Stolen Night (31 page)

‘I owed
you
,’ he continued, ‘the chance to be human without me interfering. So I chose to pay off my debts, believing you could acclimatize to your human life and, if
you and I were going to come back together, surely I could explain it to you over time. So I went to the Hollow Ones. They pledged your protection for the entirety of your mortal life if I could .
. .’ He hesitated and I listened rapt. ‘They sent me on an impossible task, Lenah. They expected me to deliver love. Actual love. If I could capture it, if I could find incantations or
spells that might steal love away so that I could give it to the Hollow Ones, they would protect you. You would be free from the darkness that had engulfed you for centuries.’

Rhode picked up a photo of me from the bureau and I wondered momentarily if he would throw it across the room. ‘I failed,’ he said, and his voice was barely audible. ‘And then
I found myself in the debt of the Hollow Ones. The protection for you was lifted. Vicken arrived and I was too late to get you out of Lovers Bay.’

I was silent and looked down at my hands. I couldn’t imagine Rhode failing at anything.

‘Where did you go?’ I asked hoarsely.

‘Back out to search. To the furthest corners of the earth. I failed again.’ He dropped to his knees in front of me and placed his hands on my thighs. ‘Once you take love from
someone through magic, they can never love again. They are not evil, they are not angry; they are hollow and empty, which is almost worse. I couldn’t siphon life away from anyone else. I had
done that for hundreds of years by taking their blood.’

The thought of Rhode doing this sent goose-bumps over me.

‘I could not and do not understand that kind of evil. When I returned . . .’ He gulped and took a moment to finish. ‘When I came back to Lovers Bay to tell the Hollow Ones, I
heard that you were a vampire again.’

He gripped my knees and I wanted to hold him to me. I wanted to say it was all right.

‘I saw your life as a golden orb hanging before me. Drawing me like the brightest of suns. I did not fear your light.’

‘You couldn’t give up your love for me,’ I said.

‘I could not,’ Rhode replied quietly. ‘Would not.’

It was time for me to tell the truth in return.

‘I bargained with the Hollow Ones, Rhode. I asked them to call the Aeris.’

Rhode’s eyes snapped up to meet mine. He dropped his hands from my legs and the mood in the room changed considerably.

‘They never do anything willingly – what did . . . ?’

‘In exchange for my blood, the blood of a vampire who could wield sunlight and who had survived the ritual twice, they called the Aeris for me.’ I swallowed hard, trying to stay in
control of my emotions.

Rhode stood up and kicked at the coffee table, sending books and pens flying into the air. I flinched and looked away from the falling debris.

‘How could you? They can’t be trusted, Lenah. You don’t know what that transaction could mean for you years from now. They’ll have that blood. Have that magic.’ He
ran his hand through his hair. ‘You could have died.’

‘I did not die, Rhode.’ Exhaustion laced my tone.

I stared at the curve of his neck, the line of flesh between his hair and his black T-shirt. I wanted to touch his skin while I still could.

‘And what did you ask the Aeris for? For protection tonight from Odette? Lenah, there will always be more vampires. Did you ask to break the decree?’

‘No!’ I yelled, and Rhode sighed. His silence was his response. ‘You expect so little of me, always the selfish girl. Do you remember what the Aeris said? That we were
soulmates and there was nothing they could do about that?’

Rhode nodded.

‘All this time I’ve been thinking about myself. About you, about me, about what we can’t have. I was never worried about the people who
really
deserved
justice.’

‘Lenah—’

‘No,’ I said, and cut him off. ‘No more formalities. We have to beat Odette. Fire said so specifically. Once we do, once we kill Odette, the following morning, at sunrise, I
will return to the fifteenth century and Fire will undo all of our atrocities. Erase our murders, and the ones committeed by the vampires we created.’

‘
What?
’

‘Why weren’t we worried about the people in the white light behind the Aeris? About Tony or Kate, or Chloe? Even Justin? Who knows where he is now, if he’s even
alive.’

‘The medieval world . . .’ Rhode started to say with a shake of his head.

‘My life will be short. I’ll marry young, die young. But I’ll get to live, Rhode. And we’ll spare the lives of everyone we killed.’

He seemed to consider something, and then he spoke.

