Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (23 page)

‘
Shut up will you!’ A
woman’s voice floated through the gloom. ‘The children don’t need
to hear any of that.’

‘
Sorry,’ the man replied.
‘But what does it matter. We’re all dead anyway.’

‘
For God sake!’ the woman
yelled. ‘Someone shut that idiot up.’

More children began to cry and soon everyone
was shouting and arguing. There must have been an awful lot of
people in the room. Aelia pulled her knees up towards her body,
trying to make herself as small as possible so she wasn’t touching
anyone else. The bodies next to her were unmoving and she had the
horrible feeling they were dead. Her eyes were still adjusting and
she could now make out the outlines of people and the pale curves
of their frightened faces.

‘
Will the demons come back
for us?’ Aelia asked, facing in the direction where she thought the
man was. ‘Hello!’ She raised her voice above the noise. ‘Does
anyone know if they will come back for us?’

‘
We don’t know anything,’
a woman replied. ‘They might just leave us in here to rot. I’m so
thirsty. Is there any water?’

‘
If anyone has any water,
please, I’m begging you, let me have a sip,’ someone else
cried.

Aelia’s leather bag was still slung across
her body. She still had the waterskin in it, but she couldn’t
announce the fact – there would be a riot.

‘
Is there anybody here
from Selmea?’ she asked.

‘
Selmea?’ the man’s voice
snapped back at her. ‘This whole thing started in Selmea. It was
their idea to build this godforsaken place. I’ll kill anyone who
says they’re from Selmea.’

She’d been about to ask if anyone knew her
family, but that didn’t seem like such a good idea now. A soft hand
grasped hers and an old woman whispered in her ear.

‘
I’m from Selmea. Who are
you?’

‘
Aelia Laskarina,’ she
whispered back with some trepidation.

The woman was silent for a moment. ‘Ahh,’
she finally said. ‘The Laskarina girl. You’re still alive
then.’

‘
Yes,’ she said defiantly.
And then more contritely: ‘Yes.’

‘
Good for you. But it
didn’t make much difference in the end. Now we’re here
…’

‘
Have you seen my family?
Are they down here too?’

‘
I saw them at the
entrance, before we descended, but I haven’t seen them since. I
haven’t seen my family either. I don’t suppose I shall ever see
them now.’

Aelia squeezed the woman’s hand. ‘We can’t
give up yet. What about me? A few years ago, I was almost sentenced
to death, but I’m still alive. Tell me something – if you could
save your family by sacrificing yourself, would you do it?’

‘
I’m going to die anyway,’
the woman replied. ‘I have two sons and they have families of their
own. I would do anything to save them, of course I would. But what
can I do? A feeble old woman?’

‘
I don’t know,’ Aelia
replied. But she did know. And she would have to do it. She had to
do it before the demon creatures came back for her and it was too
late. What Mislav had done to her was unthinkable. And the look on
his face before he had done it was terrifying. His whole face had
changed. And those teeth! She put her fingers to her throat. It
felt bruised and tender. There was no time to waste.

She reached beneath the folds in her tunic
and untied the strip of material which held the box in place. With
shaking hands she took the box out, holding it tightly. If she
dropped it in here she might never find it again. She was terrified
of opening it, even though she knew she had no choice. But once she
did open it there would be no going back.

The widow had told her that if she entered
the city and found it inhabited by the night demons, she was to
infect herself with the plague. Just a small piece of infected
tissue was all it would take. It would surely kill her, but if the
demons drank her blood, it would hopefully kill them too. She
prayed the widow was right and that it was only transmitted through
the blood, otherwise, opening the box would do more damage to
everyone here than it would to the demons. But she had to take the
risk.

Once a demon was infected, it
would also pass on the infection to the humans it drank from. These
humans in turn would pass it onto the other demons who drank from
them, and so on. This was the part Aelia was worried about - giving
the disease to other humans. But
w
hat
other choice did she have? As the old woman had just said, they
were all going to die anyway. Better to die trying to save
everyone, than as a meal for demons. If she thought too much about
it, she would do nothing and then it would be too late.

