Witchblood (8 page)

         ‘We’ll stay here tonight. Jessica has not yet encountered humans. I thought if she fed it may help disperse her human memories a little. It seems she's found her fangs finally, and I know plenty of willing donors here in the city,’ Eva said laughing. Sebastian chuckled along with her comments, but I noticed Daniel was still motionless.

         I let my mind reach out, as if I were uncurling invisible ribbons and throwing them out towards him, and felt an onslaught of emotion in return. I recoiled as anger, jealousy and resentment battled against an animalistic excitement and relief. I wondered if he’d felt the waves of arousal that had taken over my body, as Sebastian’s fangs penetrated my skin, and suddenly his mind was joined with mine again. ‘Yes, I did. It was not your fault. You did everything I asked.' He’d silently answered my question and I looked down quickly to hide the rising blush.

         ‘Right, let’s go. Daniel, take her up to my suite. I’m going to do a little light hunting,’ Eva said, grinning wolfishly. ‘Don’t worry Jessica, it will be fully consensual. We don’t live in the dark ages anymore. Well, most of us don’t anyway!’

         As Daniel led me out of the room, Sebastian looked up from his desk and straight into my eyes. ‘Jessica, I meant what I said. Come to me anytime. I shall look forward to our next meeting and will be keeping an eye on you. I will let you know what I find with regards to your family lineage.’ With that, his eyes slowly travelled the length of my body. He finished the gesture with an easy grin and a wink as he bade me goodbye.

         I felt Daniel grip my upper arm tightly as he led me out of the room.

         ‘She’ll be just fine with me, Sebastian. Thank you for your offer of accommodation,’ he said with a snarl. Sebastian merely waved us away. Once through the door Daniel had still not let go of my arm and I was wondering if vampires could bruise.

         ‘Ehm, Daniel, could you let go of my arm please? I’m starting to lose feeling in my fingers,’ I joked. Of course I was not in any real pain, but it was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

         ‘Sorry!’ He dropped my arm as suddenly as if it were burning his fingers and marched off down the corridor at such a pace I almost struggled to keep up.

         We hurried down a long corridor that must have run the length of the club, as I could hear the thumping music starting up in the background. It was only ten o’clock and the night was young. In fact I wondered at hearing the music, as I hadn’t thought the club would be open yet. Maybe it was open for other business, vampire business!

         At the end of the corridor was a fire exit and a flight of stairs. We ascended four flights after which I was amazed that I didn’t even catch my breath. I laughed spontaneously at the ease of it, as a month ago I would have been bent double, wheezing away, but I felt nothing. I could have done it again, twice! Daniel paused to take in my elevated mood, before turning round and marching off through the heavy door. He held it open for me briefly, before carrying on down the corridor till he reached a door marked ‘No 6’. After searching for his key ring, he unlocked the door and held it open for me.

Chapter Four

         We must have been on the top floor of the Victorian building, which presumably had been split into private rooms for guests or workers. Eva had said this was her suite, and it was a spacious room with high ceilings typical of the period and large, tall windows framed with heavily brocaded curtains and blackout blinds. My eyes noted the large curtained four poster bed and solid old furniture pieces, and I wondered how old they were. I was sorely tempted to go and flop on a beautiful French style chaise longue which didn’t quite fit in, but I felt awkward, so instead I stood and watched quietly.

         Daniel stalked straight over to one of the windows where he stood, staring out into the darkness, and down at the street below. I wondered if he was regretting saving me as it seemed I was not quite what they’d anticipated. After all, I certainly wasn’t going to be the loyal flunky they seemed to expect from new vampires. Neither would I be the lover he’d hoped for. How could I be when I still loved Luke? I didn’t want to follow orders, and guessed I was a bit of a loose cannon. If they couldn’t control me, they had to hope I could control myself, and the big question was, could I?

         ‘I don't regret saving you Jessica, although I wonder if I did the right thing for any us, including yourself. If I’d left you to die, you wouldn't be feeling the pain of losing Luke and your life; however I could never have anticipated the strength of your will. As a new vampire you should already be forgetting your past,’ he answered silently.

         ‘So did you forget your wife, Ellie? Is that how you managed to stay away?’ I risked bringing her up in conversation, partly because I was intrigued and partly because I was still mad at him for the last hour.

         ‘Partly. She became a hazy memory over time, but I was also helped by Eva who simply gave me an order to stay away. When she was in my head she was able to tamper with my memories, make everything less acute. If you let me in I could do this for you.’ I immediately felt him reaching out to me with his mind, tendrils of thoughts weaving deeper into my head. I pushed him out and blasted him with my willpower.

         ‘No! I’m not prepared to forget Luke until I’m sure there can be no future for us.’

         ‘Jessica I’ve told you, there is no future. He will smell irresistible to you.’

         ‘You don’t know that. You said it yourself, I’m different. Who says I won’t be able to see him, speak to him. I want to try. I will try.’

         ‘You will
not
try. At least not until I’m certain that you won’t kill him. It would upset you more than you can imagine, and it’s also highly illegal. We have our own laws, you know. We're no longer allowed to kill humans without a pardon from the area leader - in your case Sebastian - and Sebastian would not allow you to risk killing Luke so close to your own death. Aside from
killing
Luke, have you not thought what it would do to him if you could speak to him? What would you say? He’s buried you! What future could you have together?’

         ‘Fine. Maybe I could go and find that girl gang and practice not killing humans on them!’ I reeled back, shocked at my sudden realisation that deep inside there was a nagging, burning anger. I wanted to punish them, scare them. Worst of all I wanted to kill them, slowly and painfully. I had a quick, awful vision of picking them up like rag dolls and slamming their heads into the crumbling Victorian walls. Horrified at my violent thoughts, I forced the thoughts away.

