Authors: Berni Stevens
‘That is one offer I have no intention of refusing,’ he promised. ‘But perhaps it is not a good one for you to make tonight.’
His gaze lingered on the side of my face, and I touched it self-consciously, wincing as I felt the tenderness there. Capturing my hand in his, he took it away from my face and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the bruises. ‘Bastard.’ He muttered further curses in Italian to himself.
He lifted my chin with his forefinger and looked at my neck. I knew it was also badly bruised just by the feel of it. His fingers gently brushed the bruises on my face where Honyauti had hit me, and carefully traced my bruised and ravaged lips.
‘I wish I had killed him,’ he murmured. He pulled me carefully into his arms and I shuddered both from relief and from the closeness of his body.
‘Are you hurt anywhere else?’ He asked, and I knew what he meant.
‘No, you came in time,’ I whispered, and closed my eyes to prevent further tears from escaping.
‘Then I think perhaps you had better go and put some clothes on, before I change my mind, and relieve you of this rather wet towel,’ he said against my hair.
I pulled back from his embrace, and smiled up at him weakly. ‘Clothes,’ I said.
15 March
When I walked into the bathroom and saw Honyauti touching Elinor, the rage that filled me was swift and terrible. I knew the Indian had to be taught a lesson then and there if my authority over him could ever be acknowledged. I tried not to feel Elinor’s terror as she cowered crying in the corner of the bath, but I was always aware of her.
I left after I had thrown Honyauti out. I just could not trust myself to speak to her for a while.
But I had reckoned without her indomitable spirit and sense of injustice.
Brave girl.
She rampaged into the drawing room, like a tiny, red-haired nymph, clad only in a bath towel. That alone would have been enough to appease me under normal circumstances, but I was striving to control my temper. She appeared bruised and battered, and very frightened, yet she was still very angry with me.
She berated me for not believing her, and rightly so.
I always know when she is telling the truth and she told the absolute truth then.
I could not stay angry with her. The assault had not been her fault. I knew that deep in my heart. But jealousy is an evil age-old vice and sadly I have it in spades.
She stood her ground against me – again – she even told me to stop being possessive and, I believe the term was, ‘to cut the macho crap’. Colourful.
Immortality will never again be dull.
Lessons
The night after Honyauti’s attack, Will thankfully stayed put in the house all night. The thought of being left alone at all, ever again, terrified me beyond belief. Will seemed contrite about his former absences, yet offered no reason for them, and I couldn’t bring myself to question him.
Paranoia filled me, especially when I thought he might just have found a more compliant woman to seduce. I didn’t feel strong enough to face that. Try as I might, I still found it difficult to sort out my true feelings for him. That I found him devastatingly attractive wasn’t in any doubt, I would have to be made of stone not to feel something. His very being filled my thoughts more than I could cope with, and his charismatic presence drew me to him whenever he entered a room. I had never felt like this about any man … but would it be enough? Would it grow into love? I hadn’t enough experience to tell. Will had been right when he said I had always been searching for something. But was the ‘something’ love? What the hell defined love anyway?
I gave myself a mental shake. Tomorrow night we were expecting the elusive Khiara and her cronies. I certainly couldn’t muster up even a scrap of enthusiasm at the prospect of coming face to face with the woman who had captivated Will. Having encountered her advance party the other night, I knew instinctively she would be far worse. I tried to dismiss my dismal thoughts as Will came to sit beside me on the sofa. He took both of my hands in his, and regarded me seriously.
‘Elinor, I have to apologise.’
I said nothing. He frowned.
‘I should have been here,’ he continued. ‘The attack would never have happened had I been here.’
I still remained silent. Actually I agreed with him, but couldn’t bring myself to add to his guilt. He seemed to have suffered enough.
He leaned forward and touched my lips gently with his forefinger. ‘You seem to be healing slowly for a vampire.’
‘I seem unable to do
anything
a proper vampire can,’ I said bitterly.
‘Are your lips able to be kissed I wonder?’ A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.
‘I’ll give it a whirl,’ I said, pleased to have him flirting with me again. I’d missed the banter between us more than I cared to admit, even to myself. I shuddered as I remembered Will’s incandescent rage. Thankfully, his mood seemed calmer, although his usual flippant manner appeared somewhat subdued. He may have had centuries of seduction experience to his credit, but he seemed to be treading very softly around me. It was almost as though his confidence had taken a battering. Personally, I didn’t think it would do him any harm at all, but rather perversely I didn’t want him to stop trying to seduce me. Unless, of course, there really were other women on the scene.
Will put his hands on either side of my face, threaded his long fingers through my hair and pulled me towards him. ‘Good,’ he murmured, leaning down to press his lips against mine. His kiss was soft and gentle, yet it stirred feelings deep within my body. I found myself moving closer to him, and wound my arms around his neck. He took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss. When he drew back, he touched my lips again. ‘How are the wounds holding up?’
