Dance Until Dawn (25 page)

Confrontation

Will’s words sliced through me equally as deadly as his silver dagger. Khiara
here
? After all this time? Just when I thought she’d left the country. Maybe that was the point, the old lulling into a false sense of security trick.

‘Why is she outside the gates? The other two managed to get into the garden.’ Will didn’t answer.

I watched him as he went to a far corner of the cellar to pick something up. Retrieving the object, he twirled it around his head, as though he were leading a Royal Marine Band or something. It was a wooden stake, whittled to a deadly point at one end. He threw it from hand to hand deftly, coming to stand in front of me. ‘This piece of wood could ultimately mean destruction for any one of us.’

‘I thought that was pure Hollywood, you know,
Buffy
stuff.’

Will looked stern. ‘You really do need to do your homework.’

I didn’t answer.

Will tossed the stake carelessly back to its dark corner. ‘Never forget the things that can maim or destroy us. Other vampires will not hesitate to use them against you should they ever get the chance.’ He looked down at me. ‘So, can you tell me the items we should avoid at all costs?’

I thought for a moment. ‘The sign of the cross, holy water, holy wafer, silver, the direct rays of the sun, a wooden stake, or a silver dagger through the heart …’ I faltered at the last item, remembering how Will had dispatched the vampires outside.

Will pulled me against his body. ‘Very good, most excellent student of mine,’ he said against the top of my head.

‘Do I get a gold star?’

‘Something like that.’ He was smiling now, and his eyes were shining with the fanatical gleam they got when he was looking forward to a challenge.

‘What shall we do about Khiara?’

Will laughed softly. ‘The fun is only just beginning.’

‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were actually enjoying all this.’

‘You do not know any better, and I am.’

‘William
.
’
A voice sounded, loud yet strangely soft, reverberating around the stone walls of the cellar.

Will just smiled and looked upwards. ‘Khiara, how nice. We missed you.’

‘
Let us end this
.’

Will’s laugh echoed around the cellar walls, and it sounded as though the room had suddenly become filled with different people all laughing at once.

I stared at him wide-eyed.
What the hell?

He stood in the middle of the cellar, hands on narrow hips, with his dark head thrown back as he stared up at the ceiling. I felt really glad he was on my side. I’d seen many of Will’s mood swings, but tonight the power seemed to emanate from him, and he was more terrifying than I’d ever seen him before. More terrifying even than the night he’d beaten up Honyauti, and definitely more scary than when he’d dispatched the two vampires in the garden.

He looked at me and held out his hand. ‘Come. We need to greet our guests.’

I took hold of his hand. ‘What the hell is happening?’

‘A show of strength. Can you not feel it?’

I could feel a new kind of power surging through my body just by holding Will’s hand. That had certainly never happened before.

I turned to face him, putting my free hand on his chest. He glanced down at me, his eyes still glowing like green embers from a demon’s hellfire. ‘Embrace the power Elinor. Breathe it in.’

He moved toward the stairs pulling me reluctantly behind him.

Oh dear God, and I’d thought performing on stage had been scary.

When we reached the hall, Will opened the front door with a flourish. Khiara stood outside the front gates, dressed elegantly in a black jacket with matching trousers and a dazzling white shirt. Her amazing hair had been swept back from her face like a shining, dark cloud. All very dramatic and monochromatic. At her side was Grigori – an almost healed Grigori – his face impassive as usual. I knew they could have got over the gates or the walls with ease, but I supposed they were pretending to be human in case they were noticed.

Will pressed a button near the entry phone and the gates swung open. Khiara swept through the opening, followed by Grigori, and Will pressed another button to close the gates behind them. Khiara came up the steps to the front door, and after a disdainful look in my direction, she turned her cold blue gaze to Will, her face unsmiling. ‘Get rid of the fledgling.’

Will leaned against the door frame insolently, folded his arms and regarded her with a cold stare that easily matched her own. ‘Define “get rid of”. What
can
you mean?’

Khiara narrowed her eyes. ‘Chain it up somewhere. The sight of it is unpleasant to me.’

