Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (29 page)

She’d have to try and lose them. A lorry
loomed up ahead, lumbering through the snowstorm like a great dark
beast. She’d have to pass it, but she couldn’t see if anything was
coming in the opposite direction. She whipped her head around – the
bikers were gaining on her. Accelerating, she pulled out into the
middle of the road to overtake the lorry. Up ahead, lights flashed
at her and she swerved in front of the lorry to avoid the oncoming
vehicle.

Were the bikers still behind her? Were they
going to collide with the oncoming car? She didn’t look to find
out. Instead, she slowed and eased the bike across to the right, to
the other side of the lorry so it hid her from the bikers’ view. As
she did so, the lorry driver pressed down on his horn, mightily
upset as he had every right to be. After all, she had nearly killed
them both.

Now that she was shielded by the truck, she
killed her headlight and pulled sharply off the road, heading out
cross-country down a steep slope. Madison felt completely in
control of the bike now; it was almost as though it had become an
extension of her body, bending to her will. And strangely, mixed in
with the terror, a little bit of exhilaration broke through,
surprising her. She didn’t dare let go of the handlebars, but in
her head, she stuck a middle finger up at the bikers.

A thick shivering stand of fir trees lay to
her left and she veered towards it. It could be a good place to
hide. If they knew she was down here, she wouldn’t be able to
outride them. Once she reached the trees, she stopped, turned off
the engine and wheeled the bike into the densest part. Heart
thumping, hands shaking, head swimming, Madison waited, any minute
expecting to hear the whine of bikes. But all she heard was the
distant swoosh of a car passing on the road.

Had she really lost them? For now, it seemed
she had. But they could double back at any time. Thankfully, the
snow was still falling, covering her tyre tracks. If the bikers
didn’t spot the tracks in the next minute or two, they’d have a
hard time following her. The darkness shielded her from the bikers,
but it also gave rise to a more deadly pursuer, one she’d so far
managed to evade. Surely dawn couldn’t be far away. Tonight seemed
to have lasted forever. She remembered she had Eren’s phone and
checked the time on it – six fifty am. It was later than she
thought. Sunrise was close. Still no messages for her though and
there was no signal either for her to try calling Alex again.

Either she could hide out here and hope for
the best, or she could try to get back to the hotel. Once it got
light, those motorcyclists would find her more easily. And if she
just sat here, the vampires would surely come. Maddy made up her
mind. The road up there led pretty much straight to Ayvali. It was
too exposed to travel on but she could ride parallel to it, down
here out of sight.

Taking a breath, she started up the engine.
It sounded ridiculously loud, its roar flooding the silent plain.
Maddy took off. The night suddenly didn’t seem so long or dark.
Morning was almost here. Maybe she could let herself think she
might see Alex very soon. The thought was too good to imagine. She
glanced behind her for bikes or dark swooping shapes, but could see
none. The snow was easing again. Her tracks would stay visible
now.

The engine noise lulled her into a kind of
stupor. Maddy was exhausted and the cold had once again penetrated
the marrow of her bones. She felt like she would never be warm
again. She hoped the hotel had a good deep bath.

The going was becoming more treacherous with
mounds of snow-covered rock, trenches, slopes, dips and copses to
negotiate. Out of the corner of her eye, Maddy saw a dark speck in
the distance up ahead. It was moving through the snow towards her.
Then she looked again and realised there were several of them. And
they weren’t motorcyclists.

Maddy braked, her breath shallow and fast.
Vampires. They were vampires and they were coming for her. They
might not even want to take her back to the underground city.
Perhaps they had something worse planned for her. No. Stop thinking
that way. Try to think what to do next. There was no way she would
be able to outrun them, even on the bike. The only thing that could
harm them was daylight and that was almost here, but not quite.
They must have calculated that they would have enough time to
capture her and take her back with them, or kill her or whatever it
was they wanted to do before dawn broke.

All she had to do was delay them, so they
were forced to leave before the sun rose. They would have to flee
or they would die. But what could she do? What could save her?
Fire? She had matches, but everything out here was covered in snow.
Anyway, would fire even stop them? She glanced around, frantic. She
only had a few seconds to act.

