Under the hot stream of water, I rubbed at the dried blood until it trickled down in thin, pink rivulets, then dried myself off with a towel and pul ed out a bag containing donor blood from a fridge hidden in the compartment of my closet. The blood tasted of nothing, but it soothed my physical hunger. The need to drink right from the source stil persisted though.
I ripped the bag open and drank, the smel overwhelming me. I hated it because it lingered on my skin. It was almost impossible to wash off. In my early days as a vampire, I'd tried to convince myself that its constant presence was nothing but a disturbing side effect of immortality. In those days, I'd wanted to love it, gorged on it with Rebecca by my side. Blood's power, and being strong makes up for everything that's gone wrong in life.
Or so I told myself—until I kil ed Rebecca. It was a matter of survival. If I didn't kil her, she'd have kil ed Blake. I couldn't let an innocent die, so I shared my blood with him, turning him into a vampire.
I finished the last drop of blood and threw the bag onto the burning logs in the fireplace. Thinking about the events that happened a long time ago, I felt a peculiar relief, wondering how little they meant to me now.
"Memories can't be laid to rest," I mumbled.
"But you can learn to forgive yourself," Kieran said from the door. "Give yourself a break, bro. I promise the demons in your head wil stil be there, waiting for you, tomorrow night. Cass is downstairs."
I slipped into a clean pair of jeans and a shirt, and fol owed my brother out. "She's as fast as a spreading bushfire. I've got to give her that."
"Yeah—" Kieran smirked "—a little too fast. It's like she's always where there's trouble." I nodded, realising my brother was right.
***
Cass and Clare were seated on the sofa, whispering as far away from Blake as possible. As soon as Kieran and I stepped through the open door, they stopped. Cass turned to watch me, her green eyes glinting unnatural y, her open mouth sucking in the air.
"What's she doing?" Kieran whispered in my ear.
Cass puffed. "Let me guess, women are a whole new species to you, fascinating yet scary at the same time." She touched my arm. "I can't believe what Layla did to you. She's such a meanie."
I nodded. "Thanks, Cass."
"Let me get out my handy dandy make-up kit," Cass said. "You'l look good in no time. Just ask Clare. She's had one of my famous makeovers."
"Her skil ed hands work like magic," Clare said. "It's amazing what she can do."
Were they kidding? Talking about cosmetics when we had no idea what happened to Amber? I took a deep breath and peered at the snacks on the table. "No, Cass."
"You sure? I can tone down that pale thing you got going. You know, give you some colour. Make you look like you're—" Cass waved her hand in the air, trying to find the right word "—alive."
"No," I said. "And that's final. Now, I don't want to be a kil joy, but can we get on—"
"Your loss." Cass shrugged and applied another thick layer of bright-red lipstick.
"We don't have time for this," Blake said. I turned and shot him a thankful smile. Blake was strange, always lurking in corners, silent as a grave, but he actual y seemed sane compared to my other companions.
Cass put away the lipstick and smacked her lips. "Okay, let's get down to business. You guys are wasting my precious time."
I stared at her, dumbfounded. We were wasting her time? Go figure.
"No idea why she's always here. She doesn't even have any powers," Kieran whispered.
"I'l get them once I turn eighteen," Cass said. "Besides, I have the power to kick your butt, and that's al I need."
I pushed the glass of water from the table into her hand, lest she jump up and chal enge my brother to fight. The girl was half fal en angel; it wasn't her fault she couldn't control her temper. But my brother had absolutely no excuse. "If you don't keep quiet I'l kick you both out. I've no time for this.
Amber's life depends on us and al you do is—" I shook my head in exasperation "—you should go out together because you seem to have a lot in common."
Cass snorted. "No, thanks. I'd rather join a convent."
Clare laughed. Kieran shot her an irritated look, and she quieted.
I hurried to change the subject before they started another fight. "Cass, do you know where she could be?"
"Okay, I'l bite." Cass let out a giggle. "No pun intended. Why'd you think I knew what happened to your sweetheart?"
"According to Aidan we're supposed to work together so, no more vampire jokes," Kieran said. "Got it?"
Cass narrowed her gaze. "You think you're God's gift to women. But you know what? I'm way hotter. Literal y. See, I can make hel jokes too. So don't get al touchy because it's not personal. Real y, take a chil pil ."
I rubbed my temples, staring at them. They had to stop eventual y. I'd just wait it out.
"Of course you're comfortable cracking jokes about your kind," Kieran said. "You and your demon breed are the epitome of hilarious. Just look at the way you dress."
Her eyes sparkled, her set jaw screamed murder. I raised my hand to stop further confrontation. "Cass, listen, I asked if you knew anything because you usual y know what's going on, that's al ."
Cass cleared her throat, her eyes moving back and forth as though she was leading an inner argument. Kieran snorted. Eventual y, Cass smiled and said, "Okay, I'l tel them, but they owe me big time."
"Who's she talking to?" Kieran whispered.
"I got you the ambassador position," I said, ignoring my brother's question. "As the new ambassador you're bound to tel me anyway. If you don't play by the rules, you risk another war and you can kiss your position goodbye before you've even started your new job."
