Revenge is Sweet Page 2

  Will took the packet from Daniel and ripped the corner off, before giving it back. ‘You drink it boy.’

  ‘I was thinking more of a bacon sarnie.’ Daniel sucked at the corner opening with some trepidation at first, but once he tasted the blood, he soon finished off the whole packet, and licked his lips enthusiastically. No feeding problems for him obviously.

  Will watched him for a moment before transferring his attention to me. His lips twitched into a smile.

  I narrowed my eyes and gave him my best glare, not at all sure I’d forgiven him yet for ignoring me. His eyes sparked with sudden humour.

  ‘Bet you get all the girls,’ said Daniel. ‘Couldn’t give me any tips could you?’

  Will laughed properly for the first time, and the tense atmosphere in the room went down a few notches.

  ‘Luke’s on his way,’ said Jake, coming back into the room, and rejoining our little circle.

  Will nodded. ‘The question is, what do we do with this little sod?’

  ‘Open the front door and I’m out of here,’ suggested Daniel.

  Oh how I remember coming up with a similar idea, what seemed like several lifetimes ago.

  ‘Not an option,’ said Will, just like I knew he would.

  He crossed over to the antique pine chest, to pick up his cigarettes and matches.

  ‘Can I have one?’ asked Daniel.

  ‘Do you even know how to smoke?’ asked Will.

  ‘Been smoking since I was twelve.’

  ‘That is something to be proud of in this century is it?’

  Will’s scathing reply reduced Daniel to silence again, and I found myself feeling sorry for him. He was only a kid after all, and now thanks to a renegade vampire, he would always be a kid, or rather, he would always remain in a kid’s adolescent body. Sounded like the worst kind of torture to me. A teenager for eternity. How utterly crap would that be? All that angst – for ever.

  Will threw Daniel a cigarette much to my surprise, and after lighting his own, tossed the box of matches across to him as well.

  ‘Do not make a habit of this,’ he warned.

  ‘Smoking is a habit,’ came the incorrigible reply.

  Will sighed. ‘Breaking his annoying scrawny little neck really would solve the problem.’

  Daniel moved closer to me, watching Will with large scared eyes.

  I patted the sleeve of his dirty sweatshirt reassuringly. ‘He doesn’t mean it.’

  ‘I bloody well do,’ said Will. ‘There are very good reasons for our laws forbidding the turning of children, and you are looking at one of them.’

  ‘I’m not that bad,’ protested Daniel. ‘I just need to clean up a bit.’

  ‘A bit?’ Will shook his head. I thought that just for once, his bark might be worse than his bite, which for a vampire is no mean feat. ‘Do not dare to drop ash on my floor, boy,’ he added, his sharp eyes glaring at the cigarette dangling from Daniel’s fingers.

  Daniel quickly tapped a long bit of ash into the ashtray on the pine chest. He seemed to have taken the news of his turning with stoic calm. I remembered being freaked out for a long time, and refusing to feed. I wondered whether his human life had been so awful that any change would be a welcome one.

  A knock at the front door signalled the arrival of Luke, Will’s second-in-command, in a manner of speaking. None of us made a move to open the door because we knew Luke had a key. The knock was merely a courtesy. He strode in, six-foot plus of blond Adonis, his blue eyes scanning the room.

  ‘Where’s the problem?’ he asked Will without preamble.

  Will pointed a long elegant finger at Daniel.

  Luke muttered an oath. ‘Where did he come from?’

  Will told him everything we knew so far, and Luke listened, his face grave. ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘Find whoever did this, and remove his or her head,’ said Will.

  ‘But what are you going to do with the boy?’ asked Luke. ‘By rights he should be staked.’

  Daniel looked utterly terrified now, and I decided to step in. I stood in front of Daniel.

  ‘No-one is staking anyone,’ I said firmly, sounding a lot braver than I felt.

  Will, Luke and Jake all looked down at me. Will with some considerable amusement.

  ‘Maternal instincts Elinor?’ he asked. ‘How precisely, will you stop the three of us, if staking is our ultimate decision?’

  The look I gave him would have quelled a lesser man. I was always conscious of my lack of height. At a little over five-foot-three, even Daniel was taller than me, and the three adult vampires before me were all over six feet tall.

