Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
SECRETS AND LIES
A figure comes forward, moonlight faint on her face. She’s tall and curvy, with long blonde hair. Her face is pretty, almost doll-like, with her cupid’s-bow mouth, pointed nose and wide blue eyes, a sprinkle of freckles across her pale skin.
‘How does she know your name?’ I take a step away from Michael, the knife clutched in my hand.
‘Yes, tell her, Michael. How do we know each other?’
‘Cut the bullshit, Cass.’ Michael’s voice is low and fierce.
Cass? The female comes so close that her black leathers brush against me as she kisses Michael on the cheek. Then her attention turns to me.
‘Who the fuck is this?’ She bends her head, sniffing.
I stiffen, lifting my chin. I don’t care who she is, or who she thinks Michael is to her, but I’m not prey to be scented. ‘Stop sniffing me.’
‘She smells like you.’ Cass lifts her head, her eyes wide. ‘Is she another blood-borne human? I thought they were all murdered.’
‘Her name is Emelia.’ Michael grits out the words.
I’ve had enough. ‘Who the fuck are you?’ I hiss. ‘If you’re going to hunt us, just get on with it. Or let us go.’
‘Hunt you?’ Cass bursts out laughing. There’s more laughter, from the other vampires in the clearing. ‘Have you told her nothing, Michael?’
‘Just get on with it.’ Michael’s voice is hard, his arms folded. Then, to me, ‘They won’t let us go.’
‘He’s right, I’m afraid.’ Cass grins, her dropped fangs delicate points. ‘Come on. It’s time to show you your new home.’
Our new home? I’m so furious I barely notice as the vampires close in on us, herding us towards a path through the trees. Michael reaches for my hand. I pull away. Hurt lances, deep in my chest. I storm ahead of him, but he catches my arm.
‘Let go of me!’
‘You need to stay close.’
‘Why? What’s going to happen if I don’t?’ I pull my arm free. Michael grabs it again.
‘What the hell is your problem?’
‘God and darkness, Michael, if you don’t tell me what’s going on I’ll hunt you myself,’ I hiss. I swear the vampire nearest to me snorts with laughter.
‘This isn’t a hunt!’
Oh, that’s it. I’m going to burst into flames. ‘Then what—’
‘Save your lovers’ quarrel until you’re settled in, chickens.’ Cass folds her arms. ‘We’re here.’
Michael’s arm slides around my waist as we come to a stop. I’m about to pull away when I take in our surroundings. My jaw drops.
We’re in the middle of a huge square clearing, deep in the woods.
Trees rise, tall around us. And, bordering the clearing, are houses.
Smoke comes from the chimneys, faint lights twinkling in the windows.
Ivy shrouds most of them, green curtains softening their shapes, offering only the occasional glimpse of brick and timber.
Lights shimmer, deeper in the trees. More houses, I realise, dark shapes among the soaring trunks.
There are whole villages in there.
It’s like being in a fairy tale, glimmering candles and ivy-strewn dwellings deep in the forest. But the vampires surrounding me, clad in black, tell a different story.
‘Welcome to the Greenwood. I am Cassandra, captain of this cell.’ Cass turns, taking in the group of wide-eyed humans.
One of them, the woman who spoke to me, is sobbing, relief in every gasping breath.
‘This is your home, now,’ Cass continues.
‘You have passed through, leaving all sorrow, all fear behind. In the name of Lady Morvenna, I welcome you.’
I stiffen. Lady Morvenna? What the fuck? But if this is one of the settlements, does that mean… ‘You’re Reapers,’ I breathe.
‘We are.’ Cass smiles as she turns to me, her fangs dropped. ‘And so is Michael.’
* * *
‘You need to tell me everything. Now.’
Michael and I are in a small bedroom on the top floor of a house, with its own adjoining bathroom.
A dormer window in the sloping ceiling frames a square of dark purple sky and black branches, a few stars visible.
Rose-patterned paper covers the walls, more roses on the soft bedspread, the huge iron-framed bed the only piece of furniture in the room apart from a chest of drawers.
A smell of cooking drifts up from below, indicating we’re not alone.
I fold my arms, leaning against the wall. I need answers. I’m also aware that we’re both missing, and that’s going to be a huge fucking problem. Answers, and then a way to get out of here.
Michael paces back and forth, dragging his hand through his hair. ‘What do you want to know first?’ His voice is strained.
‘How about we start with who Cass is? Your secret girlfriend?’
‘No.’ He laughs. I want to smack him. Or kiss him. ‘Gods, no. She would laugh her head off if she heard you say that. She’s my sister. Half-sister, to be exact. Not that anyone knows. My father liked to fuck around, which is probably no surprise.’
‘Your half-sister?’ This is the absolute last thing I expected. I gape at him. ‘She’s Mistral’s daughter?’
