Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (33 page)

‘
It would be better if you
left it to me.’

‘
No. Please, let me sort
this out. It’s … personal.’

Mislav grimaced. ‘Very well. Tell me of this
man and I will make sure he is not harmed during the plague
burnings.’

‘
His name is Lysus Garidas. His
father is …
was
the Praetor of our village – Selmea.’

‘
You are from
Selmea?’

‘
I was, before they sent
me away.’

‘
I know this Praetor
Garidas. I spoke with him on many occasions before we descended.
And your family? What is their name?’

‘
I am Aelia Laskarina of
the Lascaroi family.’

‘
The name is not familiar
to me.’

‘
My father is an artisan.
A good man. We are not an important family. ’

‘
They are most likely
dead.’

She glared at him.

‘
I only speak the
truth.’

‘
You don’t know for
certain.’

‘
If they were alive you
would have found them already.’

Aelia stood and turned away from him.

‘
You are one of us now,’
he said. ‘You will outlive them all. Better they are dead now than
later.’

‘
Better for who? For you?
Not for me.’ She bowed her head and closed her eyes. ‘I need to go.
I wish to be on my own for a while.’

‘
Stay away from the
others. You do not want to become infected.’

If only you
knew
, she
thought.
If
only you knew
.

Chapter Forty

Present Day

*

The spinach thing on the griddle smelt
amazing, but Maddy felt weird helping herself to dinner without
Sofia here. Instead, she sat cross-legged on the mattress and
delved into her rucksack, locating a huge pack of Turkish crisps
that she’d picked up at the petrol station. She opened them, dug
her hand in and pulled out a couple of cheese puffs. They tasted of
margarine but she didn’t care.

This cave place was amazing. Completely
hidden from the outside. But once you were inside, you felt kind of
cosy and safe, with the fire flickering and casting warm shadows. A
bowl of fruit sat on a ledge on one of the walls. Maddy ambled over
and helped herself to a bright orange clementine. Sofia wouldn’t
mind. She wandered back down the passageway to peek outside again.
It was probably dark by now.

Without the light from the fire, the passage
was coal black. But outside, the moon shone huge and bright in the
dark velvet sky. The snow clouds had dispersed and the air smelt
sharp and icy. It was beautiful and peaceful. Maddy gazed out over
the snow-covered landscape to see if she could spot Sofia
returning, but all was empty and still. Maddy brought the shiny
clementine up to her nose and inhaled its sweet tangy scent. It
reminded her of Christmas. She realised she didn’t even know what
day it was and she hadn’t thought to ask Sofia. Maybe it was
Christmas Eve already. Or perhaps she’d missed Christmas
completely.

Ben would be worried sick, but it sounded
like Esther was taking good care of him. At least she had that to
be thankful for. And Alex would be going mad trying to find her. He
always made her feel so safe – not in a cheesy lovey dovey way, but
in a life-changing empowering way. God, she missed him so much. It
was a physical ache. How could she bear it if she never saw him
again?

Before Alex had come into her life,
everything had been a battle and a struggle. It had just been her
looking after Ben. Worrying about him and worrying about herself.
Angie and Trevor had been okay, but when it came down to it, their
foster parents hadn’t really cared about her and Ben. Not really.
Not when it mattered. Even when she inherited the money, she still
felt insecure. There was always that nagging worry in her stomach
like she was responsible for everything and she constantly felt
like she was about to make a massive mistake and ruin her and Ben’s
lives.

When Alex came along, she found
an equal. An ally. It was them against the world. Someone to share
everything with. She could tell him anything and he was funny too.
They laughed so much together, at stupid stuff. Madison trusted him
with her life and knew he’d never let her down. And he was so
freakin gorgeous, she felt like she was going into freefall every
time she saw him … every time she
thought
of him.

