Chapter 32
Sadie | Highlands, present day
Please, please don’t let the bad news be that Hester saw Elliott’s dead body when she was doing her cat reconnaissance.
Me (warily): What’s the good news?
Hester: Elliott was definitely in the castle.
Me: How do you know?
Hester: I found a barred window that opened onto a dungeon cell. I detected his scent.
Me: That ties in with what I saw under hypnosis.
Floss: What’s the bad news?
I brace myself.
Hester: He’s not there anymore.
Me (confused): Isn’t that good news?
Hester: There was blood on the ground.
Me: Oh, not so good. I thought he was being attacked by someone. It’s why I bit Damian by mistake.
Hester: I don’t think we should hang around if Floss is detecting Alexander. And we can’t get into the castle to find out anything further. We have to assume Elliott’s still alive somewhere in there.
Floss: Let’s go and find Damian in the meanwhile and have a think about what to do next.
It’s as good a plan as any, and I can’t come up with a reason why we should stay. Yet I’m reluctant to leave the castle if Elliott’s in there—what if he’s hurt?
There’s nothing for it but to follow Floss as she leads the way back into the forest. We pick up the trail again, keeping our eyes open. Not too far along, the sounds of growling and slurping drift to our ears.
Hester: Alexander?
Floss shakes her head. No, my wayward boyfriend.
We inch forward. Rounding a clump of trees, we stand at the top of a dirt ridge and peer down.
In the clearing below us are three people gorging on a large wild boar.
Damian’s purple-streaked hair is a giveaway.
The thin woman opposite is a stranger. But when the person next to her shifts position, I catch a glimpse of a familiar, albeit blood-smeared, face.
His shiny white fangs are clearly visible, and they plunge afresh into the boar’s neck.
Oh no no no no! Elliott’s a vampire. This wasn’t meant to happen.
I’m the only one who should make that decision!
My body trembles uncontrollably. Somehow, I find my voice.
‘Elliott John Blythe!’ I call out in a deadly tone. ‘What the fuck are you doing?’
Elliott looks around, then up to the ridge. His gaze lands on me standing there with my hands on my hips. A grin spreads across his face as we descend into the clearing. His bright blue eyes, startling against the vermillion blood on his cheeks, are locked on me. My face remains unsmiling.
‘Hey, babe,’ says Damian to Floss.
‘Um, hey,’ she replies, sounding equally shocked at finding her boyfriend feeding from a hairy animal.
Elliott frowns at me. ‘Aren’t you going to say hello?’
‘Hello. Glad you’re alive or, should I say, unalive,’ I say dryly.
The skinny girl crouched next to him on her haunches chuckles. She flicks a patch of bloodied fur off her fingers and stares at me. ‘Sadie, right? Elliott said you were funny.’
I bristle at that. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Lucy, Elliott’s sire.’
Elliott quickly elbows her in the ribs, but it’s too late. Jealousy floods my system. Oh, so she turned him. No doubt they’ve consummated that little arrangement. I know what it’s like when you first get turned: you’re high on bloodlust until it’s satiated.
‘How cosy,’ I say in as neutral a tone as I can muster.
I’m not going to let them see how devastated I am.
To find Elliott, my Elliott, only to lose him to this bitch.
I can feel the girl’s fingers pressing against my brain, trying to push through my mental wall.
How dare she! I block her instantly. I need to get out of here.
‘I’m going back to the house to check on Tim,’ I say curtly, turning on my heel and walking off. I make sure to keep my head up and shoulders squared. Damn the lot of them!
‘Not Tim, her ex-boyfriend?’ I hear Elliott querying behind me. Floss mutters a reply, but I’m walking so fast I’m out of range before I can hear what she says to him.
Rage and despair mix with relief that he’s alive.
But smack bang in the middle of that is the image of Elliott and Lucy feeding happily next to each other.
It’s imprinted on my brain. And the fact that she’s his sire, not me!
He’ll always have a blood bond with her now, goddamn it.
She’s obviously the one who helped him escape.