‘Don’t ever call her that. Not if you want your throat to remain intact.’
‘Okay.’ I blink, shaking my head. ‘Tell me the rest.’
‘The rest?’
‘All of it. How are you a Reaper? That story you told me about escaping from a Reaper patrol was bullshit, wasn’t it?’
‘Not all of it. I did escape,’ he says. ‘Just not quite as I told you. Cass helped me come here after my father threw me out.’ He pauses. ‘You’ve seen my scars, right?’
I nod, remembering what I saw in the practice ring. Realisation dawns. ‘Your father did that to you?’
‘Yeah. Him and my brothers, after he tried to change me to vampire and it didn’t work.
I ran away but they caught me, savaged me, then left me for dead.
Cass had heard, somehow, and she was there, waiting in the darkness.
I wouldn’t have made it, otherwise. She brought me here and they healed me.
I was a good fighter, so they trained me as a Reaper.
But then Cass and I argued and I asked to leave.
She refused. I was so pissed off that I ducked out on my next day patrol. I was lucky to get away.’
‘What do you mean, get away? Couldn’t you just have caught the bus out of here?’
‘When you come here, you leave your life behind. There’s a place here, I’ll show you tomorrow, where you can get your Raven mark removed.’
‘Is this where Sophie is?’
‘I don’t know. It’s pretty likely, though. She was trying to get out of the gates at Versailles, wasn’t she? There’s a connection point very close to there.’
Shit. Realisation rolls over me, accompanied by sorrow. ‘Why wouldn’t she tell me?’
‘The opening might have come up at short notice. Or … E, I’m sorry, but you are the Raven. She might have felt she couldn’t say anything.’
I’m silent, fighting back tears. I understand. ‘Can we look for her?’
‘We can. But she most likely won’t be in this cell. There are other cells.’
Other cells? God and darkness. Then something else Michael said hits me. ‘What do you mean by “when you come here you leave your life behind”?’
‘Once you’re in the network, that’s it. Reapers hold their borders incredibly tightly. There is no leaving. No chance that the Reapers’ secret will be told. This is a one-way ticket, Emelia.’
I stare at him, horror cold inside me. ‘We can’t leave?’
He shakes his head. ‘It was bad luck we turned down that alley when we did. Once I realised it was a Reaper transport, my plan was to get us out the same way I left. But Cass will be onto me.’
‘I’m going to be crowned in less than a week,’ I hiss. ‘If we disappear, Raven will unleash darkness knows what to find me. We can’t let that happen!’
‘I know. If worst comes to worst, we might have to come clean to Cass about who you are.’
‘Who I am? She’ll kill me.’
‘I won’t let her do that. You know I won’t. Gods, Emelia. I’d let her kill me before that happened.’ His gaze softens.
I hold on tight to my anger, not yet willing to yield. ‘This is bullshit.’
‘What, me giving my life for yours? No, it isn’t.’
‘Oh, that definitely is. There is no way I would let you—’
‘E.’ He comes closer, close enough I can feel the heat of him. He caresses my cheek. ‘We’re alone. In a room. Together. Do you really want to spend the time arguing?’
‘Yes,’ I say, even as I close my eyes, pushing into his hand like a cat.
‘Yes?’ He chuckles. ‘Because I can think of far better things to do.’ His other hand comes to my waist, pulling me hard against him. Oh, darkness.
‘We shouldn’t do this.’ My arms twine around his neck, giving the lie to my words.
‘No?’ His lips brush mine, feather light. More kisses, butterfly gentle, but I can feel the restraint behind them. ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘We really shouldn’t … I’m with…’ I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. But his hands tighten on me.
‘You are mine, Emelia. Not his. And you know it. Just as you know I’m yours.’
My lips part, my whole body screaming for him.
You are mine. Those words, growled, do something to me.
I’m just getting it out of my system, I tell myself, as his kisses become more heated, as he moves me towards the huge bed.
Just this once, and I can move on. He lays me down gently, still kissing me as his hands go to my waistband.
He pauses, as though to give me a moment.
I don’t need a moment. I need him. I lift my hips so he can slide my sweats from me.
‘Hmmm.’ His voice is a rumble against my throat. ‘While I like how you look in these, those gowns of yours make for much easier access.’
‘Pig.’ I smack his shoulder, moaning as he grinds against me, his hardness teasing me.
‘You know I’m right,’ he murmurs, smiling against my mouth as he kisses me, long and slow. He pulls back, bracing himself with one arm either side of me. His eyes are dark, his lips swollen from my kisses. Light caresses the strong planes of his face, the gold of his hair.
‘Michael, I—’
He shakes his head, leaning in to kiss me again. ‘No more talking,’ he murmurs. ‘Just kissing.’