Thirst (20 page)

Daimhín inclined
her head slightly. “I hear you have the dagger.”

The air
tightened. “What dagger?” I bluffed.

“Now, now, I
can’t take it from you. I’m surprised you can touch it. It burns
the poison from our bodies, purges us of the very thing which
animates us. I suppose it works differently for you.”

The cold presence
was back, carefully breathing on my arm as if to keep me calm.
After everything, I was happy to have it around.

She sniffed the
air. “Is there something here?”

The cool air grew
icy on my arm. “What?” I said, knowing full well what she meant
this time.

She glanced
around the room, more curious than concerned. “No matter,” she
said, at last. “As for your family and friends, they’ll be safe
from me, but are they safe from you? And if you don’t feed, how can
you protect them?”

“I don’t have to
feed,” I hissed.

“You’re not
feeding yourself with the blood,” she said. “It’s the poison in
your blood stream that craves it. The poison can’t strengthen you
if you don’t feed it.”

“But I don’t kill
people, I don’t eat them either!” I had to make sure she knew I
wasn’t like her.

She surprised me
by laughing girlishly. She leaned forward
conspiratorially.

“Tell me. Do
vampires count as people?”

I stared back at
her, unsure of what my answer was to that.

She relaxed back
into her chair, suddenly looking more like a school teacher than a
ruler of vampires.

“Let me tell you
about your first job.”

The sun beamed
down on my face. It seemed poignant that the sun was out in all its
glory on the day I was sent to complete my first job. Humming to
myself, I tried to gather my confidence together, the only thing I
lacked. Maximus’s torture had taken more out of me than blood and
pain. It had taken three weeks, but physically, I was fully healed
apart from the scar on my chest. It itched sometimes, but I would
take that over torture and death any day. Mentally was another
story, one I wasn’t particularly ready to deal with.

I took short,
quick strides, counting fourteen at a time as I wondered at how
much one short month had changed my world. I was more aware of the
vampire side of me, I was in the employment of the head vampire in
Ireland, I was back in touch with my grandmother, and I wasn’t so
scared of humans anymore. Seclusion didn’t seem like the best idea
any longer, but there was still fear. I had opened myself up to so
many people—I was afraid of being hurt by them.

Life wasn’t
perfect. My grandmother and I weren’t exactly close, but at least I
could call her and know she wouldn’t howl at the moon about it or
call me Lilith for my trouble. I wasn’t sure if we could ever be
close, but we were working on rebuilding our relationship.
Admittedly, she was the one making the effort, but as far as I was
concerned, she was the one who had screwed things up in the first
place.

Carl was having
problems adjusting to his normal life, so I was keeping out of his
way—and away from the memory of his blood. He didn’t talk about it
much, but I sensed he was having a hard time dealing with it. I
still felt the occasional ache after our bond was ripped apart. I
didn’t want to ask how it was going for him.

Peter had gone
off my radar for the most part. I didn’t know if I could trust him.
Between him bringing me to Eddie in the first place, agreeing on my
behalf to work for Daimhín and possibly being the boyfriend of
Daimhín’s day assistant, I wasn’t sure what to think.

The loose ends
made me panic. Besides knowing I had a lifetime of “favours” to do
for Daimhín, I owed one to Eddie too. He could collect at any time,
and I still wasn’t sure who he really was, or if he was keeping an
eye on me. Even Arthur had warned me to trust no one, but his
warning was too vague to be of any real use.

Thinking about
everything unsettled me. I swallowed down an anxiety attack and
concentrated on making it through the day. I held my cross and
counted to fourteen as I waited for a set of traffic lights to
change. Even though the magic had worn off, I still felt something
in the silver. It comforted me, and I was sure it had to have some
remnants of power remaining because the thirst was nowhere near as
uncontrollable as it had been despite the fact it had been fed
while I was badly injured.

The cold presence
was still hanging around. I didn’t have a clue what it was, but I
was sure it had tried to warn me of danger, and for that, I was
grateful. I slipped my hand in my pocket and felt the warmth of the
dagger. Eddie hadn’t asked for it back, and I wasn’t going to hand
it over voluntarily. I still felt a huge sense of ownership. It was
overflowing with power; I would be nothing without it.

I reached my
destination all too soon. Wrapped up in my own thoughts, I hadn’t
realised how fast I had been walking. Taking a deep breath, I
walked through the gate and straight up to the bodyguards at the
front door. Adrenalin buzzed through my veins, but I hoped I
wouldn’t have to hurt the humans.

Two tall, bulky
men stepped in my way. I gripped the dagger tightly, remembering my
instructions to leave an obvious message. One of the men laughed
scornfully. “Are we supposed to be scared of that little butter
knife?”

“No, you’re
supposed to be scared of these,” I hissed, letting my fangs show
freely. The man paled and ran, not loyal enough to risk being
bitten. The other hesitated even when I got in his face. I groaned
inwardly then kneed him in the groin. Hard. He jerked backwards
without a sound. I watched with some fascination as his face turned
white, then red and finally purple. Wheezing, he toppled over,
clutching at himself, no longer a threat to anyone.

I kicked the
front door open with ease. I’d been fed a lot of blood while I was
healing, courtesy of Daimhín’s kitchen. I didn’t ask questions. It
was better that way. I was off the blood, but I still felt the
after effects—I was faster, stronger, less likely to count
heartbeats to keep calm.

I looked around
quickly, expecting more bodyguards, but either Maximus was
extremely lax or extremely cocky. I knew which one I was going
for.

I followed
Daimhín’s very specific directions and found Maximus’s underground
bedroom. It was a windowless basement dressed up to look like it
had been furnished for royalty. Pretentious to the last.

