Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (30 page)

As she ran for miles through the tunnels and
caverns, she came across nobody. It was as if she could sense where
to go in order to avoid meeting anyone. Everything was clearer and
sharper, as though her previous life had been fuzzy around the
edges, but now she could see and feel with a clarity like nothing
else. Aelia took herself to the farthest corner of the city and
finally came to a stop at the end of a rock tunnel which led to
nowhere.

Rolling up her sleeve, she looked at her
arm, at the place where the infection had entered her blood. Where
before the skin had been black, it was now like new – creamy and
unblemished. The scabs and pustules too had disappeared. Her hair
was lustrous and golden like never before. She hesitated before
bringing her fingers to her mouth. Feeling her teeth, she
discovered what she knew she would find – sharpened fangs, like the
demons had. She was someone else’s nightmare now.

She should cry. She should sob
and wail and throw herself on the floor at the injustice of it. But
she couldn’t. Part of her was a little intrigued by the situation.
Those other beings were evil, but she didn’t feel that way about
herself. She felt like
her,
only better. Would she continue to feel this way,
or would the need for blood alter her and turn her into a monster?
She listened to the air … Mislav was nowhere near. He had not
followed her. Good. She needed some time to plan what she would do
next.

Chapter Thirty Six

Present Day

*

Crouched on the rock inside the circle of
fire, Maddy swivelled her head and saw vampires all around her,
fangs bared and faces pale against the dark morning. There must
have been at least ten of them, their features and figures
distorted through the flames, like a hall of mirrors.

The rock beneath her feet now oozed with
slush, as the snow melted in the fierce heat. Maddy’s face glowed
and she was terrified she might catch alight. But the fire was both
her enemy and her saviour as it was all that lay between her and
imprisonment or death. How long would the gasoline burn for? Would
it last until dawn? For now, it looked as though the vampires were
happy to play chicken with the sun. Was it her imagination or was
the sky beginning to lighten?

Large sparks flew over Maddy’s head and she
squealed, convinced she was going to burn to death. She unwound
Zoe’s scarf and dunked it in the slushy water at her feet. Then she
wrapped it back around her head and face, just leaving her eyes
visible. She reached around to take the rucksack off her back, and
from it she dug out the knife. It wouldn’t do any good against
them, but at least she felt a little better with a weapon in her
hand, especially one with a good sharp blade.

With a lurching heart, she realised the
vampires were now trying to douse the flames with armfuls of snow
and she worried they would succeed. But their efforts seemed to
make no difference – the fire burned just as fiercely. At least
they hadn’t tried to walk through the flames to get to her.

Just as Maddy formulated that thought, a
dark shape came flying down toward her. She screamed, pointing the
knife wildly upwards, fighting the urge to jump up and run away
through the fire. One of the vampires had leapt over the circle.
But the flames were so high, they almost formed a canopy over the
top of Madison. The vampire instantly caught alight and he yelled
out in agony and frustration, rolling away from her through the
flames. Another one tried the same thing and Maddy stood up
shakily, ready to defend herself again. Not that she would stand a
chance, but she had to try.

Standing there, with the knife
thrust out in front of her, Madison blinked and stared. She blinked
again and turned to look around. The second vampire hadn’t made it
into the circle. In fact, she could hardly believe it, but they
had
all
disappeared. Not one vampire remained. Was it a trick? She
spun around again, trying to glimpse them through the flames. She
stared upwards, terrified they were about to swoop down from the
sky en masse like birds of prey diving in for the kill. But after a
moment or two, she realised it was true. The vampires had fled. And
now she saw the reason why, as a faint white disc crept over the
far horizon. Dawn had arrived.

In a flash of hatred, Maddy hoped the
vampires had been incinerated, that the sun had caught them out and
that they were now nothing more than ash on snow. But Maddy’s
problems weren’t over. As the flames roared and spat, the heat
became unbearable. Her fingers and toes tingled and burned, her
face flushed and her skin prickled. She dropped the knife and made
herself as small as possible, hugging her knees to her chest and
burying her face into her arms. She was going to be barbequed.

