Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (6 page)

But none of them mentioned to her that
Madison was missing.

Esther looked across at Ben.

‘
You look like you could
do with some food and some sleep, young man.’ Then she faced the
vampires. ‘It’s not good for him, keeping him up all night like
this. He needs a proper night’s sleep. He’s a growing lad. Come
upstairs. I’ll make you a nice bowl of soup and you can go and have
a lie down.’

Ben looked as though he might cry.

‘
And I thought at least
you’d
know better,’ she
said to Isobel. Esther put her arm around Ben and began to lead him
out of the room. ‘Oh, nearly forgot. This came for you, Alexandre.’
She handed him a white envelope with his name hand-written on the
front.

‘
It’s been
hand-delivered,’ he said. ‘I’ll
bet it’s from Blythe.’

‘
That solicitor?’ Esther
said.

‘
Did you see anyone
dropping it off?’

‘
No, it was on the
doormat.’

Alexandre growled. ‘If only I could get out
of here, I’d be able to catch up with whoever delivered it.’ He
ripped open the envelope.

‘
Has something happened?’
Esther asked.

‘
What does it say?’ Ben
walked over to Alex and ripped the paper out of his hand. He began
to read:

If you wish Madison to
survive, the five of you must return to Cappadocia to the
underground city. You must be there after sunset on the shortest
day or she will die.

‘
What’s happened?’ Esther
asked. ‘Is Maddy in trouble?’

‘
No!’ Ben shouted. He
punched the door and then bent his head in pain and brought his
fist up to his mouth.

Alexandre felt anger and terror sweep
through his body. Everything was disintegrating. Madison was
missing, her life in danger. She might be hurt. She would
definitely be scared, even though she would never admit it. And now
his family was also going to be put in danger. Why was this
happening? Why couldn’t they be left in peace? He didn’t want to
harm anybody. All he wanted was to live his life. He felt so caged
in right now. He needed to run, to shout, to feed. Alexandre
understood why Ben had punched the door. He wanted to destroy the
whole house.

Everyone began talking at once.

‘
Quiet, everyone! Please.’
Alexandre said. ‘Esther, did either you or Morris hear a car coming
up the drive? Are you sure you didn’t see who delivered the
letter?’

‘
No. I didn’t see
anything. Like I said, all I saw was the envelope on the
doormat.’

‘
We need to get some
security cameras fitted,’ said Jacques.

‘
Good idea, but a bit late
now,’ said Alexandre. ‘So if they didn’t come by car, they must’ve
come on foot and it would’ve taken them at least fifteen minutes to
walk across the grounds. Esther, maybe you and Morris should drive
around and see if you can find who dropped that letter
off.’

‘
Yes,’ she replied. ‘We’d
better be quick before they disappear. Ben, you need some ice on
that fist.’

‘
I’ll come with you,
Esther,’ Ben said.

‘
No, I don’t think …’
Esther started to reply.

‘
Yes,’ Alexandre
interrupted. ‘That’s a good idea. Take your mountain bike and scour
the grounds. But don’t engage the person. Just follow them, see
where they go. Are you alright to ride … with your
hand?’

‘
I’ll be fine,’ Ben
replied. ‘I’ll ice it first.’

‘
Go quickly.’

Ben returned the note to Alexandre and left
with Esther.

‘
He’s just a boy,’ Leonora
said. ‘You should not have sent him.’

‘
He’s not that much
younger than our human ages, Leonora,’ Isobel said.

Alexandre raised his eyebrows at his usually
over-cautious sister.

‘
What?’ Isobel replied.
‘It’s true. We can’t treat him like a weak child. He’s been through
too much with us.’

‘
Fine,’ replied
Leonora.

‘
But I cannot go back to
Cappadocia,’ Isobel said, ‘to that underground place. I just
cannot.’

‘
Don’t worry, Belle. We’ll
sort this out before it comes to that.’

