02 Blood Roses - Blackthorn (3 page)

Chapter Three

I
f the betrayal had stabbed her any harder or faster, Leila would have bled. She knew the answer, but the question still fell out as the facts unfolded before her. ‘What is this?’

Alisha suddenly stilled. She bit into her bottom lip as she looked at her sister sheepishly. ‘Listen, Lei, I can explain.’

Taken over by more rage than she was sure was healthy for a human being, Leila spun on her heels. She pushed past Hade now marking the doorway, her bare feet slamming against the floorboards as she stormed back into the living room.

Alisha hurried after her. ‘Lei, I’m sorry.’

Leila spun to face her. ‘I don’t want to hear sorry. I want you to tell me I’ve got this wrong.’

Alisha lowered her gaze.

‘How long has this been going on?’ Leila demanded quietly.

‘A while.’

‘A while?’

Alisha shrugged. ‘Two months. Nearly.’

‘Two months? You’ve been involved with a vampire for two months? You?’ Leila could barely say it as she lowered her voice. ‘And you involved me?’

‘I had to. I had no choice.’

‘No choice?’

‘You saw the state he was in. I panicked. But then I remembered about the book and what you could do. I couldn’t just let him die. I had to say something.’

A kick in the gut would have been preferable. ‘It was you?
You
told them about the book?’ Leila marched up to her, her voice hushed. ‘You told them about
me
?’

‘I had to.’

‘You betrayed us? Our family? For
him
? Have you any idea how dangerous this is? Have you any idea what I’ve been through tonight? I thought they were going to kill you. How could you lie to me like that?’

‘I didn’t lie to you. I just made it sound different to how it was. Lei, I wouldn’t have brought you here if you were in danger.’

Leila stared at her, unable to believe her sister’s nonchalance. ‘I’m an interpreter, Alisha. Nothing but a witch to them. Or have you forgotten?’ She shook her head as she stepped away. ‘I can’t believe you’ve done this.’

‘Even if I got the book here, it’s not as if I can read from it, is it? And time was short – too short for me to come and get you and explain it. Besides, I knew you wouldn’t come if I told you the truth. I knew you wouldn’t let me back here if I came to see you myself, especially if I tried to take the book with me.’

‘So you tricked me?’

‘It was the only way.’

‘You chose him over me.’

‘It’s not like that, Lei.’

‘What if I couldn’t have read it? What if it hadn’t worked? What if it had gone wrong?’

‘But I knew you could.’

‘Get my things. We’re leaving.’

Alisha backed away. ‘No.’

‘No?’

‘You don’t understand what he means to me.’

‘He’s a vampire, Alisha.’

‘He’s a consang. And I love him.’

Leila widened her eyes before laughing curtly in despair. ‘What, like you loved Carl and Martin and Toby? Oh, and like you loved Phillip? Those three weeks were the best ever, right?’

‘This is different.’

‘Because they were actually your own species? The only thing that’s different is that for some godforsaken reason you have decided to…’ she hesitated. ‘Alisha, I’m not going to argue with you. Get my stuff. And get anything of yours. We’ll finish this conversation when we’re home.’

Alisha took another step back. She crossed her arms defiantly across her chest, her brown eyes locked defiantly on Leila’s. ‘You can’t make me.’

Leila turned away for a moment. She closed her eyes and bit into her bottom lip. It was all she could do to stop herself screaming at her sister. She tuned into the sounds of the district travelling with the breeze through the open terrace doors. Alien sounds that only exacerbated her unease as they defined the danger they were both in, even if Alisha couldn’t see it yet. But Alisha didn’t see danger in anything or, if she did, she treated it like a fairground ride –especially when Leila was the one pointing it out to her.

‘I didn’t go out looking for this, all right?’ Alisha said. ‘I didn’t plan to fall for a consang.’

‘Vampire.’

‘I didn’t even realise what he was at first. I was in Lowtown, he approached me in a club, and we started talking.’

Leila turned to face her again. ‘You know they’re everywhere there at night. You should never have been there in the first place. You know the risks.’

‘I wasn’t at risk. Not after I met him.’

‘You’re a human in Blackthorn.’

Alisha tugged down the collar of her shirt, revealing the nook of her neck, the small tattoo there. ‘He marked me, all right? No consang will touch me. Caleb, Jake, they have standing around here. No one messes with them.’