         ‘Hmm, somehow I don’t think that would be a great idea either, do you? Although it reassures me that somewhere inside you there is a vengeful vampire waiting to get out.
That
at least is what we expected from you.’ He raised an eyebrow and grinned at me. ‘However Sebastian won't allow you to murder them, whether they deserve it or not. It would draw too much attention to the area we work in, and the police are still hovering, hoping to find some new evidence to support your case.’

         I walked over and joined him at the window, looking out onto the dark street. The window looked out over the front of the club, and now it was getting late, a small queue was starting to form at the front door below us. The girls were all chattering and giggling, hugging their arms round their tiny dresses in the freezing winter night. Some were already worse for an evening of drink and some stared ahead, wishing they were home already, snuggled up with their boyfriends, but not wanting to seem anti-social.

         The guys were generally all standing in packs, grouped together, dressed in stripy shirts and dark jeans. Occasionally one of them would make a comment and the rest of the gang would heckle their support. With men it was always about the banter, and I remembered how Luke was different when he was with his mates, a pack animal blending in. Yet with me he was tender and affectionate, funny and kind. At the memory, a single tear slid slowly down my cheek and I brushed it away before Daniel noticed it. Though of course, as he could read my mind, there was no real point in hiding it.

         ‘This is becoming excruciating, Jessica. What are we going to do with you?’ Suddenly he turned to face me and drew me to him. He encircled me in his strong arms, and as they folded me into his chest I found the tension leave my body in a big shudder. His chest felt hard and smooth under his shirt, and at first I wondered what was worrying me until I realised it was the lack of a heartbeat. It freaked me out, and then, as I was about to say something I heard it; a low thump, so sporadic I hadn’t initially noticed it. I guessed it only beat every ten seconds. Was mine the same?

         He didn’t feel cold to my touch as I expected, but maybe that was because I too was running at the same low temperature, who knows?

         ‘Stop analysing, Jessica. You are what you are, changed but alive, and as you found out, our hearts do actually beat, just very, very slowly,’ he said smiling. ‘Things will become easier with time. Now I promise not to erase any memories, but just let me try to help you forget everything for a few minutes at least.’ His voice once again calmed me so I let my barriers down and tentatively let him into my head. His hand traced a lazy pattern up and down my spine as I laid my head against his shoulder. I breathed in his wonderful scent which smelled earthy and rich, a bit like mulled wine bubbling on the stove on Christmas morning. Once again, I felt my new fangs run out and my pulse quicken ever so slightly. My worries faded away and I felt safe and calm.

         Suddenly there was a quick knock on the door. It swung open and before I knew it, my mind reached out and slammed it shut again. As soon as I realised what I’d done, both Daniel and I broke apart and swivelled round. The door opened again and Eva entered, looking most displeased with having had a door slammed in her face, and I can’t say I blamed her.

         ‘Eva, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I did, or how…’ I faltered.

         ‘So you did this? Hmm, interesting development. Well, we’ll discuss this later. For now I have someone for you to meet.’ She turned around in the doorway and signalled to someone standing in the corridor. ‘Gavin, come here darling,’ she said softly, as she smiled and beckoned him into the room.

         A young, good-looking lad of about twenty entered the room. His hair was fashionably dishevelled, his tight black jeans sitting low on his skinny hips. He looked around interestedly, but was not visibly nervous or frightened, and I wondered if he knew what we were, just as I’d suddenly become desperately sure of what I had become.

         The scent of his warm blood assaulted my senses with a blast and I could very faintly hear the quick drumming of his pulse. My mouth started watering, and my fangs, which had begun to recede with the disturbance, shot out to full length. I was exhilarated and thirsty.
Very
thirsty.

         I felt my body curl inwards, slightly tensing ready to pounce, and just as I was about to spring across the room and follow through with my natural instincts, Daniel’s hand was laid on my shoulder.

         ‘Slowly, try and rein it in a bit Jessica, remember you can’t kill him,’ he whispered, as Eva stepped slightly in front of the boy.

         Amazingly this was all it took, and I suddenly realised this was a test they wanted me to fail. Within seconds I understood several things. Firstly, if I jumped forth and fed from this boy, yes, it would be nice and legal, but I’d have failed in my pledge to prove to them that I was capable of restraining myself and therefore seeing Luke, my father or even Alex.

         Secondly, I was not sure how drinking ‘live’ human blood would affect me. They seemed to think it would help turn me into a fully-fledged vamp, thereby losing the human traits I still seemed to display. If these human traits were something to do with my supposed pagan heritage, would they be lost? These were not theories I wanted to test out right now, and in that split second everything changed and I was able to push up my barriers and look at the boy with human eyes. I was in control, just, but my barrier was shaky and my fangs would not recede.

         Eva stepped towards me, frowning slightly. ‘She’s controlled it. I don’t believe it!’ She sidestepped a little and turned back to the boy. ‘Gavin love, go to Jessica now. Show her what you want.’

         Gavin smiled as if in a dream and silently walked towards me. His scent became more intoxicating the closer he got. He stopped a couple of feet away and smiled lazily at me.

         ‘Hi there. Evie says you need me as much as she did, maybe more.’ I was paralysed with shock, trying to control my instincts, and as he slowly removed his jacket and undid the top few buttons of his shirt, exposing his neck to me I felt a gush of emotion; hunger, lust and need suddenly merged with anger and a furious disgust. I would not do this.