Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (32 page)

‘
Who are you?’ Maddy asked
brusquely.

The woman had a wrinkled face and surprising
bright blue eyes. Her hair was greyish blonde, loosely tied back in
a low bun at the nape of her neck. She wasn’t smiling, but still
managed to seem friendly somehow.

‘
How are you feeling?’ The
woman had a strange accent.

‘
Umm …’ Maddy thought
about it. How was she feeling? Still tired, but pretty comfortable.
‘Where am I? Who are you?’

‘
You’re safe. My name is
Sofia.’

‘
Yes, but where am
I?’

‘
I found you asleep in the
snow. Not the best place for a nap.’ The woman gave a short laugh.
‘I brought you here, to my home.’

Maddy stared around. It looked like she was
in a cave of some sort. She was lying on a mattress on the floor –
a rock floor. The woman was sitting on a big boulder next to
Maddy’s mattress.

‘
I’m not back in that
place am I?’ Maddy asked, suddenly panicked. ‘Is this the
underground city? Are you a vampire?’ She didn’t look like one, but
Maddy couldn’t be sure.

‘
Hush, hush. You’re not
underground or in any danger. And I’m certainly not a vampire, of
all things! This is just a place I come to sometimes. You’re free
to leave whenever you wish, but it’s cold out there and it will be
dark soon. You might as well stay and share a little supper with
me. I don’t get company that often.’

Dark soon? She must have been asleep the
whole day. She would surely be dead by now if it wasn’t for this
strange old woman.

‘
My phone … My bag … Do
you have them?’

Sophia stood and walked across the cave
floor. Maddy saw her retrieve the rucksack from a far wall. An
energetic fire blazed in the back. So that’s why it felt so warm in
here. Maddy suddenly remembered the other fire, the one which had
kept the vampires at bay. And now, according to this woman, Sofia,
it was night again. Would they come back for her? Would they find
her here? Wherever ‘here’ was. All those familiar feelings of panic
and urgency descended upon her again.

Maddy pushed off the thick blankets and
stood shakily. She looked down and realised she was wearing a
shapeless dress of some kind.

‘
Where are my clothes?’
she asked, taking the backpack from Sofia’s outstretched
hand.

‘
They were wet from the
snow. I dried them by the fire.’ Sofia pointed to the wall where
Maddy saw her coat and a pile of folded clothes on the
ground.

‘
Oh. Thank
you.’

‘
I made spinach and feta
gozleme while you were sleeping. Are you hungry?’

Maddy didn’t know what the spinach thing
was, but something smelled good.

‘
I have to call my
friends,’ Maddy said.

‘
You call them. I need to
go out for a short time, but I’ll be back soon. Come and sit by the
fire. Help yourself to food or you can wait until I return. It’s up
to you.’

‘
Thanks,’ Maddy replied,
rooting about in her bag. She found the phone and prayed for a
signal, but there were still no bars. It was useless. ‘Do you have
a phone?’ she asked Sofia. ‘Or a car?’

‘
No.’

Great, it looked like she was stuck here for
the night, unless the woman showed her the way to the hotel.

‘
I really need to contact
my friends. Do you know the way to Ayvali?’

‘
Ayvali? It’s too far to
go tonight. You can go there tomorrow.’

This was like déjà vu. She just couldn’t
seem to get to where she wanted to go. People were kind, but they
didn’t understand how desperate she was.

‘
Can’t you just point me
in the right direction?’

‘
It’s almost dark. Wait
until morning.’

‘
But you don’t
understand.’ Maddy walked over to her and gripped the woman’s arm.
‘I have to get to Ayvali. I have to reach my friends. It’s
important. A matter of life and death.’

‘
Life and death, yes,’
Sofia replied. ‘You go outside and there will be death. Much
death.’

Maddy let go of Sofia’s arm. Who was this
woman? And what did she know about death?

‘
I thought you said I
could go whenever I wanted.’