Leila shrivelled up her nose in distaste. ‘You let him mark you?’ Unease clenched her chest. ‘How the hell are we going to explain that when we try to get back across the border?’

‘He did it to protect me.’

‘If you were at home you wouldn’t need protecting.’

‘Because all humans are such upstanding citizens?’ Alisha released her collar. ‘Lei,’ she said. ‘This isn’t a fling. I really care about him.’

‘And does he feel the same way?’ Leila glanced towards the hallway as Hade emerged.

He sent them both a fleeting glance before striding across to the steps and up and out of the front door.

‘Yes,’ Alisha said.

‘Which is why he was with another woman.’

‘He likes to feed.’

‘But he doesn’t have to. Isn’t that what they tried telling us all – that they had other ways of sustaining themselves? That feeding on humans was legend, myths of old, primitive? That simple medication now provides them with what they need?’

‘It gives him a buzz. Not that you’d understand any of that.’

‘He was with another woman, Alisha. He bled her to death. Doesn’t that tell you anything?’

‘You really don’t understand, do you?’

‘I understand exactly what I need to understand. I came here because I thought I was saving your life. And now not only do they have their hands on grandfather’s book, they know what I can do, too. Do you really think they’re going to let us go?’

‘Jake gave me his word.’

‘Well, that’s all right then.’

‘There’s no need to be sarcastic.’

‘Don’t you dare tell me how I need to be.’

‘Caleb promised me he’d escort you back to the border of Midtown once this was all over. That was part of the deal. You saved his brother’s life, Lei. He owes you. He owes both of us.’

‘Well, something tells me he’s not the kind too keen on being indebted to someone like me, Alisha.’

‘He gave me his word.’

‘Then get our stuff and tell him we’re ready to leave.’

‘I told you, I’m staying.’

‘You’re leaving. And you’re leaving now.’

Alisha hesitantly held her sister’s glare. ‘You know, there are a lot of girls down in that club who would give anything to spend time up here with these two.’

Leila shook her head in disgust. ‘Is that what it is, Alisha? Is that what you see in him?’

‘I love him.’

‘Sounds like infatuation to me.’

‘At least I know how to have a good time. At least I don’t spend my life in a stuffy library with my head in century-old books. At least I go out there and have fun. I’m making the most of being alive. You criticise the consangs, but you might as well be the undead for all the excitement you get in your life.’

Leila stared at her, momentarily stunned to silence before grabbing her sister by the arm. She marched Alisha out onto the terrace and spun her to face her. ‘We have a duty, Alisha,’ she whispered sternly. ‘Grandfather taught us that stuff for a reason.’

‘No, he taught you. You’re the one who has the talent, not me. And I’m glad it’s not me who’s got it. I wouldn’t be you for anything. I like my freedom. And that’s what Jake gives me. But for as long as you stay tucked up all safe and sound in Summerton, you’ll never understand. You’re too indoctrinated to ever understand.’

‘I’m not indoctrinated.’

‘You soaked up everything grandfather taught us. You’ve never even met a consang before tonight, so how can you possibly pass judgement on them?’

No matter how tempted she was to blurt out the truth, this was not the time for revelations. Instead she shook her head in bitter disappointment. ‘I think the only one who’s indoctrinated around here is you. He’s really got to you, hasn’t he?’

‘I’m with him because I want to be. Because I choose to be. This is the twenty-first century we’re in, not the eighteenth. Read the headlines. They’re not preying on us, attacking us in dark alleys and taking us against our will. People are getting involved with them voluntarily.’

‘So that makes it acceptable?’

‘Drag your head out of your archives and take a good look around, Lei. Move on and accept that maybe grandfather was wrong.’

‘If he could hear you now—’

‘But he can’t, can he? He’s dead. Gone. Just like Mum. Just like Dad. And just like Sophie might be if we don’t find her.’

Leila’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Tell me that’s not what this is about?’

‘She could still be alive. And if she is and if she’s here, Jake will find her.’

‘Is that what he’s promised you?’

‘He can find her. I know he can.’

‘In exchange for what?’

Alisha glowered at her. ‘At least I’m doing something. At least I haven’t given up.’

