Blood Hunter (The Grandor Descendant Series) (40 page)

“Ariana,” Ragon said, “please be careful.”

Ari turned around to glare at him. Did he think she wasn’t being careful? She was treating one of her dearest friends like she was infectious, rather than rushing to her and hugging her, like she wanted to.

“Ragon’s right,” said Sandra; quickly Ari shook her head. “No he is. I am still a little torn; part of me wants to demand you take that ridiculous coat off and match your jeans with a scarf and light jacket instead… but the other part… well, let’s just say that side of me isn’t as concerned with your wardrobe and fashion sense.”

Ari laughed; it felt absolutely wonderful to hear Sandra joke with her again.

“I think I am on the cusp, but I know that even the smallest thing would set me over the edge,” she added, glancing down to Ari’s wrist, where Ari knew a large cut was still healing.  

The smallest thing
… Ari thought of Larissa. Sandra had been her best friend and a wraith had brought her back to life. That had to qualify for something that might push Sandra over the edge. It was then, as Ari stared into Sandra’s hopeful eyes that she knew they couldn’t tell her about Larissa- not yet anyway.

Ari tried to communicate this to Ragon, but he was still looking around the clearing, his eyes peeled as he scanned the forest for any sign of movement.

“So when will you lose the chains?” asked Ari, trying to keep her voice casual. “They do nothing for your outfit.”

“And here I was trying to give you fashion advice,” said Sandra, looking down at the muddy and torn clothes she wore with apparent distaste. “Thomas wanted me to take them off a few days ago when I started drinking normal blood again but… but I don’t trust myself without them.”

“Sandra,” Ari said, and she tried to make her voice a whisper, wishing that Ragon would not be able to hear her, though she knew he could. “I am so sorry Sandra. I never meant for any of this to happen. I know how hurt you were after Larissa… and… and it’s my fault… you taking the blood candy and-”

“-honey, what happened to Larissa was not your fault. Kiara went after her because Cambridge killed Matthew,” said Sandra.

“Yea and Cambridge killed Matthew because he was protecting me,” said Ari, a large sobs escaping her, causing her nose and eyes to become red and puffy.

“Oh honey,” said Sandra, reaching out a chained hand for Ari and resting it in the gap between them on the ground. Ari didn’t hesitate; she reached out and placed her hand gently over Sandra’s. Sandra smiled weakly at her and added, “You can’t think like that. We all came over here because we love Ragon and then we met you, and we love you now too. I’m not saying that I’m not sad that Larissa died and that I wouldn’t do anything to get her back, but it’s not your fault; Kiara was the one who killed her, not you.”

Just then Thomas reappeared; he looked down at Sandra in amazement and then said, “Must have been an animal or something; there is no one out there now.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Sandra there is something we need to tell you,”

Ari’s eyes widened; Thomas was about to tell Sandra about Larissa and she had to stop him.

“Yea,” Ari said hurriedly. “Um… there are waeres,” she said lamely. “We all thought that they were extinct but they aren’t. We met one.”

“What?” Sandra and Thomas said in unison.

“We weren’t too sure if we should tell you, because you know,” said Ari, shooting Thomas a warning look, “you said you were really close to the edge and all and we didn’t want to upset you.”

Finally cottoning on, Ragon said, “It’s true. Clyde was making out with one earlier.”

For the first time since Larissa had died, Sandra laughed.

Chapter 24 – An Exchange

When Ari woke the next morning, she rushed around the room, frantically trying to gather her things for class. It took her a little longer than normal to get ready, so that when she was finally rushing out of Cruor halls, she was already half an hour late for her first lecture. Her dreams the previous night had been hazy and disjointed. She couldn’t remember them exactly, but thought that they had something to do with the construction site they had passed the previous night. And Lea had been in her dreams too, as were the three witches who had tried to stop Lea from helping Riley.  

“Sleep in?” Chris asked in a whisper, when Ari moved into the lecture theatre and chose a seat up the back next to him.

Ari nodded back but did not elaborate, seeing the stern face of Dr Boringer glaring at her for being late. No longer did he have a bandage on his neck, but rather an unusual scarf.

“The dog’s penis is different to the rams; for one it does not have cavernous tissue…” said Professor Boringer, and Ari looked up at the lecture slides, realising that they had finished parasitology and were already starting reproductive anatomy.

Unfortunately at the same time, Chris let out a loud snicker that ripped from his throat, reverberating down the lecture theatre; Professor Boringer scanned the students, trying to discern who had laughed.

“Please remember that being professionals is an integrated component to your veterinary course,” a gruff professor Boringer said, and Ari punched Chris hard in the side, desperate to block any further unwanted attention. “That does not merely extend to your clinical placements, but all aspects of your training… including lectures!”