Oh very nice, I didn’t feel too enthralled with her either
. I kept quiet, I was getting quite good at that. I’d learned there was often someone around who could hurt me if I said the wrong thing.

Will’s soft, sexy laugh made me look at him. Trust him to find something funny in any situation. ‘I have no need for chains.’

Khiara turned to Grigori. ‘Remove the creature from my sight. Put it downstairs somewhere and tie it up.’

It?

Grigori moved forward to do her bidding, but at exactly the same moment Will stood up straight, and put a firm hand against the other man’s broad chest. ‘Touch her and you die,’ he said.

Grigori stopped immediately, and Will turned back to me. ‘Elinor, be so good as to wait for me in the drawing room.’

‘I want to stay with you.’

‘Go. Please.’

Reluctantly, I left him in the hall with Khiara and Grigori and made my way to the drawing room. Once inside, I made myself close the door quietly behind me.

I leaned against the door, straining to hear their conversation. I could hear Will’s patient, deep voice and Khiara’s cold, angry answers.

Then silence.

I waited to hear the conversation start up again, but it didn’t.

I waited for what seemed an eternity. I waited until the silence itself was deafening.

And I knew something was wrong – very, very wrong. I simply couldn’t feel Will’s presence any more. As always, when we were separated, cold fear filled me, followed by absolute panic.

I flung open the drawing room door and spilled out into the hall. The front door was wide open, mocking me with the emptiness beyond. No Will, no Khiara and no Grigori. I ran to the doorway and looked out. Still no one. The front drive was empty, the gates closed. Terror gripped every fibre of my being – a terror such as I had never felt before. I ran to the gates and peered through. The entire street was empty and quiet. There was neither a car parked outside in the road nor a car driving away. The only sound was the balmy night’s breeze gently ruffling leaves on the trees.

Fearing an attack without Will to protect me, I bolted for the front door and virtually leapt through the doorway, slamming the heavy door behind me. I put the various chains in place and leaned trembling against the door. What now? I struggled to regain some semblance of composure as I tried to think what to do.

Luke.

He’d help me.

I had run back to the drawing room before I realised I had absolutely no idea of Luke’s phone number. Will always dialled it from memory. But I had to believe he’d written it down somewhere accessible at some point. But where?

The cabinet on which the phone was kept seemed a sensible place to start. I pulled open the top drawer. I found it to be stuffed with various papers, including the black leather-covered notebook I’d noticed Will writing in so often.

I took out the notebook and opened it.

The first page was neatly written in Will’s beautiful writing. I guess one had to be a few hundred years old to be able to write like that. My name leapt out at me, and so, of course, I read on:

Tonight I have discovered her name is Elinor Jane Wakefield. She is truly the most enchanting creature I have ever seen. She moves with the grace and confidence of all dancers, and I find I cannot take my eyes off her. I have to meet her, speak to her. She fills my every waking thought.

Dated over a year ago, it had obviously been written after Will had first seen me. I flicked quickly through the pages of what appeared to be some kind of journal – all about me. Will’s sightings of me had all been carefully dated and noted.

I found it more than a bit creepy, but decided I needed to get back to the job in hand. I closed the book, putting it back carefully. I sifted through the papers, which were mainly paid bills and old statements.
They should be kept somewhere safer than a drawer
, I thought. Eventually, I discovered a small book underneath the papers, and almost cried for joy when it revealed phone numbers. I found Luke’s number and dialled it with trembling fingers.

Please, please be home.

I heard the phone ring once … twice …
please, please be home
 … three times … and then on the fourth ring it was picked up. Luke’s deep voice came on the line.

‘Hallo?’

Relief flooded me. ‘It’s Ellie.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Will’s gone. Khiara came—’

‘I’m on my way.’

The line went dead, and I listened to the buzzing of the dialling tone for a few more seconds before replacing the phone. Luke was coming. He’d know what to do.

There were only a few hours left before dawn, but I knew they were going to be the longest hours I’d ever experienced in my short vampire existence.

