Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (3 page)

Chapter Three

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*

All Aelia heard was her heart booming in her
chest and the ragged bleating of someone’s goat. Her mother had
been pulled away and her father made a move towards her, but
Praetor Garidas put his arm out to stop him.

‘
No,’ he said. ‘You know
the law. She cannot go with you or speak to you. She will go with
them.’ He pointed to two women dressed in black robes. ‘She will
lodge with them until we have decided.’

‘
But she has never spent a
night away from us. She is only sixteen. Still a child
…’

‘
We will determine the
truth of that tomorrow,’ Praetor Garidas replied.

Aelia’s mind was a blur of thoughts. How
could this be happening? The whole village outside her house, her
father now shouting at Praetor Garidas and her mother in tears. How
had they found out about what she had done? And where was Lysus? He
had said it would be alright, that they would marry. She looked
around wildly. She had to find him. He would make it right. His
father was the Praetor after all.

Was it her imagination or could she hear
whispers and hisses in the crowd? No, not imagined … ‘whore’,
someone muttered. ‘Slut’. Tears pricked behind her eyes. The women
in black now had hold of her arms and were trying to lead her away,
but her legs didn’t want to work.

Then, she spotted him standing
on the step of her neighbours’ house. Lysus. His dark eyes bored
into hers and she stared at him, a silent plea. She could feel the
desperation in the twist of her mouth and the strength of her gaze.
He shook his head and briefly put a finger to his lips. He mouthed
the words
don’t worry
and then he stepped down and was gone, hidden by the crowd.
Did that mean there was nothing to worry about, that he would sort
it out and make things right?

Aelia found a little strength to walk and so
let herself be taken, unresisting; barely even registering her
mother’s rising screams and her father’s useless pleading. The
women gripped her arms too tightly and she stumbled along the path,
trying to match their pace. She didn’t dare look up now, too
ashamed and terrified to see the stares of disgust, pleasure and
pity.

Was it only a few minutes ago that she was
happy? It didn’t feel like the same year, let alone the same day
that she had dipped her toes in the stream and felt such joy. How
could things have changed so quickly?

‘
Where are we going?’
Aelia managed to choke out the words, but neither of the women
replied and she didn’t have the courage to repeat
herself.

Fear had never been a part of Aelia’s life.
Only love, happiness and a feeling that nothing bad could ever
really happen. She was a good girl, never ungrateful or
dissatisfied, never one to make trouble or mischief. As the eldest
daughter, her sisters looked up to her – Aelia, the steady one.
Maybe she had been saving it all up for now - for this one
spectacular fall from grace.

She realised they had stopped walking.
Raising her eyes from the ground, they now rested on a faded wooden
door. The women let go of her arms and she automatically reached up
to massage the bruised spots. The door swung inwards and they
prodded her inside a dark room which smelt damp and disused. One of
the women walked past her, over to a table where she lit a stubby
candle. It flickered to life and illuminated all but the shadowy
corners. Next to a rickety table, sat two roughly carved chairs and
there were three straw pallets on the floor against the far
wall.

‘
Go and get some rest,’
one of the women said, pointing to one of the pallets.

‘
What’s going to happen?’
Aelia asked.

‘
You’ll find out soon
enough, foolish girl.’

Aelia coloured. The words hurt her.
Everybody seemed to know what she had done, but Lysus didn’t seem
to be in trouble. She didn’t understand it. She walked across to
the pallet and sat down. Her parents must be so disappointed in
her. She hoped her sisters didn’t know what she had done. What
would be the punishment for her sin? She had heard the rumours of
punishments for past sins, but they couldn’t be true could
they?

She leant back against the wall and closed
her eyes. Aelia didn’t even feel like herself anymore. There was a
hollow feeling where her insides should be, but the hollowness felt
heavy, which made no sense at all.

The women ignored her. They barely spoke to
each other and when they did it was in half-whispers and swallowed
murmurs. They sat at the table like a couple of huge ravens,
sharp-eyed and aloof. After a while, Aelia gave up trying to glean
anything from them. She lay down on the prickly straw and turned to
face the wall. The humiliation and shame was almost worse than any
possible punishment. Lysus had said not to worry. His father was
the Praetor. He would surely make it right for her. Aelia’s mind
kept circling around the same things. Her poor parents; she had let
them down. They would be devastated.

She still wasn’t sure how she could have let
it happen, how she could have given herself so easily to a boy. It
had all been so fast that she hadn’t had time to think. The soft
caress, the kiss … And how had everyone found out? That was what
really puzzled her. She and Lysus had thought they were alone.
Maybe someone had seem them go off together, but that was not
enough for such an accusation. No doubt she would discover the
answer tomorrow. She hoped she would have the courage to face
whatever she needed to.

Tiredness suddenly overwhelmed her. The blur
of thoughts in her head grew more shapeless and worrying, becoming
a solid mass, like an unwelcome creature she couldn’t shake loose.
She realised she’d had no food since noon. The women had eaten
something earlier, but had not offered to share any with her. In
any case, she didn’t think she would be able to stomach food, even
though her empty belly gurgled in disagreement.

Despite exhaustion, sleep was slow to come
to Aelia. Each time she thought oblivion was about to take her, she
would be startled awake with the strangeness of everything. When
sleep finally did arrive, she dreamt of birds in flight and of a
sunset so beautiful it made her weep.

Chapter Four

Present Day

*

Mmmm, Maddy smiled to herself at the thought
of hot chocolate. Her footsteps echoed along the narrow cobbled
alleyway and her breaths came out in little frosty puffs. It was
quiet down here, away from the laughter and music of the ice rink.
These days she felt as though her life had really begun. It was
like she’d been on hold, living a half-life, waiting for this life,
waiting for Alexandre. They were so different from each other – he
came from a loving family and a life of privilege and she’d been
brought up in foster care with nothing to call her own. But they
were connected to each other. Alex made the world make sense. He
knew her and she knew him. She couldn’t explain it. They fitted
together.