A mound of snow lay behind her, about two
feet high and three feet wide – probably a snow-covered rock. Maddy
jumped off the bike, unscrewed the fuel cap and kicked the
motorcycle on its side. Petrol went everywhere, sloshing all around
the base of the rock. She leapt up onto the rock, reaching into her
backpack at the same time. The vampires were almost here.

As she landed on the rock, she pulled the
box of matches out of her rucksack, but her gloves were too thick
and she fumbled, dropping the box into the snow. She ripped off her
gloves with her teeth and scrabbled around to retrieve the small
box. Finally, her hand closed around it and Maddy took out a match.
If she could surround herself with fire, keep the vampires at bay
until the sun came up…

As the first vampire stared her in the eye,
she struck the match and tossed it into the gasoline. The fuel
instantly ignited and eager flames rose up around Madison in a
burning wall of fire. That first vampire, a young male, was
immediately engulfed in the flames and he screamed, flailing
backwards into the snow. Maddy crouched down on the rock, making
herself as small as possible. The fire had formed a ring around the
rock and flickered dangerously close to her. She hadn’t anticipated
it being quite so vicious and quite so hot. But she was glad of it,
because through the yellow and orange wall of fire, she saw that
she was completely surrounded by vampires.

*

The frozen bite of winter filled his
nostrils. Snow, a faint wisp of woodsmoke and the sharp odour of
martens and foxes. Alexandre tried to ignore these peripheral
scents and search further afield. He heard the intermittent patter
of loose scree on the hillsides and the swish of an owl’s wings as
it swooped and missed its prey. Where was she? Why couldn’t they
find her?

Zoe had told Maddy to head east and so she
and Alex now headed in that direction, but the snow was making
things difficult to scent. He was also mindful that they would soon
be pursued by the Cappadocians. There was too little time.

‘
My mobile phone,’
Alexandre said. ‘They took it. Did you …’

Zoe shrugged. ‘Sorry, I never saw it.’

‘
We need to get to a phone
so I can call the others. Maybe Maddy’s with them already. Come
on.’

Alexandre and Zoe moved quickly through the
desolate landscape, until they reached a small village, set into
the side of a hill in the typical Cappadocian style. All was silent
in the dark night. No lights, no movement, but Alexandre sensed the
warm pulsing blood of the sleeping villagers. He was hungry, but
now was not the time. One of the buildings looked like an inn or
restaurant of some kind. Alexandre crept around the back and forced
open the door as quietly as he was able. It still made a loud
cracking noise as the wood splintered, so he paused, waiting to see
if he had disturbed anyone. No one came and he was glad. He could
do without any kind of confrontation at the moment. After a brief
search, Alexandre soon discovered a phone and he called Isobel.

‘
Belle, it’s
me.’

‘
Alexandre, thank God! I
was beginning to get worried. What’s this number you’re calling
from? I’ve been ringing your phone but it’s going straight through
to voicemail.’

‘
No time to explain. Is
Maddy with you?’

‘
No. But she’s left
messages on all our phones. She’s escaped! Can you believe it?
We’re in a village called Akarsuli. She was here, but the couple
who helped her said she’s now making her way back to the hotel. So
that’s where we’re heading.’

‘
Good. We’ll meet you
there.’

‘
Are you alright,
Alexandre? And who’s ‘we’? Are you with someone?’

‘
I’ll explain when we get
there.’ Alex hung up. He’d heard footsteps on the staircase and he
motioned to Zoe that it was time for them to leave.

Chapter Thirty Five

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

All she could hear were her ragged breaths
echoing on forever, curling around her and out into infinity. She
was burning and freezing, too weak to throw up, no longer human,
just a thing existing. A thin imperious voice cut through her
pain.

‘
Why do you bring me this
creature?’ The question hung in the air for a few
moments.

‘
Your Imperial Highness, I
request a making.’

‘
You dare to come here
requesting a making for something so pitiful.’