‘
How?’ she replied, her
voice becoming shrill.

‘
I thought Harold and
Refet destroyed the entrances to the underground city,’ Freddie
said.

‘
They did, according to
Harold’s journal,’ Alexandre replied. ‘But we know Hamilton Blythe
found a way down there – they found the Cappadocian vampires didn’t
they.’

‘
So what are we supposed
to do now?’ Jacques said. ‘We can’t just sit around like nothing’s
happened. This daylight thing sucks.’

‘
Jacques,’ said Isobel.
‘Must you speak like that? But I do agree with you. It is truly
frustrating.’

‘
We should go online and
find Blythe’s house,’ Freddie said. ‘That man needs to be
stopped.’

‘
Yes,’ said Alexandre.
‘Yes he does. And that is just what we shall do.’

*

Ben’s fist throbbed as he
hopped onto his mountain bike,
but he barely registered the pain. Esther
had put a small bag of frozen peas inside one of his gloves to try
and bring the swelling down. Which way should he go? He should
probably head down to the woods. If
he
was going to sneak into Marchwood, that was where
he’d do it. He pushed off and headed across the front lawn to the
meadow beyond.

Maddy. She was all he had. Sure, Freddie and
Leonora were his ancestors, so they were technically family. But
they weren’t like Maddy. Freddie was awesome, like a cool vampire
cousin or something and Leonora was alright, a bit boring, but
alright. But Maddy had always been there for him. She’d lay down
her life for him and he would do the same for her. She was his
sister, his mother and his father all rolled into one, and he
wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He pedalled faster, his mind
creating unwanted scenarios which he tried to block out. If he
could catch this person who’d left that terrible note, then he
could get Maddy back. His eyes watered and he brushed a gloved hand
across his face. Stupid cold wind.

Within minutes, Ben had reached the woods.
He rode along the perimeter, peering into the leafless gloom. There
was no movement aside from the shiver of branches and the
occasional startled bird. He turned his bike and entered the woods,
weaving expertly through the trees, hopping over tree stumps and
constantly scanning for any sign of a person. He wished he had the
vampires’ heightened senses. If they were here, they would’ve
caught up with the person already. Maybe he should get a dog. A dog
would come in very handy right about now.

Even as Ben searched, he realised it was
useless. Whoever had delivered the note was probably long gone and
even if they were still in the grounds, there were acres and acres
to cover. It was a waste of time. He felt a spurt of anger at the
futility of his search and suddenly skidded to a halt, flinging his
bike against a tree. It lay twisted on the ground, one wheel
spinning in the air. Ben stood there for a moment, breathing hard.
Then he sank down onto the frosty ground and wept.

*

Winston Blythe’s home address was not so
easy to come by. They had been looking online, but so far had come
up blank. If only night would fall, so Alexandre could travel to
London and track him down the old fashioned way, but these
interminable minutes of daylight ticked by at a snail’s pace.

What had that note said? He
reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper.
It said they were to arrive there on
the shortest day
– that was December
21
^st
. Today was December 15
^th
. That gave them six days to get her back.
Well he did not intend to find her in six days, he intended to find
her tonight and then those who were responsible would pay. He
balled up the note and put it back in his pocket. Where was Ben?
Maybe he had found the person who delivered the note or perhaps
Esther and Morris had had some luck. It was so infuriating having
to wait around for others. He felt a hand on his
shoulder.

‘
Be calm, brother,’ Isobel
murmured. ‘We will find her. You know we will.’

‘
There cannot be any other
outcome,’ Alexandre replied.

‘
Have you had any luck
locating Blythe’s address?’

Alex shook his head.

‘
Leonora is still looking
online. If anyone can find it it’s her. She has a knack for this
modern technology.’

‘
Who would have thought
it,’ Freddie said. ‘My sister, the twenty first century
techie.’