Maximus lay on
satin sheets in a bed that could probably fit six people. As soon
as I saw his sleeping face, I felt rage bubble up and threaten to
explode out of me. He had taken my grandmother, scared me, hurt me,
made me think I was going to die, almost killed me, and only let me
go because a more powerful vampire wanted me instead. He was
spoilt, petulant, needy and unfair. He had no loyalty to his own
kind, and he was completely unstable.

I hesitated. The
world was better off without him—but a final death was too good for
him.

I could take
him.

Hurt him. Make
him suffer. Make him plead for mercy. Daimhín would never know,
probably wouldn’t care either. I stood over him, contemplating,
dagger in hand. Then, as a cold breath chilled my neck, I realised
I couldn’t do it. I could never be like him, even if I wanted
to.

I’d been having
nightmares since I left his house. I woke up screaming most nights.
Alone and scared. He had marked me in his own way. Daimhín’s first
job for me was the final death of Maximus, but I would have done it
anyway. Or I’d never have a good night’s sleep again.

Trembling, I
raised the dagger then stabbed him in the heart, knowing a feeling
of satisfaction that couldn’t be topped. His eyes shot open and
looked straight at me. He tried to rise up against me, but it was
too late. His blood went on fire inside his body, bloody vein by
bloody vein. He gasped with pain, unable to make a sound beyond a
choking noise as his throat burned with the rest of him.

He stretched out
his arm before collapsing backwards, his body slowly turning to
ash. A permanent death. A true death. It was over, all over. And I
was the last sight he saw. It was over so quickly, it barely seemed
real.

I couldn’t stop
shaking as I left the building. I wanted to set the whole place on
fire, burn the lot of them, but Daimhín had warned me not to harm
another vampire. I was Maximus’s punishment for trying to mutiny
against Daimhín. The others would heed his death as a
warning.

By the time I got
to the end of the road, I was sweating profusely and had to sit
down. I kept expecting him to be there when I turned around; it was
like my mind was taking its damn time realising he was really
gone.

I jumped with
fright as my mobile rang. It was my grandmother.

“Is it
done?”

“Yeah, he’s gone.
Burned in his bed.”

“Poor soul,” was
the dry reply. “And you? Is it better?”

“I feel... numb.
But glad too. Glad it was me. I’ll feel better as soon as it sinks
in.” I hoped.

“I wish I’d been
there. To see it.”

“Well, it’s done
now. Back to normal.” Until the next job. But I couldn’t think
about that. Not yet.

“Why don’t you
come over? I’ll make you tea.”

I thought about
it. After killing something in cold blood, I needed a bit of
normality, a bit of humanity. “Tea sounds good actually,” I said.
“I’ll be there.”

I hung up and
left to have tea with my grandmother as any human might do, but my
smile was grim. I had no idea what the next day would bring—but at
least I was alive.

###

Thank you for reading this novella. If you
wish to know more about the author then check out her blog for more
information—
Doing It Write Now.

Keep reading for two preview chapters
of
Taunt
–
Ava Delaney
#2
.

I knew my
grandmother was speaking to me, but all I could focus on was my old
bedroom, the carpet still stained with the blood and tears of a
child. Bad memories had rushed to the surface as soon as I stepped
into the room; so overwhelming, my breath caught in my
throat.

“Ava?”

I snapped
back to the present. “Sorry, what?”

My
grandmother frowned, familiar impatience fleeting across her face.
“I was saying we could get a new bed, but the old one would do for
now. You could move in straight away. What do you
think?”

She
stared at me with expectant eyes, apparently waiting for me to jump
at the chance to move back in with her. Every cell in my body
screamed, “No way, not ever.” We had come a long way in a short
space of time, mostly out of necessity, but that didn’t mean I
wanted to live with her again.

“I don’t
know. I’m not sure that’s the best idea right now.” Holding my
breath, I waited for her protests.

“Of
course it’s a good idea! No point in renting all by yourself when
I’ve an empty room here. You don’t even have a real job, Ava.” She
shook her head, feigning disappointment, as if that was our biggest
worry.

“Besides,” her voice softened a little as she took a step
toward me. “You were almost tortured to death, Ava. You need to be
taken care of.” She smiled, and I could see she wasn’t worried,
certain I’d cave. She carefully avoided the fact that I did have a
job, just not a paying one. Being in the employ of the most
powerful vampire in Ireland against my will didn’t have that kind
of perk.

“Look,
Nancy,” I began, trying to remind her of the serious distance
between us.

“Stop
calling me Nancy!”

“Being
back in touch has been nice and all, but I’m not ready to live here
again. Not after… everything. It’s way too soon for me. I mean, we
were meeting up for tea, then suddenly you’re moving on to me
living here again?”

Her eyes
narrowed, sending me back to my childhood for the briefest instant.
She’d never been a patient woman; a lot of her actions had been
questionable to say the least. My grandmother did her best at the
time, but even now, it took a lot to look the woman in the eye.
After seven years of freedom, I wasn’t ready for her methods of
curing me.

“Oh, here
we go.” Her mouth tightened into a thin line that made her look as
cruel as I remembered. “Pity me. Poor Ava wasn’t loved. How about
you think of someone else for a change, and stop bringing up the
past? I had to live with a monster! What was I supposed to
do?”

She might
as well have slapped my face. Her apologies meant nothing, after
all. Feeling my chin tremble, I shook my head. “I’m not bringing up
the past, being in this room is. The fact that you think of me as a
monster is a pretty good reason for me not to stay.”

“Wait a
second, let’s just talk about it.” The anger in her eyes turned to
worry. “I thought we were over all of this. I protected you; I kept
quiet when those vampires took me. I thought that would change
things, prove to you that everything’s different now. I’m your only
family, so why can’t you let us have a fresh start? I took care of
you when you needed me, why can’t you give me this?”