  ‘Not everything is defined by height and brute strength,’ I said. ‘There are other ways.’

  Will raised a dark eyebrow. ‘A withdrawal of conjugal rights perhaps?’

  ‘What’s conjugal?’ asked Daniel in my ear.

  ‘You’re too young to know.’

  ‘Come off it,’ he protested, ‘if it’s about sex, I know most things.’

  Will shot me an indulgent glance. ‘Very well my love, if you choose to get all maternal, take this dirty child to the bathroom, and put him in a very deep, very hot bath. I will find him some clean clothes.’

  ‘I probably won’t like your clothes,’ said Daniel. ‘You’re really old.’

  I smothered a laugh. Oh he had no idea just how old. Although Will didn’t look a day over twenty-six, it would still be considered “really old” in Daniel’s world.

  ‘Quit while you’re ahead Daniel,’ I said. ‘Come on, let’s get you clean.’

  As I led the way from the room, Daniel looked back at Will. ‘Am I always going to stay the same age?’

  ‘If you survive at all, yes,’ replied Will. ‘Now go and get clean, you are making my house smell.’

  I went out of the room with Daniel trailing behind me, muttering about big bullying vampires, and how everything was so unfair, and how it wasn’t his fault anyway.

  ‘Daniel,’ I said as we went downstairs. ‘Shut up.’

  He lapsed into a sulky silence but at least he was quiet. I led him through our bedroom, where he stared in awe at the large four-poster bed, and through the second door to the large bathroom beyond.

  ‘Is that your bedroom?’ he asked. ‘Yours and his?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Cool.’

  He looked around the huge bathroom, his gaze taking in the enormous white sunken bath, with its gleaming brass taps, and the large power shower in the corner surrounded by gleaming glass panels. I turned on the bath taps and looked back at Daniel. ‘Do you want some bubbles?’

  ‘Don’t they smell a bit girly?’ he asked.

  I laughed. ‘Perhaps,’ I said. ‘But Will uses the bubbles.’

  ‘Yeah but he sleeps with you,’ said Daniel. ‘Anyway, there’s no-one going to be brave enough to tell him he smells like a girl.’

  ‘True,’ I agreed. ‘So, bubbles or no bubbles?’

  ‘Yeah, bubbles,’ he said with a shy smile, and I caught a sudden glimpse of the child he had once been.

  Poor kid – to be snatched from life at such a young age when the whole world should have been his for the taking. All the experiences he would never now know. I remembered all too well how childhood could be ripped away in just one split second. Both my parents died in a car crash when I was only eleven years old, and I had to be placed in foster care. Although ‘care’ is far too nice a word for the physical and mental abuse I suffered as a result. My own rebirth as a vampire has been none too easy either, and probably because of my own experiences, I found myself really wanting to help smooth the way for Daniel – in any way I could. No doubt Will would have something interesting to say on the subject later.

  Giving myself a mental shake, I looked at the bedraggled youth standing in front of me.

  ‘How old are you Daniel?’

  ‘Fifteen,’ he replied. ‘Am I really going to be fifteen forever?’

  ‘I’m afraid you’ll look f
ifteen for decades.’

  ‘How will I ever get a girl like you then?’

  I couldn’t help but feel flattered. ‘You’ll find someone, I’m sure.’

  ‘Not if it’s against the law to turn teenagers. I’ll be on my own forever.’

  I felt another pang of sympathy. As if it wasn’t hard enough being a teenager, staying one for eternity would definitely be most people’s worst nightmare.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, noticing the bath had almost filled up. ‘Will is good at sorting things out. He’ll help.’

  ‘He just wants me out of the way,’ said Daniel. ‘Same as me mum and stepdad. They just wanted me to grow up and get out. But now I’ll never grow up, and I don’t have anywhere to go anyway.’

  He looked at me with tears filling his blue eyes, and I put a comforting hand on his thin shoulder.

  ‘I’ll help you Daniel, I promise.’

  ‘So the minute he is out of my sight, he makes a move on my girl.’ Will’s mocking voice came from the doorway.

  Daniel sprang away from me, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. I turned to look at Will to see if he was serious. He looked serious.

