Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (39 page)

Had Madison been as selfish as Leonora had
said? Perhaps she had. Perhaps she’d been so caught up in her own
personal love story, that she hadn’t considered anyone else.

‘
Stop it.’

She turned to see Alex standing behind
her.

‘
Stop what?’

‘
Beating yourself
up.’

‘
But Leonora had a point,’
Maddy said. ‘She must have been keeping so much emotion bottled
up.’

‘
It still doesn’t excuse
what she’s done.’

‘
No, but it explains
it.’

Alex came and put his arms around her and
she leant her head against his chest.

‘
Do you know,’ she said,
‘out of everything that’s happened, I think this Leonora thing has
been the most shocking.’

‘
I agree.’

‘
I feel sick about
it.’

‘
Come back inside. She’s
gone and I don’t think she’ll be back any time soon.’

Maddy heaved a huge sigh. They turned and
made their way back into the cavern where Isobel and Jacques were
trying and failing to console Freddie. Maddy took a step toward
them but Alex pulled her back.

‘
Leave it for a while. The
others will calm him.’

She nodded. ‘I should go and apologise to
Aelia for turning her home into a battleground.’

‘
You go ahead. I have some
apologising of my own to do.’ He nodded in the direction of Morris
who lay on the mattress, resting after his ordeal.

Maddy walked over to where Aelia was busying
herself by the fire, decanting some food from a pan into a deep
clay dish.

‘
Aelia, I’m sorry I
brought so much trouble to your door.’

‘
Trouble always finds me
eventually,’ Aelia replied. ‘I think I was born under a star called
trouble.’

Maddy gave a small smile. ‘And I haven’t
thanked you properly for saving my life – twice. Thank you. I’m
pretty sure you saved the rest of us too. That vampire guy, Mislav,
he would’ve had me killed and taken the others if it wasn’t for
you.’

‘
Like me, you have aligned
yourself with trouble. You do realise your life will never be
straightforward as long as you remain in the company of these
creatures.’

‘
I know,’ Maddy said. ‘But
I can’t help it. My life is tied up with them. I could never
leave.’

‘
Then all I can do is wish
you luck. And hope that trouble never gets the best of
you.’

‘
Thank you,’ Maddy said.
‘For everything.’

It was clear there was nothing further to be
said, so Maddy went back over to where Alexandre was apologising to
Morris.

‘
Doesn’t matter,’ Morris
was saying.

‘
It does matter,’ Alex
replied. ‘I feel terrible. You are our friend and I didn’t believe
you.’

‘
I’ve got some apologising
of my own to do,’ Morris replied, looking at Madison.

‘
What for?’ she
said.

‘
I had to get Esther to
lock Ben up for a short while.’

‘
What!’ Maddy clenched her
fists.

‘
Don’t worry, the lad’s
fine. But I couldn’t risk him telling the vampires I’d escaped. Not
until I had a chance to find out who’d betrayed you.’

Maddy didn’t reply.

‘
That makes sense,’ Alex
said.

‘
Sorry for that,’ Morris
said.

‘
I
suppose
I can understand why you did it,’
Maddy said. ‘As long as he’s okay.’

‘
He’s fine.’

‘
So what do we do now?’
Maddy said.

‘
Now?’ Alexandre looked at
her. Then he looked at Morris. Finally he gazed around the room at
everybody else. At their shocked tired faces. ‘Now … We go
home.’

Chapter Forty Seven

Christmas Eve

*

Out there, darkness cloaked the
countryside and rain skittered against the drawing room window of
Marchwood House. But inside, the lights blazed and the fire
crackled, sending yellow sparks showering up the chimney. They were
all curled up cosy and warm. Alex and Maddy on the sofa. Jacques,
Isobel and Freddie playing Chance on the rug in front of the fire.
And Ben (who had forgiven Esther for locking him up and apologised
to Morris for the terrible misunderstanding) was attaching their
stockings to the fireplace. All was calm. There was one noticeable
absence, but nobody mentioned her name. The only reminder was a
discreet
tinge
of melancholy which hung
imperceptibly in the air.

As well as Leonora’s absence, there was
another worry - the knowledge that this peace was only temporary.
That this Christmas Eve was merely an illusion of happiness. For
there were still those out there who sought to destroy it. Who
would never leave them alone. But for a short while, they would
savour this brief reprieve and enjoy each other, for there had been
too much fear and violence lately. Too much regret and too much
worry. Tonight was a night for friends and for family.

Madison hoped Zoe was enjoying
her Christmas too. Zoe had finally plucked up the courage to visit
her husband and son. She was going to come clean and tell them what
had happened. She was going to give her husband the opportunity to
decide what
he
thought was best for their family. She hoped Zoe was as
happy as
she
felt right now, here with her body pressed close into Alex.
Maddy closed her eyes and smiled.

But Madison would not have smiled if she
knew what waited outside.

*

From beneath a gnarled Oak, it watched them
through the drawing room window. Only metres away, its stare cut
across the darkness to the blissful scene within.

The creature gave a sad smile, echoing the
emotions of the ones it watched and making them its own. Cold rain
fell on its skin. It closed its eyes and savoured this long-awaited
moment. After centuries of searching, it had finally found what it
needed.

Over the past millennium, its sustenance had
gradually disappeared from the earth, until there was nothing at
all for it to feed on. But now, miraculously, it had scented down
what it craved and had traced it here. To this quiet corner of the
world.

Still weak from hunger, it would need to
rest, to prepare for the true hunt. But it had the sense that this
would be an easy conquest. Did the creature detect a little vanity
on the part of its quarry? It could use that to its advantage.

Inside, they were oblivious to what waited.
The creature had always been able to remain undetected until it
chose to reveal itself. And then they always took notice. Always.
It had never failed to take down its prey, not in the several
millennia it had roamed the earth.

The creature always went for
the coven leader and it was quite obvious who that was – the
dark-haired male. The creature cocked its head and listened for the
vampire’s name … Yes, it had a pleasing ring to it …
Alexandre
.

* * *

Thank You

*

To my superstar husband, Peter Boland, who
helped me shape this story, made me endless cups of tea, bought me
chocolate and saw me through many a writing-related meltdown.

*

To my wonderful beta readers and editors:
Amara Gillo (best mum in the world), Mani Nagarkar (my eagle-eyed
sister-in-law) and Julie Carey who can spot a missing speech mark
at fifty paces.

*

To Simon Tucker for another great book
cover.

*

To all my gorgeous friends and writing
support network online, including: Johanna Frappier, B. Lloyd,
Samantha Towle, Suzy Turner, Amanda Cowley, Robert Craven, Poppet
and Sessha Batto.

*

To Zoe Marshall and Sergell Elioreg who
entered my

‘
Be a Vampire in my Book’
competition and won!

*

And finally to my awesome readers:

You inspire me to keep writing

xxx

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shalini Boland lives in Dorset, England
with

her husband and two young sons.

http://www.shaliniboland.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/Hidden.MarchwoodVampireSeries

https://twitter.com/#!/ShaliniBoland

*

Other titles published by Adrenalin
Books:

Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series,
Book 1)
by Shalini Boland

Outside – a post-apocalyptic
novel
by
Shalini Boland

Becoming
Edward
by Faye Meredith