‘But I can’t live not being able to love you,’ Rhode said, and my heart ached at his words. ‘I’ll be a vampire in the fifteenth century, watching you. Waiting for
you.’

I swallowed. Gathering strength. I couldn’t look at him when I said it. ‘I worked that bit out too. When I go back to the fifteenth century, you will remain here with no memory of
your past. You will be seventeen-year-old Rhode, with a family. A young man with your whole life ahead of you.’

‘No, Lenah. This isn’t fair. I’ve had no choice in this.’

I lunged at him, pointing my finger into his chest so he stumbled back against the bureau.

‘No!’ I said with a shout. ‘No
. I
never had a choice.
You
walked into my orchard and made
me
a vampire. Everything that has transpired since that event
will be undone by this choice
of mine
.’

I caught my breath in the silent moment that passed between us.

‘Did you ever forgive me?’ he asked quietly.

‘Did you?’ I asked. ‘I saw you. You told Suleen you were unsure if you could ever forgive me. That perhaps I was unlovable after . . .’ I hesitated, ‘after what I
had done.’ My voice cracked. I was unable to help it.

Rhode and I were only a foot apart. I watched the realization of this pass over his face. ‘That was a thought I had a few months ago. It never happened, and I regretted it ’

‘So your memory was . . . ?’

‘Just a thought I was having in the moment. You
were
connected to my thoughts.’

I allowed this to settle over me.

‘You forgave me?’ I said quietly.

I leaned to him and brought my lips within millimetres of his. He looked down at me, and we could so easily have kissed. His breath was so soft on my mouth.

‘Didn’t I always tell you, Lenah? You’re my only hope.’

He bent forward just a hair, our lips grazed each other’s. I was about to kiss Rhode as a mortal for the first time.

‘I love you, Lenah,’ he whispered.

I was lost in the possibility of Rhode’s lips caressing mine. My heart sang, and every pore in my body craved his touch. I wanted to be one with his soul.

Bam!

Someone pounded on the door to my room.

We jumped apart.

‘I’ll get it,’ Rhode said, and when he backed away the air between us felt strange and spoiled.

Vicken stood in the hallway dressed all in black, his hair slicked back so his features were more prominent. He smiled with his lips closed as though he was hiding something. Then his grin
widened and two very fine and very white pointed fangs gleamed.

‘Wow!’ Rhode said, stepping back, and my spirits lifted when he chuckled.

‘You’re dressed as a
vampire
?’ I asked.

Rhode shook his head in disbelief and chuckled again.

‘What?’ Vicken said with a shrug, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. ‘It’th
ironic
,’ he said with a lisp. The fake fangs made it difficult
for him to close his mouth. He came in and shut the door behind him.

‘Lovely . . .’ Rhode said. He unzipped his duffel bag and pulled out his longsword. The silver blade caught the light and reflected tiny beams over the floor.

‘Vicken took a couple of steps into the room. ‘Look at the two of you. Pathetic,’ he said. ‘Where are you cothtumes? You can’t juth walk into a danthe with a thord
on your back.’

Rhode motioned at the bag lying open on the floor. ‘I took care of that.’ He turned over the duffel bag and five daggers spilled out. ‘Now, help.’

White ruffles hanging off cheap fabric . . . faces painted to look like demons or angels . . . These were the snippets of costumes that I could see around me on Wickham campus
the night of the Halloween dance, the final night of Nuit Rouge.

The decorations were coupled with orange flashing lights. Security vehicles lit up the pathways.

This was a new Wickham.

A frightened Wickham.

A Wickham tainted by vampire bloodlust.

I scanned the crowds for Justin’s tall frame but I did not see him.

Rhode, Vicken and I stood in the alleyway next to Seeker and watched our classmates cross the green towards Hopper and go into the gymnasium. I tightened the baldric on my back, a leather strap
that held the sword close to my body. It pulled on my back whenever I moved.

‘So tell me what Fire said,’ Vicken asked for the tenth time.

‘She said knowledge was the key.’

‘We can’t worry about cryptic messages from the Aeris. We have to stay focused,’ Rhode commented, keeping his gaze on the dark campus.

‘Laertes said ten,’ I reminded Rhode.

‘Well, that’s easy then,’ Vicken said. ‘We wait here until ten, then we strike.’

