The Cold Kiss of Death (32 page)
I stared at her, still too horrified to speak.
‘Now don’t look at me like that, Genevieve,’ she tutted. ‘I know you’ve probably heard loads of horror stories, but the imps really are under your control, you know.’ She touched her index finger to my forehead and muttered in the guttural language; the imps quieted. ‘So long as you do as instructed they should stay reasonably quiescent, then Rosa’s body shouldn’t sustain too much damage - and remember, it does heal extremely quickly. Then tomorrow, when you’re back to your own self, I’d be happy to do you the favour of removing the imps from Rosa.’ She shrugged. ‘Or not, your choice - you could always leave them to follow their natural inclination, in which case both you and Rosa will be free of the magic that joins you. After all, if there’s no
body
left, there can be no spell. That is what you want, isn’t it?’ She looked at me quizzically. ‘Although, reassuringly, I’ve always thought you too sentimental to take the callous way out of your problems.’
body
left, there can be no spell. That is what you want, isn’t it?’ She looked at me quizzically. ‘Although, reassuringly, I’ve always thought you too sentimental to take the callous way out of your problems.’
I licked my dry lips, almost heaving at the taste of sulphur that clung to them. ‘I take it the egg is in exchange for the imps’ removal,’ I said, glad my voice came out steady.
‘No, of course not; I’d be happy to do it as a favour for you.’ She rested her hands on my shoulders. I tried to shrug her off, not wanting her to touch me, then muffled my panic as my body refused to obey. ‘But my only worry is that without the egg,’ she carried on, smiling sadly, ‘and without the possibility of being able to release Gwen’s soul before tomorrow night, I might be too upset to work the necessary magics.’
Tomorrow night. All Hallow’s Eve.
Debt-collecting night for demons.
And that was what was wrong with her story. She didn’t want to release the Ancient’s One’s soul; she wanted to use it as payment.
‘You do realise there’s a flaw in your plan, don’t you?’ I said, slightly amazed I could actually think, even if I couldn’t move. ‘The egg is in a bank vault and there’s no way I can walk into the bank and withdraw it, since there’s that little matter of being wanted for murder.’
‘Oh, silly me! I quite forgot to mention’ - she patted my cheek and I gritted my teeth at her touch - ‘I’ve arranged for a solicitor to accompany you to the police tomorrow, at noon, shall we say? to have all the charges dropped. He’ll pick you up outside your flat at quarter to twelve.’ She chuckled. ‘We can call it a bonus favour, for your continued investment in my Hallowe’en Easter Egg hunt.’
Did that mean she knew who the killer was? Or was it just some sort of ‘arrangement’ thanks to her demon master?
‘What about the real murderer?’ I asked.
‘Now then, let’s not worry about that now.’ Her fingers moved to toy with the top button on my -
Malik’s
- suit jacket and I stifled a shudder of dread, wishing she’d keep her hands to herself. ‘Time enough for that tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Now, I have a few things for you to achieve as Rosa. Elizabetta’s requests, not mine, you understand. So long as you actively work towards the requests, the imps shouldn’t cause you too much agony.’ She slipped the button from its hole, smiling encouragingly as I flinched. ‘Elizabetta wants you to wear the costume and kill Malik without giving him your oath - very important, that one - then offer her your fealty. Afterwards, you are to do her bidding until dawn.’ She undid the next two buttons, letting the jacket fall open. ‘There, see? Not too demanding a list of jobs. Oh, and I know Rosa is the love of Malik’s life, so I doubt he’ll give you too much trouble, but just in case, I’ve done you one more favour and evened up the odds.’
Malik’s
- suit jacket and I stifled a shudder of dread, wishing she’d keep her hands to herself. ‘Time enough for that tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Now, I have a few things for you to achieve as Rosa. Elizabetta’s requests, not mine, you understand. So long as you actively work towards the requests, the imps shouldn’t cause you too much agony.’ She slipped the button from its hole, smiling encouragingly as I flinched. ‘Elizabetta wants you to wear the costume and kill Malik without giving him your oath - very important, that one - then offer her your fealty. Afterwards, you are to do her bidding until dawn.’ She undid the next two buttons, letting the jacket fall open. ‘There, see? Not too demanding a list of jobs. Oh, and I know Rosa is the love of Malik’s life, so I doubt he’ll give you too much trouble, but just in case, I’ve done you one more favour and evened up the odds.’
My mind short-circuited again. ‘What does that mean?’
She tapped the side of her nose. ‘You’ll find out soon enough. Now, time to get dressed, Genevieve.’ She pushed me towards the blue sofa where the golden outfit glittered malevolently. ‘And then go and kill Malik.’
I picked up the gold-plated steel collar with one hand and wrapped the heavy chain around my other, staring at it numbly, my mind automatically assessing it. It wasn’t exactly a garrotte, but looped round his neck - and there was enough of it to go round the movie-monster’s neck, not just Malik’s - and with enough pressure exerted - easily done with my superior vampire strength - decapitating him shouldn’t take more than a couple of seconds.
Only ...
... only I didn’t want to kill Malik.