‘
Well I haven’t had much
luck so far.’ Leonora lifted her head up from her laptop and
Alexandre thought for the hundredth time how uncanny the
resemblance between her and Madison. The same fair skin, only Maddy
had freckles; the same pale blue eyes, only Maddy’s sparkled with
humour whereas Leonora’s glittered with … disdain. She hadn’t
always been so cold. He felt sorry for her. She was a good person,
but she wasn’t easy to like.

‘
There’s nothing on Blythe
that I can see,’ she said. ‘Sorry.’

‘
Then keep looking,’
Alexandre said.

Leonora scowled at him, then sighed and
carried on. Alexandre felt bad for snapping, but he didn’t
apologise. She would only glare at him if he did.

He’d had a hard time adjusting to becoming a
vampire. Last year, when he had awoken to this new century, his
vampire family had still had the sleeping sickness. He had been
alone and bewildered, trapped in a strange new era where nothing
was familiar. Madison had been his only bright spot. She had made
him laugh, had teased him out of his black humours and comforted
him when it all became too much. With her help, he had almost
reconciled himself to living for an eternity, but to live for an
eternity without her would not be possible. A life without Maddy
would be no life at all.

For a moment, a choking panic gripped his
chest. He sat down heavily in one of the armchairs and stared
glassily at his knees. He felt as though he was sliding into the
deepest blackest hole in the universe, deeper than the caverns in
Cappadocia, deeper than the oceans, blacker than any moonless
night. He tried to steady his breathing. As soon as night fell he
would claw his way out of here and then nothing would prevent him
from getting her back. Heaven help the people who had made him feel
this way, for he would show them no mercy.

Chapter Seven

Cappadocia, 571 AD

*

She lay face down in the dirt. The dry red
soil filled her nostrils and she tasted metal and chalk on her
tongue. She felt it caked beneath her fingernails and baked into
every pore of her dried-out body. How long had she been lying like
this? Her eyelids scraped open a fraction, to snap back shut
immediately against a sun that scorched. She daren't try to swallow
for she knew her throat was beyond parched. It was a brittle
dried-up cavern and to swallow was to invite a pain that she wasn't
yet strong enough to bear. If only dark unconsciousness would
consume her again; anything but this unyielding, cruel light.

She tried to stop thinking, to go back to
oblivion, but something fluttered and twittered deep inside.
Something insisted that she face the pain and humiliation. That she
draw on her pitiable reserve of strength and not give in to easy
surrender – it was the voice of her mother, telling her to be
strong. To survive.

There was a single drop of moisture left in
her body and Aelia could feel it slowly evaporating into the
thirsty air. Was this the third day or the fourth? She wished never
to see another, but now here was that thin, insistent voice again,
telling her something completely different. Willing her to face the
unfaceable. Get up, move, do something, it said. Don't give up.
Death will not come quickly, you have time. Death is too busy to
claim you this day. Life is yours for the taking if you want it.
But you have to try.

Lying here in the silent heat, she only
wanted to block out everything. But the pain and the fear were
oozing and seeping, slow and unrelenting through her clogged veins.
Had she really been expelled from her home?

They had covered her eyes with a cloth,
taken her out of the village and left her in a place she did not
know. There had been no familiar landmarks and no stream to quench
her thirst. Only barren rock, dry red earth and hot sun. By day,
she had been terrified that she would run into bandits, and by
night, the thought of ghouls and demons had tormented her mind. But
after a couple of days all alone, she prayed she might see someone,
anyone who could help to find her way out of the unending
wilderness. She walked until she could go no further. And now here
she lay. Finished.

‘
My dear, the vultures are
circling. Are you getting up, or do you fancy yourself a banquet
for the birds?’ Aelia heard a woman's raspy voice, as if in a
dream. Yet, it was like no dream she’d had before.

‘
My dear? Can you hear
me?’

She felt her shoulder being roughly prodded
by something sharp and it hurt - a separate kind of hurt to the
other overwhelming ache she felt throughout the rest of her body.
She groaned.