Lailah (The Styclar Saga) (26 page)

“What happened to the girl? To Jonah?”

“She, well, she died.…” Ruadhan went quiet and I sensed he was not telling the whole story. “Gabriel and I ended the three Vampires who made chase, but we offered Jonah a choice: return to his Gualtiero, or leave with us and try to regain his decency. He chose the latter.”

I pondered on this for a while. “He felt love for the girl, like he did for his sister. It broke through the darkness of his soul, long enough for him to decide. And he chose redemption. Why would you warn me off him, when he’s so clearly trying to find himself again, trying to be a good person?” If anything, Ruadhan’s story had caused me to feel a surge of compassion for Jonah.

“As much as he tries, like the rest of us, he is still dangerous.”

“Then why aren’t you warning me off Brooke, or off you? You’re all the same, aren’t you?” It was a bold question, but I had to ask.

“Essentially, yes. But he is the only one of us who has drunk your blood. He’s showing signs of being drawn to you and it can only be for that reason.”

“But Brooke told me that it is only truly dangerous if a Vampire drinks from another Vampire, that’s when a connection is fused.”

“Yes, but human blood can still be difficult to resist. You may have been the first light soul Jonah has ever drunk from.” He put it in layman’s terms.

“But then theoretically he should be put off by my blood. If I have a light soul surely I would just repel him?”

The further Ruadhan tried to explain, the more I started to concede that Jonah might have been onto something earlier.

“True, darkness feeds darkness. He shouldn’t be drawn to you, but for whatever reason he still seems to be.”

I could see that Ruadhan hadn’t fully considered this, but then he wasn’t entirely enlightened on my individual circumstances. I might exist in a human form, but I was immortal. And who the hell knew what kind of immortal I was or how it had come to be. I didn’t break the rules because I was some sort of weird, abnormal exception.

“Well then, I’d stop worrying. Perhaps he just wants to be my friend!” I didn’t want Ruadhan looking over his shoulder every time Jonah and I had a conversation.

“Perhaps … We’ll see.”

*   *   *

E
VENTUALLY THE MOUNTAINOUS,
curved roads came to an end and Ruadhan highlighted the Pyrenees Mountains, which were coming into view as the light of the early day began to glimmer. The mountains were quite something, but what was even more appealing was that I felt nothing toward them. This was the first time that I was seeing them and I enjoyed the newness of the sensation.

“It’s pretty brisk up there,” Ruadhan said. “They’re covered in snow some three thousand meters above sea level, like.” Ruadhan knew a lot. Over a hundred years of reading and an interest in history and geography would do that to you.

“They are stunning, Ruadhan, really,” I replied with genuine interest.

We passed a sign for Neylis. I wasn’t surprised by the isolation of the place—there weren’t many houses around. Gabriel chose remote properties, and unique ones; our destination was an impressive barn conversion. I was too tired to ask for a tour. I needed to sleep. Ruadhan turned off the engine, unlocked the ground level with a key from underneath a plant pot, and led me to a bedroom in the basement of the property.

“You’ve not been here for a while?” I asked.

Remarkably there were fresh sheets and towels placed neatly at the end of the bed.

“Gabriel had someone here a few days ago, readying it for our arrival,” Ruadhan explained as he placed my backpack down neatly next to the head of the bed.

“A few days ago? I thought he only decided yesterday morning that we were leaving?”

“He decided several days ago, but Michael persuaded Gabriel to stay on a bit longer in Hedgerley. I guess we know why now.”

As groggy as I was, Ruadhan’s comment startled me. “Michael was lying all this time about his Gualtiero’s stirrings, wasn’t he? He knew they were near, but he wanted to get Thomas back in exchange for me—”

“Seems so,” Ruadhan cut in. “He didn’t count on Gabriel striking his own deal with Thomas and ending him first. Thomas, at least, must have had the sense to know that there’s no such thing as a deal with a Pureblood. I guess Michael was pretty cut up about it. I reckon in the end he just wanted revenge.”

“I cost him his life,” I murmured, pulling the quilt back.

