Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (15 page)

‘
To avoid trouble. We
don’t want to fight them now, without having found
Madison.’

‘
Yes. I know you’re right,
but to give in so easily ...’

‘
They were the real deal,’
Jacques said. ‘I thought
we
were scary. But those vampires are like …’

‘
I know,’ Freddie agreed.
‘You could feel the power coming off them in waves. And they knew
it too.’

‘
What are we to do,
Alexandre?’ Isobel asked. ‘We cannot go up against these creatures.
They will crush us.’

Alexandre shook with anger and impotence. He
knew the vampires had been laughing at them. He and the others were
way out of their depth here. They would not be able to take them by
force. Not for the first time, Alexandre wished he had destroyed
the Cappadocian back when he’d had the chance. Now that evil
creature had set himself up as leader once again, with layers of
protection surrounding him. It made Alexandre crazy to think that
Madison was beyond his reach. He couldn’t bear to think of her
alone and afraid, not knowing what was going on. And it was all his
fault. If he couldn’t keep her safe, what good was he to her? She
was in danger because of him, because of what he was.

He couldn’t let Maddy down. Already, he
missed her so much that nothing felt right. His world felt bleak
and empty without her and it hit him again just how much he loved
her. He and the others would have to rethink their non-existent
strategy to get her back. With a fresh lurch of despair, he
realised they would need a miracle.

Chapter Seventeen

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

The blackness was heavy, pushing down onto
her face and chest until she couldn’t breathe anymore. The terror
of not being able to take a breath made her forget who she was. The
air was leaving her lungs, sweat prickled all over her body and a
rushing sound filled her ears. She couldn’t talk or see or move.
This wasn’t real, was it?

*

She heard a murmur. It was a rasping, dry
sound that made no sense. Aelia felt a pain in her throat and
realised it was she who was making the murmur. She tried to
remember what had happened: She lived with the widow … had been
with her for years. There was a trip to the valley to gather
mushrooms and wild vegetables. They had returned home and the widow
had treated a couple of patients. They had sat down to eat their
evening meal and, for the first time ever, the widow had been quite
pleasant. And then … she couldn’t remember anything else.

‘
Awake?’

Aelia recognised Widow Maleina’s voice. As
she opened her eyes, the widow’s face shimmered into focus.

‘
What happened?’ Aelia
croaked.

‘
You had a fever. But
you’ll be fine.’

‘
I feel awful.’

‘
You look awful.’ The
widow laughed.

Aelia attempted to roll her eyes, but she
was too weak even for that.

‘
Here, drink this.’ The
widow helped to hold her head up and Aelia felt a dull pounding
above her eyes. She opened her mouth and sipped at the warm liquid.
It tasted bitter, but soothed her throat a little.

‘
Thank you.’ She lay back
down and her stomach gurgled. ‘Why do I feel so hungry?’

‘
You’ve been asleep for
two days.’

Two days? Midsummer!
She was supposed to
meet her family. ‘But … But I should be at the cave
today!’

‘
It is too late for
that.’

‘
Maybe if I leave now I’ll
be able to make it in time. Surely it won’t matter if I’m a little
late.’ Aelia tried to sit up on her own. Her head felt as though it
contained a huge, sharp boulder and she thought she might throw up
or pass out. Gingerly she lay back down.

‘
It would take you all
night to get there, by which time it would be too late.’

‘
But my family will be so
worried. They’ll think I’ve been attacked on the road, or that I’m
ill or dead. My mother …’

‘
It’s too late for them.
But you will be safe here.’

‘
Too late for them? No,
they’ll be safe underground. We’re the ones in danger. We’ll have
to hope the barbarians don’t find us here.’

‘
There aren’t any
barbarians. How many times do I have to tell you. I know you’re not
stupid, even if you sometimes act it.’

‘
But …’

‘
But, but, but … No buts.
Your family and friends are probably all dead by now. And if
they’re not, you’d better pray for them, because they will wish
they were.’

‘
Why are you saying those
things? You’re scaring me.’

‘
Good. You should be
scared. I’ve saved you from a fate far beyond what you can
imagine.’

‘
You
?
You’ve
saved me?’ Aelia suddenly realised that
the widow had never intended to let her go and join her family. She
had kept her here intentionally. ‘Why? How could you let me miss my
chance at happiness? Are you so twisted and bitter that you’d deny
me a chance to make my life right again? Did you drug me to keep me
here?’

Widow Maleina scowled and walked off towards
the back of the cave, muttering to herself. Aelia felt a wave of
helplessness wash over her and a tear rolled down her cheek. She
would probably be stuck here forever. A flash of anger overtook her
sadness.

‘
Why did you do it?’ she
called across the echoing cave. ‘Is it so you can keep me here as
your servant? Is that it?’

No reply came. She turned onto her side and
closed her eyes. Before her father visited the cave, Aelia had been
prepared to remain with the widow. It had been her only option. But
after his visit, she had allowed herself a glimmer of hope for the
future. Of course, she’d also felt a certain amount of fear at the
thought of returning to the people who cast her out, but at least
she would have the opportunity to start again. But now … Now, she
just saw years of the same thing stretching out in front of her.
That was if the barbarians didn’t slit her throat first.

A rich smell permeated the air and Aelia’s
mouth began to water.

‘
Broth,’ the widow said,
standing next to her.

Aelia still lay with her back to her and
remained silent.

Widow Maleina sighed. ‘I know you are angry
now, but in time you will come to see that I am right.’

The smell of the broth was driving Aelia
mad. She was so hungry, but didn’t want to give the widow the
satisfaction of seeing her drink it.

‘
I know the demons are
here because I have seen them,’ the widow said. ‘And I remember
them from before.’

‘
Before?’ Aelia replied,
before she could stop herself.

