Where Loyalty Lies (16 page)

Roy seemed the exact opposite. He was slim, almost weedy and his hair was so blonde it had to be bleached. His eyes were piercingly blue, making him look almost childlike.

As Thomas and Henry talked, Roy nodded his head towards the targets.

“You ever done it?” he asked.

“No,” I replied. “I’ve always wanted to, though.”

Roy led me into one of the booths and pulled out a small case. When he opened it, there was a clunky-looking gun in it.

“This is just an airgun, but I think it’s a good place for you to start,” Roy said taking it out and tucking the case away.

“Is this where the enforcers come to train?” I asked.

Roy shook his head as he pulled out a little tin of pellets. “Enforcers don’t use guns. The main reason people become enforcers is the thrill of the hunt. There’s no fun in taking someone out if you’re hundreds of yards away with a gun.”

Okay that was a little scary.

“Besides,” Roy continued, “with our hearing and speed, we can hear the shot and move out of the way well before the bullet even comes close. That’s why we stick to stakes and knives. You get close enough to your target, then you strike even before they’ve realised you’ve moved.”

Okay that was disturbing.

He showed me how to load the pellets and how to stand when I fired. I was secretly hoping that I’d be a natural but, after only one of my first five shots managed to hit the target at all, I decided I definitely wasn’t. It was fun, though, and after a little honing my aim improved. Something about the simplicity of it appealed to me. You fired a shot, took note of where the pellet had hit and adjusted your aim next time so that you could get closer to the bullseye.

I understood why Henry had wanted us to meet here. It gave us something to do. I’d been expecting nervous conversation and lots of awkward pauses but there was none of that. In fact, half the time we were wearing earphones to block out the bangs of their real guns.

“You’re pretty good,” Roy said as I finished off my tin of pellets. “It won’t be long until you’re wielding a revolver.

I wrinkled my nose. “No, I’m happy with this.”

Roy chuckled and handed me another tin of pellets. “That’s what you say now, but soon you’ll get bored and want more of a challenge.”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “I have no desire to upgrade from my airgun, this is good fun and that’s all I want. I have no desire to become the next Lara Croft, running around the countryside with big beasty guns strapped to me.”

Thomas snorted and appeared from his booth.

“That’s right, Faine; you tell Roy that we don’t all need to have a big gun to feel like a big important man.”

Roy rolled his eyes but I could tell that this was friendly banter.

“I’m not a man,” I told Thomas.

He shrugged. “Well, vampire then.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “What? Nobody’s told you? Apparently, I might not even be that.”

Thomas laughed again. “I can see why Henry gets on so well with you.”

At the sound of his name, Henry came out of his booth and eyed my target.

“Not bad, seems you’re better with a gun than you are at dancing.”

“Very funny,” I said before putting my earphones back on and going back to shooting.

I could see why Henry had chosen these two people to introduce me to. They were so easy-going and asked me none of the personal questions that my examiners did. I got the distinct impression that there weren’t many vampires who were like this, but I was sure that anyone with a good sense of humour would gravitate towards Henry.

We stayed at the shooting range for most of the day. I even had a sandwich delivered there for lunch, which did nothing to improve the staff’s impression of me.

At four, I’d arranged to meet Holt. He’d told me to meet him by the west entrance of Rillith which, thanks to Henry’s directions, I found easily. My enthusiasm at the shooting range had made me forget the time and I had to jog so that I wouldn’t be late.

As I turned the last corner into a hallway, that was almost an exact replica of the main entrance, Holt was already waiting. I didn’t miss the way his eyes flicked over me, checking that I was still in one piece. I swear he thought I was as fragile as glass. On the first day he’d been away, he’d phoned three times to make sure I was okay and it was only when I told him that, if he kept ringing, I’d deliberately go out looking for trouble, that he agreed to call only once a day.

“Sorry I’m late. I got carried away at the shooting range,” I said as I skidded to a halt.

“The shooting range?” Holt’s eyebrows shot up.

I sighed. “Don’t worry, I just had an airgun, it’s not like I’ve been running around with a bazooka.” That image only seemed to worry him more, so I quickly changed the subject. “So how did your business go?”

“It was fine,” Holt answered. “But right now, I have something for you. It’s out here.”

Holt led the way outside and I followed him to see a Silver Toyota Yaris parked just outside. At first I looked straight past it, but there was nothing else outside but trees, grass and a tarmac road leading out of sight. When I turned back to Holt, he was holding out the key to the car. I just stared at him.

“It’s for you,” he said. “The Yaris.”

“You bought me a car?” I managed to ask.

Holt looked confused at how taken aback I was. “No, well, yes... but it’s just something for you to learn in.”

“You bought me a car?” I repeated.

“Yes.”

“This car?” I pointed at the Yaris, feeling stupid. Half my brain was saying
of course he means this car, you idiot, can you see another car anywhere?
But the other half of my brain was arguing
of course it isn’t this car, it looks brand new.

“Yes, this car,” Holt said, not even attempting to hide his amused expression.

I flung my arms around him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Holt stiffened in my arms. I knew vampires were sensitive about their personal space but he’d just given me a car. After a few seconds, I felt him relax and one of his hands gently patted my back in an affectionate, if somewhat awkward, response.

As much as Holt tried to act like this was no big deal, I could tell he was pleased with how happy I was.

“Well, the nearest town is Inverness and that’s about a forty minute drive away, so once your trial is over you’re going to need to be able to drive. I thought I could teach you.”