I also knew we wouldn’t find Will tonight. Dawn was too close. My only hope was that we’d find him alive. Supposing Khiara’s plan had always been to destroy him?

I’d never see him again, never gaze into those wonderful eyes, never again be held in his strong arms.

I couldn’t bear it.

Tears began to trickle down my cheeks.

I’ve got to be strong. Will would want me to be strong.

I knew I wouldn’t rest until I found him, whatever it took. I started to pace the room. No prizes for guessing where I’d picked up that habit. After what seemed an eternity – another one – there was a sharp rap on the front door. I ran into the hall, but stopped myself just in time from undoing all the chains and flinging open the door. Best to be safe.

‘Yes?’

‘It’s Luke.’

Recognising his voice, I undid the many chains with trembling fingers and pulled the heavy door open. Luke stepped over the threshold swiftly, and closed the door immediately behind him. ‘Are you all right?’

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, not yet.

‘What happened?’ Luke took my arm and led me into the drawing room.

He pushed me gently until I sat on the sofa, and then sat opposite me in the armchair. ‘What happened?’ he asked again. I told him as briefly as possible the events of the last few hours.

He smiled at the thought of Will at a Stones’ concert. Then his eyes grew serious.

‘What does it mean? Will was so sure he was more powerful than Khiara, but he’s gone. Luke, will she kill him?’ I dreaded the answer. ‘He spent so much time making sure I’d be safe.’

Luke didn’t reply at first, but he looked up as I finished speaking. ‘Ellie, it was never about you, you were merely the catalyst. It has always been about Will and his power.’

‘But will she kill him?’

‘No. At least not yet. Although, we do need to find him, and fast.’

‘It’s nearly dawn.’

‘I’m sure nothing will happen to him tonight. Will is very strong Ellie.’

‘So how could she take him?’

‘He almost certainly went of his own accord.’

I stared at him aghast. ‘
What
?’

‘Khiara would have threatened you in some way or another. Will must have gone with her in order to keep you safe.’

Luke leaned forward and took hold of my hands. ‘He loves you more than he values his own existence, Ellie.’

‘But I can’t exist without him.’ I took a shuddering breath to keep control. ‘And I don’t want to.’

‘We’ll find him.’ Luke stood up. ‘Would you like me to stay around until tomorrow night?’

‘Yes please.’

I was terrified of being left alone, and even more terrified at being without Will. For all my bravado, I was still a very new vampire. I’d only just learned that wooden stakes through the heart really did turn us to dust, for heaven’s sake.

Luke went toward the phone. ‘I must let the others know.’

He made several calls, but I wasn’t really listening. I sat miserably on the sofa, my senses reeling. I felt empty, desolate, every fibre of my being longing for Will. Since my rebirth, Will had always been there for me, a little late on several occasions, angry and demanding on others, but there nonetheless. My love for him had suddenly grown too, in spite of everything.

There was a dull ache in my body, which wasn’t just the approaching dawn. My eyes ached from unshed tears. My throat felt constricted with grief.

I had to find him.
I had to
.

‘Have you fed tonight?’ Luke’s voice broke into my miserable thoughts.

I nodded.

‘Then may I suggest bed?’

I must have looked as startled as I felt, because he smiled, and held his hands up, laughing. ‘Don’t worry. As attractive as I find you, you are completely safe with me.’

‘I know that.’ I gave him a small smile.

‘Anyway, I have no doubt Will would kill me in a particularly nasty way if I attempted anything untoward with you.’

‘Where will you sleep?’

‘The cellar’s fine. It won’t be the first time I’ve slept there.’

I stood up and went toward the door. Luke reached it first and opened it for me. ‘Be sure to lock your door.’

‘You think they’ll come back tonight?’

‘No. But we’ll lock all the doors anyway.’

‘I didn’t think locks could keep vampires out.’

‘They can’t, not once we have been invited over a threshold anyway, but any intruders would make a noise breaking in, and then I can kill them.’

I followed him round the house as he locked the front door and replaced the chains once more. He activated the burglar alarm – Will had taught him well. We went downstairs together.