‘Don’t scream,’ whispered a voice in her ear. ‘I just want to talk.’
‘Gabriel!’ April’s eyes were like saucers. ‘You aren’t in jail?’
Gabriel put a finger to his lips, glancing out through one of the small windows either side of the main door.
‘Escaped,’ he said simply. ‘They were taking me to court and … well, let’s just say I’m hard to keep locked up.’
‘Well maybe they should have taken more care,’ said April. ‘Maybe it’s the right place for you.’
He took a step towards her, his face creased.
‘I did it for you, April, you must know that.’
She stepped backwards.
‘For me? What the hell are you talking about?’
He looked towards the window again.
‘I know you didn’t have any choice, but I couldn’t let you take the blame for it.’
‘What – me? You think I had something to do with Marcus’s death?’
His face was a mask of confusion.
‘Yes. April, you’re a Fury …’
‘So? I just whacked him with my shoe and ran. I’m not exactly Wonder Woman.’
‘April …’
‘Jesus! You really do think I killed him, don’t you? I mean, which one of us is the vampire exactly?’
‘April, I followed you up the path. I heard you scream, and I ran. But when I got there, Marcus was lying there with his throat ripped open.’
‘Well it wasn’t me!’
Gabriel looked at the floor, frowning. ‘That’s why I let the police take me. I was so sure you had killed him, and I wanted to protect you. I didn’t kill Marcus, April. He was dead when I got there.’
She looked at him. He looked so genuinely concerned, she immediately believed what he was saying.
Oh no
, she thought with a wave of guilt,
I’ve spent the last few days thinking the worst things about you – I’ve even come within a hair’s breadth of kissing another boy – while all the time you were prepared to go to prison for me
. April felt like being sick again.
‘But I was sure you had killed Marcus,’ she said.
‘No April, I didn’t.’
‘So who did – and why? I assumed it was you, swinging in on your white charger and playing the hero.’
Oh Lord, that just makes things worse, doesn’t it?
she thought.
I’ve been a stroppy cow, thinking he was just some arrogant show-off when he was actually sacrificing himself for me
.
She wanted to jump into his arms, to thank him for what he had done, but she still couldn’t. There was still one huge barrier between them: Jessica. Okay, so Gabriel had been trying to protect her, but he had still been kissing another girl.
‘April, I would have done anything to protect you. I love you.’
‘Well that’s all very nice, Gabriel,’ she said, thinking of that awful moment when he had tenderly stroked the hair away from Jessica’s face. ‘But it’s a bit late for all that now.’
‘I know how you’re feeling and that’s why I’m here. I couldn’t go another day with you thinking I’d let you down.’
‘Well yes, that’s exactly what I think, as it happens.’
‘Well, you’re wrong.’
‘Oh yes? When I clearly see my boyfriend – or at least, the person I thought was my boyfriend – kissing another girl, just after I’ve saved his worthless life, I think I’m entitled to feel a little betrayed.’
‘April. Please – you have to believe me, it’s not what you think.’
‘I’ll bet it’s exactly what I think.’
‘I was kissing her goodbye.’
‘It looked a little more than that to me.’
He looked away.
‘Uh-oh, I can feel another one of Gabriel Swift’s “you wouldn’t understand” moments coming on.’
‘Don’t joke about it, April!’
He grabbed her arm and looked urgently into her eyes.
‘I never told you about Jessica because …’
‘Because what? Because you’re a typical man?’
‘Because I was
ashamed
.’
There was something about the look in his eyes that made April stop.
‘Ashamed?’
‘Jessica was the reason I turned away from the darkness,’ he began quietly. ‘She was my first feeder. I met her in a tavern, and she was drawn to the life. She wanted to be turned, but she had no idea what she was asking for. And after my promise to Lily, that I would never take a life, I refused. But … then I was feeding from her and I couldn’t stop. It was too much. It was such a terrible urge, she wanted it so much, and I couldn’t stop. She wouldn’t let me.’
‘What do you mean “couldn’t stop”.’
Gabriel turned away, but she grabbed his arm, spun him back around.
‘Tell me!’
‘I couldn’t stop! I drank until there was no more to drink.’
April felt sick.
‘You
killed
her? You turned her into a vampire? But you told me you’d never done that!’
‘I know. And I couldn’t stand it. I’ve spent decades trying to atone for that one moment.’
‘How could you do that? Jesus, Gabriel.’
‘You can’t be any more angry about it than I am. I’ve tortured myself a thousand times, reliving that night.’
‘But to take someone’s life. I thought you were different!’
‘I am! I’ve tried to be. I’ve worked so hard since then trying to make up for it.’
‘How?’
‘I took her to the witches.’
‘Witches?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised, you saw them in the woods. They took her in. They have spells, herbal ways to suppress the vampire urge. She’s been a witch ever since. I helped her set up her bookshop, I’ve tried to look after her. But I’ve stayed away from her – I can’t stand the shame of seeing my own victim. But after you went to see her, Jessica came to me. She wanted to tell me what she had seen in your eyes.’
‘What?’
‘Love, April.’
April felt butterflies in her stomach, but she was still angry.
‘Well it’s a fine way to repay me, by kissing your ex.’
‘She’s not my ex, April. We were never lovers. She’s a reminder of what I am and what I did. I am fond of her, she’s a better person than I am, and that’s all. That’s what I was saying to her when you saw her. I was asking for her forgiveness, something I haven’t been able to do for a hundred years.’
‘So why the kiss?’
‘I told her we were together. It was a kiss goodbye.’
