Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (28 page)

Still she said nothing.

‘
Answer me. Why aren’t you
afraid?’

‘
I … I don’t know. I …
suppose it wouldn’t do any good if I was.’

He laughed. ‘You are becoming the subject of
conversation. You are desirable.’

Aelia blushed.

‘
Not in the way you
think,’ he said. ‘You have a quality …’ He broke off. ‘Will you be
mine? Will you agree to be only mine? No other will be allowed to
take your blood. I alone will look after you; ensure you have
everything you need …’

Aelia’s mind began to race. What should she
say? If she became his alone, the infection wouldn’t spread to the
other demons. But if she agreed to be his, perhaps she could save
her family. Perhaps he would grant them mercy. Even as she thought
of it, she knew they would never really be free. Soon she would be
dead from the blood plague and then her family would be at risk
again. Her only real option was to continue on her original
course.

‘
What would happen if I
said no to you?’

His face darkened for a moment. ‘I would be
insulted. You would return to the stinking pit with the rest and be
fought over by my companions. There would be no rest for you. My
brothers and sisters would drain you dry.’ He smiled.

Her heart pounded at his words. This was
what she had come here for – to infect as many as possible. But now
that she was clean and rested, the thought of going back to that
room with the others, of waiting for the demons to come for her
again and again, made her weak with terror. What should she do? She
knew what she should do, but it would take every last bit of her
courage to say the words.

‘
I can … I cannot be
yours.’ There; she had said it.

Mislav’s smile melted onto the floor. ‘I
lied,’ he said. ‘You don’t have a choice in these things, little
human. But I was interested to hear what your answer would be. Part
of me is angry … but part of me likes your courage. You will not
return to your humans and I’m sorry you chose to return there
rather than stay here. You have disappointed me.’

Aelia was ashamed to feel relief that she
would not have to face the claustrophobic darkness of the pit. But
what did this mean for her? Would Mislav now keep her apart from
the other demons? How would she then manage to spread the plague
among them?

‘
This will be your
chamber,’ he said. ‘And now … you are mine.’ He came close, pushing
her hair from her neck and bending towards her throat.

Aelia tried to think of other things as she
felt the burn followed by the swoon. Her heart beat loudly and she
felt her blood pumping and draining. This part was almost
pleasurable, but she knew it would eventually be followed by pain
and weakness. Soon, oblivion claimed her and all was nothing.

When she came to, Mislav was gone and the
girls from the lake were in the chamber with her. One mopped her
brow with a cool wet rag and the other stood by the entrance.

‘
How long was I asleep?’
Aelia croaked.

Neither girl replied.

‘
Oh, I forgot. You’re the
mute twins,’ Aelia said, her weariness interrupted by a spark of
irritation. She closed her eyes again.

Mislav treated Aelia as his pet, sometimes
gentle, sometimes impatient. He often spoke to her in soothing
tones, trying to initiate conversation, but she was too exhausted
to pay him any attention, beset by continuous fevers and terrible
nausea. Disturbing images invaded her dreams – a demon horse, her
family dead and broken, a waterfall of blood. She was barely able
to distinguish whether she was awake or asleep. Then something
happened to jolt her out of her stupor. As she lay, wrapped in
nightmares, she felt a presence in the chamber and when she opened
her eyes, two demons stood before her. What did they want? She
hardly cared.

‘
Where is Mislav?’ one of
them barked.

‘
I don’t know,’ she
whispered.

‘
You,’ he said to one of
the girls. ‘Where is your master?’

‘
I don’t know,’ she
stammered.

‘
Then we wait.’ They stood
unmoving.

Aelia thought they must be important. Their
dress was formal, almost military, with dark cloaks pinned at their
right shoulders. But she drifted back into sleep before she had
time to wonder further.

Raised voices woke her.

‘
Get out of here,’ Mislav
said to the demons.

‘
You are not authorised to
have her.’

‘
Whose dogs are you? Get
out,’ Mislav said and turned his back on them.

‘
You are not authorised,
Sir,’ the demon continued. ‘It has been decreed that
...’

Mislav swore and overturned a table. ‘Get
out!’

The demons left, their cloaks swishing out
behind them.

Mislav crouched next to Aelia and stroked
her hair. ‘They will not take you from me. They have no right. I
claimed you first.’

Every caress of his hand sent shards of pain
through Aelia’s skull.

Moments later the demons returned, but this
time there were five of them.

‘
Sir,’ one of them spoke.
‘I take my orders directly from His Imperial Highness. The human is
not yours alone.’

Mislav stood, seemingly in control, but
Aelia saw him flick at the tips of his fingers with his long
nails.

‘
His Imperial Highness?
Why should he be interested in a weak and dying human?’

‘
We do not question
why
and neither should
you.’

‘
Insolence,’ Mislav
hissed.

‘
I apologise, Sir. But we
have our orders. We must return her to the pit with the others. She
is not your alone. You are not authorised.’

‘
Not authorised,’ Mislav
muttered. ‘Very well. I will return her.’

Aelia suddenly felt a burning pain in her
scalp. The room disappeared as she was dragged by her hair, like a
sack of rubble, through the blackness of the rock corridors. Within
seconds, she was lying in the darkness, her body battered and
aching, her scalp on fire. She panted with the shock of it.

‘
Aelia?’ Nonna’s
voice.

She couldn’t speak.

‘
Aelia? Someone pass me
the water,’ Nonna said.

‘
There’s none left,’ came
the reply.

‘
Then God help us
all.’

And so Aelia found herself back in the
reeking cave with her human companions. She didn’t know how she
kept going. She was weak, delirious, feverish and sick. Whether it
was the infection or the loss of blood, she wasn’t sure.

