Darkness Falls (21 page)

‘What’s the matter with her?’

Gabriel frowned, shook his head slightly as a couple walked in pushing a baby in a pram.

‘Hey, look at the big lion, Max!’ cried the mother. ‘She’s looking for food.’

It didn’t look to April as if the lion was hungry. She was growling now, her head dipping back and forth. She seemed to be searching for something. Suddenly the male stood up and roared.

‘Gosh!’ said the father, looking slightly concerned. ‘He’s feisty, isn’t he?’

‘I think we’d better go,’ said Gabriel quietly, backing towards the door.

The male had moved to the edge of the platform and was shaking his head violently. He roared again and the baby began to howl.

‘Christ,’ muttered the mother, pulling the buggy backwards and heading towards the exit, glancing at April and Gabriel as she went.

‘Come on,’ said Gabriel, but April hung back. The female
was growling now, whipping her head from side to side, bashing it against the glass.

‘Come
on
,’ said Gabriel, taking her arm.

‘What the hell was that all about?’ she asked when they were a safe distance from the enclosure. She could see the young couple standing with a keeper, pointing towards the lions. April didn’t want to be accused of anything, so they kept moving.

‘What was wrong with them?’

‘Take a guess,’ snapped Gabriel.

‘Hey, don’t take it out on me.’

‘I’m sorry. I thought it would be different. I shouldn’t have come here. I’ve been fooling myself.’

‘Fooling yourself? What about?’

‘That I was becoming human again. I’d hoped, against all the evidence, but the truth is I’m just a sick vampire.’

‘You think they knew what you are?’

Gabriel nodded, sitting on a bench, hands thrust in pockets.

‘If there’s one thing that will upset a predator, it’s having another predator on their territory. It’s only natural. They must have caught my scent.’

She reached out and stroked his forehead. He was burning hot, soaked with sweat.

‘Don’t take it so hard. It’s not your fault.’

‘Why shouldn’t I take it hard?’ he replied. ‘If you really think this magic potion is going to save me, you don’t know anything.’

He jumped up and strode towards the exit. April ran to catch up with him. As Gabriel passed the zebras, they shied and ran and as he crossed the path in front of the spider monkey enclosure, all hell broke loose. They all began to screech at once, running back and forth along their branches, rattling the bars of their cages. It was as if an entire street of car alarms had been triggered at once. Keepers and public alike came running and shouting, bewildered at this sudden cacophony, but no one was looking beyond the cage to see what had startled them in the first place. April covered her
ears, but Gabriel just kept walking, his head down, his eyes dark. They pushed through the exit and across the road, into the park.

‘Gabriel,’ called April, catching his arm, trying to slow his pace. ‘Stop. Talk to me.’

As he turned, she could see he was beyond exhaustion. His face was white and his lips were pressed together in a thin blue line. Sweat was beading on his forehead and running down his temple.

‘I don’t want this any more, April,’ he said, his voice barely a croak. ‘I know you’re doing what you can to save me, but I’m not sure I can go back. I know it sounds insane to you that death is preferable, but you saw how those other creatures reacted to me.’

‘They were only animals, they didn’t know what they were doing.’

‘But they do! And they’re just the tip of the iceberg!’ said Gabriel, his cheeks flaring a dull pink. ‘They were right to be scared – I’m a killer. And … and God knows, I don’t want to be.’

‘Listen to me, Gabriel,’ she said, taking his hands in hers. ‘You’re not a killer. Not to me. You know what I see when I look in your face? Gabriel. My Gabriel, the man I love. And that’s who I’m trying to save. No one else. Forget all this “save the world” stuff, forget the Fury thing, forget being a vampire for the moment. None of this is about that. This is about making my boyfriend better. This is about saving your
life
. And it’s about you choosing to live so you can protect
mine
.’

She pulled out the bottle and held it up to him.

‘Here, take it. Please. For me?’