‘
You may leave if you
wish, but I advise you to stay if you want to be safe. I’ll see you
shortly. Or not. It’s your choice.’ Sofia wrapped a heavy cloak
around her head and shoulders and walked towards a narrow archway
which Maddy assumed must be the way out.

What should she do now? Should she wait for
the woman to come back? And then what? Was she supposed to sit down
and eat with her like nothing was wrong? She could leave now if she
wanted. The woman had said that nothing was stopping her, but where
was this place anyway? Maddy walked over to her clothes and
hurriedly dressed. The material felt gorgeously warm and dry. Even
her thick socks and boots which had been sodden. At least she had
that to thank Sofia for.

The exit was a narrow passageway. Maddy
really hoped the woman hadn’t been lying when she said they weren’t
in the underground city. But as she walked, she felt an icy breeze
and after a few seconds, she stepped out of the cave and back into
the snowy wilderness. God, this place was in the middle of nowhere.
It wasn’t quite dark yet, but night wasn’t far away. Sofia was
nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t snowing and yet Maddy couldn’t spot a
single footprint. Odd.

She turned in a full circle to take in her
surroundings. Behind her, the cave was set into a steep hillside
and on all other sides lay snowy plains studded with bushes,
hillocks and trees. If she left now, she’d be wandering around
without a clue. She tried the phone again. Perhaps the cave walls
had been blocking the signal. But there were still no bars, so she
shoved it back into her bag and returned to the relative warmth and
safety of the cave.

Chapter Thirty Nine

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

Aelia’s mind whirled like a
top. Lysus was
here
. He was still alive. What should she do? Her first
instinct had been to kill him, but she knew she would not. He
probably knew what had happened to her parents and sisters. She
would have to speak to him and perhaps torment him a little. It was
just like Lysus to be safe with his parents while the rest of their
village suffered in the pits. She made a low growling noise in her
throat and felt Mislav’s hand steady her.

Suddenly, as one, the demons rose to their
feet again. The boy Emperor had begun to speak but she wasn’t
listening. She was irritated at having to be here. She wanted to
confront Lysus, not stand around impotently waiting. Her anger was
already dissipating and she didn’t want to lose its power. For
once, she wanted to act with passion and feeling, but as the
minutes passed she felt cool rationality overtake her, setting off
a fresh wave of anger, this time aimed at herself. Mislav’s eyes
bored into her face, his unasked questions making her want to
scream.

Lysus’ eyes were focused on the
Emperor. He hadn’t noticed Aelia and she wanted to keep it that
way. She would meet him on
her
terms. She thought of their tryst all those years
ago. So much had happened since that time; she wasn’t anything like
the naïve child she’d been back then. Aelia wondered if he had
changed much, or if he was still the same selfish coward. She
wished he wasn’t quite so handsome. If anything, he was even better
looking now than he’d been back then – his shoulders broader, his
features less soft…

‘
Remove them from the
hall!’ a demon guard ordered.

Aelia looked around, confused. Remove who?
When she turned back to look at Lysus, he was gone. She gasped.
Where was he? His parents had also disappeared. And then she saw
all the humans filing out of the hall.

‘
What’s happening,’ Aelia
asked Mislav. ‘Why are they leaving?’

‘
Quiet,’ he
whispered.

Once the last human had exited the hall, the
room was sealed closed with a millstone. Aelia felt tension and
anticipation in the air, but her mind was still on Lysus. She told
herself to relax, that she would find him easily enough when she
got out of here.

‘
You may wonder why you
are here,’ the Emperor’s reedy voice cut through her thoughts. ‘…
or you may already know.’ His gaze swept the hall. ‘We are in the
middle of a crisis and we are running out of time. Something is
occurring which I have never witnessed in all my years of
existence.’ He paused.

The demons remained silent, but the tension
increased – a taughtening of necks, a widening of eyes and the
faint scent of … fear.

‘
My dearest sister has
fallen asleep. And it is a sleep from which she cannot be
woken.’

There were gasps from the hall and
mutterings ensued.

