‘Stop! Right now,’ shouted April, ‘I’m serious, Ben.’
‘He’s asking for it …’ Ben began, but before he could say anything more, April turned on him, her teeth bared.
‘Get off him!’ she hissed. ‘I won’t tell you again.’
Her eyes were blazing and her words full of authority. For a moment, Ben stopped and looked at her, his mouth open.
‘Hey, come on,’ he said, putting up his hands. ‘I didn’t start this. He’s been treating you like dirt, he deserves this …’ he said, making a lunge for Gabriel. April stepped forward and swung a punch that thumped into Ben’s shoulder.
‘Ow!’ he cried, stepping back and rubbing it. ‘That hurt!’
Suddenly April felt herself lifted and thrown to the side. ‘Stay the hell out of this,’ Gabriel yelled. ‘This is between me and Ben.’
‘Hey, don’t speak to her like that,’ said Ben.
‘She’s just a stupid little slut, what do you care?’
‘
Slut
?’ April screamed, turning towards Gabriel, unable to believe what she was hearing. ‘How
dare
you?’
‘Oh and I suppose you came out here to do some bird-watching, did you?’
‘Screw you, Gabriel,’ hissed April. ‘That’s it! I’ve had enough of your two-faced crap. You can’t make up your mind about me, you go off with
Chessy
at every opportunity, and then when someone else decides I’m worth bothering with, you suddenly coming running back. Is that supposed to be attractive?’
Ben looked from April to Gabriel and back again.
‘Okay,’ he said, holding up his hands and backing towards the front door. ‘It looks as if you two have a few things to sort out.’ He turned towards Gabriel. ‘I’ll sort
you
out later.’
Gabriel just sneered.
‘And I’ll be here whenever you need me, okay?’ said Ben to April.
‘Thanks,’ said April quietly as Ben closed the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Gabriel grabbed April’s arm and marched her around to the side of the house.
‘Hey! Slow down!’ she cried. ‘I’m wearing heels!’
‘Bugger your heels. What the hell were you doing?’ said Gabriel angrily.
‘What was I doing? What were
you
doing? And I’m a slut now?’
He threw his hands in the air in frustration.
‘Don’t be so bloody stupid, April. I saw Ben pulling you outside and I knew he wasn’t planning on showing you the roses.’
‘So now you’re jealous? After you’ve gone upstairs with some other girl?’
‘Oh, grow up, April. If you’d kissed Ben and he’d keeled over with the virus, how long do you think it would take the vamps to join the dots? I was
protecting
you.’
‘Oh, not this again. You’re always protecting me, aren’t you? Well I don’t want to be protected, I want to be loved!’
His face softened and he put out a hand to touch her cheek.
‘I do love you—’ he began, but April slapped his hand away.
‘Calling me a slut doesn’t really sound like someone who loves me.’
‘I had to stop you! You didn’t know what you were doing!’
‘Don’t be so bloody patronising! You might be four hundred years old, but that doesn’t make you my dad.’
He looked at her, searching her face.
‘You really don’t know, do you?’
April suddenly felt cold. What was he talking about?
‘What?’
‘Didn’t you see Ben’s reaction when you told him to back off? He was genuinely worried. Just for a moment there, April, you were a Fury.’
‘What? No!’
April turned and tried to walk away, but Gabriel followed her.
‘You can’t avoid it, April. You might not like it, but it’s who you are.’
‘It is not! I am not a murderer!’ But her voice wobbled. She wasn’t sure of anything. Was he right? Had she lost control? She didn’t feel like a killer, she didn’t want to hurt anyone. But it was true that her temper had been getting the better of her recently. But that was just the stress and the grief, wasn’t it? Or was it something more than that?
‘That’s why I pushed you aside and tried to distract you,’ said Gabriel. ‘I needed to stop you before you did something serious. You cannot reveal who you are to anyone. They’ll hunt you down and I won’t be able to save you, April.’
‘Like you’d want to!’
‘Listen to me! Stop acting like a spoilt schoolgirl; this is serious! They will torture and murder you without a thought.’
April burst into tears.