‘OK,’ I said half-truthfully, and he laughed.
‘Would you like to go out?’
The thought of sitting in the peace and quiet of Highgate Cemetery was suddenly overwhelmingly attractive, and I nodded.
‘The cemetery,’ he said. He stood up with a smile.
I frowned at him. ‘You’re in my head again.’
He pulled me to my feet. ‘Apologies.’ He sounded anything but sorry.
Twenty minutes later we sat on the grass, leaning against an old tomb. I listened to the sounds of the night, the many rustles and scuffles of night creatures as they scurried through the long grass. Badgers, hedgehogs, foxes – all, no doubt, in search of a midnight feast. Bats flitted and swooped over our heads, and I heard the soft hoot of an owl and the whir of feathered wings as it searched for an evening meal.
It was so peaceful there. The gothic beauty of mausoleums gleamed in the moonlight and stone angels stood etched against the dark sky like silhouetted immortal beings. My right hand was clasped firmly in Will’s and, for once, I felt comforted with a sense of belonging to this nocturnal existence. I closed my eyes and continued to listen to the sounds of the cemetery.
‘Elinor?’ Will’s deep voice interrupted my thoughts.
‘
Ellie
,’ I said without opening my eyes.
‘Can you forgive me?’
I opened my eyes to look at him then. ‘For?’
‘For being absent when you needed me the most.’
‘You can’t be everywhere all the time.’
‘You should be my priority at all times. I was unbelievably remiss to leave you unattended. If it had been one of Khiara’s people …’ he mercifully left that sentence unfinished.
‘I can forgive you, providing you never leave me alone again.’
His eyes glinted. ‘That I promise,’ he said, and his lips twitched into a smile. ‘I shall be with you every hour, every minute and every second that you are awake.’
Why did I get the feeling I’d said something I might regret? I narrowed my eyes at him. He feigned innocence.
‘Can we turn into bats?’ I changed the subject.
‘Bats?’ He looked bemused by the change of subject. ‘What
have
you been reading?’
‘
Dracula
,’ I replied. ‘He turned into a wolf and a bat.’
He laughed. ‘Sadly we cannot, but if we ever need a wolf, we have Stevie.’
‘And mist?’
He shuddered. ‘Thankfully no.’
‘Shouldn’t Stevie be in a pack or something?’
Will nodded. ‘His home pack is in Hertfordshire and he has to return every full moon, but his Alpha does not object to him living in London.’
‘Is that usual?’
‘The Alpha is his father,’ replied Will. ‘Should anything happen to him, Stevie would have to return permanently, but until that time, he is permitted to stay here.’
I fell silent again.
Will released my hand and stood up. ‘Let us take a walk,’ he said, offering me his hand again. I put my hand in his, and he pulled me to my feet, stepping close enough to trace cool fingers down my neck. I shivered.
‘You may not be able to transform into a bat or wolf, but you have the strength of several men. You are able to jump from incredible heights and land unhurt, you can mesmerise most unwitting humans with just a glance from those beautiful blue eyes, and you are, of course, immortal.’ He put his arms around me, and pulled me in closer to his lean body.
I looked up into his own captivating eyes. ‘Can I mesmerise you?’
‘Always.’
He led the way down one of the overgrown paths, and headed towards the Circle of Lebanon. I loved this part of the cemetery best. Comprised of a semicircle of old vaults, its architecture looked Egyptian. The vaults sat silent and brooding in their pillared splendour, with moonlight glinting on their ornate lintels. We went down the steps to stand by the nearest vault, and I touched the stone door frame almost reverently. Rumour has it that a vampire was bricked up in one of the vaults, although I didn’t know which one. Swain’s Lane earned its dubious notoriety from reported vampire activity in the early 1970s, when the renegade vampire ran rampant in the area. The story has become an urban legend over the years known as the Highgate Vampire. Will had several books on the subject, and I’d been reading them, more out of curiosity than anything else.
There were many ‘sightings’ and claims of attacks, which were grossly over-exaggerated in the tabloid press. One girl claimed to have sleepwalked her way to the cemetery where she was subsequently bitten by the vampire. One of Will’s books even has a photograph of the girl showing her bite marks.
Soon after these reports, a few amateur self-appointed vampire hunters scaled the cemetery walls, armed with wooden stakes and crucifixes, searching for the errant vampire. The local police were at their wits’ end, harassed by the wealthy residents of Highgate Village, the situation itself, plus all the adverse publicity. Those events happened some twenty years before the emergence of the fictional Buffy and her cohorts, which seemed amazing to me. It appeared some humans really did believe in the paranormal, or at least wanted to. Not a comforting thought.
There was a considerable amount of damage inflicted on the elegant Victorian tombs and gravestones, as enthusiastic hunters attempted to dig up many of the graves in search of the vampire. Several members of the public were even arrested and charged with vandalism. The main protagonist was actually jailed. Unfortunately, vandalism was the only crime the law could charge them with. The cemetery was closed to the public for a long time after that, and even guarded for several months by the long-suffering police.
