Bloodfire (Blood Destiny) (41 page)

“Right,” I said, swallowing hard.
 
“Okay, time to shift.
 
Yes, can’t wait to finally shift again,
if I go too long I get that itch, you know?
 
So it’s good, that I can now actually
shift.”
 
I was clearly babbling.

Corrigan raised his eyebrows.
 
Anton, damn him,
looked amused – and slightly hungry.
 
I wondered whether he still wanted to
taste my blood and whether I could use that to make him let me still stay with
the pack.
 
Well, I was fucked if I’d
let him get even slightly close after this.
 
He continually seemed to forget that my
lack of shapeshifterness put the whole pack at risk, not just me.
 
Without his help I went down the only
avenue left to avoid trying to meet Corrigan’s obviously impossible
expectations.
 
I rolled my eyes back
into my head and fainted.

I tried not
open
my eyes immediately in surprise when Corrigan caught my body before it landed
back onto the sharp grass.
 
He
cursed and picked me up, holding me against his chest.
 
I fought very hard not to tense up as he
did so.

Anton laughed sardonically in my
head.
 
Nicely played, human.

God, finally.
 
You idiot,
I hissed back at him.
I’ve not used the lotion for over a day now.
 
Once we get away from the rotting stench
of the bitch, he’ll know I’m human.
 

And
I should care about that why?

Welcome to the new Cornish alpha, ladies
and gentlemen.
Because, you
wanker, once the Brethren know
what I am, you will all be in
danger.
 
You are the
alpha,
it’s your job to protect everyone.

I could almost feel the cogs whirling in
his head.
 
Corrigan muttered
something to him and took off smoothly towards what I supposed was the other
end of the valley.
 
If Anton didn’t
get with the programme soon, this was not going to turn out well.
 
I couldn’t pretend to be unconscious
indefinitely.
 
Not only that but
Corrigan had a fast gait and it wouldn’t be too long before the only thing he’d
be able to smell would be me.

Yes,
it IS my job to protect everyone
he finally
answered
.
 
So I’ll do this and help you.
 
And you will leave Cornwall forever.

WHAT?

I am
the alpha,
his Voice stated simply.
 
Your
presence puts the pack in danger.
 
Therefore I want you gone from Cornwall as soon as we return.

As much as I knew that Anton was relishing
this moment with every fibre of his being, he was right.
 
I did put the pack in danger by staying
with them.
 
Especially
now.
 
All this had happened
because of me, and whilst I could acknowledge that I hadn’t asked for any of it
and couldn’t have changed the molecular biology of my blood even if I’d known
about it, I knew that I was still guilty.
 
Leaving was the safest option.
  
It was almost
a
relief to finally have someone demand
my absence – perhaps it
would help assuage my guilt.

Done.

Give
me your word.

I almost growled aloud.
 
You
just had it.
 
Now fucking deal with
this.

“My Lord, I will take her,” said Anton
somewhere to the left of Corrigan.

Corrigan was silent for a heart-stopping
moment.
 
Oh come on.
 
He finally replied, “It’s fine.
 
She weighs nothing.”

“I am her alpha.
 
It is my responsibility – she is
my responsibility.
 
We have not
always been on the best of terms but perhaps this way I can demonstrate to her
that she can trust me.”

Nicely played, I thought.
 
Now when I ran off, I’d be the
ungrateful bint who couldn’t acknowledge that ’Lord’ Anton had rescued me.
 
Bastard.
 
Corrigan halted and passed me over to
Anton’s arms.
 
Instead of cradling
me against his chest as the Lord Alpha had done however, he slung me over his
shoulder in an incredibly undignified fireman’s lift.
 
I was painfully aware of my bottom
waving around in the air from above his shoulder.

“The others will be anxious for news, my
Lord,” Anton continued.
 
“I do not
wish to move too quickly as clearly Mackenzie has many small wounds from which
there is a considerable amount of blood.
 
I have no objection if you wish to move ahead and let everyone know what
has happened.”

I wondered if Corrigan would let himself
be manipulated quite so easily.
 
I
sincerely hoped so.

Anton continued.
 
“Perhaps then you can alert the doctor
to move to the portal to help her as quickly as possible.
 
Mackenzie is usually more
hard-headed
than this.
 
I am concerned that she has fainted and not yet re-awakened.”

I tried very hard not to slap his back for
his so-called ‘concern’.
 
Nonetheless it seemed to work as, without a word, I sensed Corrigan begin
to move away.
 
After he appeared to
go a few feet however, he called back, “You are very demanding when you want to
be, Anton.
 
I hope that the Way has
chosen a true alpha for Cornwall.
 
I
would hate to spend more time down here babysitting you.”

Hah!
 
Take that bear-man!
 

Take
care, kitten,
sounded Corrigan’s Voice in my
head.
 
I was startled by the
unexpected gentleness of the sentiment.
 
At least with my face stuck in Anton’s naked back, my surprise didn’t
show.
  
And with that he was
gone.
 

Anton jostled me forward for a few more
uncomfortable moments.
 
I guessed
that he was waiting until the Lord Alpha was definitely out of sight.
 
Eventually, however, he put me down,
feet first, and gazed at me stonily.