Ruadhan drew the curtains, blocking the rising sun, before tucking me in like a small child. “No, love, the darkness inside him cost him his existence,” he said, his voice gentle. “His life was taken from him a long time ago; you need to separate the two.”

I was quite certain Ruadhan was also reminding me that the same rule of thumb applied where Jonah was concerned. So he got the last word in the end, and I was too tired to care.

Still dressed, I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

EIGHTEEN

I
COULDN’T BE SURE HOW LONG
I
SLEPT FOR;
the thick velvet curtains blocked out any sense of day or night. My phone buzzing inside my pocket woke me.

Wearily sitting up, I yanked it out and saw a text from Gabriel. The message was simply a description of where the chess pieces had been when we had left our game.

I was surprised to find the set neatly placed upon the table in the corner of the room, waiting for me. I followed Gabriel’s instructions, carefully positioning the ivory statues back in the checkered boxes.

Cautiously this time, I moved the knight two up and one across to the left—where I had originally intended—this time fingering the round base. I texted him back with my move, nothing more. The phone vibrated in my hand as he speedily replied. This time it was his move, continued with a note.

CASTLE ON THE RIGHT FOUR SPACES FORWARD.

ARE YOU OKAY?

I contemplated my response. Moving one of my pawns, I spent far longer considering my answer to his question.

THIRD PAWN FROM THE RIGHT ONE SPACE FORWARD.

WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE HOUSE, HOW ARE YOU AND HANORA?

I couldn’t help putting her name on the message—my way of reminding him that I was still upset about the situation. He didn’t reply instantly. I perched at the foot of the bed, waiting.

WE’RE IN THE STATES. I HAVE SEPARATED FROM HANORA FOR NOW
IN SEARCH OF MALACHI ALONE. KEEP SAFE. STAY WITH RUADHAN.

DON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE. I’LL BE IN TOUCH.

I was disappointed at the lack of emotion; I guessed he was giving me space.

Rummaging through my backpack, I changed my outfit for some sweatpants, a T-shirt, and a jacket. I just wanted to be comfy. I found the bathroom and splashed water over my face, waking myself up, and ran my fingers through my long hair.

The glint of my crystal gem in the mirror above the basin reminded me of the interest that had spread over the Vampire’s face as he had regarded it. I took it off and sat on the tiled floor to study it further. The jewel was certainly unique; I had never seen anything like it. The gold band was delicate in comparison. I tipped it upside down and for the first time I noticed that the round, thick base underneath the stone had some sort of marking on it. I had to squint, but I was sure it was the symbol of a swan. How had I never seen it before? I guess I had never had a reason to look at it that closely.

As I rolled it back and forth in my palm, my mind wandered back to Gabriel, and how he had considered it while I recovered after I had been shot. When he kissed me and held me in the cottage, this very ring had caused him to seize up.

What did this ring actually represent?

As I pondered that, I slid my hand under my T-shirt and touched my navel, now unmarked. When Gabriel had filled me with light it had healed, not leaving even the faintest of reminders that anything had ever perforated my skin. I could almost hear the faint sound of his breath blowing gently, skimming my midriff as he stitched me up—quite a contrast to the noise that had filled the room when I had been shot. Why hadn’t he just breathed this magical light of his across my shoulder that night?

I needed answers and so I decided to leave my lonesome fortress and text him. Okay, it was a cop-out, I should call, but leaving your fortress and jumping off the top of the castle were two entirely different things.

YOU HEALED ME WITH YOUR LIGHT WHEN YOU FOUND ME IN THE COTTAGE, WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THAT WHEN I WAS SHOT? WHY DID YOU STITCH ME UP INSTEAD? DO YOU KNOW WHERE MY RING CAME FROM? DID YOU GIVE IT TO ME?

I hit send before I had a chance to change my mind. I stayed nervously on the floor, waiting for his reply. A few minutes later my phone started to ring. I hadn’t considered that he might call. I nearly let the voice mail pick it up, but I answered at the last second.

“Delete that message from your phone.” Gabriel’s words were hurried.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s dangerous.”

“What do you mean? Why is it dangerous?”

He paused and I heard him breathing heavily down the line, which was crackling.

I shifted the phone away from my ear, long enough to realize that my reception wasn’t very good in the basement.

