Revenge is Sweet

  Titles in the Immortals of London series:

  Dance until Dawn

  Revenge is Sweet

  Copyright © 2016 Berni Stevens

  Published 2016 by Choc Lit Limited

  Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB, UK

  www.choc-lit.com

  The right of Berni Stevens to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE

  ePub ISBN: 9781781892619

  Mobi ISBN: 9781781892626

  For Mum and Dad,

  (even though you never liked vampires)

  Contents

  Immortals of London series

  Title page

  Copyright information

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Thank you

  About the Author

  More Choc Lit

  Introducing Choc Lit

  Preview of Dance until Dawn by Berni Stevens

  Acknowledgements

  When an author becomes close to his or her main characters, those characters become an integral part of the author’s life. Sometimes the characters ‘shout’ in order to be heard. Will shouted a lot. So did Ellie. I heard them of course. But they still wouldn’t be here without the fabulous Choc Lit Tasting Panel (particularly the readers who passed the manuscript – thank you Jo C., Vanessa O.P, Jan B., Olivia F., Sharon M., Sue P., Betty S., Hrund M., Rosie F. and Heather Mc.), my (very patient) editor and all the team at Choc Lit who work so hard on every book they publish. So huge thanks go to everyone who has helped me lick Revenge is Sweet into shape. (I actually enjoy doing edits – but keep that to yourself!)

  Thanks as always go to my husband, Bob, for his encouragement and support, and to everyone else who’s encouraged me – you know who you are.

  Prologue

  Will’s Journal, 20th February

  It has been almost a year since Elinor’s rebirth. I still remember the dreadful night of her accident and the dark days she spent in hospital attached to machines and tubes. The decision to make her one of us did not come easily. But a world without Elinor’s graceful and beautiful presence would be monochromatic and, for me, intolerable. This last year has been one of the most entertaining – yet difficult – years I have ever experienced, and I have been around for a lot of years. To coin a phrase, I believe I definitely ‘bit off more than I could chew’ in more ways than one, which is a good trick for a vampire. Elinor is very much her own woman, despite her tender years, and she certainly gives me a run for my money. Both Luke and Stevie have said I would not have it any other way, and I know they are right. She questions everything, and it has been a very long time since anyone dared do that.

  Unfortunately, because of my overwhelming feelings for Elinor, it means I am now vulnerable, and this has not been the case for nearly three hundred years. Should an enemy become aware of her presence, as did my maker, Khiara last year, my position would become exceedingly precarious.

  When Khiara found out about Elinor, she immediately travelled to London, together with a rather gruesome selection of companions, and things became ugly for a while. People died. She has never liked to lose, and she used Elinor’s presence as a reason to attack my community – and me. It would appear my fellow elders do not wish me to be happy. Although since Khiara and her entourage returned to Italy, life has been relatively quiet, and I have loved every moment.

  It is not protocol for an elder to take a fledgling for a partner, and my doing so ruffled quite a few feathers. I suspect we have not seen the last of people attempting to challenge my decision, and ultimately my position.

  Highgate, London, 15th May

  The boy looked around. Night time; Probably quite late at night too, because there weren’t many people about. He struggled to free himself from beneath the heavy mound of black bin bags filled with festering rubbish. The rancid smell of decayed food made him retch.

  He sat up slowly, and checked his body for injuries. He didn’t feel pain anywhere, but he did feel weird, light-headed and disorientated. He spotted a random blood-stain on the front of his favourite blue T-shirt and zipped his sweatshirt up to cover it. How the hell had that got there? He didn’t seem to be wounded anywhere. What had he done?

  The inside of his mouth felt like rough sandpaper, and a sudden raging thirst caused him to gag. He swallowed painfully several times. Drink. He needed something to drink.

  He shook his head, and suddenly the late night London traffic sounded unnaturally loud. He covered his ears with grubby hands.

  He couldn’t remember why he’d chosen to sleep in an alleyway amongst stinking rubbish. Home was always pretty bad, but not that bad. He still felt confused and muddled. When he stood up, a wave of nausea caused him to lean against the alley wall.

  What had happened to him?

  In spite of the nausea, he still felt hunger pangs, and his stomach churned. He felt like he’d had nothing to eat for days. Pain ravaged his slight body and he shuddered, feeling weak and faint. Leaning against the alley wall for support, he made his uncertain way to the main street.

  He passed a large pub garden, which had hundreds of tiny white fairy lights shining brightly amongst its trees. The sign, which ran vertically down the pristine white wall, proclaimed the pub’s name to be The Woodman. The area looked familiar, but the boy found it difficult to get his brain to function. He spotted the lit tube station sign, and instinctively walked towards it. Highgate. Not a million miles from his own home in Archway, but very different as neighbourhoods went.