Alex even changed the way she
thought about herself. Before he came into her life, she’d been
pretty insecure. There had always been plenty of male attention,
but it was generally from adolescent dickheads who wanted to get in
her knickers. But Alex really thought she was something special.
She could see it when he looked at her – that he saw her, really
saw
her
.
Not just some girl who might be a good lay. He made her feel like
she was worth something. Like she had the power to make his life
better. And that feeling was incredible.

What was it with this place? It
had made her go all philosophical and stuff. Maybe it was the
several near-death experiences she’d just had, making her
appreciate life and what was important. The other Marchwood
vampires had also become like a family. Well, Leonora and Freddie
actually
were
her family which was pretty amazing if she stopped to think
about it. Going from being an orphan to having all these new
relations…

Suddenly, Maddy’s thoughts veered off a
cliff. Up ahead she saw a figure heading this way. It must be
Sophia. She frowned. It looked like it was moving much too fast for
an old woman. Shit. That wasn’t Sophia. Shit, shit, shit. It was a
man. A vampire. It had to be, it was moving so fast. Maddy stood
frozen to the spot. What could she do? She couldn’t outrun it.
There was nowhere to hide. No escape. The clementine dropped out of
her hand and rolled into the snow.

*

Madison did not show up at the
hotel. Alexandre must have tried calling her phone about fifty
times. It helped to make the minutes pass more quickly. Made him
feel like he was
doing
something. But every ten minutes, when he tried the number
again, it just went straight to voicemail. He quickly began to
loathe that single ring followed by that click and then the
automated Turkish woman’s voice. That voice. He wanted to grind
that voice into dust.

Zoe was getting to know the others.
Alexandre could hear them chatting in the next room, but he didn’t
have the heart to join in and be polite. Even though he knew he
owed her his life … and Maddy’s. He would make it up to Zoe when
this was all over. He would apologise for his rudeness and talk to
her properly. But right now he couldn’t think straight, let alone
make conversation with a stranger.

Eventually, as always, night followed day
and Alexandre was freed from his luxurious prison. He left the
hotel without waiting for the others. They had already agreed that
as soon as the sun set they would go out and begin their search for
Madison again. They would fan out this time, but keep close enough
to sense each other in case of danger. Alexandre did not expend his
energy on keeping track of the others. He knew one of them at least
would have his back. Instead, he focused his mind and cast out his
senses as far as they would go.

He travelled straight towards the village of
Akarsuli. That was where she’d been when she contacted the others
by phone. Back at the hotel, he had studied the route online. She
had to be somewhere between the hotel and that village, unless …
unless the Cappadocians had reached her first. But he couldn’t
think like that. Perhaps her bike had broken down and she was
coming to the hotel on foot. That would explain why she was taking
so long. He had to get to her before anyone else did, or before the
cold and snow made it impossible for her to continue. Clearing his
mind of all other thoughts but Madison, Alexandre channelled his
energy outwards.

As he moved, it was as though
he was blending with the air, travelling inside the icy breeze.
Everything around him became part of his consciousness. He moved so
fast he blurred into the landscape. He was the air, he was the
earth and he was the sky. He was the creatures which lived and
breathed and hunted and died. He knew he would find her. He knew
it. It wasn’t just
her
life at stake. It was
his
too, for how could he live an eternity without
her? He couldn’t.

Alexandre felt himself getting closer. He
scented fire and came to a place which puzzled and scared him. He
stood and contemplated the scene. Madison had been here, but there
had been some kind of encounter. He smelled vampires. An awful lot
of vampires. A lump of charred metal lay on an icy rock – the
remains of a motorcycle. Please God, don’t let it be her bike. But
he knew it must be. There was no trace of a body. No smell of
burning human flesh. No blood. Next to the bike remains, he saw a
circle of thin ice which surrounded a rock. He could not make any
sense of it.

Jacques and the others were still some way
behind him, but he knew they had him in their sights. Perhaps they
smelled the fire too. Moving away from the scene, he closed his
eyes and breathed in the night air. A faint aroma of heat and fire
took him back towards the hotel, but via a different route than the
one he had just travelled. She had walked this way and she had the
scent of fire on her. She would be easy to track now. It was a
palpable thing, this burning trail. He could only hope it didn’t
mean she was injured. What had happened back there?