The shouting and arguing had faded away now
and all she could hear were a few sobs and moans and some hushed
conversation.

Aelia
manoeuvered
herself into a cross-legged position and held the box over
her lap in case she dropped it. Stuck to the base of the box, was a
tiny blade made from bone which she snapped away from the wood. She
used her fingers to feel where the box was sealed and ran the blade
carefully around the edge. The blade was still sticky, and she
re-attached it to the box. Holding her breath, she prised off the
tiny lid. She tentatively put her forefinger inside the box and
felt something gelatinous and soft. Aelia gagged and tried to
steady her breathing. If she threw up in here, she wouldn’t be
thanked. She rested the box in her lap, pushed up the sleeve of her
tunic and picked up the blade again, holding it above her
arm.

Clearing her mind of the horror, she thought
of her family. Of her sisters’ laughter and her mother’s comforting
arms. Of her father’s good humour and of the cosy dwelling where
she grew up. She thought of the cool stream where she had paddled
in her bare feet and of the beautiful grey horse she had owned for
one afternoon. She ran the tiny knife firmly across the soft flesh
on her forearm. A warm sting spread across the skin and she dropped
the blade. It was lost, but she no longer needed it. Using her
thumb and forefinger, she lifted out the contents of the box and
rubbed them into her fresh wound. The widow had said this was the
quickest way to contract the disease. She also dabbed it onto the
sore spot on her neck, but it was so painful she thought she might
pass out.

‘
What have you got
there?’

It was the man’s voice. Was he talking to
her?

‘
Hey, girl, I said what
have you got? Is it water? Have you got water?’

She felt a hand reach out and grab at her.
And then another hand. The box and its contents fell away from
her.

‘
No, no. I don’t have any
water,’ she said and tried to push the grasping hands
away.

‘
What’s this?’ A woman’s
voice. ‘She has a bag.’

Someone was pulling at the leather bag,
still slung across her body. It contained half a skin of water and
some food. Aelia suddenly felt really thirsty. But now there were
too many people grabbing at her body and her clothes. The bag was
wrenched from her body.

‘
Stop! Leave me alone!’
she cried. But the bodies were piling on top of her until she could
hardly breathe. They were going to kill her. She was going to
suffocate in here. ‘Please,’ she whimpered. ‘Please.
Stop.’

Chapter Twenty Eight

Present Day

*

The man towered above her on the narrow
rocky path. Maddy stared at him, momentarily turned to stone by a
swift paralysing fear. It was one of the bikers, wearing a tan
sheepskin coat and aviator style sunglasses. The knife in his hand
caught the rays of the dying sun and made her blink, shaking her
out of her paralysis. She took a step backwards, willing herself to
turn and run. The man began to talk, his voice low and guttural,
speaking a language she didn’t know. And she didn’t think she
wanted to know it either. Whatever he was saying it didn’t sound
good or friendly or like anything she would want to hear.

After what seemed like an age, she turned
and stumbled away from him. He lunged after her with the knife, but
she was too quick. Going back down the way she had come was not as
easy as the journey up. For a start, now she was able to see just
how high she had climbed and flashes of vertigo almost made her
fall. Also, the sun had reappeared from behind its haze of cloud
and shone directly into her eyes, half-blinding her. After feeling
cold for so many hours, now a warm fear flashed through her and the
sweat prickled down her stomach, her back and under her arms.

Heavy, slithering footsteps from behind made
Maddy almost throw herself down the track to get away from her
pursuer. She crashed into rocks, half falling down the cliffside.
As she ran, she thought that if this giant chasing her was one of
the bikers, then where were the others?

She got her answer straight away. Through
the laser beam rays of the sun and the mess of boulders, she
glimpsed three motorbikes at the base of the cliff. Two figures
stood on the ground and one sat astride his bike. All three
squinted up. She was being flushed out; heading straight into a
trap. It was over.

