Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (37 page)

But the Cappadocians were out there roaming
free, an unknown quantity. What did they want? Would they come
after them again? Would they target Madison once more to get to him
and the others? Yes, probably.

Definitely.

He could not allow that to happen again.
From now on, they would have to be on their guard at all times. But
how could they live like that? Looking over their shoulders every
minute of every day.

He would question Morris first – haul him
out of the van and see what the man had to say for himself. Perhaps
he knew what the Cappadocians wanted … If Morris was a traitor, he
must have information on them.

‘
Are you okay, Alex?’
Madison touched his arm.

‘
Yes. Sorry, I’m just
trying to sort things out in my mind, but everything’s a mess in
there.’

‘
I know. It’s all been
crazy. I can’t believe what’s happened over the last few days. And
I can’t believe that Zoe’s here. I’m so glad she decided to leave
the city.’

‘
She saved us
both.’

Alexandre and Madison looked over to where
Zoe sat talking quietly to Jacques and Isobel. Freddie’s voice rose
above their hushed murmurs:

‘
We need to find my
sister,’ he announced. ‘I’m worried about her.’

‘
No need, little
brother.’

‘
Leonora!’ Freddie cried
as she walked into the cave. ‘Where have you been?’

‘
You missed all the fun,’
Jacques said.

Isobel gave Jacques a look and walked over
to her friend.

‘
Leonora, are you
alright?’ she said. ‘We were worried about you.’

‘
I’m fine,’ she said.
‘Look … don’t be angry …’ She flicked her eyes across them all but
would not make proper eye contact.

‘
What is it, Leonora?’
Alexandre asked.

‘
I’ve got something to
tell you, but it sounds worse than it is,’ she said.

Alexandre had never seen her so flustered
before. He couldn’t guess at what was making her act so nervous and
ill at ease.

‘
I’ll just go ahead and
say it.’

By now, the cave was silent, everyone’s gaze
fixed on Leonora.

‘
I’ve been to see the
Cappadocians.’ She put her chin in the air and finally looked
Alexandre in the eye.

‘
You’ve been where?’ he
said. Why would she put herself in so much danger? Had she been
trying to rescue Maddy on her own? But that wouldn’t make any
sense. Maddy had already escaped…

‘
I wanted to try and make
a truce with them.’

‘
A truce!’ Maddy said.
‘Let me guess what they said … Was it ‘no’ by any
chance?’

‘
Leonora! You could’ve
been killed,’ Freddie said.

‘
You cannot make deals
with them,’ Aelia said. ‘They do what they want. They do not care
about anyone else.’

‘
I’m sorry, who are you?’
Leonora said.

Aelia merely smiled.

‘
That’s Aelia,’ Alexandre
said. ‘It’s a long story, but she saved Maddy. What did the
Cappadocians say to your proposal?’

‘
Their emperor arrived
this evening. He is anxious to meet us. I said … I said we would go
there tonight.’

‘
You said what?’ Maddy
almost laughed. ‘I hope you’re joking.’

‘
It’s a chance for us to
put all this behind us,’ Leonora said. ‘If we go home now, we’ll
always be in danger.’

Leonora’s words echoed exactly what
Alexandre had been thinking. Going to the underground city was the
last thing he wanted to do, but it could be a way to end things
once and for all.

‘
Do you really think we
can trust them?’ Freddie asked his sister.

‘
I don’t think we have
much choice.’

‘
Well I do not think we
should go,’ Isobel said. ‘I really think it is the worst idea I
have ever heard. We came to Turkey to rescue Madison. We have her
back now, so we should just go home.’

‘
Belle,’ Jacques said. ‘I
know it sounds like a crazy thing to do, but …’

‘
Crazy?’ Maddy chipped in.
‘It’s the most stupid idea I’ve ever heard. Those vamps were just
on the verge of executing me. Alex, tell them what a terrible idea
this is …’

Alex was torn. His instincts were telling
him to get the hell out of this country and never return, but he
knew that somewhere down the line he would regret not taking this
opportunity, risky though it was.

‘
Alex,’ Maddy shook his
arm lightly. ‘We’re not doing this … right? It’ll be a trap, you
know that.’

