The Awakening (45 page)

On the Wednesday evening, I drove home determined to tell him everything. He’d been there for me when I felt scared and alone. The least I could do was tell him the truth. I settled the Audi into the driveway and climbed out. Leaning against the door, I took a deep breath.
Okay Alex, just walk in there and tell him. If he’s with his girlfriend then demand he talks to you privately. You can do this.

My keys fell from my hand as I stared at the scene. I blinked slowly, convincing myself that my on edge brain was playing tricks on me. But they were still huddled there, watching the TV. They looked up together.

Scarlett hopped into a sitting position on the counter. “Watching a really bad film. You know, your brother has awful taste in movies.”

“You know what I mean! Why are you
here
?”

She shrugged. “Protection.”

“I know that. But why aren’t you outside with the others?” I clapped a hand over my forehead. “Oh sweet lord, this is what Faru meant by special protection!” I pointed towards the lounge. “Does he know?”

The Bloodling pointed to her eyes with a slender finger. “Look at the colour Alex, bright as a new coin. Do you really think I’m stupid enough to hang around a human hungry?”

I stormed up and down the kitchen. “Great, Faru forced a Vampire to seduce my brother.”

“Whoa, hold on - no.” She used a chalky hand to stop me pacing. “It isn’t like that at all. My mission was to become part of Mikey’s life, that’s it. To keep an eye on him – especially when he wasn’t at home, in case someone tried to kidnap him to get to you. How I did that was my choice.”

I tried to respond, but had nothing to say.
Seriously, is it stamped on my forehead or something?

Scarlett jumped of the counter and marched close to me. “Look, you want Mikey protected right? I’m protecting him. What happens between us beyond that is
none
of your business. Christ, you think because I’m a Vampire I have to sacrifice my life? I may be dead, but I still have feelings!”

The sound of a throat clearing made me jerk my head around. Mikey was standing in the doorway. “Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” he said.

Scarlett and I exchanged a glance.

“You better take a seat.”

*

“I can’t believe you’re a
Vampire
,” Mikey whispered, his back pressed against the kitchen cupboards. Scarlett let her fangs slide back into her gums until they resembled normal teeth. Even after I’d explained everything it had still taken a demonstration to convince him that we weren’t winding him up. It was understandable - what sane person would believe it unless they saw it first hand?

“So I was just an assignment for you?”

I could see the hurt in his eyes. I imagined it was how I’d looked when I’d thought the same thing about Gabriella. It was the first time I’d ever seen him react emotionally to a girl in his life.

The Bloodling moved away from us with the lithe speed of a wildcat. She wrenched opened the back door and I watched as she vaulted onto the roof. The cold chill rolled in behind her. I walked over and shut the door.

“I think you offended her,” I said, keeping my voice low.

Mikey was still rinsing his mouth. He spat water into the sink. “Offended
her
?” He wiped his hands on the towel. “I was the idiot tricked into falling for a bloody Vampire!”

“Okay fine. I’ve never felt this way about a girl before. She’s just so intelligent and fun and sexy and great in...” he balked and put up a finger.

I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. “Listen Mikey. Now you know what she is and what I’m a part of, you have a choice.”

“Do I?”

I nodded. “I can get Gabriella to make you forget all of this. She can do that. You can carry on none the wiser. Scarlett will still protect you - but from a distance. Or...you can chose to accept all this, at least for now. Hopefully without puking,” I added with a weak smile.

My heart hammered as I waited for his response. He clenched his jaw and let out a deep sigh.

“I need to talk to her first,” he said pointing upwards.

“Come on,” I said and opened the door. He followed me outside. In the unruly backyard, nature had regained control. Gardening had never been a family strong point. The one trait we all shared. A rusted lawnmower - promised restoration and use by John - lay abandoned by the dilapidated shed. The grass reached our shins and weeds strangled their way around most of the flowers which lay dotted around, distributed by nature alone.

Moving over to the overgrown patio, I crouched down. “Hold on tight.”

Mikey grabbed onto my shoulders and I sprang into the air, landing on the roof. Scarlett was sitting at the other end, watching the setting sun. As we neared, I could see that her eyes were damp and the corners of her mouth were turned down at the ends.

Mikey noticed too.

He sat down next to her. There was silence for a few moments. “Sun not a problem?” he said eventually, pointing towards the sinking orb.

“No,” she replied. “Not for us
dead
ones anyway.”

Mikey grimaced, but persevered. As their conversation continued, I made my way back down, wanting to give them privacy. I smiled as I saw him stretch his fingers towards hers and she took them, curling them into her own.

*

I was lying on my bed, reading the last part of the hand guide when I heard someone knock on my door.

“Come in.”

