Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 169

"Why?" I leaned closer to him, extremely curious.

"Because... there's no blood supply, nothing to stimulate them unless they've taken warm blood from a living person, and even then it doesn't last long. It's the only time they really feel. They're dead, remember?"

"So, why do all the myths make it seem like a seduction?"

The smile dropped from his face. He gestured toward the other tables. "To make it more attractive. To cover how repulsive it all really is."

"How come you know all of this?" I asked, fascinated.

"How come you don't?"

I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't take the chance. He didn't trust me, but if his job was hunting evil things then I wasn't surprised. Becca interrupted us before I could speak.

"n.o.body's in tonight, Petey."

"You sure?"

She batted her eyelashes. "'Course I'm sure. You want a drink?"

"No, we'll be on our way."

"Come back soon," she said, ruffling his hair. I couldn't help feeling angry as she stared me down, but the red tint in her eyes bothered me so much, I dropped mine first. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to be a monster.

"Why are we going already?" I hissed at Peter when she walked away.

He jostled Carl, who was trying to doze off. "Because people have noticed us, and there's more than one vampire in here getting interested in you, so move. We're out of here."

I took one last look around the room and saw he was right. A number of vampires stared right at me, more quizzical than angry, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up nonetheless. I hurried after Peter, feeling safer when he was within touching distance. He knew what he was doing. I didn't. I had to pull Carl after me; he was too busy staring around the room to hurry.

As we approached the door some of the vampires stood up as if to follow us.

"Oh, s.h.i.+t," I muttered, then held my breath. The bar went silent, and I had the suffocating feeling that there was a target on my chest. To my surprise, Peter stopped and pushed me ahead of him, glaring right at the vampires. Carl gripped my arm and pushed me closer to the door. My stomach lurched, but they all sat down, and we hurried through the door. We made it out of a vampire bar alive. But we still didn't have what we were looking for.

Chapter Seven.

Once we were safely outside, I took a deep breath. "That was a waste of time."

"Don't worry. We'll come back," Peter said, leading the way again.

"Hey, how come those vampires left us alone back there?" I asked him as I beckoned Carl to follow.

Peter shushed me and darted his head around. I was about to ask him what was wrong but suddenly realised how quiet it was. No heartbeats. No couples. Just the three of us and a feeling that someone else was there. Someone with no heartbeat.

A figure in black jumped noiselessly from somewhere above down to the alleyway a few metres ahead of us. I screamed and grabbed Peter's hand. His palm was large and warm. I expected him to shrug me away, but he kept his eyes on the figure before us. After a second, Peter squeezed my hand and slowly let go, taking a half step in front of me and Carl.

"I hear you've been asking about me," said the figure. I squinted until my eyes adjusted to the dark and realised it was the vampire who had originally attacked Carl.

"It's him," I whispered.

"You Arthur?" Peter asked loudly, his voice steady.

The vampire nodded, his lank hair falling over his eyes. "I remember you," he said to me.

"Yeah, um, hi," I said, unable to think of anything less lame.

"You're an interesting one," he said. His voice was dry and raspy, even though I smelled blood and could tell he had just drank from someone. He took a step toward me.

"Stay back," Peter ordered.

Arthur looked surprised but obeyed. "As honoured as I am you've bestowed a visit on little old me, I've things to do. Get on with it. What do you want?"

"You witnessed something between these two," Peter said. "She claimed him and now wants to undo it. She needs you to reject the claim."

"Really," said Arthur, the corners of his mouth curving into a mocking smile. "And I benefit how?"

Peter hesitated. "I don't know. If you're lucky maybe I won't end you."

I gasped, but Arthur threw back his head and laughed. "It's true what they say about you," he said. "All brawn and no brain. But forget you. It's her I'm interested in."

I put my hand on Peter's arm to silence him. His face was red with rage, but I could sense his fear.

"Can you help me?" I said, taking a cautious step forward. Arthur flew toward me as fast as lightning, gripping me and pulling me away from Peter before I could make a sound. My feet never touched the ground. Arthur held my gaze as he swept me further into darkness. Peter swore as he and Carl ran after us, but I shouted at them to stop. They both skidded to a halt as I carefully took Arthur's hands from me. The faint odour of decay and the thundering of Peter's heartbeat made me skittish, but something about Arthur felt kindred.

He gazed at me in wonder for a moment, then bent his head and pressed his ear to my chest. I looked helplessly at Peter who seemed as stunned as I was. Carl relaxed. Even he could tell Arthur meant me no harm.

Arthur stepped away from me at last, his eyes watering with b.l.o.o.d.y tears. "It's true," he whispered. "You're alive. But how?" He gripped my shoulders tightly. "Tell me," he urged. "How did he do it? Are there more?"

I shook my head, wondering who he was talking about. "Just me. And I need help first."

Arthur frowned. "If I help you, will you come with me? To see the head of my coven? He's interested in you. I didn't understand when I first saw you, but now I get it. This changes everything."

"You'll help me?" I asked, hope surging through me.

"Only if you help me. I need more blood. He'll let me have a bigger share of the quota if I'm the one who takes you to him. Come with me. Without those two," he said, gesturing to Peter and Carl who were slowly approaching us.

"Ava," called Peter, his voice a low warning.

"It's okay," I called back. I didn't want to go with Arthur, but he seemed to know what I was. I was desperate to know more about myself and just as desperate to help Carl, so it didn't seem like a bad deal. "What am I?"

"You have many names," he whispered. "Let me take you home."