‘
But it is not only my
sister. Three others of our number have also fallen prey to this
slumber.’

Now the hall erupted into noise, the demons
talking loudly amongst themselves. Aelia tried to suppress her joy.
It must be the blood plague. It must finally be spreading through
the demons.

‘
Silence,’ shouted one of
the guards.

Instant hush descended on the hall.

‘
It begins with a terrible
lethargy,’ continued the Emperor. ‘A weakness of the mind and body.
Does anybody know anything of this? Do any of you have this
illness? Come forward if you are afflicted and we will try to heal
you.’

There was a pause and some hesitancy before
several of the demons made their way to the front of the hall.
Shock radiated from the others, who drew back as the infected
creatures passed, worried they too would catch the illness. As they
reached the dais, the Emperor gestured to his guards who led the
demons away.

‘
Can he cure them?’ Aelia
asked Mislav.

‘
I do not know,’ he
replied. ‘But he won’t try. He’ll expose them to try and stop the
spread.’

‘
Expose them?’

‘
To the sun.’

‘
Kill them you
mean?’

‘
Yes.’

Good
, Aelia thought. But when she saw the
faces of the infected creatures as they left the hall, a small wave
of sympathy overtook her. She shook her pity away with images of
the blood bath and misery they had created down here.

‘
It is the mortals who
have brought disease here,’ the Emperor continued. ‘They are
succumbing to a plague which kills them within days. It is my
belief that this human plague is the culprit.’

‘
Your Imperial Highness,’
a voice rang out from the crowd. ‘May I speak?’

The Emperor nodded and the demon spoke:

‘
How is this possible? We
do not suffer human disease. It cannot be the plague. Surely
…’

‘
You tell me something I
already know,’ the Emperor interrupted. ‘But this is happening. The
impossible is happening.’

‘
What are we to do?’ the
demons began to cry out.

‘
Silence!’ The Emperor
waited until the hall was quiet once more. ‘We must burn all human
plague victims. We must not feed until we have purged this disease.
Go now and eradicate the infection. It cannot be allowed to
persist.’

The millstone rolled aside and the demons
left the hall, Mislav at Aelia’s side. For once, she wasn’t eager
to be away from him. She needed to find things out. They hurried to
the blue and silver chamber where he waved away his girl
servants.

‘
This is most unsettling,’
Mislav said, pacing the room. ‘Do you feel unwell at all?’ he asked
sharply. ‘Are you weak or tired?’

‘
No,’ she replied with a
laugh. ‘And would I tell you if I was? You’ve already told me the
infected demons will be put outside to burn in the sun. And what
about the poor humans who have it? Will they really burn them too?’
She felt so guilty. She had signed their death sentence by bringing
the plague with her, but what other choice had there
been?

‘
Burning is the only way to
purge disease,’ Mislav replied. He stopped pacing and gave her a
sharp look. ‘But
you
,’ he said. ‘You are different. Something happened in there
before the announcement. I felt your anger. I had to restrain you.
What was it? Has someone hurt you or threatened you? Tell
me.’

Aelia paused a moment and sank down onto a
cushion. Mislav crouched in front of her.

‘
I have missed you these
past days,’ he said. ‘I wondered if you would ever return to me. I
need a companion during this long life and you interest me more
than most.’

Aelia couldn’t look him in the eyes. He made
her too uncomfortable. She ignored his previous comment and decided
to answer his other question.

‘
I saw someone in the
hall. Someone from my human life.’

Mislav tensed. ‘Someone who did you
wrong?’

‘
You could say
that.’

‘
What did this human
do?’

‘
He used me and betrayed
me. I was banished from my village and left to die because of
him.’

‘
A man did all this to
you? Then I will kill him.’

‘
No! No. That is not what
I want. I must speak to him and find out why he did it. We were
barely children at the time – young and stupid.’ She couldn’t
believe she was defending Lysus. ‘And I think he must also know
where my family is. I need to find them and he may be able to
help.’