April didn’t know what to think. Should she believe him? He’d told her so many lies before – if he could lie about not killing someone, he could lie about anything.
‘You told me you hadn’t killed anyone.’
‘I know.’
‘So why should I believe this new story?’
He took her by the shoulders.
‘Because it’s true. Because I never want to be with anyone but you, because if I can’t have you then I may as well go to prison. But we could run away together! Let’s forget all about this and just go somewhere we can be alone.’
‘Gabriel, I … I want to believe you,’ said April. ‘But I can’t just—’
‘You can,’ he said urgently. ‘Because I am telling you the complete truth right now. I love you, I want to be with you – there’s no one else. There never was, there never will be.’
Suddenly there was a hard banging on the door.
‘Gabriel! Gabriel Swift! Come out, we know you’re there!’
Immediately, Gabriel reached out and grabbed April, holding her around the neck from behind.
‘What are you doing?’ she gasped.
‘I’m getting you off the hook,’ said Gabriel, dragging her to the window, making sure the police outside could see him holding her.
‘Back off or the girl gets it!’ he shouted, before ducking back into the church. As soon as they were out of sight, April pulled away from him and kicked him in the shin.
‘What the hell was all that, Gabriel?’ she hissed.
‘I want them to think you’re a hostage,’ said Gabriel, rubbing his leg. ‘Otherwise they might think you’re willingly involved. Plus …’ He took her hand and ran towards the back of the church. ‘… it will give us a bit of time to find a way out.’
‘There’s no way out,’ said a voice. The vicar stepped forward across the altar. ‘So you might as well let her go.’
Gabriel pushed April behind him. ‘Get out of my way, old man.’
‘Don’t threaten me in the Lord’s house!’ shouted the vicar. ‘Come to me, April. You’ll be safe here.’
‘No, please,’ said April, ‘I want to go with him,’ suddenly knowing it was true. Gabriel looked at her and they exchanged a smile.
‘My child, you don’t know what you’re saying. You don’t know who he is – what he has done.’
‘I do, Reverend. I really do,’ said April.
‘Please Reverend,’ said Gabriel, ‘can’t you help us?’
The vicar looked back and forth between them, seeming to struggle with it, then he nodded.
‘Maybe I can, but April will have to stay here.’
‘But—’
‘No arguments, April. The police have blocked the road at the front, there’s no chance you’ll both get out.’
He looked at Gabriel and pointed to an arched wooden door to the left of the altar.
‘If you go through there and up the stairs, you will come out on the roof. Cross to the end nearest the cemetery, and a fire escape will take you down. There’s no other way to the back of the church, so unless they’ve surrounded the whole cemetery you should find a way out.’
‘Why are you helping me?’
‘For the girl and her father. Not for you.’
Gabriel opened the door and, with a last look at April, ran up the spiral stairs.
‘Gabriel!’
April ran after him. At the top of the stairs, he turned and she ran into his arms, feeling his strong body next to hers, squeezing him for all she was worth. Suddenly, definitely, April knew that she believed him. She couldn’t say for certain why, but if her time in Highgate had taught her anything, it was that nothing was ever completely clear-cut: some things had to be taken on faith.
‘You be safe, you hear?’ she said.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ he said, smiling down at her. ‘I’ll be okay.’
‘But what about me?’
He grinned.
‘You’ll be fine too. I’ll be in touch, don’t worry. In the meantime, do what you can to find the Regent. That’s our best – our only – hope.’
‘I will! I will!’
He opened the door and a sudden wind blew his hair back. It was fully dark now and April could see the dull moonlight reflecting off the slates.
He bent and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. ‘I’ll be back, my love.’
Then he ran across the roof. Suddenly there was a huge roar of wind and a beam of light swept across it, after him. April looked upwards just in time to see the helicopter swing around, narrowly missing the church spire.
‘Leave him alone!’ she screamed at them, her voice lost in the roar of the engines.
‘Come back inside,’ yelled the vicar, putting his arm around her shoulders. ‘We have to go and open the front door. Don’t worry, he’s got a good head start.’
‘But what’s going to happen to him? He didn’t kill Marcus. He told me and I believe him.’
‘Leave it to the police, April. You can’t help Gabriel now.’
As they walked down the stairs and through the church, they could hear pounding on the door and shouts from outside.
‘Come on, we must hurry,’ said the vicar.
But just as they crossed the Coleridge plaque in the centre of the aisle, April stopped and looked at him. ‘Did you know about this?’
‘About what, April?’
‘About Gabriel and the others. About what they are?’
‘What they are?’ he repeated.
‘Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.’ She pointed down at the plaque. ‘That.’
There was a muffled bang from outside.
‘April, the police!’ said the vicar, trying to get past her, but April stood in his way.
‘Please, Reverend Gordon, this is important.’
The vicar looked at her, then back at the door.
‘I’ve lived next to the cemetery for twelve years, April. I’d have to be blind to have missed it. Now we really need to—’
‘Did you talk to my dad about it?’
There was a loud thud against the church doors.
‘April, this is not the time …’
‘Answer my question!’
‘He asked me about what was happening in the village, yes.’
‘So he knew!’ she said dejectedly. ‘He brought us here, knowing Highgate was bristling with the undead. He put us all in danger.’
‘April, it’s not—’
The doors burst open and officers in dark uniforms ran in.
‘Down on the floor!’ shouted a man in a black cap. April realised with horror that he was pointing a rifle at her. ‘Get your hands where I can see them.’
The vicar took April’s arm and pulled her to the side where they sat down in a pew, their arms raised.