  ‘What are you – twelve? Don’t be ridiculous,’ I said. ‘This boy has been through a lot tonight, and your aggressive behaviour isn’t helping.’

  Will looked at me in surprise, raising a dark eyebrow at my outburst. ‘Not as aggressive as a mother protecting her young, I think.’ He put a pile of clothes on the chair near the bath. ‘These are not exactly the latest in teenage fashion,’ he said to Daniel. ‘But they are clean, and should do for tonight.’

  ‘Thanks,’ muttered Daniel.

  Will held the door open, and gestured for me to go through.

  ‘Come back upstairs when you’re ready,’ I said, as Will followed me through and shut the door.

  I felt surprised when he locked it, and went to ask a question. He shook his head at me, and taking hold of my arm, led me to the stairs.

  ‘Why have you locked him in?’ I demanded. ‘Seriously Will, he needs us to help him, not lock him up.’

  Will didn’t answer, just led the way into the room, and sat down on the leather Chesterfield sofa.

  I remained standing, looking at the three men in the room. ‘What’s going on?’

  Will sighed. ‘Elinor, the boy has been a vampire for a few nights at most. He’s a liability at the moment. Without his maker, he could go insane, and take off on a murdering spree.’

  ‘But he still needs our help.’

  ‘Come and sit down.’ Will gestured to the space next to him on the sofa. Luke and Jake sat in the armchairs opposite.

  ‘You aren’t really going to stake him are you?’ I asked. ‘He was in tears downstairs. You saw him. Everything he said up here was pure bravado. He’s scared shitless of you.’

  As usual Will frowned at my swearing. ‘It was my intention to scare him … shitless,’ he said. ‘The only way I can control him is by fear, because I am not his maker.’

  ‘How sad,’ I said, looking away.

  Will took hold of my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned me back to face him. ‘We cannot risk him exposing us all. However, I am prepared, against my better judgement, to give him a chance, and you will have the opportunity to help him all you can. But if he once steps out of line, and puts any of us in danger, he will be dust.’

  I felt sad at the thought of Daniel being destroyed. He seemed to have got under my skin. Perhaps Will was right, and my own unfulfilled maternal instincts had risen to the surface. Somehow I found it hard to believe, I’d never exactly been the maternal type. But I felt drawn to help him nonetheless.

  Will touched my cheek with his fingertips, and I looked at him again, seeing the concern in his eyes. ‘We will do all we can, I promise,’ he said. ‘But he has to stay here under lock and key for at least the next few nights, until we are sure we can do something with him.’

  I nodded. ‘Thank you,’ I said, and he leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

  ‘But he is not sleeping in the same room as us.’

  Luke laughed.

  ‘Never think she would not have suggested it for his first night,’ he said.

  Well I had thought it might help Daniel to be in a room with other vampires, but I should know by now that Will can happily tune into my thoughts as easily as tuning a radio.

  ‘I’ll go and see if he’s ready to come out of the bathroom,’ I said, but Will put a restraining hand on my arm.

  ‘Jake and I will go,’ he said. ‘He is unpredictable.’

  ‘You let me take him down to the bathroom on my own,’ I said in protest. ‘He’s afraid of you.’

  ‘Once he has cleaned up and the blood has kicked in, he will be ready for some kind of action,’ said Will. ‘He may be dangerous and I am not prepared to take any risks.’

  ‘Well can I come with you and Jake then?’ I persisted, ‘Just in case he needs a bit of reassurance.’

  Will lips twitched. ‘Come on then piccolo madre,’ he said, and I scowled at him. I didn’t speak Italian, but even I caught the word for “mother”, and his words made me feel embarrassed.

  We all trooped downstairs. Will rapped loudly on the bathroom door ‘Are you dressed?’

  ‘No,’ came the sullen reply. ‘I’m in the bath.’

  ‘Still?’

  ‘You want me clean, so I’m gettin’ clean.’

  Sounds of sloshing came from within, and I shrugged my shoulders when Will looked at me.

  ‘I don’t know anything about teenagers,’ I said.

  ‘You should be more able to remember your teenage years than I,’ said Will.

  ‘Yes but I’m a girl.’

  Will’s eyes took on a feral gleam. ‘Trust me, I have noticed.’