Her pursuer was slow and she could hear him
muttering and cursing quite a way behind. If she was going to do
anything, it would have to be now while she was far enough away
from the bottom of the cliff for the others to see. Quickly, she
ducked behind a large rock, squatting and holding her breath. The
temptation to peep out was overwhelming, but she resisted and
stayed completely out of sight.

Twenty or so seconds later, she heard him
crashing down the path. She squeezed her eyes shut as her heart
pounded, sure that any moment she would be discovered. He passed
within a few inches of her hiding place, but pretty soon she saw
his back disappearing down the cliffside. However, Maddy knew it
wasn’t over; he would soon realise his mistake, so she came out
from behind the rock and began to scramble up the track once
more.

Could she outrun them? Were there anymore of
them lurking behind the rocks? She couldn’t worry about that.
Madison had to keep going as fast as she could and hope that her
luck held. Her breathing was laboured, her legs screamed in pain as
the muscles were pushed on and on, up and up. She realised the sun
had dimmed, reclaimed by the snowy clouds.

‘
I got you!’

Madison was grabbed from behind and lifted
off the ground. She squealed with shock and kicked backwards into
her attacker’s shins.

‘
Calm down.’ It was a
man’s voice and he had an accent. He had her arms pinned to her
sides, so all Maddy could do was use her heels to batter his
legs.

‘
Get … off!’ she yelled.’
Let me go, you wanker!’

‘
Kick me again and I will
use this.’ The man let go with his right arm, keeping hold of her
with his left and she felt cold metal press into the side of her
head. Then he dropped her to the ground. ‘I’ll shoot you in the
back if you run. I’m not going to go chasing you around the
mountain.’

Maddy didn’t move. She didn’t look up. She
didn’t even want to think. What a waste of time. All that effort
for nothing. It was almost dark now anyway. Daylight was a distant
dream of hope and escape.

‘
Get up.’ The man kicked
at her leg.

Maddy took a shaky breath, willing herself
not to cry. She wouldn’t give the arrogant pig the satisfaction.
She stood and turned, staring right into his eyes. It wasn’t the
man with the knife. This one wasn’t as tall and he had a gun which
he held loosely at his side. The man pushed her in front of him and
prodded at her to start moving down the cliff. As she walked, she
tried to project her hatred and defiance by moving as slowly as
possible. But the man kept jabbing her in the back with his gun,
making her stumble and almost fall several times. By the time they
reached the bottom, it was dark.

*

‘
Ben tells me you’re a
traitor.’

Morris looked up from his English newspaper
and stared at Leonora. His face portrayed no emotion.

‘
Well?’ she continued.
‘Haven’t you anything to say? Aren’t you going to defend
yourself?’

‘
Ben must’ve had a good
reason to tell you that.’ He folded his paper and set it on the
table.

‘
Well,’ replied Leonora.
‘To be honest the evidence isn’t overwhelming, but it does pose a
worrying question mark over you.’

‘
What do
you
think?’ Morris asked. ‘Do you think
I’ve betrayed you?’

‘
Me? I don’t know what to
think. It’s a dilemma we could do without at this point in time.
There’s quite enough going on without adding a spy into the mix,
don’t you agree?’

Morris interlinked his hands and rested them
on his lap.

‘
I think the best thing is
if we keep you out of harm’s way for the time being. Until we can
determine the truth. Is that alright with you?’

‘
Doesn’t look like I’ve
too much of a say in the matter,’ he replied.

‘
No,’ she said. ‘I’ll lock
you in the back of the van with blankets. You should be quite
comfortable until we can decide what to do with you.’

‘
Just so’s I know, who am
I supposed to be spying for?’

‘
The Cappadocian vampires
I suppose.’

‘
Right.’

‘
Come on then,’ Leonora
said. ‘You’d better put some warm clothes on. It’ll be cold in the
van and I’ll have to tie you up so you don’t escape.’