Reluctantly, he took it from her. Seeing it there in his big hand, it looked terribly amateur and ineffectual, like the tiny bottle Alice drank from in Wonderland. Would it make Gabriel shrink or grow? Would it do anything at all? Maybe this was the Guardians’ idea of a joke: give the hated vampire some hope, then laugh as he died in agony. But April didn’t think so. For some reason, she was convinced it was going to
work. Gabriel looked at the murky liquid inside and smiled wryly. ‘You’re sure there’re no side effects?’

‘None. Well, it might turn you into one of the living dead. Oh, and it smells like poo.’

‘Ah. Well that’s okay, then.’

They walked up to the top of Primrose Hill silently, hand in hand. April could hear the catch and wheeze in Gabriel’s lungs by the time they reached the bench at the abandoned summit, but he didn’t complain. The time for that had passed; they were high above London, the early morning fog still lying over the buildings, the sun leaking through the clouds here and there making office windows shine like jewels. April wondered how he was feeling, if he was looking at the world through human eyes for the last time. But then, as he had said, he really wasn’t human, just a watch winding down. He was taking a lot on faith – that they would be able to find the Regent. That he wouldn’t be doomed to carry on drinking blood for another thousand years. But then belief was a very powerful thing, wasn’t that what Miss Holden had said? April looked at the boy – the man – she loved in a sideways glance, feeling warm tears running down her face.

‘You have to come back to me,’ she croaked. ‘Don’t leave me here alone.’

‘Hey,’ said Gabriel softly, brushing her tears away. ‘I couldn’t stay away from you. If I had to cross the widest desert to reach you, I’d be there.’

He paused for a moment, looking out to Big Ben and the London Eye in the distance. ‘We’ll come back here. When it’s all over? This will be our place.’

He kissed her then, holding her face, his palms wet with her tears, and as he pulled away April could still feel the kiss lingering on her lips.

‘To you,’ said Gabriel and, breaking the wax and pulling the cork out with a soft pop, he tipped the liquid down his throat. April didn’t know what to do, what to expect. Would he clutch his throat the way TV villains did when they were poisoned? Would it be slow and gentle like taking headache pills?

‘How d’you feel?’

‘I’m not sure I’ll feel anything … oh, God.’

Suddenly he doubled over. ‘Christ,’ he said through gritted teeth, hugging his stomach. ‘Urggh …’

April put her arm around him.

‘Gabe, what is it? What can I do?’

‘Nothing,’ he gasped, ‘nothing, I …’

Then he let out a terrible scream, like a wounded animal.

‘Gabriel,’ she said, trying to hold him, but he pushed her hands away.

‘You have … to … go …’ he managed.

‘I can’t leave you—’ she said.

But then he turned to her, his teeth bared, his eyes bloodshot and red. He looked like the killer she had seen that night on the Embankment. He looked like a vampire.

‘Leave!’ he growled, spittle flying from his mouth. ‘I’m not sure … not sure I can control myself, April. It’s … not safe for you here … go!’

‘Gabriel …’

‘Go!’ he roared. She stepped back and ran, running down the hill without looking back. When she turned at the bottom, he had gone.

A million pounds. It was a ridiculous amount of money. It was something you saw on a TV drama about a kidnap plot, not in real life. In her mind, April saw a forklift truck bringing her a load of gold bars and leaving them in the front garden. That was how crazy it seemed.

‘But how?’ asked April suspiciously. ‘How can there suddenly be a million pounds in my account?’

The solicitor leant back in his chair and smiled condescendingly.

‘Well, you can’t actually go to a bank and have them fill a suitcase with it, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

No, right now I’m thinking about pushing you backwards off your chair
, thought April. Th
at would wipe the smug look off your face
.

April’s already short temper had been on a hair-trigger since she had watched Gabriel take the Dragon’s Breath two days ago. He hadn’t called, hadn’t texted, hadn’t replied to any of her messages, hadn’t given her any indication at all that he had even survived the process, and April was about ready to bite someone’s head off as a result. Or push them off their chair.