‘
Maddy …’

‘
No! I can’t believe
you’re actually contemplating going back there.’

‘
Madison,’ Leonora said.
‘It’s the only sensible option. Alexandre understands
that.’

‘
Leonora, it’s the least
sensible option,’ Maddy replied. ‘It’s stupid and it’s dangerous.
You weren’t here earlier. You didn’t see them fighting. And that
Mislav guy is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘
I’m not going back
there,’ Zoe said.

‘
This is Zoe,’ Freddie
said to his sister. ‘Zoe, as you may have gathered, this is my
sister, Leonora.’

Zoe nodded at her. Leonora glanced at Zoe
and frowned, but did not respond.

‘
Maddy, I’m sorry,’ said
Alexandre. ‘I really think we have to go there. We should at least
try and make a truce.’

‘
Good.’ Leonora smiled.
But suddenly her smile vanished to be replaced with a frown and
then a snarl. She flew past Alexandre and out of the
cave.

‘
Wait here,’ Alexandre
said to Maddy, before following Leonora outside.

Of course Madison ignored him and ran to
catch up to where they had all now gathered in front of the
cave.

Alexandre saw Leonora grab someone in a
headlock, about to break their neck. It was Morris. The caretaker
was helpless to defend himself and now he was becoming red in the
face, unable to breathe. Where had he come from? How had he found
them?

‘
What are you doing?’
Maddy screamed.

‘
You can’t kill him,
Leonora,’ Isobel said.

‘
Why not? He betrayed us.
Ben found the evidence.’

‘
No!’ Maddy yelled. ‘Let
him go, Leonora! It’s Morris! What are you doing to him? It’s
Morris.’

His mouth opened and closed ineffectually.
It looked like he was about to suffocate.

‘
Maddy. The man is a
traitor,’ said Jacques. ‘He betrayed us to the
Cappadocians.’

‘
What!’ Maddy said. ‘Don’t
be stupid. He would never …’

‘
How did he get out of the
van?’ Freddie said.

‘
Let him go, Leonora!’
Maddy pleaded. ‘He’ll die if you don’t loosen your
grip.’

‘
He deserves to die. I’ll
break his neck. He won’t feel a thing.’

‘
No! Don’t you dare!’
Maddy stepped in front of Leonora and glared at her. Leonora shot
back a look of venom.

‘
Alex,’ Maddy said. ‘Make
her let him go. Please.’

‘
Alexandre,’ Leonora said.
‘Tell Madison it is for the best if I do this.’

‘
No, Leonora,’ Alexandre
replied. ‘Release your hold on him. Let’s bring him inside and hear
what he has to say.’

‘
We’d better hear him out,
Nora,’ Freddie said. ‘He came here of his own free will. Maybe he
knows something important. And if he’s a traitor, we need
information from him first.’

‘
Leonora, let him go,’
Alexandre repeated. ‘Or I will be forced to step in and help the
man. Much as he may deserve a snapped neck, Freddie is right; we
need to find out what he knows.’

Reluctantly, Leonora released Morris. He
collapsed into the snow, struggling for breath. Maddy crouched down
and took his hand.

‘
Help me get him inside,’
she snapped. ‘He’s freezing.’

Alexandre helped Maddy lift him to his feet
and they all hobbled back into the cave. As they made their way
inside, Alexandre quickly told Maddy about Ben’s discovery of the
notepaper and how he suspected Morris of having dealings with the
Cappadocians.

‘
I don’t believe it,’ said
Maddy. ‘I can see why Ben would be worried, but I think he’s wrong.
Morris and Esther are our friends. They’re not
traitors.’

‘
Leonora’s the traitor,
not me,’ Morris gasped, still struggling for breath.

‘
What did you say?’ Maddy
said. They were now inside the cave and everyone was staring at
Morris with suspicion.

‘
I said …’ Morris cleared
his throat. ‘I said, Leonora’s the traitor, not me.’