‘We can’t leave those people in there,’ Rhode said. ‘We go to the dance. The first intimation that something’s out of the ordinary, we fight. Remember, we need to
get Odette away from her coven so Lenah can pierce her heart. It’s crucial she succeeds.’

‘Yeah,’ Vicken said, trying to push his fake fangs tighter into his mouth. ‘But you’re forgetting one important thing about this fight.’

‘Yes?’ Rhode said.

‘There will be hundreds of people in the room. We’re going to have to reveal ourselves in front of them.’

Rhode shot me a meaningful look. We both knew the changes coming at dawn. We
had
to succeed. Succeed, or we would both be stuck here – with the Aeris’s decree and vampires
seeking the ritual.

‘Let’s go,’ Rhode said, and we stepped out from the alley on to the pathway. I hadn’t told Vicken about my choice to go back to the medieval world. He deserved to know,
yes, but I didn’t know how to explain to him the choice I had made.

‘Did I mention this is a smashing look for you?’ Vicken said, looking Rhode and me up and down.

‘They were the only costumes that would make sense with Lenah’s sword and my arrows,’ Rhode replied.

We were dressed as Vikings. I would have laughed or perhaps suggested we took photographs, but in the situation that was not appropriate. The only costume events we had ever attended were masked
balls in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This was different. My costume was a tank top, a pair of shorts, and boots with fake fur trim, good for concealing a spare dagger. Rhode’s
was a kilt and a black tank top. I tried not to notice the curve of his biceps or the ripped muscles of his back.

Matching my baldric, attached to Rhode’s back was a quiver holding arrows. All anyone could see were the feathers poking out of the top. Rhode held on to his bow, a sleek black
modern-looking weapon.

‘You carry it,’ Rhode had said, when he fastened the sword behind me at the apartment earlier that night.

‘But it’s your sword,’ I had said, feeling the weight of the metal as the straps tightened over my chest.

‘I only borrowed it,’ he’d said, referring to the afternoon he visited Tony’s grave. ‘I left it in your possession for a reason.’ Our eyes met and he raised
one side of his mouth, giving me a sad, uneven smile. I had never asked him about the ceremony at Tony’s grave.

As we walked, it was hard not to appreciate the efforts Wickham Boarding School had made to decorate for Halloween. Finally we were able to see it complete. Black streamers wrapped the trees
that lined the pathways, orange twinkling lights blinked like lightning bugs from all imaginable scaffolding. Wickham was trying to bring its students together . . . Tony would have loved it.

Everyone was wrapped in their fall coats, so as they walked towards the gymnasium I could only see glimpses of costumes. I felt warm, but it could have been the adrenaline running through my
body.

Vicken, Rhode and I walked together, like a team, like soldiers, carrying our weapons. We turned on to the pathway that led to Hopper, and next to it was the hill that led up to the archery
plateau. It reminded me of Suleen, who had not shown himself in months. Even when I had really needed him, he had not come. The only remains of the carnival were the students’ booths. It
seemed that the professional company had taken the House of Mirrors away with them.

With Rhode and Vicken by my side, we kept walking behind the other students. I took some deep breaths of fresh air; the smells of Wickham campus cleared my head. Wet grass, clean air, and the
scent of the ocean somewhere close by. I tried not to say goodbye as I breathed out, but I knew that in some way I was already letting it go. Straight ahead of us was a good view of the campus
including a stretch of woods beyond Hopper.

There were gasps and screams of happiness when the door to Hopper opened just ahead of us. Booming music from the gymnasium sent ripples of sound out into the night. I told myself to remember
the way electricity lit up the darkness. That coffee could be brewed instantly into a cup. That music, the kind playing in the gymnasium, would have to hide deep within my heart, where I would
always hear it.

‘Lenah!’ Tracy called from the pathway. I turned and saw her in a black overcoat and jeans. She jogged towards Vicken, Rhode and me. When she caught up with us, her eyes were red and
she folded her arms across her chest.

‘I tried to find you earlier,’ she said.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘Justin,’ she replied.

‘Is there any news?’ I asked, the panic in my voice apparent.

‘He’s still missing. Officially now,’ Tracy said, ‘but they’re keeping it quiet because they don’t want people to panic.’