‘No, many years ago – just after you were born, in fact – your father took out a life insurance plan,’ continued the solicitor. ‘A very generous life insurance plan. He arranged that in the event of his death, your mother would never have to work again and, well, I suppose the same applies to you. I know it’s not going to bring your dad back, but it shows he was thinking of you, doesn’t it?’

‘My daughter doesn’t need a life insurance policy to prove
her father loved her, Mr Jones,’ said Silvia.

‘No, no of course not. But, well, these policies aren’t cheap. It must have taken considerable sacrifices to pay the premium every month.’

‘And is that any of your business, Mr Jones?’

‘Well in actual fact, yes it is. The size of the policy is the reason I’m talking to you instead of to your family lawyer. My department specialises in questionable claims.’

‘Questionable?’ said Silvia, her eyes narrowing. ‘If you’re implying …’

He held up a hand.

‘Not at all, not at all. This simply came across my desk because it is unusual that a man should choose to pay a quarter of his wages on a life insurance policy. Yes, he was a journalist, but even so, it’s a lot of money. I wonder: was your husband a careful man?’

Silvia snorted. ‘Not really. He would hardly have spent his days investigating drug cartels if he was, would he?’

‘Then I don’t see … did he believe he had a disease we didn’t know about?’

‘Oh I see,’ said Silvia. ‘Typical insurance company, you’re trying to wriggle out of paying. Well let me tell you—’

‘No, no, you misunderstand me, Mrs Dunne. The payment has been authorised. The money is yours and your daughter’s. Your husband paid his premium to us on the dot every month and, especially given the manner of his death, we have no reason to think this is in any way suspicious. No one could have predicted that.’

‘Then what are you implying?’

‘Nothing, Mrs Dunne, I am just intrigued. Why did your husband have such a large life insurance policy? It doesn’t make a great deal of sense.’

‘He was probably mis-sold the policy when he contacted you. No doubt your salesman sold him the most expensive package. Maybe he didn’t shop around, I don’t know. You’ll appreciate I can’t ask him because he was murdered.’

The solicitor turned bright red.

‘Yes, indeed, and we would like to extend our sincerest condolences to you at this difficult time.’

‘Really. Sincere is not a word I’m entirely sure you know the meaning of, Mr Jones.’

She could be insufferable and irritating, but there were still times when April really loved her mother.

They left the building and walked down the busy London street, their breath steaming in front of them.

‘So what was all that about?’ asked April. ‘Why was that man asking all those questions about Dad?’

Silvia sighed. ‘It’s his job to be a little toad, darling.’

‘No, I don’t mean that. I mean what he was saying: was it true? Dad spent a fortune on life insurance?’

Silvia shook her head. ‘Finance has never been my strong point. I always let you dad sort out paying the bills. You don’t think I’d have let him spend all that money on something so unnecessary, do you? Even now, that man has the power to drive me mad.’

April looked at her mother.

‘What do we do now?’

Silvia shrugged. ‘We have a party.’

‘A party? You
are
joking?’

‘I don’t see why not. Your father obviously meant to provide for us, so we should make use of it.’

‘What, go on a shopping spree?’ said April sarcastically.

‘He knew me well, darling. What do you think he’d expect me to do with all that money? What else are we going to do? Put it into bonds? Give it away to charity?’

‘I don’t know, but having a party … it’s as if we’re happy he’s dead.’

But why did he leave all that money?
Wondered April.
Did he expect to be killed?
Obviously he had run the risks of upsetting the wrong people in his work as an investigative reporter. That was true. But this seemed something more than that. Mr Jones was right: no one expects to get their throat torn out by a vampire, do they? It might have made sense if her dad had taken the insurance out a week before his death, but
he’d done it seventeen years ago. It just didn’t add up. Like almost everything in her life right now. She suddenly thought of Gabriel and the terrible, hungry look on his face when he’d taken the potion. She had been calling and texting him, but his phone was switched off. Where was he? Had he gone on a blood-sucking rampage? Was he dead in a ditch? She had no idea.