Chapter 5
A Slight Inconvenience
Isat outside on a deck lounge, my knees tucked to my chest. The high brick fence stretched into the darkness.
Behind it, the limbs of the dense trees reached up like gnarled black hands.
The unease hadn’t wavered. It was in good company with a surge of loneliness.
It was cold. I didn’t move. Not when I could feel the eyes of a vampire staring at me. Not even when cold sank into my bones.
How long am I stuck here for with you creatures?
I blew out a ragged breath. Georgie was right; we couldn’t stay here forever, couldn’t live like prisoners even if the prison was the size of and as stunning as a six-star hotel.
If there was such a thing as a six star?
Karson’s home was far more luxurious than any hotel I could ever imagine.
It had a copious number of rooms, a pool, a gym, and was surrounded by hectares of plush landscaped gardens.
My phone beeped, dragging me from this pathetic sense of self-pity.
My fingers felt numb as I pulled it out of my pocket.
I had asked Ethan to send me a message every day even if he sent one word to let me know he was safe.
He’d taken my comment literally. On the first day, he sent: Ethan is …
This had then been followed daily with a single word:
… hunky.
… intelligent.
… sexy.
Today, unusually, he sent a whole sentence:
Ethan’s sex is on fire.
I chuckled and wrote back: If sex is burning, I suggest you go to a doctor.
Ethan: Unlike you, little witch, vampires can’t catch diseases.
Me: Unlike you, vampire, I don’t catch them because I don’t fornicate with anything that moves.
I didn’t know how long it took for him to respond, probably ten seconds, but it felt like half an hour.
I never thought I would say this, but I miss your dirty mouth.
Me: When are you coming home? I miss you too
Ethan: I don’t know, hopefully not too long. Bob’s calling, I have to go now.
Me: Be safe.
Ethan: I’m a vampire, Amy, I’m always safe xxx
I sat the phone on the table and chewed my bottom lip.
He might be a vampire, but vampires only needed to have their heads or hearts removed to kill them.
But he was with Bob, and even though his relationship with Sarah had ended badly, she was still in love with Ethan, and I didn’t think she’d hurt him.
Karson’s words rang through my head, She’s a firstborn and they are unpredictable.
The unease churned more intensely.
Car headlights flickered across the grass. I smiled—Karson’s car. The smile dropped as I heard the roar—he was driving fast, much faster than usual.
I jumped to my feet and scurried to the drive.
The passenger door opened, and Karson climbed—no, he fell out. Monique was out of the driver’s seat and rushed to his side as he began to crumble to his knees. She tucked an arm under his shoulder and reefed him to his feet.
My hands flew over my mouth as I broke into a sprint. He looked as white as a ghost, sweat coating his brow. When I saw his shirt, my breathing jammed. It was covered in blood.
“What happened?” I cried.
Monique’s dark eyes lifted to me, and she hissed, “A fucking witch happened.”
Her look was brutal enough, but her words struck like a blade and I flinched.
Monique had always hated me, but since I’d almost gotten her killed, her hatred had intensified.
The only reason she was alive was because Sarah had planned to make it look like Monique had killed Georgie and me.
That was the level of psychotic thinking we were dealing with.
I had apologized to Monique for putting her in danger in the first place, but it had fallen on deaf ears.
Monique was tall and strong, and she supported Karson’s weight with an ease I couldn’t fathom as he stumbled toward the door.
“Karson,” I whispered.
He lifted his head at the sound of my voice, his eyes glazed. “Amelia,” he slurred, his breathing thin and ragged.
Josh, a slim-built vampire, flashed from the inside, his shaggy brown hair wisping around the sides of his face.
He wore a white t-shirt with a batman symbol on the front and blue jeans with sneakers.
The first time I’d met him was when I woke up in Karson’s room after Sarah had almost killed me.
He was different from the vampires I’d met.
He seemed honest, kind, and wore his emotions on his face, not carefully hidden under a mask.
He was also the only vampire who spent most of his time in the house, rather than lurking around the grounds like the others.
He was the kind of guy who would bring home flowers for his mother.
And he’d buy them, not just steal them from someone’s garden.
“What happened?” he asked as he slipped under Karson’s arm and helped support his weight.
“A poisoned blade,” Monique responded, her lips thin, worry carved into her brow. “Michael has taken it to find out what they used to get an antidote.”