All the while, the creatures
came for her again and again – males, females and even young ones
who looked like children. She didn’t know how long this had been
going on. It felt like an eternity. There was no day and no night;
only darkness or the dancing flames of torchlight. She was either
burning up with fever or freezing cold with the shivers, her teeth
chattering uncontrollably in her head.
S
he
realised she didn’t have much time left. She could only hope she
had done her job in spreading the infection throughout the demon
population. She understood she would never see her family or
friends again, but perhaps they were still alive and would
eventually escape this hell.

Snatches of the demons’ conversations wove
through her subconscious. They loved her pliancy, her willingness
to go with them. She now understood that human fear infused the
blood with bitterness and that her subservience made her
irresistible to them. But she was also a source of conflict between
them and she caught fragments of terrible violent arguments. Aelia
felt herself to be near the end. She couldn’t eat, she could barely
walk and her skin was mottled with a rash of sores. The demons
didn’t seem to care. They still wanted her.

As well as the others, Mislav still came for
Aelia. He didn’t mention his vicious treatment of her after the
guard demons had ordered her back to the pit. But she had the
feeling he was sorry for it. He gave her water and soothing
poultices for her pustule-ridden skin. He tried to tempt her with
delicacies, but her appetite was gone. She was dying. It wouldn’t
be long now, even though Mislav told her he wouldn’t let her die,
that he would save her. All she was aware of was her body doing its
duty and infecting these monsters. Her mind had shut down and she
didn’t have the strength to feel anything other than an
overwhelming wish to die.

Aelia lay on a tapestried chaise, the
intricate pattern making her so dizzy she had to close her eyes.
She couldn’t remember them coming for her, or what they said or
did. She was barely holding onto life now, her breaths coming in
short shallow gasps. The voices of the demons seemed a long way
away.

‘
I am going to do it.’ She
recognised the voice.

‘
You must not.’ An unknown
male voice replied.

‘
I will. You cannot
prevent it.’

‘
You. Must.
Not.’

‘
Such a shame she is so
weak.’ A female voice this time. ‘This one would have satisfied me
for years. Is there really nothing to be done?’

‘
She has some pitiful
human disease. She’ll be dead before the night is through,’ the
male said. ‘I cannot let you do it.’

‘
Juraj, I’ll rip your
teeth out if you try to stop me.’ Now Aelia recognised the voice.
It was Mislav. Her eyelids creaked open and from her horizontal
position, she saw the two males facing each other.

Juraj laughed. ‘She’s really got under your
skin, brother. Forget her. There are so many others.’

‘
It is not your
business.’

‘
Oh, but is my business.
It is all of our business and I cannot let you go ahead with your
foolish plan.’

Mislav snarled and smashed into the
dark-haired demon. They flew across the chamber and ricocheted off
the ceiling. Juraj stood and dusted himself down.

‘
You’re a fool, brother,
to expend so much energy on a pathetic human.’

‘
I’m warning you, Juraj.
Do not cross me on this matter.’

‘
It’s too late, Mislav. It
is already out of my hands.’ He left the chamber with the female
demon.

Mislav snarled in anger and hurled a small
silver table across the room. It clanged against the wall and
echoed into the silence.

Aelia didn’t know why the demons had been
fighting, but she realised it was something to do with her.
Something she had done or not done. She couldn’t think clearly and
she hurt so much. It hurt to move, to breathe. Please, God, she
prayed. Take me to you now. I have done all I can. I do not think I
can bear another second of this existence.

Chapter Thirty Four

Present Day

*

Following Eren’s directions, Maddy rode out
of the village and soon came to a wider road. A truck rumbled along
in front of her and she overtook it. A couple of cars came along.
It felt strange to see normal traffic after her lone trek through
the wilderness. A few more cars drove by, crawling through the
treacherous weather. The snow had returned, more whirling flakes
which flew into her eyes. Maddy blinked and squinted through the
white haze, expecting at any moment to be dragged from the bike and
taken back to the caverns … or worse. But after twenty minutes or
so, she saw the blurred lights of a petrol station up ahead.

Hoping she had enough money, Maddy pulled
into the station and stopped next to one of the pumps. She shrugged
off the rucksack and dug around inside it until she found the
notes. A man approached the bike and spoke to her in Turkish. He
looked as though he worked here.

‘
Do you speak English?’
Maddy said.

‘
Engleesh? No.’

‘
Here.’ She held out the
notes in her gloved hand. ‘Petrol?’

The man held out his hand with his palm
facing upwards. He placed his other hand on the top and raised it
up slowly and then lowered it. He was asking her if she wanted a
lot of fuel or a little. Maddy nodded her head in comprehension and
mimed back that she would like a full tank. The man nodded and
began to fill up the tank. When he’d finished, he motioned to her
to go into the building to pay. She nodded her thanks and went
inside.

The brightness made her wince. She felt
exposed under the lights, sure that she was in more danger here
than out on the bike. Quickly, she scooped up some brightly
coloured bags of snacks. She had no idea what they contained, but
she might as well stock up now. She also bought a pair of cheap
sunglasses, picking out a pair with the lightest lenses she could
find. They would protect her eyes from the wind and snow as she
rode. The woman at the cash register picked out the notes she
needed but still left Maddy with a sizable wedge. Zoe had been
generous with the cash.

Once back on the road, Maddy felt a little
less worried. At least she wouldn’t run out of fuel in the middle
of nowhere. In her rear view mirror Maddy saw a couple of
motorbikes. Her heart sped up. She told herself not to panic. They
were motorbikes that was all. It didn’t mean they were chasing her.
She sped up just the same and overtook a van. Checking in her
mirror, she saw the bikes also overtake the van. Dizziness swept
over her and she swerved slightly before righting herself again.
Calm down, she told herself. The van was slow that was all. Anyone
would probably have overtaken it. She put on another spurt of
speed. The bikers matched it.