  ‘Full of posh gits,’ he muttered to himself, as he looked up and down the street.

  A young blonde woman walked along the street towards the tube station. Alone.

  H
e liked the way her hips swayed as she walked, and for some reason, the hunger pains suddenly became unbearable.

  Then he understood – he knew what he needed to survive. He knew exactly what he wanted to eat.

  Chapter One

  ‘What the hell is that?’

  Will’s deep voice sounded quiet enough, but anyone who knew him would recognise the danger signs. He was seriously pissed off. Jake moved out of reach. Wise man.

  ‘It’s a boy,’ he said.

  ‘That much is spectacularly obvious,’ said Will. ‘Why is it in my house?’

  I eyed the unfortunate teenager with some interest. He stood his ground arrogantly, and seemed not in the least intimidated by Will. This meant he was either blind or stupid, and he didn’t appear to be blind. Although he did look somewhat incongruous, standing on a priceless antique rug, in the elegant drawing room of Will’s Georgian house.

  Will’s green eyes narrowed, his gaze flicked down at the boy’s dirty trainers standing on his beautiful rug, and I knew instinctively that everything could go to hell any minute. He can usually scare most people, most of the time, without any effort at all, and this made the boy’s attitude interesting to say the least.

  Will’s tall frame loomed over the teenager’s smaller one, and I felt nervous for the boy’s safety. Will could snap the boy in two with his bare hands if things went badly wrong. I’m not saying he would … but he could. He’s the acclaimed Vampire Elder of London, which makes him the big cheese around here. Most other vampires know better than to mess with him by now. Some have tried, but they didn’t survive.

  I watched him covertly – actually I like looking at him, although I don’t ever intend to tell him that – he’s far too sure of himself already. He’s the epitome of tall, dark and gorgeous, all sculpted cheekbones, scrumptious body and the most incredible green eyes ever. He’s … well he’s absolute perfection in my opinion, and I don’t ever intend to tell him that either. A lack of self-confidence isn’t exactly something he suffers from.

  He’s the reason I’m here at all to be honest. I’d been working as a professional dancer, not earning a huge amount of money, but muddling along happily enough, when I became the victim of a hit and run outside the stage door one night. Along came Will, with his own warped idea of ‘rescue’. He turned me into a vampire, without so much as a by your leave. We’ve had the ‘you murdered me’ argument. I lost.

  I can’t say I’m exactly thrilled at becoming a vampire. There’s the walking in – or in my case – even waking in – daylight, the whole keeping out of direct sunlight problem, then the joy of having to feed on blood – and that’s just for starters. I could carry on about trying to put on make-up and do my hair without a reflection too, although it would just sound like whinging. But at least I’ll never look old. Not that it matters much if I can’t actually see myself of course. So now I am whinging.

  Will said I would be fine … eventually. He’s been with me every step of the way, even though we fought for most of them. But his patience, and his love for me, gradually, very gradually I might add, dispelled my anger and resentment at finding myself dead, and then undead.

  I’ve never met anyone like him, either in my fairly short human life, or my even shorter vampire one. I’ve certainly never had a lover like him – not that I’ve had too many of those either. However, he does possess the ability to terrify with a glance, and I felt mystified by the boy’s apparent nonchalance.

  Giving myself a mental shake, I attempted to concentrate on the potential disaster in front of me.

  ‘I’m Daniel,’ said the teenager, confirming my stupidity theory.

  ‘I did not ask.’ Will turned his attention back to Jake. ‘Stun me with your overwhelmingly intelligent reasons for bringing an underage vampire to my house.’

  ‘I found him,’ replied Jake, running a hand through the spikes of his short dark hair.

  ‘Dammi la forza! You did what?’

  Will’s mixture of Italian and English sounded incensed, and Jake looked nervous. Will always resorted to Italian when his emotions got the better of him, so I didn’t blame Jake for being worried.

  I put a tentative hand on Will’s arm in an attempt to bring a bit of calm to the situation, but he scowled down at me.

  ‘I’m sure Jake has good reasons for bringing him here,’ I said with a shrug.

  ‘I sincerely hope he does.’ Will glared back at Jake. ‘Jake, feel free to redeem yourself at any time.’

  ‘I found him near Highgate tube. I thought he was about to attack this girl. So I got him off the street fast.’

  ‘I was hungry …’ began Daniel.

  ‘If you continue to speak, I will kill you.’ Will turned his steely gaze on the unfortunate youth. ‘What did you tell the girl, Jake?’

  ‘Said I was a copper and I’d take him in to the station.’

  I suppressed a snort of laughter at the thought of Jake being a policeman, but I had to admire his ingenuity. Will’s eyes flashed dangerously, and he stalked slowly around the boy like a circling shark. As he got closer to Daniel, the boy flinched and eyed him warily. Maybe he wasn’t quite so stupid after all.