“You’re supposed to be a mature vet student,” Ari whispered.

“I’m trying, but who knew that reproduction would be so graphic?” asked Chris, pointing to a diagram in his book, which made Ari turn red.

The morning classes had been particularly long; for three hours Ari had to endure comment after comment from Chris, along with the rest of the boys in the class. Apparently the male reproductive tract was amusing no matter what species you were talking about. Ari had then spent the next few hours completing a lab practical on faecal examination of the dog. She found it particularly disgusting, and though despite having spent the majority of her afternoon, quite literally doing shit, she was starving when dinner time rolled around.  

“Well repro is going to be memorable,” said Chris, his stomach grumbling. “I don’t know how well I am going to go at pretending to be professional. I mean, did you see those images he was showing us, and how is anyone going to think we are professional when we are rummaging through their animal’s poo?”

“Yea,” said Ari, “but at least we get to be called courtesy doctors. That has to count for something.”

“Hmm, so we have chicken,” said Chris, pointing to a chicken casserole, “or chicken,” he added, looking at a chicken lasagne, “and finally, what is… oh yes… chicken,” he said, indicating a bowl of chicken wings.

“Decisions, decisions,” said Ari, moving over to the casserole and helping herself to a bowl of it.

“Yea, imagine only being able to have one thing to eat for the rest of your life?” he said, glancing meaningfully behind Ari’s shoulder and glaring.

Ari spun around and saw… Thomas? He was standing at the doors that led to the cafeteria and looking straight at Ari. When Ari locked eyes with him, he waved for her to come over. Placing her plate down onto a lone table, Ari obeyed.

“Hey,” she said brightly.

“Have you seen Sandra today?” asked Thomas, looking around the cafeteria.

“Not since last night,” said Ari.

“I went to check on her and she wasn’t there,” he said, a touch of concern now creeping across his face.

“She got out of her binds? But… but I thought she said she wasn’t ready yet.”

“She must have. I didn’t undo them. I wanted to, but she wouldn’t let me,” Thomas explained.

“Do you think that she will go after more blood candy?”

Thomas shook his head and said, “No. It’s well and truly out of her system. You saw the way she was talking to you last night. I think she just wanted to stay bound as a precaution… or a punishment. But she must have decided to take them off for some reason. I’m worried that she might have gone to see Larissa?”

“But how would she even know about Larissa?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Usually I can sense her, but I can’t right now.”

“Sense her?” asked Ari, her eyebrows screwed up in confusion.

“She is my fledgling.”

Ari’s thoughts trailed back to Australia; one night when she and Thomas had been waiting for the coven’s return, he had explained to her that vampires could sense their fledglings. Ragon had told her about it too. That was the reason why he could never hide from Kiara; because no matter where he went, she was always able to find him.

“But wait a minute. If you can sense your fledglings and Victoria was your fledgling… then wouldn’t that mean that you would be able to find her?” Ari asked reasonably.  

Thomas did not smile; he sighed deeply and said, “Exactly, which is why I believe something has happened to Victoria; I haven’t been able to sense her for ages. But Sandra and I are bonded; if a pair becomes bonded the connection enhances.”

“So you normally can tell where she is, exactly I mean?”

“Not exactly, but I can usually feel her pull, like a magnet. This morning when I awoke, I couldn’t feel her anymore.”

Ari thought about this for a moment, looking around the cafeteria for inspiration. Slowly her eyes fell on Chris. He was piling his folk with rice and glaring at Thomas. Ari wouldn’t put it past Sandra to go and visit Larissa by herself. But Sandra didn’t know about Larissa- did she?

“I think we need to visit Cambridge,” said Ari, moving over to the door and waiting for Thomas to join her. “If Sandra did somehow find out about her, that would be the first place she would go.”

“I think I need to visit Cambridge; I think you need to stay here,” he said sternly.

“I am not a child. I have just as much, if not more capability of protecting myself against vampires than you do.”

“Ari, I am almost a thousand years old. I am better equipped than most to deal with other vampires,” said Thomas.

“Well then, if you are so old, then you should also be wise. And a wise vampire would let me help them!”

“How does Ragon put up with you?” asked Thomas, jogging to catch up with her.

“He knows when to admit defeat,” said Ari, unable to hide a satisfied smile as she walked purposefully away from the cafeteria.

It took Thomas and Ari a good half an hour to find Cambridge’s house. Though Ari had been there once before, she had not been paying much attention and so found it difficult to retrace her steps. When finally they pulled up outside a small house, Ari was positive it was the right one; she had recognised the strange red and white gnome statues in the front garden. It was late afternoon; there was a very faint red glow to the sky, which Ari thought was unusual for the Isle of Man. She had seen a thousand fiery sunsets back home in Australia, but what with the habitual frozen and always cloudy weather of the England, it was somewhat of a rarity to enjoy a spectacle such as this. Immediately Ari thought of an old saying she had heard as a child; something to do with red skies. She shook of the chill that followed this. For some reason, she had a bad feeling.  