At his words, Leonora flew at him again,
dragging him out from between Alexandre and Maddy and flinging him
onto the rock floor. Leonora now crouched over his body, her fangs
poised above his neck. Alexandre knew she wouldn’t listen to reason
this time and he grabbed and pulled her away from the caretaker.
Fresh fragrant blood oozed from a gash in Morris’ head and Alex had
to swallow down a sudden urge to fall on the man and drink from
him.

‘
Let go of my, sister!’
Freddie yelled, coming towards Alex.

‘
Enough!’ Aelia said. ‘She
hadn’t shouted, but her voice cut through their snarls and yells
like a blade. ‘Children,’ she said, once quiet had descended. ‘Let
this man speak.’ She and Madison helped Morris sit up, his hand
pressed to the wound on the back of his head.

‘
Are you alright?’ Madison
asked him.

‘
I don’t know. I feel a
bit odd if the truth be known.’

‘
I’ll get something to
dress your wound,’ Aelia said. ‘The rest of you, sit down or leave
my home.’

They all did as she asked, except Leonora
who still looked as though she might go for Morris at any
second.

‘
Leonora,’ Alexandre
warned.

‘
Very well.’ She sat,
leaning back against the rock wall, arms crossed, legs stretched
out in front of her. ‘But what that man said is ridiculous. As if I
would betray my own family.’

‘
I thought Leonora locked
you in the van,’ Alexandre said to Morris.

‘
You can get out of a van
easy enough,’ he replied. ‘Now will you hear me out without
attacking me again? I’m a bit old for all this rough and
tumble.’

‘
We’re listening,’
Alexandre said.

‘
If you let me, I can show
you something that might interest you.’ He put his hand into his
coat pocket and the vampires immediately leapt to their feet again.
‘Easy does it,’ Morris said. ‘You lot are as jumpy as a bucket of
grasshoppers. I’m a feeble old man – no match for the likes of you.
It’s just my phone, that’s all.’ He held out his mobile for them to
see. ‘There’s a video on here you need to watch.’

‘
Pass it to me,’ Alexandre
said, coming over to take it from him.

Morris handed him the phone.

‘
I spoke to Ben,’ Morris
said. ‘And he told me about the notepaper which came from The
Bell.’

‘
Is Ben alright?’ Maddy
asked.

‘
He’s fine. Press play on
the phone screen,’ Morris said to Alexandre.

He did so and the others got up and crowded
round to watch. They saw an image of Leonora walking into what
appeared to be a hotel lobby. She sat next to two men and began
talking to them. There was no sound on the video, so they couldn’t
hear the content of their conversation.

‘
It’s CCTV footage from
The Old Bell Hotel in Tetbury,’ Morris explained. ‘Esther got it
for me. Look at the date on the bottom of the screen.’

‘
December
13
^th,’
Isobel said. ‘That’s the evening before we went ice skating
and Maddy disappeared.’

‘
I recognise one of those
men,’ Alexandre said, shaking his head in disbelief.

‘
They’re vampires,’ said
Jacques. ‘Cappadocians. We fought with them tonight.’

‘
But why would you be
talking to them?’ Maddy turned to Leonora.

‘
No!’ Freddie shouted. ‘I
don’t believe it. You must have doctored the footage … faked it
somehow!’

‘
I’m sorry, lad,’ Morris
said. ‘Esther took a copy from the CCTV cameras at the hotel. You
can go there and see the original files if you like.’

‘
Well I still don’t
believe it,’ Freddie said. ‘I know my sister and she would never …’
He turned to her, wiping away an angry red tear. ‘…
Leonora?’

‘
I know it looks bad,’
Leonora said. ‘But I can explain why I was there. There’s a
perfectly good reason for it.’

Leonora’s anger had disappeared and now she
was flustered again. Alexandre had a sinking feeling in his
stomach. He really didn’t want to hear the explanation. He had a
horrible feeling he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

Chapter Forty Six

Present Day

*

Leonora bowed her head.

‘
I know what you’re all
thinking but you’re wrong.’

No one spoke

‘
I’m not a traitor. I
swear it.’

‘
I know you’re not,’
Freddie said. ‘It’s all just a mistake. Tell them, Leonora. Put
them straight.’ He gave his sister an encouraging smile.