Cass tapped a finger on her chin, thinking. "That makes sense."
I breathed in, forcing myself to remain the patient, reasonable one when Cass pushed the envelope with her lack of urgency. If she continued putting off tel ing us what she knew, I might have to shake some sense into her.
"Cass, what do you know?" Clare said as though sensing my annoyance.
"Not much." Moistening her lips, Cass brushed a hand over her wrinkled, oversized jeans. "Yesterday morning, I came to visit Clare, and stumbled across Amber. She said she had a plan to save Aidan. She wouldn't tel me what it was, just that it involved the Shadows." Cass peered at me, al innocent green eyes, wide with fake honesty. I knew she was lying, but I let her continue. "I tried to talk her out of striking a deal with the Shadows, but she wouldn't listen. I had no idea she'd act so quickly, otherwise I would've left you a note."
"How did Amber get hold of the Shadows?" Kieran asked. "It's not like they can walk in here, what with the gold-infused bars Aidan put up around the property."
Cass shook her head. "I've no idea, mate. Maybe Amber got hold of their phone number. I've heard that Devon's throwing it around like hot cakes."
"That's very useful information, Cass." I nodded, seemingly impressed, ready to let her believe her bluff worked on me. "Can you get us inside their fortress?"
She shook her head. "That isn't part of my job duties, mate."
"May I remind you it's your responsibility to ensure no mortal entering the immortal realm, wil ingly or unwil ingly, ever comes to harm?" I raised my brows meaningful y.
Cass groaned. "This job's kind of hard, isn't it?"
"You're not cut out for it, I knew it. Send in your notice, sweetie. No one wil hold it against you," Kieran said. He was leading her on, counting on her half fal en angel nature that wouldn't let a chal enge untouched. I regarded her, waiting for her reaction.
Cass lifted her chin defiantly, that dangerous glint blinking in her eyes like a siren. "I was joking, you moron. No job's too hard for me. I can't get you in because some of them are my friends and I would never betray them. Doesn't mean I don't know someone who can help."
I would've liked to point out the double standard in that. Instead, I said, "She showed you, bro."
"Didn
't see that one coming from our little Cass." Kieran's lips twitched. He was barely able to conceal his amusement. If he didn't shut it, Cass would see through his pretence.
"There's this guy who works for me—Thrain. He's the best demon slash shape shifter there's ever been. He'l get you in," Cass said, proudly.
"Can we trust him?" Clare asked.
"He won't dare cross me." Cass shot Kieran a displeased look. "Unlike some other people here who don't know what's best for them."
I breathed in. Here we go again. She was even worse than my brother. "Cass, how fast can you get hold of him?"
"Huh?"
"The shape shifter," I said. "We need him here ASAP."
"Right. Thrain." She fel into that strange state again, like she heard something that we didn't. Her eyes twinkled a few times before her gaze cleared. "Dad's pissed with me for taking the job," she mumbled. "I told you it was a bad idea, Pinky."
"Who's Pinky? Is she okay?" Kieran whispered. "Someone forgot to take their meds this morning."
"I don't believe in medication," Cass said. "I'm 100% natural. No silicon, no synthetic hormones or steroids, no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives."
Kieran laughed. "Too bad, because you would benefit big time from something to make those voices go away."
Cass jumped up and pushed the table to the side. Her half-ful glass shattered against the floor, water seeping into the carpet. "That's it, mate.
I've had it with you! I'm going to kick your butt into next week."
"I see she's hal ucinating again," Kieran yel ed. "Somebody cal the pharmacy!"
Before I could grab her, Cass stretched out her arm and started murmuring. Her green eyes changed to red, glinting like a lantern. The bulbs flickered; the ground beneath our feet shook. I looked in horror as Cass growled, hundreds of voices echoing at the same time. Kieran paled, frozen to the spot as he murmured, "I knew I should've let sleeping demons lie."
The paint from the wal s peeled off, fal ing to the floor in large chunks, as something screeched outside the window. The ceiling cracked, the tiny fissures growing bigger. Cass took a step closer, sparks like thunder flying from her outstretched hands, hitting Kieran in the chest. He stumbled backward, eyes wide with surprise. Something stirred beneath his white shirt, tightening it and pul ing at the material until it stretched. The buttons ripped and fel off.
The noise stopped abruptly. Cass stormed out, red-faced and angry, slamming the door shut. My brother dropped on the sofa, laughing hard with tears in his eyes. I tilted my head to get a better look.
In his lap sat a cute, white Labrador puppy, scratching at its stone-embedded, pink flea col ar.
***
The demon—Thrain—arrived the next day, shortly after dark. I could smel him from a mile—incense and heat mingling with the sweet scent of blood. Although I could never quite shake off that gnawing sense of hunger that came whenever I picked up the scent of blood, my stomach turned.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door before the demon drove up the path in a shiny, black SUV with tinted windows.
