Where Loyalty Lies (44 page)

He lunged at me again but I was prepared and simply side-stepped out of the way. He lunged again and I let my fist shoot out, managing to hit his nose. There was a satisfying crack and I made a mental note to hug Peter for teaching me to fight like this.

For a moment, we circled each other and then he lunged again. My arm shot out but this time he grabbed my wrist. I tried to yank it free but he only squeezed harder until I thought it was going to snap. I let out a pained yell and he answered it with a back-hander. He let go of my wrist and I staggered a few steps as my cheek burned with pain.

I had no idea whether he still thought I was a human playing games or if he’d finally figured out that I’d been telling the truth, but we were fighting now because he was pissed that I’d hit him. Before I could get my breath back, he went for me again. I side-stepped again and ended up in the doorway of one of the feeding rooms. I took a couple of steps further into the room and then, as he charged, I slammed the door as hard as I could. There was a crashing noise and a fracture appeared down the centre of the wood. My heart hammered. That would have really pissed him off.

Looking around, I was relieved to see I was on the ground floor. I ran to the window and heaved it open before rushing back across the room and standing next to the door with my back against the wall. I’d only been there for seconds when the door crashed open. I managed to fling my hands out in time to stop the door from hitting me straight in the face.

The vampire saw the open window and crossed to it, thinking I’d escaped. That would have been the obvious option but the fact was that he was faster than me; if I’d gone out the window, I’d have been outside on my own and he’d have caught me in seconds. My safest bet was to find people, humans, vampires, it didn’t matter – a witness who’d stop this crazy vampire from attacking me.

I wasted no time in trying to be quiet, because he’d have heard a pin drop three rooms away. As he was leaning out the window I burst from my hiding place and skidded back through the doorway. In the hall I headed in the direction he’d come from, hoping that it was the quickest way back to civilisation. My tactic must have surprised him because I was at the end of the hall before he came speeding out the room. The end of the hall revealed a staircase leading up and, without pausing, I took them three at a time. I felt fingers brush the back of my ankles and fear pushed my legs to take four steps at a time. My muscles locked with pain but I ignored it.

At the top of the stairs was a door which I managed to get through and slam shut just in time to hear him smash into the other side of it. I mentally cursed as I realised I was in another empty hallway. This was like a maze. On a whim I ran to the right, grateful to be away from the stairs and able to pick up some speed. I heard the door open and close at the same time that I realised there was a dead end ahead of me. No, not a dead end, just another hallway creating a T junction. Left or right? Left! But I had something else to worry about. Running this fast, I wouldn’t make the turn, but if I slowed down, he’d catch me.

Fear prevented me from slowing my pace and, before I knew it, I was at the junction. As I tried to turn the forty-five degree corner, my feet slid from under me and I crashed straight into the wall. Instinct made me hold my hands out in front of me but it made no difference. The wind was knocked out of my lungs and one side of my head hit the floor as the vampire’s weight crashed into me. On my hands and knees I tried to crawl out of his grip but he dragged me back. Just as I was about twist round to face him so that I could get a better aim, a voice made us both freeze.

“What in God’s name is going on here?”

I looked up to see a vampire I recognised towering over me. I couldn’t remember his name but I’d seen him regularly talking to Holt.

The vampire on top of me jumped up in one swift motion. He opened and closed his mouth a few times but said nothing, then he turned on his heels and stalked off.

“Greg. GREG?” called the tall vampire standing next to me. He shot an irritated look at the man’s fast-retreating back and then sighed and bent down to help me up.

“Thanks,” I said as I did a mental checklist of my injuries.

“What was all that about?” he asked me. I looked at him properly and for the first time noticed there were four other vampires behind him. I couldn’t put a name to any of their faces. I didn’t want to explain what had happened in front of five complete strangers.

“I’ll call Holt for you,” the guy said pulling his phone from his pocket.

“No,” I said. There was no way I was going to let Holt see me until I’d had a chance to clean myself up a bit. There was a lump just above my right temple and a warm trickle of blood was running down my face. “I just need to get back to my rooms; I’ll call Holt once I’m there.”

The vampire gave me a suspicious look. “It’s probably best if I just call him now.”

“No, honestly, I’m...” My sentence trailed off as another figure appeared from round the corner.

Roy took in my appearance and was by my side in an instant. “What on earth happened to you?” he asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” the other vampire asked.

“Take me back to my rooms,” I said to Roy. “Please. I’ll explain on the way.”

Roy nodded and with a hand on my back he guided me away.

I didn’t explain what had happened as we made our way back and Roy didn’t ask. We both wanted to get away from the horrified stares I was getting. Once safely behind my own closed door I held a hand up to silence the question I knew was coming.

“Just let me get a flannel,” I said. “Then I promise I’ll fill you in.”

In the bathroom I filled the sink with warm water and winced as I caught sight of myself in the mirror. This was not a sexy look. My battered face was going to be impossible to improve with the quick fix I’d intended.

The door to my living room clicked open and a millisecond later Holt’s voice filled the room.

“Faine?”

I cursed under my breath. I should have known Holt’s friend from the corridor would have called him no matter what I said.

“She’s in the bathroom,” I heard Roy telling Holt. “Here, I was just looking for this; I think we might need it.”

Holt appeared in the bathroom doorway holding a first aid kit. He stopped dead when he saw me.”

“Oh my God, what happened to you?”

“Oh, I was just trying out a new look,” I joked. “I take it you don’t like it?”

Neither Holt nor Roy laughed at my lame joke so I attempted to laugh myself but stopped when I realised it hurt the muscles in my face.