‘Given up?’ Leila glared at her, her fury escalating as indignation hit her hard. ‘Ten months I looked for her. Ten months! While you were out getting drunk, taking comfort in whoever would listen to you, I was the one phoning the authorities, knocking on doors and putting up pictures. It was me who paid for the private investigators, the ads in the newspapers…’ She shook her head and marched past the large, round marble table that looked more suitable for sacrifices than al fresco dining. She stopped at the barrier and clutched the cold steel rail as she stared down the hundred-foot drop to where people swarmed the streets. If Sophie was amongst them, she was a grain of sand in a cove. ‘Alisha, I’m not discussing this with you anymore.’

‘Lei, just spend a couple of hours here. You’ll see they’re no different to us. You’ll learn more by spending one evening with them than another minute with your head in those stupid books.’

‘One of those stupid books saved your so-called boyfriend’s life tonight.’

‘And I am grateful to you, Lei. More than you can understand.’ She stepped alongside her. ‘So is Caleb. So is Jake.’ Alisha caught her by the hand. ‘It doesn’t matter that you’re a witch.’

Leila snatched her hand away. ‘Interpreter.’

‘Whatever. They’re not going to hurt you.’

Leila held her gaze. ‘Then prove it. Because from what I can see, the longer we stay here the more at risk we are. So I’m telling you – either you get us out of here now or your new friends won’t know what’s hit them. And neither will you.’

❄ ❄ ❄

‘I ache all over,’ Jake said as he eased himself up against the headboard.

Caleb withdrew his attention from the doorway where Alisha had run after her sister. The shock in the witch’s eyes had been convincingly real, supporting Alisha’s claims that Leila had no idea she was a frequenter to Blackthorn. The relief in Alisha’s eyes on seeing Jake was equally convincing.

He leaned back against the chest of drawers facing the foot of the bed and folded his arms as he turned his attention back to his brother. ‘If it’s sympathy you’re looking for, you’ve got a better chance of persuading me to install a glass roof. You’re a fucking idiot, Jake.’

Jake managed a hint of a goading smile despite his brother’s disapproving glare. ‘Survived though, didn’t I?’

Caleb didn’t reciprocate. ‘Hade, go and show your face down in the bar. If there are any awkward questions, spread the word that it was all just a rumour. Jake’s fine and no one died. As far as anyone’s concerned, we’re in business negotiations.’

Hade nodded. ‘Sure thing, Caleb.’ He glanced across at Jake. ‘Good to have you back, Jake.’

Jake smiled at him and rested his head back against the wall as their employee, their friend, exited the room and closed the door. ‘You missed me, right?’

Caleb took a cigarette from his top pocket and placed it between his lips to avoid giving his little brother the verbal and physical retaliation he deserved. He needed to stay calm and focused. It wasn’t over yet. ‘You are one more stupid move away from me putting a leash around your neck,’ he declared, igniting the tip.

‘Come on, Caleb. Don’t be mad. I got caught up in the moment, that’s all. She couldn’t do enough for me.’

‘Sex and a feed do
not
happen together. And you only feed on the approved. You know the rules.’

‘Yeah, your rules.’

‘My rules to protect you from this very thing happening. Maybe now you’ll finally see you’re not invincible.’

‘It was just a fun time that got out of hand, that’s all. It won’t happen again.’

He exhaled a terse stream of smoke. ‘Good, because you repeat a trick like that and I’ll kill you myself, understand?’

Jake tried to sit up further but failed. Instead he slumped back against the pillows again. ‘So what happened? Alisha just confessed to her sister being a witch?’

‘Basically. I take it you didn’t know?’

‘I think I would have remembered to mention it. What about the book?’

‘Theirs. The witch came fully prepared.’ Caleb strolled over to sit on the bed at his brother’s feet. Pulling the purification book closer, he flicked through the pages. ‘It seems we have quite the librarian in our midst.’

Jake handed him the ashtray from his bedside table. ‘She’s cute, too, huh?’ he remarked with a conspiratorial smile.

Caleb didn’t smile back. ‘What do you know about her?’

‘Leila? Not a lot. She lives in Summerton. She works in some kind of library and archive department. She doesn’t approve of vampires and drives Alisha crazy trying to tell her how to live her life apparently. How the hell did you get her here?’

‘Alisha inferred she was being held hostage.’

Jake raised his eyebrows slightly. ‘A hostage? Well, that explains the reaction.’