The door nudged open and Mikey stepped in, a smile wide on his face. I set the book down on the table, using Dad’s picture as a marker. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. I could hear Scarlett pottering around downstairs, clattering pans about and opening the fridge.

“I’ve decided that I want to be part of your new life, yeah. Even if that does mean being afraid of the dark for the rest of my life,” he added with a grin.

Inside, something released. A tension I wasn’t aware of slipped away. I hadn’t realised, but I’d wanted to hear him say that.
Needed
him to. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d grabbed him into a hug.

He raked a thumbnail along his eyebrow and made a noise with his throat. “Ha, that was a bit trickier. I think puking in reference to your girlfriend is a general no-no, even if they are a Vampire. But, she forgave me eventually. I think I’m going to try and get used to it. I mean my bird is a Vampire. How cool is that? And besides, it’s not like she’s dead-dead. Although she is pretty cold. I mean this one time-”

I put up a hand. “Enough said.”

He laughed. “Anyway, I want her as my protection. I want her…around full stop. See where it goes.” He pulled a face “Wow, who’d of thought I’d give a crap about a girl this much? Anyway if it doesn’t work out, I still have my solid big bro to look after me don’t I?” he gave me a light punch on the arm and stood back up. “You know, Scarlett ate food I cooked her, even though it makes her feel ill. How sweet is that? Anyway, she’s offered to cook for us both tonight. Apparently she’s quite good. Used to be a cook’s assistant or something when she was still human.”

I jumped from the bed and he sprinted away down the hallway, laughing his head off. I lay back down, chuckling to myself. Picking up the guide, I carried on where I left off, reading a passage about Lamiae; rare Umbra that could send their ethereal forms through the Veil and possess humans.

My phone rang, vibrating on the desk. I set the book down in my lap and grabbed it. As soon as I saw Gabriella’s name on the screen, butterflies filled my stomach.

“Hey, what’s up?” I said pressing the receiver to my ear.

The sound of rushing wind and traffic filled the receiver. I could barely hear Gabriella’s voice. “Are you at home?” she shouted over the roaring noise.

“Yeah, why?”

“I’m on my way to you now. Rachel just called me. The Coven has picked up an attack at a local bar called The Black Tap, happening in a few hours.”

I jumped up, spilling the book onto the floor. Adrenaline coursed through my body.

“This is it Alex. Your first real mission.”

27

T
he Black Tap was a bar for Pandemonians.

I hadn’t read about them, so Gabriella filled me in, as we sped along the Nexus, heading for Balham. Apparently, Illegal bars existed all over the world. Places where Pandemonians could drink and socialise in peace, away from the watchful eye of the HASEA. They were always moving about and were hard to track down. The Alliance usually chose to ignore their existence, unless any rules were broken.

Chosen were not welcome.

Gabriella assured me that as long as we kept calm, our adapted Kapre belts would make it difficult for any of the punters to identify us.

The doors of the elevator rolled open and we stepped out into a foul smelling alleyway. I turned to see a solid brick wall slide back into place. The only clue that it was an entrance to the Nexus was an almost imperceptible cross with two semi circles either side, carved onto a brick at the bottom. I guessed it was the button to call it.

The whole of Orion was in attendance, minus the recovering Sophia. We were all well-armed. I wore the Crimson Twins low over my back, concealed underneath a specially designed trench coat. A gun was holstered to my Kapre belt, loaded with multipurpose Stun rounds made from a cocktail of Iron, Silver and Wood filings. Next to the gun hung a few pairs of handcuffs, lined with various Apotrope material. A tiny receiver had been fitted in my ear, and an inconspicuous bracelet acted as the microphone. The others carried a mixture of stakes, guns and swords. The only exception was Delagio, who had a single silver dagger and a pouch full of various marbles.

The sky was overcast. The weather felt thick and oppressive. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It looked like there was going to be a storm.

Gabriella squeezed the side of her bracelet. I heard her voice deep inside my head, as if she were my own internal voice. “Can everyone hear me?”

We all nodded.

“Okay. This should be pretty straight forward. Humans are going to enter a Pandemonian bar within the hour. They are going to get attacked. We stop that attack. Any harm to a human by a Pandemonian or hybrid constitutes a violation of the treaty, so agents will come in after we’re done and shut the place down. I would prefer to avoid a mess if I can, so let’s try for arrests. Unless they engage us directly, in which case anything goes. Trojan are on standby if we need them. Is everyone clear?”

Everyone agreed.

“Okay, press your belts,” commanded Gabriella. I watched as everyone in the team apart from Rachel pressed the button on the side of the buckle. A shimmer of light rolled up their body. Rather than disappear, a silvery hue surrounded them, like an aura.
Guess the Invisibility does only work on humans.