I heard the front door open again and suddenly Saul, Henry and Thomas were all squeezing into my bathroom.

“Wow, all we need is a keg and we could call this a party,” I said.

It didn’t relieve the tension as I’d hoped.

Saul came to stand in front of me, taking in the injuries on my face. His eyes were jet black and as I looked around I could see that everyone else’s were too.

I was about to make another bad joke when everyone seemed to silently busy themselves with actions. Thomas got an ice pack from the freezer at the bar and held it across one side of my face. Holt placed the first aid kit on the counter and set about pulling out various things and laying them out. Henry brought me a large Bacardi and Coke with a straw and held it for me because my hands were covered in blood. Saul lifted me onto the counter next to the sink, like I was a small child, and started wiping the blood off my hands with the flannel I’d been holding.

“What happened?” Holt asked.

I sighed. I didn’t want to recount what had just happened but I was sure the story was all over Rillith by now and I’d rather tell them my true version than have them hear some crazy rumour.

“I was trying to use the underground tunnels to get to the staff houses and I got lost. I accidentally ended up at the feeding rooms and then that new guy, Greg, turned up and thought I was staff. He wanted to drink from me but I told him I was just lost. He assumed I was playing some sick sort of game to turn him on. I kept telling him, but he just didn’t get it, so I ended up punching him and it escalated into a full blown fight.”

            “Why didn’t you tell him who you were?” Saul asked. “Why didn’t you tell him you’re mine?”

I should have been horrified at the way Saul had phrased it. Saying I was his implied I was property that belonged to him. I should have been appalled but instead it sent a thrill through me. I knew I felt the same way about him. He was mine and nobody else’s.

Saul must have sensed the pleasure in me because for the first time since he’d come into my room, his face softened slightly.

“I did tell him,” I said. “He just didn’t get it.”

“What is there not to get?” Saul persisted. “Did you tell him you and I are together?”

I wished I could pass out and save myself from this embarrassing conversation.

“Yes. I said you were my partner.”

“And he still tried to attack you?” Saul asked.

I began to understand Saul’s outrage. If Greg had known that I was with Saul, an attempt to bite me would be seen as a direct insult to Saul. Even I knew that you weren’t supposed to bite another vampire’s partner.

“Yes he did, but he thought I was still playing games, so he didn’t do it as an attempt to disrespect you,” I blurted in an effort to cool Saul’s anger. It didn’t work.

“What do you mean, he thought you were still playing games? How can telling him you’re with me be construed as a game-playing?” Saul said.

There was a horrible pause. I really didn’t want to explain this. The answer to that question was only going to piss Saul off more.

Henry moved the glass closer to me and I gratefully accepted. I drank slowly trying to think of a way to sugar-coat my answer. Luckily Thomas saved me the bother.

“Um, I think I might understand what happened,” he said, still holding the ice pack. “Greg thought you were role-playing, didn’t he? When you said you were Faine, he thought you were pretending so that he could enjoy it all the more, imagining that he was taking Saul’s partner.”

I mentally rolled my eyes. Trust Thomas, the master of bondage and game-playing, to figure it out. Still, I was grateful that he’d saved me from having to answer and, despite the bluntness of his explanation, it certainly wasn’t as disgustingly crude as the way Greg had put it.

Saul didn’t need me to say that Thomas was correct, he could feel my unease. Saul looked revolted and when he moved to pace around the small part of my bathroom that wasn’t occupied by vampires, I could see that Holt had a very similar expression. My hands were clean now and I took the ice pack from Thomas and went to stand in the way of Saul’s pacing.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Yes, Greg’s a sick son of a bitch and I hope The Sénat give him hell for what he did, but I honestly think he thought I was playing games, so it wasn’t an intended slight against you.”

Saul’s expression calmed and he gently rested his hands on my shoulders. “That’s why you think I’m so upset? Because it might look like a deliberate insult to me? Christ, Faine, I’m upset because of what he did to you.”

The look of desperation on Saul’s face was heartbreaking. His pupils were shrinking now and that frosted green that I loved so much came into view. I buried myself in the warmth of his arms, ignoring the pain it caused my damaged face. His arms tightened around me protectively and I revelled in it, letting my body relax against his.

I had no idea when I’d become so reliant on him but the thought of being without him made my chest tighten in a painful knot. I felt like I could take anything as long as I had Saul with me. The fact that my trial was in two days’ time terrified me. It was common knowledge now that Saul and I were an item and although I’d been doing everything I could in my tests to make sure I was declared a vampire, I knew there was a good chance I wouldn’t make the grade. If that was the case, I didn’t know what it would mean for me and Saul. Vampires were allowed to have casual relationships with human women but Saul and I were anything but casual. I pushed the thought from my mind and enjoyed the warmth of his embrace.

“Just answer the questions they ask, don’t elaborate on anything unless they ask you to.” Saul held my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes.

I nodded, trying to calm my hammering heart.

“The Sénat will be sitting at the front at their usual table. The room will be full of other people too, but just ignore them, they don’t have an official say in anything.” He paused, seeming to think something over, and then added, “Just be honest. Don’t worry about how your answers will affect other people, just say what you believe.”

I frowned but, before I could ask what he meant, the door opened and a stuffy-looking man announced that everyone except me should enter the room.

“I’ll be in there.” Saul softly kissed my lips. “I love you, no matter what happens, I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said, not wanting him to leave.

He kissed me again but harder this time, then he left.

I took a deep breath as I stood on my own. At the sound of footsteps, I turned and saw Henry hurrying towards me. He gave me a peck on the cheek as he passed.