Suddenly, there was an almighty explosion
that almost made Maddy lose her footing and go tumbling into the
fire. The bike. It was the dirt bike. It had become an orange and
black fireball behind her. Another explosion came immediately after
the first and Maddy winced, cringing down to try and escape the
flying, burning debris.

Why had she poured out so much fuel? The
temperature was insane now, like a furnace. There was no snow left
on the rock which gleamed under the heat, slick and warm. This was
it. After everything she’d been through, it had all been for
nothing. She was going to die out here. Alone in the burning
snow.

*

A dull sliver of light pooled on the floor
of the van. It would be safe to leave now. Morris’ wrists and
ankles had been tied up tight but he wasn’t worried about that, for
in the inside pocket of his coat sat his penknife. He wriggled out
of the blanket Leonora had placed so carefully around him and he
lay on his side. Then he jiggled and shook until the small
implement slipped onto the carpet with a dull thud. Morris sat up
and shifted towards the knife. His gloved hands were behind his
back, but he managed to pick up the knife easily enough and flick
out its blade. Next he set to work scraping it against the twine on
his wrists. The strands quickly flew apart and he was then able to
cut through his ankle ties.

Leonora considered him slow-witted and
Morris hadn’t liked to deprive her of that notion. He was of the
opinion that it was better to keep quiet and observe. That way you
didn’t miss anything and you didn’t let things slip.

Morris rubbed his hands together and blew on
them through his woollen gloves. His body couldn’t take the cold
like it used to. He was getting on a bit now. Not too old to know
what was what though. He lifted the latch on the van door. Lenora
thought she’d locked him inside. She didn’t realise these vans were
designed so you couldn’t get locked in. and he hadn’t mentioned
that fact to her. Sloppy of her not to check these things properly.
He climbed out slowly, no panic in his mind, no thought but the job
in hand. Just take it one step at a time. Nice and steady, that’s
the way.

*

Contrary to her fears, Maddy didn’t burn.
She didn’t melt or pass out or self-combust or any of the things
she’d imagined so vividly. She just crouched there, uncomfortable
and scared as the flames burned around her, waiting for something
to happen or not to happen. She ate some of the food that Eren and
Derya had given her and she sipped at some water, pressing the side
of the bottle to her cheeks and forehead to try and cool herself
down, but the bottle was warm and did nothing to relieve her
discomfort. She took out Eren’s phone several times, but there was
no signal at all and no new messages. For now, she was stuck.

Maddy waited and eventually the flames died
down enough for her to leap across the circle and away from the
flickering prison. It was a blissful relief to escape the fire and
she immediately threw herself down onto the snow to cool her
roasting body. She knew it would only be a matter of time before
unbearable heat would be replaced with unbearable cold, but she
couldn’t help herself. The snow felt so good against her burning
hot face and limbs.

She knew she couldn’t stay sprawled in the
snow for long. She had to keep moving. The bike was toast and her
gloves were gone. Maddy dragged herself to her feet, dusted off the
snow and began to walk, shoving her hands into her pockets. The
bikers were still out there and she knew they could return at any
moment, but she couldn’t summon up any fear. Exhaustion lay too
heavy on her. If they came, they came. She had a knife. This time
she’d use it.

The storm had ended, but the snow lay in
deep drifts and every step was hard going. Her boots sank down with
each stride and Maddy realised the bike would’ve been useless out
here anyway. Her jeans were sodden and frozen and she could no
longer feel her toes. Tiredness settled deep inside her bones and
all she wanted to do was curl up and sleep. How long had she been
out here running away from people? Or running to find people? She
couldn’t remember. She didn’t care. Madison squinted into the
distance. The snow was white, the sky was white, the sun was white.
Her mind went fuzzy. Sleep would clear her head. Just for a few
minutes. A little nap and then she’d feel much better. She gave a
half smile as she sank down into the snow. This was all she needed.
What a luxury to just lie down and sleep.

