Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (25 page)

“How many people are coming tonight?” she asked.

As soon as Clyde walked through the foyer and into the common room, Ari gulped. She had no idea how many people were at her birthday party; there were far too many to count.

“You look ravishing,” Ragon said suddenly, moving up to Ari and surprising her by kissing her passionately on the lips.

When Ari opened her eyes, she saw Clyde staring at her, giving her a dirty look. Looking around, she saw that Chris had just walked into the room. Ari grimaced.

“Great party!”

Ari spun around to see who had spoken and spotted Lisa. She was wearing a stunning grey dress with sheer stockings and high boots. Ari couldn’t help but look down at her own birthday outfit of jeans and jumper.

Glancing at the attendees, Lisa’s eyes fell suddenly on Chris and she said, “Oh, don’t you look dashing tonight.”

“Certainly a lot better with clothes on,” Clyde spat, before moving over to the corner of the room, where he sat moodily at a small table.

Ragon’s confusion was plastered on his face and he turned to Ari whispering, “What does he mean?”

Ari was spared having to answer when Lea walked over.

“Happy birthday,” she said, her eyes raking over Ragon before she turned to face Ari. “Here, I got you something.”

Ari had been about to introduce Lea to Ragon, but when she looked up, Ragon had moved to the punch bowl and was being swamped by two blonde immortal babes- Bridget and Gwen. She recognised them both from their platinum blond hair, tight dresses and impossibly perfect makeup. Bridget was leaning in and talking intimately with Ragon; long strands of silver curls were making their way across Ragon’s face, leaving Ari feeling particularly jealous.

“Oh, that’s really nice of you,” said Ari, turning back to Lea and accepting a small velvet draw string bag, which she quickly emptied into her open palm; out fell a tiny charm.

“I thought it would go nicely with your charm bracelet,” said Lea.

Ari couldn’t help it; she leaned in and hugged Lea. For a moment Lea hesitated but then stretching out two arms, returning the embrace warmly.

“Can you help me?” said Ari, reaching out her hand so that Lea could attach the new charm. “I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she added, admiring the tiny wooden globe, which looked as if silver had been laced over it.  

Ari held her bracelet up to the light, her lips curling into a smile, until she looked past her wrist and saw Clyde glaring at her. Letting her hand slump to her side, Ari’s eyes narrowed.

“Can you excuse me for a moment,” she said to Lea, moving over to where Clyde sat alone.

“So where’s lover boy?” asked Clyde, when Ari approached his table.

“Getting me a drink,” she replied, trying hard not to think of Bridget and Gwen swooning over Ragon.

“So you still haven’t told him about Chris?” Clyde asked, now turning to face Ari with interest.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“I may have been out of the dating scene for a few centuries, but last time I checked, being with a naked man qualified as being more than
nothing
,” he said.    

“I told you. He was coming back from a girl’s room when I-”

“-yea you said; he was doing the walk of shame and you just happened to run into him,” Clyde interjected, snorting loudly in disbelief.

“You don’t understand and you aren’t even listening to me.”

“Your right; why would an immortal, who has lived for hundreds of years, understand about lust,” he said. “I get it; you like Ragon and you like Chris. You just can’t decide which you like best.”

“Yea you’re right; I like Chris but only as a friend… and I love Ragon. And just because you’ve lived for centuries, doesn’t mean you have loved!”

“Oh touché, but I know of love,” he said, his brown eyes dark and sad.  

Ari cocked her head to one side; there was something about Clyde that had never quite made sense. Almost as if there was a piece of his past that had forced him into a chalice monster, rather than the kind person he might have been… some event that changed him.

“What do you know?” she said, and as she leaned towards him, her eyes large and round, she hoped finally to understand what it was that made him so dark and twisty on the outside.

“You wouldn’t understand,” he jeered, and a large cheeky grin spread across his face, highlighting his amusement.

“So help me to,” she said, but instead of smiling back like she normally would have, she kept her face resolved.

Clyde reached for the small silver necklace around his chest and drew out the locket attached to it. He thumbed it in his hands, purposefully avoiding opening it as he locked eyes with Ari.

“You know, once upon a time I was just like Ragon; I was in love with a mortal,” he said, carefully replacing the locket back underneath his shirt and taking a large gulp of his drink. “Her name was…” but his voice trailed off before he could say it, “anyway, she was a lot like you. Same charismatic, carefree independence, but she was also delicate… fragile. When we met, I had been a vampire for less than a decade, and I still had most of my humanity. We had only been together for a short while when I told her what I was. I thought for sure that she would cower away from me, confirm my fears that I was beyond saving, but she didn’t. Instead she begged me to turn her into a vampire. She told me that all she wanted was to spend eternity with me. But I couldn’t do it; I didn’t want her to become a monster too. I thought that turning her into a vampire would be a travesty.”

Ari was staring at Clyde unblinking, listening to his story.

“But what happened?” she asked.

“One day, just like any other that we had spent together, I promised her that I would come and see her at sunrise. She was only 17; she lived with her father, so I had to sneak into their house in London to see her. It was the 5
^th
of November and it was 1605; there were riots all through the streets, and it took me much longer to get to her house than what I had agreed. When I climbed through the bedroom, she was lying on her bed, and for a moment I thought that she was sleeping, but then I realised that her heart was no longer beating.” Ari took in a sharp breath. “Her lips were cold when I placed my bloodied hand to them and tried to turn her… I already knew that it was too late but I had to try. When finally I gave up, I saw that there was a vial of poison on the floor. She knew that I wouldn’t change her unless forced to, so she made the choice simple for me; but I was too late.”