‘Why? What have I done? Why me?’
Gabriel took her in his arms. She resisted for a moment, then sank into his embrace.
‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, April,’ he said, stroking her hair. ‘But I needed to throw Ben and the rest of the clan off the scent, make them think I’m not interested in you.’
‘Well that’s how it’s feeling to me,’ said April sulkily. ‘Okay, you ignore me at school and flirt with other girls in front of
me … but to go off with Chessy and then get all jealous when anyone so much as looks at me …?’
‘It’s an
act
, honey,’ he said, his eyes searching hers. ‘We talked about this. I love you with all my heart, I feel it to the bones of me. You must know that?’
She smiled reluctantly. ‘Maybe. But it still kills me when you’re cold and distant and when I see you with other girls.’
Gabriel didn’t say anything more, he just pulled her close and kissed her. Long, hard, lovingly. She felt the tingle spread from her lips, through her body and out to her fingertips.
‘But why do we have to pretend?’ she sighed, looking up at him. ‘Why can’t we just be together, especially after this evening? I can’t take it, Gabriel.’
‘Because …’
He passed a hand across his forehead, stumbled back a pace, then dropped to the ground.
‘Gabriel! What’s the matter?’ she gasped, kneeling down beside him. ‘Gabriel!’
His eyes had rolled up in his head and his skin was burning hot. Oh God, they were too late. He was dying, just like Milo.
‘Gabriel! Don’t you die on me,’ she said, slapping his cheek harder than she meant to. ‘Come on, Gabriel!’
April turned as she heard footsteps coming down the side of the house. It was Caro running towards them.
‘Caro, help me!’ she cried, trying to lift Gabriel’s head.
‘What’s going on? Did you punch him out?’
‘He just collapsed! Help me, please!’
They managed to get Gabriel into a sitting position and finally he opened his eyes.
‘Thank God! Are you okay? Can you stand?’
‘I think so,’ said Gabriel, climbing unsteadily to his feet.
‘What happened?’ asked Caro, supporting him from the other side.
‘It’s the virus,’ said Gabriel. ‘It’s been making me weaker. I obviously wasn’t up to fighting with a full-blood vampire,’ he said, trying to smile. ‘Listen, leave me here. I’ll get home all right.’
‘I’m not leaving you,’ said April.
‘You have to,’ said Gabriel. ‘Caro, tell them I was trying to win April back, but she told me where to get off. Keep her safe; keep this secret. I can’t let anyone know I’m weak – we’ll all be in danger if they realise.’
‘He’s right,’ said Caro, pulling April away. ‘We need to get back inside.’
‘No, I’m not leaving you.’
‘Please,’ said Gabriel, fixing her with an intense stare. ‘You
have
to. We all have to be strong now.’
April threw her arms around him and squeezed tight.
‘We’re going to fix you, okay?’ she said fiercely. ‘I won’t let you go, not now.’
Gabriel smiled and bent to give her a last lingering kiss, then turned and moved off down the drive. April stood and watched for as long as she dared, then allowed Caro to lead her inside.
‘Oh God, Caro,’ said April when they were back in the hall. ‘He’s
dying
. What am I going to do?’
‘I’ll tell you what
we’re
going to do. We’re going to find that white book and get him fit again. It’s the only thing we can do.’
‘But what if he dies? I can’t handle him flirting with someone else, I don’t think I could stand losing him.’
‘He won’t die, honey. We’re going to crack this thing, okay?’
April wiped her eyes and nodded. ‘Okay.’
They walked back into the party and Davina immediately strode over.
‘Ben told me all about it, April. Was Gabe a total pig?’
April glanced at Caro, gathering her resolve to lie and lie well. Now they had started down this road, they had to pull it off – they
had
to.
‘Worse than a pig,’ said April. ‘He had the gall to call me some awful names, and then he tried to kiss me.’
‘Ben told me, but I couldn’t believe it!’
‘Well, you should have heard the language that came out of her mouth when she blew him off,’ said Caro.
‘I can imagine. You just wait until I see him,’ said Davina. ‘No boy does that to a friend of mine and gets away with it.’
