Red Awakening: (Red Knight #2) (22 page)

I wait behind the sofa as she staggers by, rubbing her sleepy eyes and scruffy hair.

“I just came to say bye,” I break the ice, trying to block out her constant waffle.

“Eh… thought your plane was like…” She looks at the clock.

“I missed it. Got another flight in the morning.”

“So,” she howls in a yawn. “Two goodbyes?”

I smile again. “Well what can I say; I’m going to miss you.”

“Yeah well, you could have told me that over the phone.”

“Sorry it’s so late,” I say. “I haven’t had the chance to see Liz yet. You know, busy-busy-busy. How is she?”

She wanders by me and sits on the arm of the sofa. “Don’t know… been ringing her and her phone is off. Must still be enjoying her honeymoon.”

“Do you have her new address?” I ask. “I’ve packed my iPad and it’s in my address book.”
God, even as a vampire I’m shit at lying.

“Sure.” She gets up and takes a notebook and pen off the phone unit, ripping out a page to scribble down on. “Here… but don’t be disturbing them at this time. Wait until morning. Last thing they need to hear, is you knocking on the door when they’re enjoying….”

I snatch the paper quick to shut her up. I don’t need the image of Mr Prick banging Liz, burning my eyelids. I’m angry enough.

“Thanks.” I stuff it into my jacket pocket, kiss her head, and dash to the door.

“Hold on,” she barks. “Is that it?”

“Yeah… I’ll call you next week.”

Nathan

It’s not as pretentious as The Shard, but still it’s a statement. An upper-class renovated Victorian building, which says
‘I’m richer than you.’

I pull up next to St James Park, and cut out the engine, screwing the address up in my hand. I’m not sure how to do this. It’s 2.30am, not the greatest time to pay a friendly visit. Adrien, he’ll be up, like me he doesn’t need sleep. But Liz, well, her little human body will probably be away with the fairies, so hopefully I might get some answers without upsetting her.

I make my way to the black door, seeing one of the apartments lit up. That has to be the place.

It starts to drizzle as I press the intercom for apartment two. I roll up my shirt sleeves, noticing the surveillance camera over my head. He’s probably watching me right now. I don’t care if he’s pissed at me; I’ve always liked winding the dick up. Maybe if I push him, I’ll get some answers, and Liz will see the real Adrien Knight.

He doesn’t answer, so I buzz again. He’ll be waiting for me to walk away, but it isn’t going to happen. He should know by now I don’t give in easy.

I look up at the camera again, holding out my arms to tell him I’m staying put, until he opens the door.

A guy staggers my way. He’s wasted and can see me standing here, but the asshole falls by, and budges right into me.

“Watch it,” I bark.

“Watch what… fuckin nob-head.”

I have my hands gripping his collar before the next insult is thrown at me. I could hear his remark before it left his festering mouth. I lift him off the ground, easily. He’s around two hundred and fifty pound. Way too heavy for the old me.

“Name’s Stevens, right?” I read him as I use my elbows to launch him across the street. “Wrong place, wrong time mate.” I flit across to him as he pleads not to be hurt. “Sobered up now have we?”

“Sorry,” he cowers. “Look….I’m pissed-up… a mess.”

“You want to be careful,” I grin, kind of enjoying this too much. “Lots of sinister creatures out at this time.” I’m trying not to laugh, but damn, it’s hard. “Give me one good reason…”

“Look,” he cuts me off, shaking some keys at me. “I live just over there.” He’s pointing to the black door I need to get through.

Smiling, I pat his back and pull him up to his feet. “Well, looks like it’s your lucky night Stevens, because that’s exactly the building I need to get into.”

“But…”

“No buts, okay?” I say, crystal clear.

He doesn’t question or speak further. He hurries across the street, opens the black door for me, and scurries up a staircase.

I take a look around, trying to tune into Liz, but I pick up nothing, which means she must be asleep.

I knock on the white door. There’s light shining through the bottom, and I can hear movement, so I bang again. The latch clicks and the door opens slightly.

I scowl. “Sara?” She slinks out into the hall, and closes the door behind her. “Do you live here too?” I snigger. “Oh shit, not disturbed some kinky ménage à trois have I?”

“What are you doing here?” she hisses in an aggressive tone.

She’s wiping her hands on something behind her back. It’s no good trying to break her shield. She is what we Vigore call a blank. In other words, her shield is permanent and solid.

“Is that blood?” I frown.