His mind conjured up terrible images of the
vampires taunting her with fire, like a wild animal for sport. Had
they harmed her? Was she burned? In pain? He wanted to stop this
train of thought. It was useless to think this way. He just had to
find her.

Soon another scent mingled with Madison’s,
but Alexandre couldn’t tell if it was human or vampire. The smell
of fire smothered everything, making it hard to distinguish one
scent from another. The trail now changed course, away from the
hotel and away from Akarsuli, instead leading out into the open
countryside. Into the wilderness, away from civilisation. Alexandre
didn’t allow himself to think what he might find at the end of the
trail. He had the scent strong in his nostrils and he followed
it.

The clean snow made it easy to pick out the
trail. He was getting close now, he could feel it. The moon shone
bright, almost as bright as day and he felt a surge of hope. He
caught a tang of citrus fruit, a cooking aroma, warmth and … and
Madison. She was here.

A snow-covered cliff reared up ahead of him
and she was standing in front of it, staring across the plain at
his approach. A lone figure in the snow. Alexandre caught her fear,
saw her sink to her knees. She didn’t know it was him. She thought
she was in danger. He slowed down and called out her name. Then he
finally came to a stop in front of her, crouched down in the snow
and cupped her face in his hands.

‘
Alex,’ she
sobbed.

‘
Maddy, I can’t believe
it’s really you,’ he said. ‘Are you alright? Are you hurt? Don’t
cry. It’s okay now. Everything’s okay.’

‘
Alex,’ she whispered, her
voice like warm honey, her arms reaching up to embrace him. He held
her close, breathing in the scent of her skin and kissing her hair.
She was here. She was real and he realised what he’d almost lost.
Gently, he took her arms from around his neck and brought them down
by her side so he could look at her beautiful perfect familiar
face. Then, he reached out and she tilted her face toward his hand.
He stroked her cheek and drew his thumb across her bottom lip,
leant forward and kissed her salty tears. Lifting her up, Alexandre
felt her legs wrap around his body. She was here. He had found her.
Safe.

She was saying his name, saying how much
she’d missed him and how she loved him, and he wanted to lose
himself in this moment and never have to think of anything else
ever again. But Isobel and the others were coming. He could feel
their approach. If he kissed Madison now, he wouldn’t be able to
stop. He sighed and relaxed his hold, lowering her to the ground.
She stood in front of him, still gripping his arms.

‘
Alex,’ she said. Was
that
hurt
in her voice? Was she upset he had ended their
embrace?

‘
Alex!’

No. It was
alarm
in her voice. And he suddenly knew
why.

Chapter Forty One

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

Aelia left Mislav in the chamber and resumed
her favourite occupation of roaming the narrow twisting passageways
of the underground city. It was mainly peaceful. She steered away
from the pits and the more populated areas, staying to the outer
edges on the upper levels, where there was darkness and silence.
She could see perfectly clearly in the dark and barely had to think
about where she was going. It was as though all she had to do was
will herself forward and she could glide along the rock floor with
little or no effort.

There was so much to think about. Aelia was
happy that the plague was doing its job, but she also worried it
would wipe out the human population as well as the demons. The main
thing on her mind at the moment was to locate her family and keep
them safe. She’d had no luck finding them on her own, so she would
have to speak to Lysus. On realising this, her demon heart beat
fast and she felt breathless with nerves. How ridiculous. He was
just an idiot boy who had treated her badly. She was over him …
wasn’t she? Truthfully, the thought of seeing him again unnerved
her. She hated him for what he’d done, but she could so clearly
remember his warm kisses and the feel of his hands on her skin. If
she’d still been human, she would have blushed at the thought. She
knew he would remember it too, and this was partly what made her
uncomfortable about meeting him again.