Madison emerged from the alleyway, walked
through the car park and followed the signpost to the shops. She
saw the café she was looking for - a warm yellow glow in the dimly
lit street. She opened the door and felt the heat of the place and
the noisy chatter of happy people. The takeaway queue almost
reached back to the door, so she scooched in and took her place
behind a red-cheeked family who were loosening scarves and removing
woolly hats.

‘
It’s boiling in here,’ a
little girl said to Maddy.

‘
It is,’ she replied,
smiling down at her serious face.

‘
I can ice skate,’ the
girl said. ‘Daddy said I was really good.’

‘
I’m not very good at
all,’ Maddy said. ‘I fell over.’

‘
You have to practice if
you want to get better.’

‘
Okay. I’ll practice some
more.’

The girl’s mother smiled at Maddy. The door
opened behind her, letting in a welcome blast of cold air.

‘
Hello again.’

Maddy turned to see the man from the ice
rink standing behind her.

‘
Looks like we had the
same idea,’ he continued.

She gave him a small smile and turned back
around. He was probably harmless but she couldn’t help thinking
he’d followed her in here. She should never have spoken to him back
at the rink. She’s probably given him the wrong idea. He didn’t
look like a nutter, but you could never tell.

‘
They do great coffee in
here,’ he said.

Oh God, he was trying to strike up another
conversation. Could she get away with ignoring him? Probably
not.

‘
Great,’ she said in her
least-enthusiastic voice.

‘
Are you a tea drinker or
a coffee drinker?’ he asked. ‘I bet you like tea.’

It grated on her nerves that he was right.
Maddy gave him what she hoped was a discouraging smile.

‘
Tea? Am I
right?’

The queue moved forward and she
pretended she hadn’t heard him. He was quite good looking, broad
shouldered and well dressed, but she wasn’t remotely interested in
anyone other than Alex. Plus, there was something a little
bit
off
about him.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. Maddy
flinched, wanting to turn around and push him away. Instead she
looked at him with unconcealed annoyance, but her expression didn’t
seem to faze him.

‘
You’re a tea drinker,
right?’ he repeated.

‘
Look, I don’t mean to be
rude, but I’m not really in the mood to chat.’ There, that should
shut him up. The queue was moving pretty quickly, thank goodness,
and the family in front of her was being served now. She would
order the hot chocolates and get back to the ice rink before the
man had a chance to catch her up. Once he saw her with Alex, he’d
get the message.

After a complicated order and lots of
changing of minds from the children and frayed tempers from the
parents, the family left with their drinks and snacks and it was
Maddy’s turn to order.

‘
Two hot chocolates to
take away please. One with cream and marshmallows. Oh, and a
chocolate flake.’

She waited while the woman got her
order,

‘
They look great,’ the man
said as the woman put the drinks on the glass counter.

Maddy ignored him. She felt like a bit of a
cow, but she really didn’t want to encourage him.

‘
I’ll put them in a little
tray for you, love,’ the woman behind the counter said.

She paid and headed to the door, avoiding
any eye contact. Someone thoughtfully opened the door for her and
she began walking as fast as she could, back to the rink. It was a
little awkward, as she had the skates in one hand and the tray in
the other. The mittens were still in her pocket so her hands were
freezing, and now her wrists were beginning to ache too.

‘
Here, let me
help.’

Maddy gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes
at the sound of the man’s voice.

‘
I thought you were
getting coffee,’ she said.

‘
Their machine’s broken.
Just my luck.’

Maddy didn’t believe him.

‘
Here, I’ll carry those
for you.’ He took hold of the cardboard tray, but she didn’t let
go.

‘
I’m fine
thanks.’

‘
It’ll be much easier.
We’re walking the same way. Come on, let me help.’

‘
I said no
thanks.’

They had reached the car park now and a few
people were milling around, but no one paid them any attention. The
man kept step with her as she decided whether to make a run for it
or not. There was something definitely creepy about him and he was
starting to scare her with his persistence.

Maddy jumped as a van door slid open to her
left. The man put his arm around her shoulder and pushed her
towards the vehicle.

‘
Hey!’ She brought the
skates up to hit him, but someone pulled them out of her grip. She
dropped the drinks on the ground and was shocked to realise there
were people in the van who were trying to pull her inside. And they
were succeeding. The man let go of her as she was forced inside, a
dark piece of cloth rammed over her head. Maddy tried to yell, but
no sound came out other than a useless moan.

The van door slid shut and the engine
started up. She struck out with her fists and feet, but they were
doing a good job of restraining her, pinning her arms while someone
else held her legs. The cloth smelt funny, like sweet glue. She
felt odd, woozy. Voices filtered into her head as though from far
away.

‘
Did anyone see
you?’

‘
No.’

Men’s voices. Shit. Her heart was racing.
That bloke had deliberately pushed her into the van. Who was he?
Why was she here? The others would find her. Alex would find her.
She couldn’t stay focused. Her eyes were closing.

‘
Is she out
yet?’

Maddy lost consciousness.

*

The vampires met back home at midnight to
discuss a plan of action.

‘
But where could she be?’
Ben asked for the hundredth time.

‘
I don’t know, Ben,’
Isobel replied. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find her.’

‘
Maybe we should call the
police?’ Ben said.

‘
Do you really think
they’ll do a better job than us?’ Freddie replied.

‘
It can’t hurt to have as
many people looking as possible.’