“The light, the energy I released, doesn’t heal humans or anything of this world. If one of the others reads your messages, they will know you are not what I have said you are.”

“I don’t get it, who does it heal?”

I was quick; his reply was not. Finally it came. “Angels.”

Now it was my turn to be quiet.

“This isn’t a conversation I want to have with you over the phone, it’s not safe. When I find Malachi he may know.”

“When did you start to think I was…?” I stuttered.

He paused. “The day we left Creigiau. I don’t understand how that could be, but I will find out. Please delete that message.”

I gulped, hard. “And what about my ring? Did you give it to me?”

The line crackled, but his answer came through. “I didn’t give it to you, Lai, your fiancé did.”

Then the line went dead.

My initial shock was followed by a wave of embarrassment that made me cringe. Stupid, stupid girl! Why would you ask that? Why in the world would Gabriel propose marriage? But if it wasn’t him who had been my fiancé, then who was it, and what had happened to him?

Picking myself up off the cold floor, I began circling the room, my mind revving like a car with a fresh tank of gas.

Gabriel thinks I am an … Angel. He healed me with his light, a light which I know can end Second Generation Vampires because they are created from darkness. But Eligio tried to take me through a rift into the third dimension. There would be no point if my soul was light, I would simply disappear.

Jonah said my blood was different and it made him impossibly strong. He suspects I’m not human. But Vampires feed off dark souls, not light ones. I weighed these facts, but nothing made sense. And then to add even more confusion, that girl—my protector—shrouded in shadow. Ruadhan had seen her with his own eyes, and said she was a Pureblood Vampire. But then why would she be following me? Why would she destroy Second Generation Vampires to keep me alive? How was it that I could never recall what it was she did? I remembered her arrival, but then everything else that followed turned into a black spot. Did she wipe my memory somehow? But why would she bother?

Then there was Gabriel. He found me in my first life, when I was some form of human. I died and he left, but where did he go? How had I met my end and then been resurrected into whatever I was now?

No closer to working anything out, I decided to venture up the staircase and find the others. The gaps between the boards were far apart so I used the rickety banister to help me up.

I found myself on the ground level of the property; an open-plan-lounge-cum-kitchen/dining room presented itself to me, with a glass panel that ran the length of the far wall, overlooking a garden. The design was a strange mixture of a hundred-year-old barn converted and mixed together with contemporary fixtures and fittings. I rather enjoyed walking over the uneven, sloping wooden floorboards that ran throughout the property.

The exposed beams above, and half-plastered, half-brick walls took me back to a simpler time. A retiring sun was setting on the horizon; only the brightness of the solar lights outside and the lit lamps in the house gave me the opportunity to appreciate my surroundings.

Past the kitchen lay four bedrooms, a family bathroom that was void of any windows, and a study that was crammed to the ceiling with books. I slowly made my way up another staircase, which lacked any form of railing. This gave me access to an attic room that was short on head height, but had two laptops set up, with desks and a craft table. Three large loft windows slanted downward and as I peered up at the graying sky, safe behind the glass seal, I marveled at the clarity of the night’s backdrop. The twinkle of a thousand stars waking up and coming into focus against the dark navy was beautiful. I half wished I were up there with them.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that,” I whispered, unmoving, keeping my eyes locked on the stars.

The faintest creak of a floorboard had given him away. Jonah placed his hands on my shoulders and squeezed them. “Sleeping Beauty finally wakes.”

“How long have I been out for?”

“Oh, just a couple of days.”

“My phone woke me up.” I shrugged.

“Gabriel?” he inquired, but he already knew the answer to that.

I twisted around to address him properly, though no amount of familiarity ever seemed to stop the surprise on my face as he stood out against the blackness. He was magnificent. “Hmm, yeah. Listen, I can’t thank you enough for your help. Well, for coming to my rescue.” I shifted my weight a little awkwardly. “But I have a lot of, well, issues I need to work through. I need a friend right now, more than I need anything else. Think you can help me out with that?”

His stance didn’t change, but his perfect lips curved into a delicious smile. His eyes copied the stars, glinting spots of a sizzling sparkle. “Whatever you need.”