Chapter Fifteen

I made it to the airport with ten minutes to spare. Finding the vampires was another story. After going the wrong way three times, I finally spotted one of the bodyguards waving at me.

“Didn’t think you were going to show,” he said gruffly.

“Didn’t think I had a choice.”

He nodded and gestured for me to follow. “Our terminal is this way. We’ll need to run. Further out than the human runways, but better than having to mix with humans we can’t snack on. Most countries have their own airports dedicated to higher beings like us, but Ireland has always been backwards. You’re a little late, but the jet and staff are all still being checked. We don’t need to participate in any of that ridiculous human security nonsense, though. As if they could force us, anyway.”

I made a noncommittal noise, controlling the urge to slap the chatty vampire silly, and tried to keep up with his long-legged stride. He led me through a door clearly marked “Staff Only,” and we raced to the terminal. Any airport staff we passed avoided our eyes, as if they knew what we could do.

Winston and his sidekicks all waited together for their bodyguards to finish checking the private jet. They didn’t say a word to me, and that bothered me because I couldn’t get a feel for what they were thinking. I was about to get on a plane with a group of strange vampires. It could go badly. Their human companions were nowhere to be seen, solidifying that possibility.

I had never been on a plane before, never mind a private jet, so I was a little excited in spite of myself when I boarded. The cabin was pretty spacious, all things considered. The leather seats looked comfortable enough, and the windows were blacked out.

“Welcome aboard,” a perky blond hostess with wounds on her neck said. The jet seemed to be catered solely for vampire passengers, including the meals. She happily offered me her wrist when I took my seat.

Startled by the movement, I stared dumbly at her for a couple of seconds. “Uh, no thanks.”

She shrugged and moved on. Cass took her offer, sinking her fangs into the woman’s skin. The woman didn’t even cry out. She just smiled lazily. The scent of her blood flooded the cabin, and my mouth instantly watered.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, even more when Victor sat across from me. He glared at me, and I spat out the first thing that popped into my head.

“Why are we flying at night if the windows are blacked out?”

“Can never be too safe,” he said, then looked as though he felt sick at responding to a question coming from me. The BVA had serious ego problems. “When we arrive, you’ll be taken to your escorts. They’ll provide a place to stay and show you the main locations the beast has visited, as well as provide some further leads. Capture the beast. That’s all you have to do. You’ll be provided for as long as you stay there. Take as long as this needs. But don’t kill it, or we will consider it a slight on our hospitability.”

“I can’t stay. I’m in and out. Two days tops. I have to get back.”

“To put your pet out of its suffering? Bloody Irish cretins.” He made a disgusted noise and took his seat with the others, grabbing the air hostess from Cass’s arms in the process. She hissed at him, baring her bloody fangs, but he ignored her, and she leapt to her feet. That side of her was a lot more relatable to Becca. Winston pushed her back into her seat without even glancing toward the incident. Cass flopped in her chair and licked blood from her fingers with savage movements.

“Even dogs can be taught how to share,” I muttered. Winston narrowed his eyes at me, and I took it as a warning. Victor flung the hostess to the floor, where she sat looking dazed for a few minutes. A second hostess, a petite brunette, appeared and stepped over her colleague as if she didn’t exist.

The blond crawled to the back of the plane and disappeared from my sight. I couldn’t help feeling a little rattled.

The plane took off shortly after. I clung to the arms of the chair as I felt the atmosphere change and my stomach flip upward. I didn’t particularly like heights, but the feeling that my head might explode sent me into a panic. Indulging in some rapid mental arithmetic, I breathed heavily, causing the vampires to turn in their seats to look at me. I didn’t care, I just wanted off the thing.

I stayed crouched low in my seat until the plane landed. It felt as though I’d been trembling in my chair for two days.

“I’m getting the ferry home,” I muttered as I stepped off the plane, my legs still shaking. The BVA trio stood apart from me as the waiting car was checked over—paranoid vampires—and I remained on edge because every time I glanced at Victor, he was staring at my throat.