“Yeah… I dropped my lunch,” she says, sarcastically.

“I need to see Adrien.”

“Well tough, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” She looks like she’s going to pounce on me. “Adrien is dealing with business. Urgent business.”

“My flight is tomorrow, and I need to see him now.”

“Well call him when you land then,” she yaps.

“Do you know about him being an assassin for The Order?” I hum, watching her nostrils flare in annoyance. “My best friend is in there, and I want to know she’s safe. Adrien has fucked up her life enough.”

Sara grabs my arm and starts to yank me to the front door. I peel her fingers off me, smiling. I think she forgot that I’m no longer human for a moment.

“Had my Weetabix with blood today,” I say in spite.

I hear a loud crash come from inside the apartment. I glare at Sara, then I hear a low cry. I charge to the door. That was Liz, and it wasn’t a normal sound, it was painful.

I stride through the door to see bloody towels and needles all over the kitchen.
What the fuck are they doing to her?

My fangs are out and my vision heightens to maximum, ready to rip him apart. Sara is now clinging to my damn back, so I flick her off, and make my way toward the strong odour of Liz’s blood.

I hear her screams as I burst through the door, growling with a protective instinct. The prick is bent over her, and she’s chained to the fucking bed. I flit and grab at his throat.

“Nathan… Nathan!” Sara shouts. “Stop.” I hesitate, hearing Liz moaning in pain.

Adrien gets free of my hold and tackles me to the floor. He punches me hard, over and over, but I don’t care. He’s giving me his all and it pales in comparison with what I’m going to do to him.

“Adrien!” Liz screams out, rattling the chains.

As Adrien turns his head to look at her, I grip him and roll. Now he will feel my rage before I tear his throat out. I lift my hand, fist tight and ready. Liz calls out my name in a loud terrified gasp. With my hand an inch from his face, prepared to pound down, I stop. This doesn’t feel right. Something is so off in this room. I can’t hear Liz’s thoughts, and she’s by no means an expert at shielding.

Adrien pushes me away and returns to the bed. My teeth retract as I jump up to my feet. I gaze across the room at Liz to see her eyes are pure black. Vampire black. He’s fuckin turned her. I hang my head down with my eyes closed. The one thing I didn’t want for her was this. She’s that part of my life, I needed to remain the same. I’m furious. Adrien swore to me he wouldn’t do it.

“Liz, you need to push hard now,” Sara yells over Liz’s cries.

I look up to see Adrien on one side of the bed, and Sara on the other. Oh god, her legs are spread and there’s blood everywhere. If I were human, I’d be curled up in a ball right now, trying not to vomit.

Liz expels an agonising growl. The darkness of her eyes hit me as my view moves down to her belly. Her fuckin pregnant belly. This is not possible.

“Push Liz… push!” Sara brushes Liz’s hair from her face.

“Push what?” I demand, but I’m ignored. “Push what!” I shout as loud as my voice box goes.

“Shut up, or get out!” Adrien warns.

He clenches her hand as the sweet girl I knew lies in blood and chains, with vamp eyes, and god knows what else is happening to her.

Sara moves to the base of the bed, and looks between Liz’s legs.
Holy shit, there is no way this is happening.

“The head is nearly out Liz,” Sara yells. “A few more big pushes.”

Liz’s teeth suddenly latch onto Adrien’s forearm. Even when I was going through it, I wouldn’t drink vamp blood.

“Sara… another bag,” Adrien roars.

With real slow steps I move closer to the bed as Sara tosses a blood bag to Adrien. Immediately Liz’s teeth lock onto the bag. As soon as the blood is gone, she calms and her eyes become that pretty green again.

Her human eyes find me, and in distress, tears flood down her cheeks.

I look at Adrien. “You’re going to pay for this,” I threaten.

Liz’s eyes blacken again, and she starts to writhe around in pain, bouncing on the bloody mattress like she’s been possessed. Sara is crouched between her open legs, and I can see it all unfolding. This is horror show fucked-up.

“I… I can’t do this Adrien!” Liz screams in agony.

“Yes you can,” he yells.

I have to help her, so hurry to her side and take her hand. She’s crying, gasping, and panting. Her hand is dead cold, stained with dry blood, squeezing my fingers hard.

“Liz, remember when you got to the final in the trampoline competition at school,” I sigh and smile as her petrified view looks to me. “And just before, in your practise, you went flying across the gym like a bird.” She hangs her head to her chest, grunting deep. “And you didn’t want to do it. What were my words of advice?” I wince as she grips and claws my fingers. “Man up Liz… do or die.”