No, I wanted to kill the evil bitch sorcerer Hannah.
Even as I thought it, pain ripped like wild fire through my body as needle-like teeth bit into my inner flesh. I doubled over, my hand clutching at the steel collar, unable to stop the bloody tears streaming down my face as the world exploded into white-hot torment.
After what felt like an eternity in the centre of the inferno, I managed to work out how to make my mind shape the words the imps wanted.
I’ll kill him, okay.
The pain dulled in increments to a dull ache. So that was the deal: either I tried to kill Malik, or the imps would eat Rosa’s body while I was still inside it.
Catch 22, anyone?
Chapter Twenty-One
T
he dimly lit bedroom was larger than the lounge, and decorated with so much blood that it looked like an artist’s rendition of a murder scene; bright red arcs sprayed up the dusk-blue wall behind the king-sized bed, blotted the white silk sheets and splattered dark trails along the thick blue carpet. Malik and Darius lay spooned together on the bed in a tangle of pale, blood-drenched naked bodies. A cacophony of conflicting emotions - desire, hunger, jealousy, anger and shock - cascaded over me and my dialled-down vampire senses sprang back to life. My heart thudded in my chest as I inhaled the strong tang of copper, saliva pooled in my mouth and my stomach rumbled with emptiness. Listening carefully, I could make out two heartbeats, both slow, but both steady. He hadn’t killed Darius. Then the urge to crawl onto the bed and join the two vamps exploded in my mind, not to satisfy my hunger, but to rip their throats out, tear them limb from limb and bathe in their blood, just for the pure gleeful fun of it.
he dimly lit bedroom was larger than the lounge, and decorated with so much blood that it looked like an artist’s rendition of a murder scene; bright red arcs sprayed up the dusk-blue wall behind the king-sized bed, blotted the white silk sheets and splattered dark trails along the thick blue carpet. Malik and Darius lay spooned together on the bed in a tangle of pale, blood-drenched naked bodies. A cacophony of conflicting emotions - desire, hunger, jealousy, anger and shock - cascaded over me and my dialled-down vampire senses sprang back to life. My heart thudded in my chest as I inhaled the strong tang of copper, saliva pooled in my mouth and my stomach rumbled with emptiness. Listening carefully, I could make out two heartbeats, both slow, but both steady. He hadn’t killed Darius. Then the urge to crawl onto the bed and join the two vamps exploded in my mind, not to satisfy my hunger, but to rip their throats out, tear them limb from limb and bathe in their blood, just for the pure gleeful fun of it.
I took a step forward, and another, following the urge, my feet and the chain I was dragging, scuffing over the carpet, then I swayed, dizzy, as I made myself stop. Damn! Looked like the imp-imparted psychosis thing was true, then! The imps don’t only consume their host, they infect them with their irresistible enjoyment of chaos and violence.
And fuck, was Malik a messy violent eater or what?
The thought brought an edge of hysteria to the laughter rising in my throat. I strangled it before it could escape - much as the imps wanted me to do to Malik. I looked around the room for anything that might help me: pale wood desk, plasma TV, a laptop, its screen dark, a half-open door to what had to be a bathroom, and the same wall of glass as in the lounge overlooking the dance floor - but no handy priest or bottle of Holy Water in sight. I was going to have to complain to the Blue Heart’s management for their lack of foresight. After all, the nearest church was a five-minute run away ... an idea almost formed in my head—
The spike-sharp pain in my left kidney prodded my attention back to the bodies on the bed and my allotted task.
‘Well, this is cosy, isn’t it?’ I drawled, my voice calm enough to conceal the horror eating through my body. ‘Shame I’m going to have to break up your little blood- and love-fest, Malik, but I’ve a present here with your name on it.’ I snapped a length of the chain between my hands; it made a loud chinking sound. ‘And the hell-heated coals I’m dancing on are getting impatient.’
Malik raised his head to look at me over Darius’ shoulder, his eyes half-lidded, his expression sleepy ... but nowhere near soft. He took in my costume. ‘Hallowe’en has come early, I see,’ he murmured.
‘Apparently it’s old Liz’s favourite film.’ I did a twirl.
‘The disguised princess chained to the monster.’ He quirked his mouth in a mocking smile. ‘Subtlety never was Elizabetta’s strong point.’
‘So. Are you finished here?’ I jerked my head at the almost comatose Darius. ‘’Cos I’m feeling a lot impish and I think we should get on with the killing part of the evening now before it gets too late.’
‘Impish?’ He frowned, shifting to prop himself up on his bent elbow.
‘Yep, that old demon magic thing.’ The chain bit into my palms as my hands tightened around it. I eyed Malik’s long narrow fingers, which were resting against Darius’ impressive bloodstained six-pack; did Malik have to look as if he’d enjoyed himself quite so much? And why was I feeling antagonistic towards someone who was supposed to be no more than a necessary evil in my life? After all, it wasn’t like I really wanted
that
sort of relationship with Malik myself ... or did I? Or was that just Rosa or the imps influencing my desires again? I shelved the questions for later. If there was a later.
that
sort of relationship with Malik myself ... or did I? Or was that just Rosa or the imps influencing my desires again? I shelved the questions for later. If there was a later.