I was so disoriented that I didn’t notice much of the car ride, aside from the seemingly endless turns through city streets. The vampires sat together in the back, wordless throughout the journey, while I sat in the front, next to the human driver. His neck had so many bites that I was afraid he might keel over and crash the car.

The limo finally pulled into an empty car park. I stayed in my seat, waiting for something to happen.

Cass leaned forward. “Take your bag and wait here for your escort. We won’t be dealing with you any longer. Once you capture the beast, you can return home.”

She sat back and stared out of the window as though I were no longer in the car. I gazed at the vampires in disbelief, but when the driver cleared his throat, I shrugged and got out. I had a little bit of money, a passport, and my dagger. I was sorted, no matter what.

I heaved my bag away from the car and watched as the only people I knew in the country drove away and left me alone. Straddling a low wall, I rummaged in my bag for a bar of chocolate and waited. At least it wasn’t raining. I was about to give up and find a way home when I sensed something behind me. Yet nothing was there. Or at least, nothing visible.

I switched to my other sight. A weird greenish energy came toward me, nothing malevolent about it. It almost seemed human but didn’t quite fit. Understandable, considering the invisibility.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You see me, then?” a surprised voice said in what could only be described as a thick scouser accent.

“Sort of,” I said. “Show yourself properly.”

A haze crossed my eyes. I blinked, and to my surprise, two slight figures appeared, holding hands.

“That’s weird,” I said.

A male and female stood before me. He had black hair and dark eyes that might have been green, but it was hard to tell. Her snow-white hair was plaited to her waist. Her eyes were the palest colour I had ever seen. They were both pretty light-skinned, with identically sloped noses, heart-shaped faces, and clefts in their chins.

“Related?” I asked.

“Twins.” He released his sister’s hand, and I tried to see them on that other plane again. The weird energy had separated into two relatively normal ones.

I frowned in confusion. “You’re my escorts?”

He nodded. “I’m Lorcan. This is Lucia. She doesn’t talk. Except to me.”

They both looked quite young, and obviously not human, but they definitely weren’t vampires.

“I’m Ava. I don’t have much time, so let’s get on with this, yeah?”

Lorcan looked surprised by my words. “Not much time? Have you ever met the beast?”

“Her name’s Becca. And yeah, we’ve crossed paths a couple of times. Many dead?”

He nodded. “Loads. It’s kept under wraps, but Lucia’s heard a fair bit ‘bout it. Come on. I’ll show you where you’re staying, and then pinpoint a few places of interest on a map.”

“A map. Right. Fantastic.” That was my help. A walking navigator.

He gave me a funny look, put his arm around his sister’s shoulders, and led us out of the car park. I tried to take note of where we were going, but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of crowds and strange streets. Although it was late, the city still buzzed, and we were soon surrounded by drunken people. I felt my own mood buoyed by the atmosphere. Lorcan never let go of Lucia, and neither twin made a sound.

We turned down a dark street and were instantly shrouded in eerie silence. It reminded me of that other plane, as though we had stepped into another world. I could no longer hear the shouts and laughter that had filled my ears only seconds before.

“When you said ‘except to you,’ you meant some kind of telepathy?” I asked, mostly to make a noise.

“Something like that. We’re over there.” He pointed at what looked like an abandoned building.

“You live there?”

“Yeah. It’s where you’re staying as well.”

“Oh.” I was definitely curious about those two.

We walked up the stone steps to the door of an old Georgian-style home. As soon as I saw the number on the door, my blood ran cold, and I stopped short.

“What’s the matter?” Lorcan asked.

“I… it’s… you live at number 6?”

He stared at me as if I were insane. “Are you okay? You look a little ill.”

“I don’t… I don’t like that number.” The last time I had pushed past my number six fear, Becca had taken a chunk out of Peter, and I had almost drained her dry in return. Sixes were never good.