*

Morris left the van and walked back through
the snow to the hotel. It was morning now, so he knew he was safe
from Leonora and the others. They couldn’t leave their suite and so
he wasn’t worried about returning. Once back at reception he asked
if there was somewhere he could buy a phone and hire a car. Leonora
had been sloppy again and hadn’t bothered to check his pockets, so
he still had his wallet. Unfortunately his phone was back in the
hotel suite. The woman on reception said the nearest town for those
things was a couple of kilometres away and that she could order him
a taxi.

Two and a half hours later, Morris was
driving out into the snowy wilderness at the wheel of a battered
jeep. It was perfect for what he had in mind and he had hired it
for a very reasonable price as it hadn’t yet been valeted after its
previous muddy excursion. Morris had kitted himself out in warm
clothes and in the back sat a couple of bags containing essential
survival provisions which he’d bought in town. After about twenty
minutes, he stopped and turned off the engine. His new phone had a
good strong signal and he punched in the number for Marchwood
House.

‘
Hello.’

‘
Esther, love, it’s me. I
need to speak to young Ben.’

‘
You alright?’

‘
Yeah, I will be soon
enough.’

Morris waited while Esther fetched the
boy.

‘
Morris?’ Ben’s voice came
nervous and hesitant on the phone.

‘
Morning, Ben. Leonora
told me about your worries.’

‘
Really? Look, Morris, I
…’

‘
What’s your evidence
then?’ Morris said.

‘
What? I don’t know what
you …’

‘
Come on, Ben. You must
have found something pretty big to have told Leonora what you did.
You think I’ve let you down in some way? ’

‘
No … I … Is Leonora okay?
You haven’t …’

‘
Far as I’m aware, she’s
fine.’

‘
Look, Morris, you’ve been
good to us and I didn’t want to believe …’

‘
Ben. It’s fine. Just tell
me what you found.’ Morris didn’t have time for the boy’s
hesitation. ‘Come on, Ben. Spit it out, lad’

‘
I … well. I found some
notepaper in the recycling bin. The same paper that the note from
the Cappadocian vampires was written on. I did some digging and
discovered the notepaper is from The Old Bell. And I know that’s
your local pub. I’m sorry, but I had to tell the
others.’

‘
That’s okay, lad. Put
Esther back on.’

‘
Morris?’ she
said.

‘
Esther, we’ve got a
problem,’ he said.

‘
Another one? Seems to me
we’ve been having problems for days.’

‘
Well this problem is
bigger than the rest. I need you to do something for me. I need you
to lock Ben up somewhere secure. Oh, and make sure you take his
phone away and his laptop. Don’t let him out under any
circumstances. Do you hear me, Esther? Not under any
circumstances.’

Chapter Thirty Seven

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

The people trembled as she asked the
question:

‘
Do you know the Lascaroi
family from Selmea?’

It was the same all over the
city. Everywhere she went, they all had the same reply:
no, we don’t know
who they are.
It made her sick to see these people quail before her,
looking at her like she was one of
Them
. She wanted to soothe and reassure the people
that she was not a demon, that she was ultimately human with a
human heart and a human soul, but the words stuck in her throat as
she remembered the poor man whose blood she had drained. Was he
still alive? She hadn’t dared ask. The answer to that question was
too terrifying to contemplate. Mislav hadn’t mentioned him and for
that she was grateful. He had also given her freedom to
roam.

‘
We have all eternity to
ourselves,’ he said. ‘Go and explore our underground empire. Return
to me whenever you wish. Just do not leave the caverns. Daylight is
your enemy. It will kill you. It is the only thing now that
can.’

And so she roamed the city. She
did not ever wish to return to Mislav. She didn’t love him or need
him. All she wanted was to free her family and to free the other
people trapped in this stinking hell. The terrible thing was, the
stink of the pit had now changed into something wonderful, like the
scent of heaven itself. But Aelia knew why it smelt this way and
the thought nauseated her. She prayed for the strength to overcome
her physical need. She realised that, given the choice, she would
suffer the torments of the plague again, rather than this unnatural
existence. If they hadn’t turned her, she would probably be dead by
now – a fate she had accepted.
This
… This
demon
existence she did not accept. What was she to
do?