Chapter 9
Sadie | Edinburgh, present day
After my hypnosis session, I’m surprisingly clear-headed about the next steps.
‘We’re going to have to track Alexander to the Highlands. You,’ I say sharply pointing at Damian. ‘Can you drive?’
He nods. ‘Yeeess. But I don’t have a car.’
‘Can you get one?’
Damian thinks for a minute. ‘I could borrow my dad’s. He doesn’t use it much since he works from home, and it should fit all of us.’
‘Great. Let’s get ready.’
He blinks at me. ‘Uh, now? It’s after midnight. My dad will be asleep. Besides, I can’t take off up to the Highlands. I have patients tomorrow.’
Floss rubs his arm. ‘He needs to sleep too.’
I roll my eyes. These bloody humans with their jobs and needing sleep.
Floss should have turned Damian rather than wiffle-waffling around with him.
Frustrated at the entire lack of urgency, I get up and start pacing.
Grrrr, this is all taking way too long. I feel like running outside right now and stealing a car.
But I’ve never bothered getting a licence, and though I can drive, I’m not that good at it.
In my highly emotional state, I’m liable to crash.
If only Elliott still had his van, Damian could drive that, but he sold it years ago.
‘Fine. You can sleep for a few hours. But we need to go after that. As for your patients—’
‘I could say I’ve had a family emergency and will be away for a few days ... I’ll get Maggie, my receptionist, to reschedule them,’ says Damian quickly.
‘Good.’
‘Should we book a hotel somewhere?’ suggests Hester, looking at me. ‘We’ll need a pit stop. And we should probably take the rest of the blood bags to keep our strength up. Unless you want to stop at towns on the way?’
I glance at Damian, and he goes a bit pale, as if he’s realised he’s going to be chauffeuring a car full of bloodsucking vampires.
‘We’ll definitely take the blood, then see how things pan out,’ I say. ‘It all depends where Alexander’s taking him. I don’t particularly want to have to resort to hunting after all these years, but we might have to if we need to ... refuel.’ I lick my lips and stare at Damian’s neck.
Floss jumps up and shuffles him out of the room and down to her lair. I laugh a little when I pick up on her indignation.
Hands off—no one’s going to be biting Damian but me!
Hester accompanies me to my bedroom, then disappears to hers, and I manage to get a couple of hours’ sleep.
Then I jerk awake, thinking Elliott is lying beside me and realise with a sinking feeling that it’s just an empty space.
Even though he has his own flat, he sleeps over on a regular basis, not that we do much sleeping.
I miss him. A lot. It’s hard for me to admit that, but I do.
I wouldn’t be undertaking this mission to the Highlands and risking my own neck if I didn’t.
I check in with Floss telepathically to try and get her to wake Damian up, but she says he’s exhausted and to quit it. She’s getting quite feisty and protective now that she’s got a boyfriend and getting some regular action. He must be good in bed if she’s so enamoured with him.
I bet he’s not as good as Elliott, though. He knows exactly what I like. I close my eyes and try to not to think about the worst-case scenario. I haven’t heard the buzzing noise for a while, but that could mean he’s sleeping. Or already dead.
By the time we set off, it’s approaching 7 a.m., and I’ve been packed and ready to go for hours.
We each have a small tote with a change of clothes and toiletries, as well as a cooler for the blood bags.
Thanks to Elliott bringing round a fresh supply yesterday, we have about ten, which should be enough to keep us going.
I assume we’re going to catch the bus to Blackford to collect the car, but Floss says no.
That we have to stop off at Damian’s first so he can get changed and pack some clothes in a backpack as he feels weird wearing Elliott’s stuff.
We all have to go as he’s nervous since Alexander was near the flat last night.
I roll my eyes and am tempted to say that by this time, Alexander is deep in the Highlands and undoubtedly snacking on Elliott. But I don’t say anything.
I need the support of the coven, and Damian’s hypnosis skills, if I want to have any chance of rescuing Elliott. So I will be nice Sadie, patient Sadie. Even if I feel like I want to rip everyone’s heads off for being so goddamn slow!
Damian’s dad—or Malcolm, I remember him being called—is surprised to see us all on his doorstep this early in the morning.
His eyes rest on Damian, who’s holding hands with Floss, and they have a short conversation about borrowing the car. Hester and I stand a few steps back, and I play with a leaf on a shrub, not wanting him to recognise me.
But after he invites us in and I slide my sunglasses to the top of my head, I can’t avoid his curious gaze. Floss told me about the photo of us at Tim’s flat-warming party and that Damian’s dad remembered my name, so he definitely knows who I am. Awkward.