Lucia jerked at Lorcan’s arm, then turned the six upside down. I saw then that it was an unhinged number nine, but as soon as she let go, it fell back down, swinging to and fro, taunting me with its evil connotations. I stepped back with a little shriek.

Lorcan covered his laughter well. “Maybe we should get inside, then, eh?”

Gulping hard, I inched by the evil six. We huddled into the dark hallway together, and I struggled to catch my breath. “I have to… I’ll be right back.”

Cursing myself, yet incapable of stopping, I went outside and yanked the number off the door. I knew I was acting like a crazy person, but all of the drama had finally gotten to me. Shuddering and muttering to myself, I held the number upright at arm’s length with two fingers, but still felt as though it were a six, mocking me. I ran down the steps and threw it into an old-fashioned-looking bin, before spending at least five minutes shuddering and wiping my hands on my jacket.

I turned back to the house and saw the shocked pale faces of the twins peering out of the window at me. Ava Delaney, mistress of first impressions.

Heaving an embarrassed sigh, I headed back up the steps and glanced to my right for no reason at all. The road we’d entered from was covered in a weird cloudy substance, and if I squinted, I could see all of those crowds of people outside. We were in Liverpool, but not really, and I was pretty certain the vampires couldn’t protect an area like that. Lucia and Lorcan had a lot more to them than I first thought.

Back in their house, both twins kept a straight face when I gave them a sheepish shrug. They lived in a couple of rooms, not much bigger than my own flat. The building was falling apart, but they had made a cosy corner for themselves. Lorcan hurried around lighting candles until a comfortable glow filled the room.

“Are you squatting here or something?” I asked, baffled by the lack of electricity.

“No.” Lorcan sat on a mattress on the floor. “The vampires own it.”

“And they let you live here?” I kept trying to make sense of the relationship.

“They own us, too. If you need blood, we don’t taste very nice, I’m afraid. There are plenty of people nearby, but it would be great if you could use your will to keep them calm before you bite them. I know some of you get off on the fear, but things are crazy enough over here right now.”

“Hold on. Back up. I’m not a vampire, so forget all that. But what do you mean, they own you?”

“Aren’t you in a hurry?” He grinned up at me.

The conversation moved on to a discussion of the areas where Becca had hunted. She moved around Merseyside, but seemed to return to Liverpool’s city centre even when she left the county. We had a huge territory to cover, but Lorcan reassured me that we would find Becca easily the following night.

“How do you know?”

“Someone will tell us,” he said simply.

“Like who?”

“It doesn’t matter who. We’ll hear where she is. It’s too late to go after her tonight. You should probably get some rest. You’ll have to sleep on the floor, but I put a curtain up to give you a bit of privacy. Tomorrow, you can explore the city a little.”

I called home.

“There’s not much change,” Eddie told me. “I’ve given him something to keep him going through the night. Hopefully, you won’t be long over there.”

“I’ll try and check back in tomorrow from a payphone. I need to preserve the phone battery, no lecky in the palace I’m staying in.”

“Picking up the slang already?”

“Have to fit in. How’s Peter?”

Eddie laughed. “Like a caged animal. It’s lucky you’re not here. Speaking of which, I’m working on finding an empath to speak to you. One might help you from being a walking emotional wonderland.”

“Oh.” I was flustered by the odd turn in conversation. “I suppose that would be good.”

“Last thing. Nancy showed up today. Said it was important.”

“Life or death?”

He hesitated. “More like love or hate.”

“Then it can wait.” I hung up feeling dissatisfied.

I thought I would never sleep on the thin mattress, but I only stressed about home, Becca, and the strange twins for a few minutes before conking out. My dreams were troubled. I kept seeing Lucia, but instead of being deathly silent, she kept screaming at me to listen to her.

My time in Liverpool was definitely working up to be a strange one.