“You will not renege on this, human,” his
eyes spat malevolent sparks.

I felt the familiar spark of heated
irritation inside me and sighed tiredly, “I gave you my word, tosser. I’ll do
this.”
 
Truth be told, although my
fainting had be feigned, I was starting to feel rather woozy anyway.
 
I hoped I’d be strong enough to get out
of Cornwall first.
 
Talking also
still hurt an incredible amount.
 
“I
just need to get cleaned up and talk to Julia and the others, and then I’ll be
gone.”

He laughed shortly.
 
“I don’t think so.
 
As soon as we get back through the
portal, you are gone.”

I began to protest but he interrupted
me.
 
“I don’t need to give the
Brethren any more opportunity than necessary to find out what you are.
 
I’ll inform the others what has happened
once they have gone.
 
Your friends,”
he injected disdain into the last word, “are leaving for London anyway.”

Tom and Betsy.
 
I cursed inwardly.
 
I’d been hoping that they would change
their minds but considering the alternative, being stuck here with Anton as
alpha for the next several decades, I couldn’t exactly blame them anymore.
 
Joining the Brethren, though?
 
My body shook with distaste.

Anton eyed me.
 
“How bad are your injuries?”
 

I didn’t kid myself that he was asking out
of concern.
 
He just wanted to make
sure that I’d get out of his demesne before I caused any more trouble.
 
“I’ll live,” I answered shortly,
squaring my shoulders.
 
I was
bleeding from a thousand different cuts and it was still painful to
breathe
, but there was no way I was going to give him the
satisfaction of knowing how much I hurt.
 
“What about my things?” I asked him.
 
The thought of leaving my little
treasure chest behind was almost as much of a wrench as leaving behind the
pack.
 
Almost.

“I’ll arrange for them to be sent to you
once you are settled somewhere else,” he said dismissively,
then
moved away wrinkling his nose.
 
“We
need to hurry.
 
The Lord Alpha will
be sending the doctor to the portal as we speak.
 
We need to get through before he manages
to return.
 
And for god’s sake stay
at least a few feet away from me.
 
Your stench is getting unbearable.”

I scowled at him, angrily.
 
Even though he was getting everything
he’d ever wanted, he still couldn’t resist sticking the knife in.
 
“What?
 
Don’t fancy licking my blood any
more?”
 
I hissed at him.

“Oh, believe me, I still want it.
 
And I’d have it if I was so
inclined.”
 
I looked at him, warily
before he continued.
 
“But now I’m
alpha I need to rise above such base desires.
 
Keep your funny blood, ape.
 
It’s about all you have left after
all.”
 
And with that he turned and
started striding away.

My eyes shot daggers after him, but I
followed regardless.
 
I wondered if
Anton’s attitude would change if he knew the truth about my blood.
 
I shrugged.
 
It didn’t matter now.
 
I put my head down and concentrated on
putting one foot in front of the other, ignoring the dots of bleeding pain from
around my body.

It seemed to take an age to get
anywhere.
 
The landscape remained
entirely uniform throughout – emerald green blades of cutting grass, brilliant
blue sky and the walls of the valley.
 
There was absolutely nothing else to be seen anywhere.
 
It was a blessed relief when the purple
shimmers of the second portal finally came into sight.
 
Anton turned back towards me briefly,
raising his eyebrows with an extraordinarily annoying look of
anticipation.
 
Screw him.
 
I wasn’t leaving for him or because of
his demands – it was for the good of the pack.
 
My friends and my
family.
 
I felt unbidden
tears rise up and blinked them furiously away.
 
I had to stop thinking of myself though,
and start thinking of the others.
 
It occurred to me that I now possessed absolutely nothing.
 
All my weapons were lost, and my
‘fainting fit’ had meant that I couldn’t even retrieve my trusty backpack.
 
I had no money and nowhere to go.
 
And with Iabartu’s death, not even at my
hands, I now had absolutely no purpose.
 
I felt utterly bereft.
 
I
watched Anton disappear through the gateway, taking a moment to compose myself.
 
I was damned if I’d let him see how
upset I was.

Digging deep inside myself, I searched for
the flare of bloodfire.
 
Once I had
it, I let it swirl around me, and I let its waves of heat curl around me my
body.
 
I pictured John, and Julia,
and everything I was leaving behind.
 
I even reflected on Iabartu’s corpse and how I hadn’t even managed to
kill her myself.
 
At least as long
as I was angry, I wasn’t going to weep in front of Anton; I wouldn’t give him
that satisfaction.

I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand
and stepped through the portal.

Chapter
Twenty Nine

The sensation of passing through the
gateway made me feel oddly nauseous.
 
I pushed it away, however, blinking, and realised that this second gateway
was close to the clearing where John had shown me the wichtlein’s stone.
 
It made sense now, after all we were
some distance from the beach and it had never quite tallied that Iabartu had
travelled so far away from there instead of going straight to the keep.
 
It seemed a lifetime ago now since I’d
been here last.
 
I closed my eyes
for a brief second, imagining John in front of me, before composing myself,
opening my eyes and looking coldly at Anton.
 
“What will happen to the portal?”