“I’d love that,” I said, trying not to shriek with excitement. “Can we start now?”

Holt laughed. “I don’t see why not.”

We both got in and Holt drove us far enough away that nobody in Rillith would witness my first ever driving lesson. We remained in the grounds of Rillith because I wasn’t allowed to leave until my trial was over. As Holt drove, I gazed around in awe; the car really was brand new. I opened and closed the glove box, flipped the visor up and down, opened and closed all the windows and studied all the buttons and dials on the dashboard.

“This is really my car?” I asked again.

Holt chuckled. “I had no idea you’d be so pleased with it.”

“Pleased?” I said. “Pleased isn’t the word, it’s more like ecstatic.

I couldn’t help but notice how surprised Holt seemed at how excited I was. Did he really think that giving a brand new car to someone was no big deal?

“Surely you must have been this excited when you got your first car?”

“Not really,” Holt grimaced. “When cars first came out, I never really liked them. They were always so unreliable and we didn’t have smooth roads back then, so it was never very comfortable. I didn’t think they’d ever catch on.” Holt paused. “I do remember the first time I got a decent horse, though. As a human, I only ever got to ride farm horses that were old or weary. But not long after I was turned, I acquired the most incredible mare. She was called Jinx and, although she came from one of the strongest bloodlines, she was written off as untameable and due to be shot. She was jet black and had this incredible mane that covered her whole neck. I took one look at her and knew that she wasn’t untameable, she just didn’t want to succumb to a life of boredom with some wealthy noble family who wouldn’t even appreciate her. She wanted a life of adventure with an owner who’d ride like every day was their last.”

Holt suddenly realised that he’d lost himself in his thoughts; he brought himself back to the moment. I was relieved because I was pretty sure that even vampires weren’t safe driving on autopilot. Still, I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed hearing Holt’s memories of his very long life.

Holt stopped the car on a long empty stretch of tarmac.

“Did you steal her?” I asked.

“I did,” Holt said. “And in the twenty years we were together, I never came across a horse that was faster or more intelligent. I swear that, on several occasions, she saved my life.”

I was totally hooked, even more than I had been with Henry’s stories. Before I could ask one of the many questions in my head, Holt beat me to it.

“I’ll happily bore you with hours of recalling my youthful days, but right now it’s probably more important to have our minds on other things,” Holt said as he tapped the steering wheel.

I grinned; he wasn’t going to get any argument from me.

I soon learned that I loved driving. Unlike my attempts at the shooting range, this was something I was good at. Holt told me that my vampire senses went part of the way to explain how I picked it up so quickly, but I liked to think of it as natural ability.

I grinned the entire time and when we finally had to call it a day, my cheeks were aching. Holt directed me to a large low building that turned out to be a giant multi-storey car park that was home to what had to be the world’s most exquisite collection of cars. Porsches, McLarens, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Aston Martins and even Bugattis filled the place, all perfect and shining like priceless gems. I suddenly felt terrified that I’d lose control and crash into one. Luckily I found a stretch of empty parking spaces where I could safely conduct my first attempt at parking without being near any other car.

As we walked back, Holt explained that most people used the valet service but he wanted me to see the car park so that I knew how to get there. There were two ways to get back to the castle, one above ground and one below. We took the over-ground route.

“Thank you,” I said for the millionth time.

“You don’t have to keep thanking me,” Holt said.

“But I mean it. Thank you for everything. I don’t know if you’re a saint or if I’m just really lucky, but you’re solely responsible for changing my life. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be back waiting tables and pulling pints. You’re like my guardian angel.”

Holt laughed.

“It’s true,” I continued. “I know you stuck your neck out for me when you brought me here and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that. I wish there was something I could do for you, but all I can do at the moment is work hard and keep my head down and make sure I don’t cause you any more grief.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Faine, and you haven’t caused me any grief. Ever since that first time I saw you, I’ve wanted to find you again. I don’t know how difficult it must have been for you growing up when you didn’t fit in but, the way I see it, you should be able to enjoy the benefits of this life now because you’ve had to live so long without them.”

We were at the western doors of Rillith now and I watched Holt as he glided up the stairs and held the door open for me. Not even Mary had ever shown me this much kindness. I knew he’d told me that he was trying to do the right thing by me, to atone for mistakes in his past, but he was going way beyond the necessary requirements. He hadn’t just done right by me, he was protecting and spoiling me. He treated me like I was family and it was only now that I realised how much I’d longed for a relationship like this in my life. He was the one person in the world I’d trust with my life, which was handy as it seemed that, right now, it was in his hands.

I’d never been to a ball before and, sitting here now at the Autumn Ball, I was blown away. It was everything I’d expected and more. The ballroom itself was huge with one whole wall consisting of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the night-time landscape. That should have made the room seem dark and cold but, instead, it was the only darkness in the room. The floor was made of a deep polished wood and the white walls, which stretched up forever, were intricately decorated with gold detailing. Eight enormous crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and at each end of the room was a giant white stone fireplace where real log fires crackled.

I didn’t know who was responsible for the decorations but they deserved an award. The place had been decked out in tones of rusty orange and sage green which left no doubt about the season we were celebrating.

At one end of the room an orchestra was playing and I was surprised to notice that the musicians were all vampires. Around the edge of the room, circular tables had been laid out and, again, they were decorated in the season’s colours. Every table had a centrepiece made of leaves, all slightly different and with tiny sparkles of gold covering them. The centre of the room had been reserved for dancing and there were never less than ten couples gliding gracefully around the space.