Not speaking to one another, Ari moved to the front door while Thomas knocked loudly. After a minute or so there was no reply and so Thomas knocked again, this time a little harder.

“Hello?” yelled Thomas, continuing to knock on the door.

“Sorry, we’re not interested in anything,” a booming voice called back.

Ari stared at the door just as Thomas yelled out, “Not even for an old friend?”

Instantly the doorknob turned and Cambridge’s head poked outside; he took one look at Thomas and said, “Now’s really not the best time.”

Thomas’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Either you open this door for me, or I break it down. I think we both know the door won’t stand a chance. I take it you are renting here? Well, you can kiss that security deposit goodbye.”

“Very well, very well,” said Cambridge.

Ari was just about to follow suit when Cambridge saw her and said, “Um, Larissa isn’t coping well with mortals.”

“And yet you brought her here the other day, did you not?” asked Thomas,.

Neither Ari nor Cambridge replied, though Cambridge shot her a sad, almost pitying expression, and stepped aside to let her enter. Ari, her heart racing, walked inside the dark house. It took her a moment to adjust to the lighting of the dimly lit room. When finally she was able to pull the room into focus, she gasped.

“I have had to start from the beginning,” said Cambridge, indicating Larissa, “but she is learning.”

Ari stared at Larissa with her mouth open in disbelief. Larissa was sitting on a wooden chair in the living room, her feet and hands bound with thick chains. The moment that she had seen Ari, she struggled against the shackles, and Ari felt a familiar fear creep into her heart. Larissa’s eyes were still red; there was an abandoned bag of half-drunk blood on the floor, which she had obviously been drinking from. It looked as if Cambridge had been feeding her. In some grotesque way, Ari thought of a child, sitting in a high-chair. Blood had spilled all over Sandra, leaving a thick red film across her skin and clothes.

“It’s ok darling,” said Cambridge, moving over to Larissa and hurriedly wiping the blood off her face and arms.

When Cambridge came within striking distance, Larissa’s fangs were beared and Ari had to stifle a scream when she lunged at him.

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” said Cambridge, wincing as he looked up at Ari and Thomas.

“From the looks of it, neither do you,” said Thomas, staring at Larissa with a mixture of disgust and pity on his face.

“If you have come here to berate me,” said Cambridge angrily, his voice rising, “then you can leave now. It’s not just me who was heartbroken when Larissa… when she,” but Cambridge shook his head, apparently unable to continue with that train of thought. “Look at what Sandra did; look at how she coped.”

“That’s why I am here,” Thomas said flatly. “Sandra is missing; I can’t sense her.”

At these words Cambridge looked up at him in confusion. It was clear that this was the very last thing that he had expected.

Thomas ignored him, scanning the room instead, until Cambridge said, “I’m not hiding her here.”

“You haven’t seen her at all since…” Ari started to say, breaking off when she looked over at Larissa.

“No,” Cambridge said angrily.

After that Cambridge sighed deeply. He looked more ragged than Ari had ever seen him, perhaps even more so than during Larissa’s funeral. 

“Ariana,” Cambridge said slowly. “I am sorry. I would never have let the wraith hurt you. But, but when he came to me in Albania; he told me that he could bring her back. It was the first time I didn’t feel like killing myself. Before that I was-”

“-heartbroken,” Ari finished for him.

Ari knew all too well the desperate desire to bring back loved ones from the grave. If she had the chance, would she bring back her mother and father and older brother? Yes, in heartbeat. But not if they were like this; not if they were like Larissa- uncontrollable, and not even a shadow of their former selves. She wondered how best to phrase her thoughts to Cambridge, but decided against it. She knew that what he had done was not a solution to his grief, but for the moment, it gave him hope.   

“I can help you look for her,” Cambridge began to say, but a sudden violent screaming from Larissa made him rush to her side, a replacement bag of blood, ready in his hand.

“It’s ok,” said Thomas, moving over to the front door and indicating for Ari to follow him, “I think you have enough on your plate right now.”

When Ari and Thomas were back in the car again, neither spoke. Ari had hoped that the reason Larissa had attacked her when first she had risen, was because she was desperate for blood, but judging by the numerous blood bags that lined Cambridge’s house, she was still blood-crazed. There was nothing about the monster that Cambridge was caring for that reminded Ari of Larissa. When she had looked at the red-eyed girl, only the external features were identical to Larissa’s, and though she had the same hair, small frame and button nose, Ari was certain that there was nothing left of Larissa inside. A sudden wave of nausea overtook her, and she reached for the dash board, desperate for something to comfort her.