Aelia forced her eyelids open. She was
kneeling, slumped forward, her forehead resting on an intricately
patterned rug. From the reverberating sound of the voices, they
were in a large room, possibly a hall. She didn’t possess the
strength to lift her head to see, but she needn’t have worried, for
suddenly she was hauled to her feet and dragged along the ground,
her head lolling and her eyes flicking open and closed.

She saw the far-away ceiling, the frescoed
walls and felt the echoing space around her. It was indeed a hall
and it was a hall fit for a king – lavishly decorated and thronged
with people or demons, she couldn’t tell, all richly attired in
beautiful robes. Their eyes darted back and forth from her, to the
end of the hall. She followed their gazes until her eyes found
Mislav standing before a raised dais, his back to her. In front of
him, seated on a glittering throne was a boy. He was beautiful,
like the carved statue of a god. He wore an elaborate headdress,
embroidered robes of blood red and a shimmering golden cloak. His
eyes were heavily rimmed with black kohl and he was staring
directly at her, unblinking. She lowered her eyes once more to the
carpeted floor.

‘
Your Highness,’ Mislav
spoke, his usual confidence gone. ‘She will not last the day, but I
pray you drink from her and you will know why I request
it.’

‘
Very well. Bring her to
me. But if you are wrong I will strip you of your privileges for
wasting my time.’

Aelia felt herself propelled forward again,
towards the boy emperor. They held her in front of him, but after a
quick glance, she dared not look again. It was too unnerving to see
those dead eyes in such a young face. His movements were all at
once fast and slow, blurred but measured. She didn’t quite
understand it. The warm metallic smell of blood was all around him.
Perhaps he was the devil, the ancient God from her childhood
terrors, banished to live underground forever. She closed her eyes
and yet again willed death to come and deliver her.

The boy emperor tipped his head back and
then threw it forwards again, towards her throat. If she’d had the
strength to scream she would have – this demon was not gentle. She
felt the flesh on her neck tear and rip. The pain was sharp,
excruciating. She wanted to cry out to her mother and her father,
to a God who wasn’t listening anymore. The swoon came. Hopefully
this would be the last. Hopefully she would never wake up
again.

*

Her eyes opened. So, she was still alive.
But this time something felt different. Her body no longer hurt.
She felt … not quite normal, but almost. She was back in the blue
and silver chamber, lying on the cushions.

‘
Thirsty,’ she whispered.
‘So thirsty.’

Laughter. Mislav’s laughter.

‘
Thirsty,’ she repeated.
If she didn’t get a drink soon she would go mad. She sat
up.

‘
Hello, little one,’ he
said. ‘Here. For you.’

Aelia looked up at him, expecting to see him
holding a cup. Instead, he pushed a young man towards her. The man
was shivering in fear, but he leant towards her and closed his
eyes. As he came close, Aelia breathed in the most wonderful sweet
scent she had ever experienced. It was as though her whole body was
infused with a need so great it couldn’t be denied. Suddenly she
was slaking her terrible thirst with something beautiful, something
created just for her. She opened her eyes to see Mislav
smiling.

What was happening? What was
she doing? There was blood everywhere. But not
her
blood. Aelia’s mind cleared and she
realised she was drinking the blood of this terrified man and it
was good. It was what she craved. It was as if her whole existence
had been leading up to this moment. As if she’d been waiting for
this blood all her life. It answered all the questions, banished
all the fears, gave meaning to life itself.

‘
No,’ she whispered. ‘No!’
she said. ‘No!’

‘
Yes,’ Mislav smiled. ‘Now
you know. Now you are one of us.’

Aelia pushed the unconscious man away from
her and rose to her feet. She was strong and healthy again, her
skin unblemished, her body new and perfect. She wiped her mouth and
ran from the chamber, Mislav’s laughter ringing in her ears. She
ran and ran, wanting to tire herself into oblivion, but exhaustion
didn’t come. Thoughts of the blood pulsed through her mind, her
need for it mingled with her disgust. How could she be one of them?
This was not the plan. If her plan had succeeded she would be dead
by now, in peaceful oblivion. Instead, an even worse fate had
befallen her. She must have been cursed. No one could suffer this
much misfortune in one lifetime.