We stand around in the kitchen while Malcolm puts the kettle on. ‘Does anyone want a tea or coffee?’ We all shake our heads.
‘So you’re off up north?’ he asks Damian, deliberately ignoring us girls. His fingers are quivering as he adds a teabag to his cup. Yeah, he knows we’re not normal, but he’s trying to hide it well for Damian’s sake. Tim might have said something to him about me as well when we broke up.
‘Yes, it’s a spur of the moment thing. I had some leave owing, and we decided to go last night.’
‘Are you OK with driving?’
Damian shrugs. ‘I think so.’
Floss squeezes his hand. Oh yeah, he was involved in a car accident a few years ago, wasn’t he? That’s nice of him to offer. Then again, I kind of forced him into it.
Malcolm leans against the counter, sipping his tea. I’m so tempted to read his mind to find out what he’s thinking, but part of me doesn’t want to know. I dumped his brother in a cold-hearted manner, so he’s not going to be thinking anything nice.
But then he takes a deep breath and says, ‘How are you, Sadie? Long time no see.’ OK, it looks like he’s going to avoid the elephant in the room: Why do you still look the same as you did in 1983?
I give him a brief nod. ‘Good, thanks, Malcolm. How’s Tim?’ I ask the question out of politeness but then instantly regret it when Malcolm brightens.
‘He’s OK. Well, he was the last time I spoke to him. It’s been a few months. He’s off-grid, living near Pitlochry. If you’re up that way, you should drop in. He’d love to see you.’
Is he joking? I say to Hester. I really don’t think he would. I dumped him like a hot potato. The guy was about to ask me to marry him!
It’s been ages. He’s probably over it by now, she replies. It’s not a bad idea to look him up. Then we don’t have to stay in a hotel.
‘We’ll discuss it on the way,’ says Damian nervously, seeing my jaw clench. ‘We’re not exactly sure where we’re going yet.’
Malcolm chuckles, and the tension in the room eases. ‘Sounds like the trips me and my friends used to take. I have a couple of tents you can use if you get stuck.’
I shudder. Camping. I abhor it. In any season. Even staying with an ex-boyfriend sounds better than that.
Malcolm pulls out a nearby drawer and chucks a set of keys at Damian, who catches them in one hand. ‘There’s a quarter of a tank, so you’ll need to fill up on the way. Have fun.’
My lips stretch in the semblance of a smile. We’re trying to rescue my thrall from a vengeful vampire. We may all die in the process.
‘Yeah, should be good,’ I say with a touch of sarcasm. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
Soon afterwards, we’re on the road in a red Toyota Corolla: Damian behind the wheel, Floss next to him in the passenger seat, and Hester and me in the back. Hester has to bend her head slightly because she’s so tall. I don’t envy the crick in her neck she’s going to have later on.
Damian’s eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror. ‘Are you going to memory-wipe my dad?’
I arch an eyebrow. ‘I’d have to memory-wipe him all the way back to 1983 as I get the feeling Tim may have said something to him at the time. He probably pushed it out of his mind as ludicrous, but meeting Floss and now me again has confirmed what Tim suspected.’
Floss swivels slightly in her seat to look at me. ‘What would Tim have said?’
I shrug and stare out the window. ‘Something along the lines of me being a “stone-cold freak”. That’s what he said when we broke up. He was upset. It wasn’t an amiable break-up.’
‘So his stone-cold ex dropping in to see him forty years later might not be a good idea?’ quips Damian. I know he’s attempting to lighten the tense atmosphere, but it only serves to irritate me.
‘You think?’ I snap sarcastically.
No one says anything—for a very long time.
Damian is driving like an old man, and I’m ready to burst out my skin with frustration.
I can’t help complaining to Floss: Damian’s slower than a grandpa. We got passed by a little old lady back there.
Floss: He’s being cautious. After the accident.
Me: That was years ago. Tell him to put the pedal to the metal, for God’s sake.
Floss: No, it will stress him out!
With all the grunting and eyebrow fluttering going on, I’m sure Damian knows we’re talking about his driving. His ears are red, and his hands are white-knuckled on the wheel.
Floss puts her hand on his leg and murmurs soothingly to him, ‘You’re doing great, babe. Just drive at the speed you feel comfortable at.’
I roll my eyes. These two are too cutesy for words, I think to Hester. But she wisely stays out of it, head down, scrolling on her phone.
I’m aware that not having my morning dose of Elliott’s blood is making me more of a bitch than usual.
I missed his arms around me, feeding from his neck and chatting afterwards.
All I’ve got now is the comforting buzz in my head that tells me he’s alive.
He’s my glue, and without him, I can feel myself starting to become unstuck emotionally and mentally.
I have to keep it together, for Elliott’s sake.