From out of the dark, three vampires appeared. Pixie and Leon were friendly and always spoke when I passed them. Pixie usually had a bright smile. Challis, a male with sun-kissed skin and tight ringlet curls, in complete contrast, looked at me as if he wanted to burn me at the stake.
Pixie’s hands twisted in front of her as she took Karson in, her words coming out in a breathless rush. “Is he going to be alright? Oh stars, what can we do?”
“Get blood,” Monique snapped.
Pixie’s dark hair floated behind her as she took off into the house. The blood, I knew from watching various vampires come and go, was stored in the basement.
Leon’s brows were etched with worry. His movements sharp and short as he strode beside me, he scanned the edges of the property cautiously, his breath floating into the night as he spoke. “I told him killing that witch wasn’t a good idea.”
Was this retribution?
I licked my dry lips. “Was this Caron?”
Monique’s jaw clenched, and the silence stretched until finally she admitted, “I don’t know who is responsible.”
Karson’s feet dragged on the stairs as they hauled him inside.
I bounded after them. They went straight to the sitting room.
He groaned with pain as they laid him on the couch.
His head slumped back on the rest, his eyes closed.
I dropped to my knees beside him and placed my hand on his forehead—he was burning up.
“You’re going to be alright,” I told him anxiously, smoothing back his sweat-soaked hair. “You’re going to be fine. You are going to be fine.”
He opened his eyes and stared at me. His breathing sounded strained and rattled as he said, “I’m alright, I’m a firstborn, remember.”
Even in terrible distress, he was a cocky ass. I was pleased to hear it, but that didn’t stop him from suffering. Usually, the suffering ended quickly as his body repaired itself. Why wasn’t he healing?
“Of course you are,” I whispered, kissing his forehead, his skin damp and salty on my lips.
His mouth curved in a ghost of a smile, then his eyes rolled back in his head and fluttered closed. He was losing consciousness. Whatever they had used, even for a firstborn, it was bad.
Monique lifted the bottom of his shirt to look at the wound.
I gasped. Challis swore. Leon’s eyes widened and his face seemed to lose color.
Black vines writhed under Karson’s skin out of an angry black stab mark. The vines twisted and crawled as if they were alive, moving slowly toward his heart. If they reached it …
“What the fuck is that?” Challis breathed.
Monique blew out a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”
“Whatever it is, to disable him, it has to be from powerful dark magic,” Challis said, lifting his head, his eyes darting between Monique and Leon.
Leon shook his head and took a step back.
Karson looked sickly and his breathing had thinned. Nausea rose in my stomach.
“How many families would have the knowledge of what could bring down a firstborn?” Challis said to no one in particular.
Leon swallowed. “I don’t know, but I’d be more concerned right now with what else they have planned.”
Monique’s head whipped up. “Go outside and warn the others to be on full alert.”
Challis left, but not before he threw me a look that could freeze hot water. I ignored him; I had much bigger problems than a vampire who didn’t even know me deciding he didn’t like me because of what I was.
“We need to get his temperature down.” Leon turned, his worried gaze falling to Josh. “Get some cold water.”
Josh nodded and flashed out of the door.
Monique ripped the buttons of Karson’s shirt open. Sweat beaded on the black raven tattoo on his chest, making it seem as if the raven’s wings glistened.
And the veins squirmed toward them …
My hand shook as I ran my fingers through his damp hair, tears stinging my eyes. “You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay,” I repeated like a chant, like a prayer. “Hold on, Michael’s getting help.” I kissed his brow again, and I swear, even though he seemed out of it, he shivered.
Pixie came back with a bag of blood. Unscrewing the top, she leaned over him.
With her thumb, she gently opened his mouth and let it trickle in.
He swallowed a few mouthfuls, but when he stopped swallowing and crimson ran out of the side of his mouth, Pixie stopped pouring.
She wiped the corner of his lips with a hanky and stepped back, her fingers white-knuckled on the blood bag.
We all stared at him, holding our breaths, waiting for him to wake up again. He didn’t stir.
“Why isn’t it working?” Pixie asked, panicking.
Monique shook her head. “Maybe he didn’t drink enough.”
Pixie tried again, but Karson didn’t swallow at all.
Josh raced in with a tub of cold water and a cloth, setting them on the floor. Monique didn’t wring the cloth, she let the cold water slosh over his chest and face. I moved my hands away as she wiped down his hair.