‘Thanks, Davina, I should have listened to you in the first place. You were right about him.’
‘Well, you’re better off without him. Why can’t boys control themselves? They’re pathetic.’
April sat down at the table and Ben walked over
‘You okay?’ he asked. ‘Listen, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen …’
‘I know,’ said April with a weak smile. ‘I just want to go home.’
‘Sure. I’ll call you a cab.’
She touched his arm. ‘Thanks.’
‘Look, I just didn’t like the way he was taking you for granted. I’ve seen him do this before – I hope you can see what he’s like now.’
‘Yes, I think so. Thanks for looking out for me.’
‘Can I call you during the week? Just to check you’re okay.’
‘You’ll see me in class tomorrow, Ben,’ she smiled, hoping that it looked genuine.
‘I know, but just to make sure.’
‘I’d like that.’
‘So what does it mean, Fee?’
April had called Fiona the minute she got home.
‘It means that boys are all the same,’ said Fiona, ‘even if they are a hundred and forty years old. Vampires, humans, they all seem to be here to screw us up.’
April was glad she still had her best friend to share things with. Caro always seized on the craziest angle, but Fiona was the direct opposite, finding the calm logic in any situation. Fiona had come down from Edinburgh when she was in hospital and having her there to talk to for a few days had been better than a year of therapy.
‘So do you think Gabe’s still interested?’
‘Of
course
he is, you nincompoop, why wouldn’t he be? You’re gorgeous.’
April laughed; she could always rely on Fiona for a spot of ego-boosting when she was feeling down.
‘Listen, I don’t know why you’re making this so complicated. So he’s a vampire – so what? He says he loves you and that he wants to protect you, and that seems to be what he’s doing, so why not believe him? He’s got a point – if you are this Fury thing, the bad vampires are going to want to get rid of you.’
‘Wow, thanks.’
‘It stands to reason. I think Gabriel’s being quite sensible. Unfortunately, it seems you’ve got to find that cure pretty sharpish though.’
‘You make it sound so simple.’
‘Well it is – find the
Albus Libre
; cook up the potion; he’s back to drinking blood.’
April clucked her tongue.
‘Not ideal.’
‘Yeah, but at least then you have the chance to find the Regent and get the whole thing reversed. If he dies first, you’ve got nothing. In fact, worse than nothing, because then they’ll be after you.’
‘But we didn’t find anything in the Osbournes’ library. And it looked like they’d just moved some books.’
‘It could have been their priceless collection of
Harry Potter
novels for all you know. Just because you didn’t find it in the first place you looked, it doesn’t follow that you never will, does it?’
‘S’pose not.’
‘Listen, April, keep in mind what’s most important right now. Forget finding your dad’s killer for the moment, nothing will bring him back. But you can save Gabriel.’
‘But
how
, Fee?’
‘You have to keep looking – and look fast. Gabriel might be an idiot sometimes, but he’s right when he says this isn’t a game. You could end up dead.’
‘Thanks for that,’ said April sarcastically.
‘Well, you know what they say, live fast die young, leave a great-looking corpse.’
April stared out of the window, her reflection in the glass skeletal, her eyes hollow.
‘It’s the corpse part I’m worried about.’
The early morning fog was still clinging to the trees when April turned into the little lane.
Seven thirty
, thought April. Th
e morning after a party too; I must be mad
. In truth she’d been awake for hours, her mind going round and round with questions and problems, most pressingly how to help Gabriel. She couldn’t get that image out of her mind: Gabriel falling over on the path, lying still and lifeless. For one heart-stopping moment, April really had thought he was dying.
He is
, she reminded herself.
And I have no idea how long he has
. Still, April had been reassured by her reunion with Gabriel, hearing him using the ‘L-word’, feeling his arms around her. It was still maddening to have to pretend they weren’t together, but she had to trust him, didn’t she? Yes, she had to believe that what they were doing was right and stick to the plan: find the book, get the cure and save Gabriel. Whatever came after that, they’d have to work out when it happened. Because if nothing else, the party last night had proven one thing – without Gabriel, she had nothing.