When the vampire attacks began again, it was somehow kept out of the press and the real ‘experts’ were called in. (
Who would you call?
) The renegade was tracked to an old tomb in the Circle of Lebanon section, and bricked up in one of the vaults. According to the reports, the people doing the sealing had the foresight to use cement mixed with garlic, and they had also sealed the cracks in the door with garlic. Apparently, the hunters sprinkled Holy Water everywhere inside the vault, as an added bonus, and left a few Holy Crosses too. I imagined the vampire wouldn’t get out of there any time soon, and I almost felt sorry for him.
I wondered whether Will had been living in Highgate at the time, and knowing how he felt about renegades, whether he’d been involved in some way.
I came out of my thoughts to find Will standing very close to me. He placed two fingers gently on my forehead.
‘It is very busy in there, your thoughts are like buzzing hornets,’ he said.
‘Will, what do you know about the Highgate Vampire?’
‘I know he was a renegade who endangered us all,’ he replied shortly. ‘Shall we go?’
I nodded. Clearly he didn’t want to say any more on the subject.
Instead of turning back toward the main gates, Will led me over to the high wall. He flashed a roguish grin at me, let go of my hand, and suddenly leapt straight upward with amazing speed. Grabbing the top of the wall with one hand, he pulled himself up to sit astride the wall, looking for all the world like a demonic jockey.
‘Now this is something you can do Elinor,’ he said. ‘Come on up.’
Oh crap. Me, the one person who never got chosen for any sports teams at school because I ran like a ballet dancer. No one wants grace when speed is of the essence.
I looked at Will in frustration. He had stretched out flat on his back, balancing effortlessly on top of the wall. He casually lit a cigarette as though he were lying on a sofa.
‘Of course I can’t,’ I said in exasperation. ‘I was always rubbish at sports when I was alive, and I can’t imagine it’ll be any better now. I’m a dancer not a … a high jump person.’
Will sat up in one fluid motion and dangled his long legs over the wall. He glanced down at me with considerable amusement. I could see the wicked glint in his eyes from where I stood.
‘You are a vampire,’ he said. ‘You have been asking me about changing into a bat or a wolf, wanting to know what you can do, things that you could not do as a human. Believe me when I say that you could probably jump
higher
than this wall, but you do actually have to believe you can, until you get more … accustomed to things.’
I looked up at him sulkily and pouted.
‘Help me then,’ I said childishly.
Will sighed theatrically, and rolled his eyes. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Do exactly as I say.’
He swung his legs behind him, so they dangled down the other side of the wall, balanced on his stomach, and then stretched his arm down towards me, holding his hand out invitingly.
‘Jump up to me.’
I steeled myself to jump, flexed my knees and bounced lightly on the balls of my feet.
Come on Ellie, get a grip, you’re a dancer. You can do this – just jump!
I jumped upward, putting all my strength into it, and stretched my hand out to Will’s at the same time. Without warning, he moved his hand, and swung himself back to a sitting position. He sprang lithely to his feet, and stood on top of the wall, watching me as my arms flailed in the effort to grab the top of the wall. To my surprise, I made it with ease, but it was no thanks to him.
‘You bastard!’ I yelled, after I’d pulled myself up to sit astride the wall. I tried to punch him, but he merely laughed and grabbed my hands, holding them fast. He hauled me easily to my feet so we were both balanced on top of the wall, myself somewhat precariously, because heights aren’t among my favourite things either. So many phobias.
‘Did I not tell you, you could do it?’ Will grinned wolfishly.
‘
Will
… ’ I said a little desperately, beginning to wobble.
He put an arm firmly around my waist, and suddenly launched us both off the wall. I gave an unattractive squeak as we landed easily on the other side, with Will still laughing.
‘Great joke,’ I said, the sarcasm heavy in my voice. ‘Like I haven’t been terrified enough in the last twenty-four hours.’
‘I thought a little light relief would chase away the blues,’ he said. ‘Allow me to escort you home.’
Insufferable. I glared at him, but he simply leaned down to kiss me.
‘I seem to remember you inviting me to your bed, or actually, back to my own bed,’ he raised an eyebrow. ‘“
Cut the macho crap and take me to bed
,” as I recall.’
‘Is
that
what you recall?’
‘I have also promised never to leave you alone whilst you are awake,’ he grinned. ‘That is a promise I intend to take most seriously.’
‘Uh-huuh,’ I said slowly. ‘How did I know
that
promise would somehow come back to bite me?’
‘No biting involved,’ he assured me blithely as he pulled my arm through his. ‘Unless you request it of course.’
I stifled a laugh, Will seemed to have regained his self-assurance.
It was still hours from dawn, and Will was happily channel surfing at a speed that made me dizzy. How he could take in programmes at that speed was beyond me. He stopped at an episode of
Homeland
.