  ‘If you’re going to make out, can you go where I can’t hear?’ came Daniel’s voice.

  ‘Get yourself clean, boy,’ said Will.

  ‘Have you got a radio or an iPod?’ asked Daniel.

  ‘No,’ said Will. ‘Now, we are going back upstairs, but we will be back in fifteen minutes. I want you dry, dressed and respectable by then. Got it?’

  ‘Got any hair wax?’

  ‘No.’ Will was losing his patience now.

  ‘How am I supposed to do my hair without hair wax?’ muttered Daniel. ‘Bunch of old farts.’

  ‘I’ve got some,’ said Jake.

  ‘Do not tell me you carry that stuff around?’ said Will. ‘Heavens help us.’

  Jake looked a bit self-conscious. ‘I’d just bought it when I ran into the kid. He can use some of it.’

  ‘Cheers Jake,’ called Daniel, clearly relieved that someone else understood the necessity of hair wax. The door knob rattled. ‘Door’s stuck,’ he added.

  Will unlocked the door, and as he opened it, clouds of fragrant steam wafted out. Daniel’s damp, flushed face peered round, his hair darkened and flattened by moisture, and one of Will’s expensive Egyptian cotton towels draped around his lower body.

  ‘You locked me in,’ he said. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong.’

  ‘Not yet I grant you,’ said Will, ‘and I intend to keep it that way.’

  Jake handed a bright orange tub to Daniel. ‘Don’t use it all.’

  ‘Got a mirror?’ Daniel looked around at the pristine walls of the bathroom.

  Ah … a mirror … I remember how that went too. No reflections, no shadows, blah, blah, blah.

  Will sighed and explained the no reflection bugbear. To my surprise, Daniel merely shrugged and backed into the depths of the steam-filled bathroom.

  ‘How are you going to do your hair in spikes if you can’t see what you’re doing?’ I really would like to see how I looked sometimes.

  Daniel gave me a long-suffering look and I felt suddenly old. ‘I can feel whether it’s spiked or not can’t I?’

  ‘But you don’t know how it looks,’ I persisted.

  ‘OK girls, let us leave the hairdressing talk for a
nother night,’ said Will. ‘Sort your spikes out boy, and then come upstairs.’

  ‘I’m not sure I can find the way, can Ellie wait for me?’ Daniel looked hopeful.

  ‘No. Jake will wait, and you can swap hair waxing ideas,’ said Will taking hold of my arm and ushering me from the room.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re jealous of a kid,’ I muttered.

  Will didn’t reply, but kept hold of my arm until we reached the drawing room again. Luke stood and left the room, and I wasn’t sure whether he was being tactful, or simply guarding us from cheeky teenagers. I looked up at Will, putting my hands on his chest.

  ‘Will?’

  He looked at me, his face serious, eyes glinting.

  ‘What?’ I pushed at him. ‘Speak to me.’

  He covered my hands with his own. ‘I am worried you will get too close to the boy,’ he said finally. ‘If things get bad, if he gets bad and we cannot control him …’ He finished with a sigh. I watched the emerald lights in his eyes as he spoke, loving the way they changed with his every mood; loving him, wanting him.

  ‘It won’t come to that.’ My voice was barely above a whisper. ‘I’m sure of it.’

  Will pulled me against him, and kissed the top of my head. ‘I only hope you are right.’

  Will’s Journal, 15th May

  I have a very bad feeling about this new situation. Not just about the boy, although heaven knows that is bad enough, but knowing there is a renegade vampire – or perhaps –vampires, loose in London, perturbs me more than I care to admit. If they are careless enough to sire one adolescent, the chances are they will make more. But my main concern is they could be making child vampires on purpose, either as a direct threat to me, or even as some kind of bait.

  The majority of modern day vampires do everything they can to keep their existence hidden from the human world. Living in a large cosmopolitan city makes it easy to do so. Obtaining enough blood for our needs is simple among so many. Feeding does not mean killing or making another vampire, although most vampire fiction tells a different tale. My people are forbidden to sire anyone without first asking my permission. This may sound autocratic, but without guidelines, the city of London could be overrun with vampires. It would not take long, and it is my job to make sure that does not happen.