She screams, roars, and pushes.

“That’s it Liz… one more,” Sara yells.

Her fingers snap away from me suddenly and she drops back onto the bed, wheezing in exhaustion. I look at Adrien, he’s fixated on Sara. Shit, there’s a real baby in her arms. She snips the cord as I stand gawping at the wiggling bundle.

“What the hell is going on?” I guess I’m asking myself, because no one will tell me in this room.

I’m desperate now, feel like I’m having some wacked-out dream. I know I don’t dream, but perhaps I had an out of date feed or something, and now I’m having some kind of very realistic hallucination. 

Sara wraps the baby in a towel and hands the child to Adrien. He gazes down into his arms with a strange look. Not a look of love or care, but distance and disbelief.

Sara rushes around the bed and tends to Liz.

“Elizabeth.” Adrien holds the baby out to her.

She shuffles up, her eyes now green and she’s forcing a smile on her lips. How can she be happy about this?

“Daniel Nathan Knight.” She kisses his head. “Hello my beautiful boy.”

It’s very sweet, naming her secret baby after me. But the fact she’s a vampire, and has just popped out a kid, when it’s impossible, is kind of outweighing my glee right now.

Adrien kisses Liz’s hair as she stares into her son’s eyes. Is that supposed to be an apology for fucking her up?

“You turned her?” I say through my teeth.

“Sara, see to Elizabeth and… and Daniel,” he orders, handing her the baby. “You, out of here now.” He waltzes by me, and I gladly follow.

I glance around the place as Adrien takes a bottle of bourbon, and two glasses out from a cupboard. He fills them both to the rim and demolishes one, before pouring another.

“Here.” He slips a glass my way.

I should be ripping his limbs off, but I’ll have a quick drink before I do it. I glug down the fine whisky, and slam down the empty glass. He pours me another.

“What was that?” I ask.

He finishes the last drop, then ejects the glass across the room so it shatters against the wall. The piece of shit is genuinely screwed up about this. He rubs his chin, face, and hair, as I wait for his explanation.

“You were right Nathan,” he eyeballs me. “I regret it all. Pursuing her. Loving her. God dammit, marrying her!”

“So you turned her, then got her up the duff.” I frown. “How the hell does that happen when you’re dead?”

“That child would have killed her. I had to do it… Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” He strides the length of the kitchen.

He’s really pissing me off. There is always a choice, and he made the wrong one the moment he met her.

“The child, we both know it’s impossible,” he snaps. “That is down to Selene.”

“How the fuck did she get Liz pregnant?”

“Oh, you clearly haven’t been around long enough.” He pulls another glass from the cupboard, and pours himself another drink. “That child is a high Dhampir. Neither vampire nor human. That baby,” he waves his glass toward the bedroom. “Is like an eternal fountain of power and youth to Selene.”

“How the hell is a tiny baby all powerful?”

“She probably wants him as her new play thing… I don’t know,” he yells at me.

I smirk, amused. “To replace you I suppose.”

“You’re about as funny as you were, when you were trying to get back into Elizabeth’s pants.” I’m still smiling at him. I can’t help it. “Don’t push me, Nathan.”

My lips straighten out. “Or what, you’ll kill me.” I lean over the kitchen worktop. “I don’t give a toss. I’m already dead. The reason I’m here, is Liz. So what are you going to do about this?”

“Get them away from here, and do what I should have done a long time ago.”

Sara strolls through the lounge area, holding the baby. Adrien doesn’t want to be anywhere near him. He’s got that freaked out daddy vibe going on. He charges out from the kitchen, rolling up his bloody sleeves as he heads back into the bedroom.

With wide eyes, I watch Sara. She actually looks to be enjoying cradling Daniel. I frown as she rocks her arms side to side, all motherly. Shit, she’s being so weird. I’m used to the hard-faced cow, who loves to dominate inside, and outside of the bedroom.

She moves by me, as though all that matters is what’s in her arms. Humming, she opens the fridge, and takes out a bottle of baby milk.

“Milk?” I frown.

She holds the baby out to me. I can’t hold it. I’ve never held one before. And this is no ordinary baby. I step back, kind of freaked out by the little creature.

“He’s a baby Nathan. He’s not going to kill you.” She plonks him into my arms.

Oh god, what do I do with it?