‘
They have travelled here
from a long way away. From a cold country in the north. The country
where I was born.’

‘
You mean you’re not from
here?’ Aelia turned and sat up, forgetting her anger for a minute.
The widow handed her a bowl and Aelia took a sip of the warm clear
soup. As she drank, the splinters of pain in her head seemed to
melt away.

‘
No,’ replied the widow.
‘I was brought here as a slave when I was a girl. In my land,
everybody knows about the night demons. And now they are here and
they will wreak terror and destruction because you are all
unprepared and ignorant.’

Despite the heat of the soup, Aelia felt a
chill.

‘
We knew all their
tricks,’ the widow continued. ‘We endured centuries of their evil
ways. But we knew how to deal with their kind. Your people are
ignorant. They don’t know what they have done.’

Aelia saw sadness in Widow Maleina’s eyes.
‘So if that’s true, why didn’t you try to warn them? Why didn’t you
tell them?’

‘
Do you think your
councils would listen to a half-mad crone? Don’t look at me like
that. I know what everybody thinks of me. Because I am old and live
alone, they think I am some kind of demented witch. They are happy
to take my medicines, but that is all.’

‘
If there are demons,
where are they?’

‘
Right now, they are
leading your people into the underground city. The demons have
fabricated this invasion. They cannot stand the light of day. They
need darkness and blood to survive. Below ground, in the newly
constructed city, they will have both.’

Aelia didn’t know what to think. The widow
sounded convincing, but she could just as easily be the mad old
crone people thought she was. Either way, Aelia knew she would have
to find her family and make sure they were safe. Demons or no
demons, Aelia was going to travel back home to see for herself.

Chapter Eighteen

Present Day

*

Ben awoke to the bleep of a text message.
With his eyes still shut, he reached across to the bedside table
and bashed about trying to feel for his phone. After a few seconds
of no success, he remembered it was on the floor. He groaned and
sat up, sleep still clinging to his body.

Gathering his quilt around his shoulders, he
slid off the bed and onto the floor. His mobile lay face down on
the rug. There were two texts – one from Alexandre and one from
Freddie. Suddenly, he was wide awake. Please let them have found
her. Please.

Alexandre’s message was short and
unenlightening:

Hi Ben, Checked out the
area but no sign of Maddy yet. Don’t worry. We’ll find
her.

Ben got that sick feeling back. They had
been there for a whole night and had found nothing. If Ben was
honest with himself, he had been convinced they would have rescued
her by now. After hearing all about their amazing escape from the
underground facility in London earlier this year, he’d let himself
believe there wasn’t anything Alex couldn’t do.

Freddie’s message was a little more honest
but a lot more worrying:

Confrontation with 4 scary
vamps last night. Too powerful for us to do anything. We’re working
out a strategy. Will get back 2 u as soon as we have a
plan.

So if the Cappadocian vampires were too
strong for even Alexandre and the others, what were they going do?
How would they rescue Maddy? Ben felt so useless. He texted Freddie
back:

Be careful. Is there
anything I can do from here?

But Ben knew they wouldn’t ask him to do
anything. His stomach growled and he remembered he hadn’t had
anything to eat last night. He did still feel slightly sick, but
his stomach also felt like it had a massive hole in it. He needed
food. Quickly, he pulled on yesterday’s socks, some jogging bottoms
and an inside-out sweatshirt before going downstairs to get some
breakfast.

Esther was in the hall, picking the mail up
off the doormat.

‘
Hi, Esther,’ he said,
heading into the toasty warmth of the kitchen.

‘
Morning.’ She followed
him into the room.

Ben grabbed a box of cereal from the larder
and a bowl from the cupboard. Esther passed him a spoon.

‘
Thanks,’ he said. ‘I had
a text from them. They haven’t got her back yet.’

‘
I know, love. Morris
called me first thing. It might take some time, but they’ll do it,
don’t you worry.’ She passed him a bundle of letters. ‘It’s Maddy’s
post. Maybe you should open it while she’s away. In case there’s
something important.’

‘
Really?’ He felt a bit
uncomfortable about opening his sister’s mail. And wasn’t it
illegal to open someone else’s letters?

‘
Well I wouldn’t normally
tell you to open someone else’s post, but these are exceptional
circumstances.’

‘
Okay then.’ Ben put the
letters on the table and shook out some cereal. It was some
horrible muesli crap, but he couldn’t be bothered to change the
box. Anyway, he figured he was hungry enough to eat just about
anything. He sploshed on some milk and started eating. Hmm, not as
bad as he’d thought it would be.

As he chewed cereal, he sliced open the
first letter with his finger. It was from the garage to say Maddy’s
Land Rover was due a service. That could wait. Next letter was a
dental check-up for both of them and the third was a confirmation
letter from the Cappadocian hotel where the vampires were staying.
He opened the rest which were either junk mail or boring
appointments.

‘
Nothing interesting,’ he
said.

‘
Good,’ replied Esther.
‘Things have been a bit too interesting around here lately. We
could do with a bit less of it, if you know what I
mean.’

Ben did know what she meant. He’d give
anything to go back to boring routine if it meant having Maddy back
home.

*

Maddy was jolted awake by the jingling of
the lock and now the door swung open. She remembered the male
vampire, the way he had stared at her, and fear crept up her spine.
Her mouth was dry and her neck stiff where she’d fallen asleep
leaning against the wall. Her body and mind were sluggish with
sleep, unable to cope with any kind of confrontation. But she
needn’t have worried, as the person walking through the door, was
Zoe.

‘
God, he’s a pain in the
ass,’ Zoe said, sitting cross-legged on the end of the
bed.

‘
I was worried I wouldn’t
see you again,’ Maddy said, relief sweeping through her body. ‘Who
was he? He was scary.’