‘Of course,’ I carried on, ‘I still have choices and consequences, ’ and conscious of any listening ears, I spoke the next words in my head, hoping he’d hear them: ‘
They come down to you or Rosa’s body, in fact, because once the sun rises over the horizon, I’m back in my own - body, that is.
’ Gnawing pains around my knees accompanied my thoughts and my legs almost buckled. ‘So unless you managed to get ordained at some point during your last half-dozen centuries - any faith will do, neither the imps nor I are fussy - or can come up with a quick liquid solution, preferably one that’s been blessed’ - I raised my eyes to the heavens - ‘the bell’s about to chime for Round One.’
They come down to you or Rosa’s body, in fact, because once the sun rises over the horizon, I’m back in my own - body, that is.
’ Gnawing pains around my knees accompanied my thoughts and my legs almost buckled. ‘So unless you managed to get ordained at some point during your last half-dozen centuries - any faith will do, neither the imps nor I are fussy - or can come up with a quick liquid solution, preferably one that’s been blessed’ - I raised my eyes to the heavens - ‘the bell’s about to chime for Round One.’
‘Time will wait for this, I think,’ he said. Blue fire lit his pupils and cast a peaceful glow through the dim room. He brought his inner arm to his mouth and bit into it, then, cradling Darius’ head, he offered his bleeding wrist. Darius didn’t appear to notice. His eyes were still closed, his face slack and sated, then Malik lowered his lips to the other vamp’s cheek, the dark silk of his hair half-covering their faces, and murmured something too low for even my own enhanced vampire hearing to make out. Darius opened his mouth and latched on to Malik’s wrist, sucking greedily like a babe at a teat, his body responding with evident pleasure. I watched, mesmerised, the spicy scent of Malik’s blood teasing me, the harsher scents of copper and liquorice, and something else, something that my mind was struggling to recognise: a bitter-sweet smell like fermented flowers ...
A popping sound brought me from my reverie as Malik worked his finger between Darius’ lips and disengaged him from his arm, and a vague memory that I’d experienced something like this before brought my brows together in a frown.
‘
My apologies, Genevieve
,’ Malik said, his voice sounding regretful in my mind. ‘
Whilst Elizabetta’s plans are not a surprise, if I had realised how Hannah might choose to augment them, I would not have accepted her offer of sustenance.
’ He sat, pulling the sheet up over Darius. ‘
You must make every effort to do as she wishes, and I will attempt to minimise the damage to us both
.’
My apologies, Genevieve
,’ Malik said, his voice sounding regretful in my mind. ‘
Whilst Elizabetta’s plans are not a surprise, if I had realised how Hannah might choose to augment them, I would not have accepted her offer of sustenance.
’ He sat, pulling the sheet up over Darius. ‘
You must make every effort to do as she wishes, and I will attempt to minimise the damage to us both
.’
‘Easy enough for you to say,’ I muttered, scowling, as I tried to figure out where my uneasiness was coming from, then winced as another jagged pain speared through my solar plexus and wiped the thought from my mind.
Malik slid gracefully off the bed and strolled naked towards the wardrobe. My gaze followed the fine line of his back as it tapered from his sculptured shoulders down to his waist, then on past the taut, hard curve of his butt and down the long muscles in his thighs, watching as they flexed and stretched and the dimples at the back of his knees creased with each silent lift of his elegant feet. The sight had lust coiling tight in my belly, pooling with enough heat to drown out the prickly irritation of the imps scratching inside me. Then I blinked as he stood facing me, the silk triangle of dark hair on his pale chest arrowing down past the rose-burst scar to the black leather trousers he now wore low-slung on his narrow hips.
‘Now you may try and kill me,’ he said. There was a patient, almost amused edge to his smile, as if he’d been standing there, waiting for some time.
I clenched my fists round the chain. What was going on here? I might be distracted enough by eye-candy to not notice time passing, but the imps, not so much, I’d have thought. Ignoring the shooting pains in my biceps that forced me to lift the chain, I glanced at Darius, then back into the flames that flickered like blue gas jets in Malik’s eyes.
‘Your eyes usually glow red, not blue,’ I said, tilting my head speculatively to one side as I added two and two and got rather more than four. ‘Darius is of the Blue Heart blood-family. And the Earl had a habit of stopping time; it was one of his favourite tricks’ - except the Earl’s eyes hadn’t lit up; his skin would just turn blue, like fine porcelain, but hey - ‘so I’m guessing you didn’t just feed off Darius, you somehow managed to gain some of his bloodline’s power?’
Malik’s smile widened, letting me glimpse fang. ‘Feeding off other vampires has its compensations.’
‘Great,’ I said through gritted teeth as claws raked along the inside of my hip. ‘Any chance you can keep me and the imps suspended until dawn, then let me catch up or something?’
‘The effects are not long-lasting, but it would be possible.’ He stepped towards me, a smooth, careful motion that wasn’t meant to spook me but nonetheless made my heart up its beat. ‘But I do not have until dawn, so we must see how this trick can benefit us now.’
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