"If you help me get rid of Carl, I'll go willingly." I ignored Peter's frustrated grumbles and shook Arthur's hand. He looked into my eyes and nodded his agreement.

"This is ridiculous, Ava, you can't go with him!" Peter shouted.

"It's fine," I said. "He's my own kind, right?"

Arthur jerked his head around, but it wasn't enough of a warning. My body flung backward as a vampire barrelled into my midsection, winding me. On the ground, I barely made a sound as his hands wrapped around my throat. Without thinking, I grabbed my cross and pressed it against his wrist before he could crush the bones in my neck. Surprised, he let go, his skin sizzling. Peter and Carl rushed at him as I lay there struggling to catch my breath, but Arthur got to the vampire first.

He wrestled him to the ground, only lifting his head to shout at Peter.

"Get her out of here! I'll find you. Just go!"

Peter and Carl helped me up and made me run to the car, despite my pleas to stay and help Arthur. If he died, I'd have no options left.

"Get in the car Ava," Peter said, pus.h.i.+ng me in the back seat.

None of us spoke for a few minutes, but Peter's heartbeat was racing again. I kicked the back of his seat in frustration.

"We should have stayed."

"Are you stupid? That vampire tried to kill you. Did you want to die?"

"We outnumbered him," I protested.

Peter muttered to himself and put his foot on the accelerator. He kept glancing in the mirrors, probably looking for a speedy vampire who wanted me dead.

"Where are we going?" I asked, finally realising we weren't heading for my home.

"To see Eddie." Peter shut down after that and didn't speak for the rest of the journey.

The bookshop was closed for the night, but Eddie had the door open before we could knock on it. He ushered us in, highly agitated. We followed him into his tiny back room. Eddie put the kettle on and mumbled to himself. Peter gnawed on his nails, and even Carl seemed on edge.

Eddie made coffee and sat down, looking straight at me but seeing right through me. I watched, fascinated, as his lips moved silently. Then he shook himself, and his eyes focused again.

"n.o.body is hurt." It was a statement rather than a question.

"What the h.e.l.l happened?" Peter said. He sounded angry, but I could still sense his fear.

Eddie shook his head. "Things are happening too quickly. I didn't expect it. An a.s.sa.s.sin was sent after her."

"You could have warned us," Peter said, sounding petulant.

"And you could have warned me when you brought Nancy Delaney's granddaughter to my place for a visit," Eddie shouted. The air crackled around him, and the hair on my arms stood up.

Peter looked me over in horror. "Nancy? Nancy's your grandmother?" he said, appalled. I was sure he thought it was a shame a nice old lady like Nancy had an evil being for a grandchild.

"No matter," Eddie said. "Things just became more complicated. I don't know how they knew so soon."

"Who knew what so soon?" Peter said.

Eddie took a deep breath. "Ava, Arthur's maker is an ancient called Maximus."

"Yeah, Becca told us that," Peter said.

"Becca? Hmm, maybe it was her words... never mind that now. Ava, I'm sorry, but the vampires are on the brink of civil war. Your appearance just changed the game."

"Me? What can I do?"

"Maximus believes you're a daywalker. A living vampire. A daywalker could destroy all of the vampires without a battle. You could tell Maximus how you were made, so he could create an army of daywalkers. To protect him, kill his enemies in daylight, and help him overcome Daimhin."

"Daimhin?" I asked.

"Another ancient. She's the oldest vampire in the country and the one with the largest coven, so she rules over the other covens. It's by her say so that they don't drink their fill. She a.s.signs quotas for each coven, and it's up to the head of the coven to decide who feeds and who doesn't."

"Why do they have quotas?" I interrupted. "Arthur is starving, why?"

"I told you, a lack of blood hurts them, punishes them. The quotas are set by the Council to protect the human race and to keep the vampires in check," Peter said, his face pale and taut with tension.

"The Council?"

"Focus, Ava," Eddie said. "Maximus wants to change who allocates the blood, possibly even fight the Council on the quota. Not good news for humans. I'm certain that a.s.sa.s.sin was sent by Daimhin to kill you before you could tell Maximus how you were created. How were you created, Ava?"

His voice changed, making my senses go on alert. It seemed so simple to me, the way I was made. But if I told people, and that caused it to happen to more innocents then I would feel guilt I never had before.

"You can tell me, Ava," he said coaxingly.

I thought about it, I even opened my mouth to speak, but the idea of Maximus's vampires attacking pregnant women and stealing their newborns was incomprehensible. My mother told my grandmother I could be taken, but I was never told how she knew or why Nancy believed her. I only knew it had to be a secret.

"No," I said, gritting my teeth. It physically pained me not to answer him.

"Good," Eddie said.

Another test. Great. I wished there was a way to skip past the bit where I had to keep proving myself.

"What do we do?" Peter asked.

Eddie shrugged. "She's on their radar now. They'll look for her."

A chill ran down my back. Once again I was totally screwed.

"You said I was already on their radar."

He nodded. "True, but they've acted quickly. They've already found you once. I doubt the a.s.sa.s.sin was mere coincidence. Daimhin doesn't want someone like you in her domain, she must be worried."

"I agreed to see Maximus," I reminded everyone. "If Arthur helped with Carl. I pretty much promised."

Eddie shook his head. "Either Daimhin will kill you, or Maximus will use you. You need to keep away from vampires."

"I can't hide forever, and Carl needs Arthur's help too, remember? They'll find me, regardless. What do I do?"