Suddenly Ari felt sick. So that was why Clyde acted the way he did; he blamed himself for her death. It was as if suddenly everything she knew about him made sense. He had let a mortal into his heart and they had died. Perhaps this was why he had tried so hard to save her life last year, after Sameth had nearly killed her; Clyde had said that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

“It wasn’t your fault,” whispered Ari. “That happened years ago… centuries ago. You can’t keep blaming yourself.”

Clyde chuckled, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. Without responding he downed his glass of whiskey, finishing the last of the thick brown liquid in a single gulp as he said, “One way or another, Rebecca would have died. I would have never turned her; if she had of lived, she would have grown old and died one day. I don’t regret the time I had with her; I regret not making her a vampire. Loving a mortal is stupid; that’s why vampires don’t do it.”

“So you… you don’t think that Ragon and I should be together?”

“I think that you need to tell him the truth,” said Clyde, his dark eyes resting on Chris who was now talking with Lisa, though looking over at Ari’s and Clyde’s table. “I think that if you don’t want to be a vampire, then you should let Ragon know, so that he can move on. I can understand why you would want to be with someone who isn’t a vampire… but stringing Ragon along is not the answer. You’ll just hurt him. He still has his humanity and if he lost you… I don’t know if he still would.”   

After that Clyde stood and moved over to the drink’s table. Ari watched him leave with her mouth open. How could Clyde think that she was stringing Ragon along? She loved Ragon, but something Clyde said did strike home… she had to tell Ragon the truth; she needed to tell him about Chris. Ragon meant everything to her and it wasn’t right to keep this secret from him. As she walked purposefully towards Ragon, she grabbed a drink that was sitting abandoned on a nearby table and skulled it. Instantly she felt the alcohol tingle in her blood, giving her a sense of courage.

“Great idea throwing a party for your source,” said Bridget, while Gwen nodded in agreement.

“Bring the food to us,” Gwen added. “It’s almost like ordering in.”

“Gwen,” Bridget said, trying to stop herself from laughing as her voice took on a mock serious tone, “I’m surprised at you; you are the Cruor halls student representative! You’re basically one under the Vice Chancellor.”

“Yea but there is a new Vice Chancellor, and I don’t think he is as much as a stickler as Victoria was,” said Gwen.

Ari had crept behind Ragon and listened as the three spoke. It was only when she locked eyes with Bridget, that she remembered something from the previous night. It was Bridget who had been supplying the bartender with blood candy; the blood candy that had almost ruined Sandra’s life.

“Ragon,” Ari said, inserting herself into the conversation, just as Gwen and Bridget turned around to face her.

Neither Gwen nor Bridget said happy birthday, rather they stared at Ari in confusion.

Before Ari could say anything else, Bridget had moved in closer to Ragon, saying, “Is it just this one we’re to avoid, or do you have other favourites? I know how annoying it can be to share sources, but this girl seems a bit head strong. I have plenty of sources in Delta halls if you’d like a change.”

Ari was furious; she was just about to say something when Chris appeared. He took her by the hand and pulled her away from Ragon. Ragon watched her go with mingled curiosity but did not speak. When she and Chris were out of ear shot, Chris rounded on her.

“Favourites?” said Chris, “Are you really going to let him treat you like that?”

Ari turned back wildly to look for Ragon. She wasn’t in the mood to explain her relationship to Chris, and more than anything else, she wanted to talk to Ragon, to tell him what Chris was. She didn’t want there to be any secrets between them. Gwen and Bridget were both staring at Ragon’s retreating back as he moved over to her and Chris. He looked angry and when he reached her, he grabbed her hand so quickly that she felt her bracelet clatter against his marble skin.

“What’s going on?” snarled Ragon, his eyes fixed on Chris with hatred.

“Nothing,” Ari said hurriedly, “Chris was just saying-”

“-saying that she could do a lot better than a guy who has other favourites,” Chris cut in.

Ragon’s face contorted in anger but he did not speak. He looked hurt, as if Chris’s comment had wounded him somehow. Ari glimpsed a fleeting look at his sunken eyes, where large shadows were forming underneath. In a flash his mutinous expression changed to one of desperation. Suddenly he let go of Ari’s hand, swaggering backwards. What was wrong with him? Ari made to move after him, but before she could, Chris reached for her.

“No wait,” said Chris.

Ari watched as Ragon raced for the door, threw it open and disappeared into the night.

“Let go,” she said, turning to Chris and pulling herself free, chasing after Ragon.

“Ari, he’s using you,” Chris said, racing after her.

Ari ran straight for the door, throwing it open and feeling the cold night air press down all around her.

“Ari, wait,” said Chris; he had caught up with her and once again reached for her hand.

Ari was too quick. She pulled her hand out of reach and glared at him.

“Look. I know what you said… I know you said that Ragon isn’t lulling you, but that doesn’t mean that he should treat you-”

But Chris’s words were cut off midsentence; Ari had thrown up her hands and stopped time. She watched as the expression on Chris’s face froze and she spun around, looking again for any sign of Ragon. She could still hear the music from her party and it disorientated her, as though someone was screaming in her ear, trying to make her loose her concentration. Reaching for her phone she called Ragon, but he did not answer. How could this be happening? She had been ready to tell him everything. Without waiting for Chris to unfreeze, Ari darted off into the darkness, determined to find Ragon and make everything right.