“Well in that case I can still have a little fun.” His eyes danced mischievously. “Hold on tight, dragonlette.”
I clutched onto his arm and took a deep breath. The air flickered for a moment and then I was standing inside my flat, alone, bile rising in my throat. I did my best to force it down, then hurried into the bedroom to pull on some clothes and pick up some bits and pieces. Thank goodness for the Fae. At least they had some uses. And I didn’t want to admit to myself just how touched I felt by Solus’ anger on my behalf.
With my trusty backpack still back at the keep, I had to make do with a plastic bag. Figuring I probably still had a bit of time before my disappearance from the keep was noted, I threw in a change of clothes and my laptop, then spent a heartbeat looking down at the Fae translation. I decided I wouldn’t risk losing it, so I shoved in the larger of the vampire books instead, along with a small washbag containing a few essentials.
A hammering on the door made me jump. Fuck. I’d thought I’d have more time before the either the mages or the shifters caught up to me. I wondered if that meant that they had my flat under surveillance again. Well, they couldn’t stop me from going to Shewsbury. I’d promised Atlanteia that I’d help her out and that was what I was going to do. I’d already lost more time than I’d intended by spending most of the day sleeping in Corrigan’s bed. My own problems would just have to wait for now.
I stalked over to the door decisively and wrenched it open. Instead of who I was expecting, however, there was the hunched over figure of a man, leaning against the wall and clutching his stomach. What the fuck?
I peered at him. “Er, can I help you?”
He looked up, his brown eyes meeting mine. There was something remarkably familiar about him, but I couldn’t quite work out who he was or where I’d seen him before. Regardless of his identity, there was a seething hatred emanating from every pore of his body - and it was directed entirely at me.
“You did this,” he spat.
Um, what? I stared at him, utterly confused.
“You fucking did this,” he repeated. “What did you do?”
“Sorry, I don’t know who you are.” And get off my bloody porch, I thought irritably, I’m in a hurry.
He pushed himself off the wall and reached out, snatching the collar of my t-shirt in his fist. I was more surprised than alarmed but, when he brought his face up to mine, I could feel the colour draining out of my cheeks as I finally recognised him. Bloody hell, it was Aubrey.
Chapter Eight
I stared at him, shock and disbelief mingling in my veins. “Your eyes. They’re not red. And your skin, it looks…” my voice trailed off. It looked fucking healthy. Like a human’s.
I reached out and gently prodded his cheek, then drew it back quickly. “It’s warm.”
“It’s daylight. I walked here in the fucking sun. I’ve not done that since 1851.” Aubrey let go of my t-shirt and sank backwards, virtually tripping clumsily over his own feet. “You did this,” he howled. “You tricked me. As soon as I’d finished drinking, the cramps started. And now,” he gestured hopelessly down at himself, “now I’m human.”
I began to laugh. I couldn’t help myself. It started off as a sort of muffled wheeze, then built up until I was gasping for breath and tears were starting to run down my cheeks. “Oh my God. You thought that you were going to kill me and instead I’ve ended up killing you.”
His dark brown eyes narrowed at me in pure malevolence, which just made me laugh all the harder.
“Do you have any idea how much fucking pain I’m in? It hurts everywhere. I’m one hundred and eighty three years old and I have never felt pain like this before. And I’m so weak. It’s like the strength has been completely sapped from me. What did you do?”
“Hey,” I said, still full of mirth, “you brought this on yourself. I did nothing. I’m purely an innocent bystander.”
“I tasted your blood before. Nothing happened. What did you do?” he repeated with an agonised shout.
“Well, I guess you just didn’t drink enough last time. Let’s be fair, it was barely a lick. How much did you take last night? How much does it take to kill someone?” I congratulated myself on staying calm and not taking this opportunity to beat the shit out of him.
“I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just wanted some blood. You’re still alive aren’t you?”
“And now so are you. Welcome to the land of the living, Aubrey.” I picked up my bag and made to move round him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a prior appointment to keep.”
He straightened up, although I could tell it was an effort for him to do so. “Oh no, you can’t go anywhere. You are going to undo whatever is it that you’ve done and change me back.” Inexplicably, a tear rolled down his cheek.
I looked at him implacably. “I can’t do that. I don’t have the power to turn people into vampires, Aubrey. You’ll just need to deal with this on your own.”
