.

  The lamia wasn’t the only predator.

  I recalled my early vampire days. The constant thirst was all consuming. Damned hard to control. I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, the taste
of fear in my prey. And when I fed ... ecstasy. My groin hardened. I swallowed hard, my knuckles tight. The edges of the desk cracked beneath my grip. A couple of the men fidgeted, their eyes on the ground, while Terens’s eyes paled dangerously.

  You okay? Laura’s voice whispered through my mind.

  I gave her a nod, and hoped my smile was convincing even as I fought to control my inner beast. The dark urge to hunt and kill was alive and well.

  ‘Laura, mea neptis, we’re being hunted.’ Marcus’s eyes paled.

  Laura’s face blanched. Her hands strayed to the hidden dagger in her belt. Was it a conscious movement? If so, she’d come a long way in such a short while. Her knife skills impressed me. I released a satisfied breath.

  ‘But isn’t the protective ward meant to block stuff like this? When Timur had the ward ring, Alec and I couldn’t speak mind to mind. How’s the lamia doing it?’ Her gaze darted from man to man, finally resting on me.

  ‘It’s different from us.’ I leant forward and rested my elbows on the desk. ‘Its mind control is way beyond anything we can do. When Luc had the ward ring made it was to guard against others of our kind, not theirs.’

  ‘It wasn’t an issue then. We’d already imprisoned them,’ Jake added.

  Marcus nodded.

  ‘But say, theoretically, it could be possible for one to physically get through the ward if it wanted to?’ she asked.

  ‘No. Timur had the ward ring. They’d need his permission to get out. They were trapped.’

  ‘Okay.’ Laura appeared satisfied, a small smile lighting her face.

  But something else bothered me. ‘Marcus. The lamia saw me as well. We all tried to kill it. Why is only coming after you and Laura?’ I did have a suspicion. What I wanted was confirmation.

  ‘We’re just the start. Don’t worry; it’ll come after you as well.’ His eyes narrowed, a sneer punctuating his next words. ‘It wants vengeance for the death of its brothers, and of course, for being locked away. What could be better than to kill me and my next of kin.’ His gaze locked on Laura. ‘End the family line of Antonius.’

  Laura sighed. ‘Brilliant.’

  I spun the serpent ring round and round my finger. Marcus had confirmed my hunch. The beast within me roared. It was time to hunt us some lamia.