Who knows what else that horny little bitch has been doing with him in the castle—
‘Sadie, wait up!’
Footsteps slap on wet leaves behind me, but I don’t bother looking round. He can go to hell for all I care!
‘Just slow down, would you?’ Elliott grasps my shoulder, and I round on him with a snarl.
‘Don’t touch me! Don’t ever touch me again!’ My words lash out like a whip, and Elliott recoils. But I don’t even know what I’m saying right now. I want to hurt him like he’s hurt me.
‘I know what it looks like, but it’s not what you think,’ he says carefully.
I fold my arms and lean against a tree. ‘Really? I’m thinking it’s exactly how it fucking looks. So explain to me how you’re a vampire right now.’
Elliott wipes his face with the bottom of his T-shirt, giving me a flash of toned abs. Desire coils tightly in me, and I look away. This is not the time to get turned on by him, even though I’m craving his touch something chronic. But I’m not going to admit that!
‘Lucy saved my life. I would’ve died if she hadn’t turned me. Alexander was drawing so much blood ... and I still don’t know why. He’s swanning around in that castle like bloody Hugh Hefner. You should see him—dressing gown, cravat, the whole works. He looks like a right numpty.’
My lips twist at that, but I flatten my mouth instantly.
‘So what happened after Lucy turned you? Did you and she ...?’
‘No!’ Elliott takes a step closer to me, and I let him (for now). ‘All I could think about was getting back to you.’
I humph at that. ‘Sure.’
‘It’s the truth. She was trying it on with me, but I pushed her away. She nearly bit me again.’
I close my eyes briefly, imagining how good it would feel to rip her throat out myself.
‘Isn’t it better to have me like this than dead?’ he asks, sounding closer.
I open my eyes to find he’s right in front of me, looking down with a grin. I can feel myself melting under the flame of his gorgeous smile; it gets me every time. ‘Of course. But ... she’s your sire, not me, Elliott!’ I wail.
His arms go around me, and I sag against his blood-splotched chest, whimpering. He caresses my back and cups a large hand protectively around the back of my neck.
‘I know, sweetheart. It sucks big time. I wanted you to turn me for so long. But I don’t regret it, not if it means I get to be with you forever.’
‘I was so scared when Alexander took you. I thought that was it. Then I got so mad. I wanted to kill him!’ I growl against his chest.
Elliott chuckles. ‘That’s my girl. I knew you would.’ He kisses the top of my head, and some of my pain and anger dissipate. But I still want to kill Alexander for putting me through hell.
‘How did you find me?’ he asks.
‘Hypnosis. Damian put me under, and I managed to connect with you. It was going well until I thought you were being attacked, and I kind of ... bit him.’
Elliott tenses. ‘What?’
I lick my lips. ‘Yeah.’
He pulls back and looks down at me with a serious expression. ‘So why are you giving me shit when you turned Damian?’
I give a nervous chuckle. ‘Er, well, technically, Floss gave him her blood to transition him. But mine was still in his system. Now he seems to have a combination of both our powers: telepathy and speed.’
Elliott huffs. ‘Lucky him! All I’ve got is a supersensitive nose.’
I giggle at that. ‘Really? Surely, you’ve got something else?’
He shrugs. ‘Not so far.’
I rub his arm. ‘It doesn’t matter to me.’
‘You’re not going to ditch me if I turn out to be a pathetic vampire like Charlie?’
Frowning, I shake my head. ‘No, of course not. I want you just the way you are.’ My chest tightens, and my bottom lip quivers, feeling vulnerable.
‘I want you too.’ Elliott tilts my head back and runs his lips down my throat. ‘And a sensitive nose isn’t the worst thing in the world. You smell delicious to me right now.’
He presses me back against the tree, his hard length nudging the apex of my thighs. I’m usually the one in control of things, but part of me is liking this new take-charge Elliott.
‘I want you to take my vampire virginity,’ he whispers in my ear.
I smile at that and look around at the forest and its glowing purple trees. ‘Here?’
He nods. ‘Right here. Right now.’