  Daniel was tall, but still gangly with adolescence. His ill-fitting denim jeans sagged halfway down his backside and trailed their frayed hems over grubby trainers. His baggy sweatshirt partially covered a blue T-shirt and both were in dire need of a good wash. His dirty blond hair stuck up in defiant spikes, and his left ear was pierced with a silver hoop.

  I shuddered. ‘That’s got to hurt.’ I pointed at it, remembering the excruciating pain of a silver belly bolt Will removed for me a year ago.

  ‘Yeah.’ He nodded. ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘It’s silver.’

  ‘Enough.’ Will’s usual patience seemed strangely non-existent tonight.

  My expression was not exactly friendly when I turned to glare at him, but he ignored me. Totally unperturbed, he walked over to Jake.

  ‘Correct me if I am wrong … but what you are telling me, is that an unknown vampire is in my city without my permission, and has turned a young boy, which is against our laws.’

  Jake nodded.

  Now I’m still new to all of this, especially the rules and regulations part, but even I could tell it sounded pretty bad.

  ‘Ideas?’

  Jake shook his head, and Will frowned at Daniel who backed away from him.

  ‘Who turned you boy? I will have his head.’

  ‘What?’ Daniel fiddled with his baggy sleeves nervously.

  Will grabbed Daniel by the front of his sweatshirt, forcing him up on tiptoe, so he had no choice but to meet his angry glare.

  ‘The vampire who had the brass balls to bring you across.’

  ‘Across? Across what?’

  Will shook Daniel, and I thought things were about to get really ugly, so I grabbed his arm. ‘He doesn’t understand, Will.’

  Will sighed. ‘You do realise someone has turned you into a vampire, don’t you boy?’

  ‘Nah, vampires don’t exist. That’s bloody bonkers … er … Sir.’

  Will suddenly hauled Daniel bodily off the floor, and shook him violently, causing me to almost lose my balance. He snarled and bared his fangs at Daniel, whose eyes bulged as he yelped in fright.

  ‘Will, for heaven’s sake …’ I grabbed his arm again, but for all the notice he took of me, I might have been a fly landing on him. He ignored me. Again.

  ‘Tell me the last thing you remember.’ Will continued to dangle Daniel in front of him as if he weighed nothing at all.

  ‘This blonde bird, posh-looking – real tasty like, came up to me in the street, and started chatting. She offered to buy me a meal. I was bloody hungry. I’m still bloody hungry. I can’t even remember the last time I ate something.’ Daniel babbled out a stream of words, his eyes still wide with fright.

  ‘Alone?’ Will interrupted the food rant with another bone-rattling shake.

  ‘Thought so, yeah. T
urns out she had this geezer with her.’

  ‘What did he look like?’

  ‘Ordinary. Brown hair – nowhere near as tall as you – just an ordinary bloke. Don’t know what she saw in him.’

  Will sighed again, and suddenly released his death grip on Daniel, who plopped back down to his own height, looking scared and much younger.

  ‘Get Luke,’ Will said to Jake, who pulled his mobile from his jeans pocket and left the room.

  ‘I’m still hungry,’ Daniel tried again.

  Will quelled him with a look.

  I stayed silent for once. Daniel turned to look at me, smiling cheekily. Oh this kid must have a death wish … another one. He looked back at Will. ‘She your girl?’ He gestured at me with his head. ‘She’s got really cool hair.’

  A gleam of amusement danced briefly in Will’s expressive eyes. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and it would be in your best interest to remember that.’

  Daniel grinned properly then, flashing fangs and Will raised his eyebrows.

  ‘It would also be in your best interest to keep those fangs to yourself in public,’ he continued.

  Daniel felt his new fangs carefully with his forefinger. ‘Wow. Cool.’

  Will grimaced.

  ‘Have you even got anything to eat?’ asked Daniel obviously feeling braver again, and with a muttered profanity, Will strode from the room.

  Daniel’s jaw dropped. ‘Blimey – he’s a bit bloody scary. Is he always like that?’

  I shook my head with a smile, choosing not to say anything Will might hear. Vampires have extremely acute hearing, and I’d been caught out before.

  ‘You really do have cool hair,’ said Daniel. ‘Wicked colour red.’

  ‘And she is still my girl,’ said Will coming back into the room.

  He carried a packet of blood. Emergency rations, courtesy of The Royal Free Hospital. Not that they were aware of their overwhelming generosity. Handing the packet to Daniel, he watched the boy’s reaction to its contents intently.

  ‘You wanted food,’ he said.

  Daniel looked wary, turning the packet over in his grubby hands. ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’