Chapter 2
FAYE
“I-hate-my-husband cupcakes,” Faye muttered as she sat in the soft leather chair in Foxford’s blood bank.
She imagined herself in the kitchen of Stoker’s Café, baking; she had some cupcake batter left in the fridge from yesterday’s catering order.
What flavour icing should I use? Lavender or wolfsbane?
If the latter, I could bring some home to Ian and watch him choke.
As she envisioned adding purple colouring to the icing, she felt a sense of security.
The kitchen always made her feel safe – far safer than her home in the woods between the villages of Foxford and Willow Valley with Ian, her husband.
At least, that was what he called himself, despite there being no ceremony recognised by magical folk between a vampire and a magless, non-magical folk.
Moving into their cottage in the lawless woods had been bliss at first. Still, it hadn’t been long before she’d longed to return to Foxford, where she’d grown up and had friends who cared for her despite all her attempts to push them away – but Ian would never allow them to move back.
He felt those in the sanctuary kept involving themselves in their relationship.
Staring up at the bag of O-negative being pumped into her weakened veins to help with her severe anaemia, Faye went over her escape plan to return to Foxford and the protection of the coven, as she did every time she ended up at the blood bank.
For years, she had hoped Ian would grow tired of her.
That one night, he would just go out and not come back.
But he always returned; that was the problem with being in a relationship with a vampire – their immortality meant they had all the time in the world.
She refused to waste any more of hers at his mercy.
“How are you feeling?” Nurse Jackie asked, coming by to check on her. “Ah, looks like you’ve finished that bag! That means we can let you go. Make sure you follow the iron-rich diet we outlined during your last visit. You’ll only start feeling better if you keep going with your diet.”
“I’ll remember,” Faye replied with a forced smile. “I’ve been so busy at the café that I haven’t eaten properly. If only we could survive on pastries and cakes.”
She knew no iron-rich diet could make up for Ian feeding on her.
Last night, he had taken too much after he had returned home in a terrible mood.
Though it was against coven law to feed on a magless, it never stopped him.
Living on the edge of Foxford village allowed him to avoid punishment – a motive Faye hadn’t considered when she’d left the borders of her home for him.
At least he hadn’t bitten her neck this time; she had cut her auburn hair short to put him off.
There were only so many turtlenecks she could wear without drawing attention, especially once the warmer months came.
Other areas of her body were much easier to cover.
If only she weren’t so pale, then the bruises and bites wouldn’t be so easily noticed.
She’d thought she would recover from the feeding as she had so many times before; it was alarming how her body was getting used to losing so much blood.
However, last night, lying on the kitchen floor, she could have sworn she saw Death standing over her.
At least maybe this would buy her some time to implement her plan to leave for good.
Having taken so much blood, it would be a while before Ian was thirsty again.
After a feeding, his mood was more stable, less paranoid, meaning he wouldn’t be keeping as close an eye on her.
“If only we could – and thank you for the pastries you brought us this morning! Your cinnamon twists make working the early morning shift worth it,” Nurse Jackie said kindly, putting a plaster on her arm.
“Just a small thank you for squeezing me in,” Faye said.
The blood bank always accommodated her at the last minute.
One advantage of living somewhere with so many vampires was that it was perpetually well stocked; vampires in Foxford drank ethically, unlike her husband.
She’d brought them some pastries left out from the day before – a second or two in the microwave and they were good as new.
She suspected the nurses were aware of her situation.
Still, they remained silent and respectful, leaving her feeling both grateful and ashamed.
“Is there anyone you want us to call? You might be a little woozy after the transfusion,” Nurse Jackie said sympathetically.
“No, I’m fine,” Faye said a little too quickly.
Her emergency contact was Ian, and she didn’t want him to think she had come to the blood bank to out him for what he had done.
When she’d woken up in the kitchen, she’d been relieved to find he’d already gone underground for the day.
With spring in full swing, the days were getting longer, and she could spend more time out of the cottage and at the café in Foxford putting her plan into action.
Ian, who worked at the vampire pub in Willow Valley, slept all day and was gone all night, making her life more bearable.
It was thanks to her best friend Lucy’s husband, Benedict Matherson, that Ian had got the job, which kept him out of trouble and allowed Faye to stay close to home.
In Willow Valley, a lawless sanctuary for magical folk, it was harder for him to lose his job – their tolerance for trouble had no end.
And, since Ian was gone most of the time, she had convinced him to let her work full-time in the kitchen of Stoker’s Café.
It had been a hard sell, but she made sure never to come home late and never miss a meal.
The high price was worth it. Faye had recently purchased the café with cash at a fraction of what it was worth from the elderly Mrs Stoker, who’d wanted to retire and spend time with her grandchildren in Scotland.
When Ian stormed in angrily last night, Faye had feared he’d discovered that she’d started moving her things to the apartment above Stoker’s.
In truth, a customer had only insulted him at the pub, and he’d needed someone to lash out at.
She had never been so relieved to be wrong.
Her escape had been years in the making.
For the hundredth time, she reminded herself to be less human and more like a vampire. Don’t let your emotions ruin this.
As Faye left the blood bank, she felt the pitying gaze of the front desk staff and vowed that Ian would never touch her again. This would be the last time she ever set foot in this building.