He stretched to grab onto my t-shirt again, but I easily moved out of his reach. “Not so big and strong now, are you? This fucking serves you right,” I hissed. ” If it was for you and your antics with the Palladium then my friends would still be alive. I’m not about to forget what you did, you wanker.”
“All I did was give it back! I didn’t fucking kill anyone.” A second tear joined the first. He made no move to wipe either one away. It appeared that human Aubrey was struggling to keep hold of his emotions. It made a change from the cold-hearted bastard who I’d previously met. Whatever. His sudden transformation into human form negated the need for me to search him out to get my revenge for what he’d done both at the academy and at Hampstead Heath. I was done.
I turned round and shut my door, making sure it was properly locked. My key was still in my backpack so I’d have no way of getting back inside again without first retrieving it from the keep. I figured that I’d worry about that when I returned to London. Sending a beaming smile towards the now former master of the undead, I side-stepped past him and walked out
“You’re not going anywhere without me,” he screeched from behind me.
“Try and stop me then,” I shot over my shoulder, casually.
He lunged towards me and, yet again, I easily dodged his grasp. Sinking down onto his knees, he covered his face with his hands and began to sob. I felt the faintest twinge of sympathy inside me, just a tiny flicker, and crouched down next to him.
“Aubrey, you need to get over this. You will get over this. You were dead, and now you’re not. You get the chance to start again and hardly anyone ever gets that. Embrace it.”
He pulled his hands away from his face and stared at me. “You’re a fucking idiot. Do you have any idea how much power I have as a vampire? How much influence? I don’t want to be a human, they’re just pathetic. Those petty emotions and small-minded ideas. They’re just animals.” His tears were running unhampered now.
The flicker of sympathy I had inside me died an explosive death, and I stood back up. “And now that’s you. Enjoy,” I said coldly.
I turned on my heel and walked out. Clearly he was as much of an unpleasant human as he was vampire. I guessed it was mildly interesting to note that being a prick didn’t necessarily come with being a bloodsucker, that it was much more innate than that. I shrugged. At least it meant he was no longer my problem.
I was halfway down the street on my way to the Tube when the inevitable happened.
Where the fuck are you? Corrigan enunciated every word, reverberating them around my skull.
Hi honey.
Mack, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me where you are so I can come and get you, then I will hunt you down and kill you myself.
Ooooh, he was calling me Mack. For once he was being serious. I calmed myself down and tried to put myself in his shoes. Corrigan, I am eternally grateful that you came and helped me out. I really am. But I’ve got things to do – I couldn’t just hang around the keep.
He snarled. And what if the vampires try and attack you again?
They won’t.
How do you know that, Mack?
I just do.
No, you don’t. I’m sending two shifters round to you now. They will be with you round the clock to ensure that nothing like this happens again. What the hell were you doing in Hampstead Heath in the middle of the night anyway?
Something inside me snapped. It’s none of your fucking business what I was doing. And you can send round the whole of the sodding Brethren if you want. I’m not there. I told you, I’ve got things to do. Now stop treating me like a child and piss off back to your little shifter girlfriend so I can get some peace.
Silence rebounded back at me. For a moment I thought he’d taken the hint and broken the connection, but then he spoke again, with an underlying purr apparent in his Voice. You’re jealous.
No, I’m not. The lie was so obvious it made me cringe.
I don’t have any shifter girlfriends, kitten. I don’t have any girlfriends. The reason being that I’m waiting around for you to come to your senses.
Come to my senses? Because the only sensible thing to do is to date you? I cannot believe your arrogance. Leave me the fuck alone.
You really do have the most atrocious language. I wonder what it would take to get you stop swearing so much. His Voice was calmer now, but somehow that made him sound all the more dangerous.
Corrigan, I began.
He interrupted. If I pushed you up against the wall, let’s say the wall of my bedroom that you’re now becoming intimately familiar with, and then started at your neck, kissing that smooth skin from the edge of your collarbone then up, all the way up to your lips, and had one hand in your hair while the other unbuttoned your shirt, would you stay quiet then?
My mouth went completely dry. A booty call was absolutely the last thing I’d expected.
What? Corrigan continued, taunting me softly. Cat got your tongue?