Thrain stepped out, a large grin playing on his lips. "Dude, what happened to you? Someone pound on your face?" He appeared to be the dodgy male version of Cass: tal with dishevel ed hair, dressed in tattered jeans and a crumpled shirt.
"Yeah, I was in a giant pil ow fight. Come on in." I shook his hand and stepped aside to let him walk past.
"Yo, how hard were those pil ows?"
I grimaced. Not only did he dress like Cass, he also had her strange sense of humour. Must be a hel thing. As soon as we entered the library, Clare's gaze locked on Thrain, and she almost tripped over herself to greet him. "Hi there, I'm—"
"An idiot," Kieran said, rol ing his eyes.
Thrain grinned and shook Clare's hand. "Wel , hel o, Miss Idiot."
She pointed at Kieran. "He's the idiot. I'm Clare."
"Okay, that's enough," I said. "So glad we got the introductions straightened out."
"Cass said you needed my help?" Thrain dropped on the sofa and crossed his right ankle over his left knee. Clare sat down next to him, enthral ed by whatever she found so attractive about his bad boy attitude, oblivious to the reek of ritual and offerings wafting from him.
Kieran sat next to me and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I don't get it. What does Clare see in a guy who looks like he doesn't know how to commit, is narcissistic, self-absorbed, and in dire need of shave?"
I cocked a brow. "You realise you're describing yourself, right?"
"Feel this face—not one stubble. Only cavemen don't shave. I admit, I might have one or two of those traits, but it's different."
I smirked. "You're a diamond in the rough, bro."
He shook his head. "Look at Clare. I know what she wants with a dude like him—smouldering, volcanic passion. That's an easy fix. I can erupt any time she wants."
I laughed. He didn't just say that. "Whoa, too much information. That's an image I don't need seared in my mind for the next hundred years." I turned to Thrain who didn't seem to mind Clare's gawking. "Thanks for coming. Cass probably told you we need you to get us onto Shadow territory." Kieran snorted and stared ahead, pissed that he wasn't the centre of attention for a change. Blake lurked in the corner, quiet as usual.
Thrain nodded. "You've set yourself quite a goal, mate. That's almost as hard as entering hel without Lucifer noticing."
"We know that. Otherwise you wouldn't be here," Kieran said. With his ego hurt, he didn't seem to plan on turning his hostility down a notch any time soon.
I nudged him in the ribs and turned my focus back on Thrain. "Can you do it?"
Thrain laughed and winked at Clare. "Let's go."
"We should have a plan, just in case he isn't trustworthy," Kieran said.
Thrain just shrugged and leaned back. No temper flares, no fighting back—this wasn't the usual behaviour of a demon. I felt temped to just jump up and go rescue Amber, but my brother had a point. We couldn't burst in there because we wouldn't stand a chance against hundreds of armed Shadows.
"You stay outside. I'm going in with him," Blake said. "I know how to deal with a demon."
I shook my head. "Not happening, Blake. Rescuing Amber's my responsibility."
"Trust your best friends," Clare said. "We've dealt with Shadows before. They wouldn't hurt me. As Blake said, you wait outside, just in case something goes wrong, but don't get too close."
Clare was naïve to believe the Shadows regarded her as some sort of friend. She always thought if she was friendly enough everyone must like her. Even after her turning, she stil didn't understand that by just being cal ed a vampire, half of the paranormal world watched her with distrust, and the other half would kil her in a heartbeat if it weren't for a few Lore rules that kept immortals from attacking each other.
"Amber's my responsibility," I repeated, quietly.
"Your scent's too strong. They'd spot you in a heartbeat because they're probably expecting you to come to her rescue. Look at it this way—"
Clare paused until I glanced at her "—if anything happened to you, she'd stand no chance against them."
Thrain cleared his throat to get our attention. "Not trying to interrupt your touching display of concern for one another, but I'm a busy man. Either we get going now, or I'm off."
"We're going," Blake said. "There's no need to wait. We can discuss the details during the drive."
"Goody. Fol ow me." Thrain headed for the door, cal ing over his shoulder, "And try to keep up."
Kieran laughed. "Ever hear of NASCAR? I invented it."
I glared at him, but he just shrugged and jumped up, car keys dangling from his fingers. Throw in the word 'drive' and Kieran was ready to start the engine.
***
We drove up the Scottish coast, heading north, past one long strip of trees on both sides of the highway. The air smel ed of rain and salt. The moon hid behind heavy clouds in the pitch-black sky.
"We're in the mid
dle of nowhere. No wonder we never found them," I mumbled.
"We're slowing down," Clare said from the backseat. "This must be it."
"Where?" Kieran asked.
Clare pointed at the darkness stretching to our right. "The mountains." The brake lights in front of us came on as Thrain pul ed his SUV onto a track and stopped.
"Don't say anything to piss him off. In fact, don't do anything to screw this up," I said to my brother.
"Come on." Kieran parked the SUV behind Thrain's. "Give me a little credit."
"Give you some credit? If you protected Amber the way you should've we wouldn't be here."
"Drop it, Aidan. You're not helping. Now, let's go," Clare said. I exited after her, lingering near the vehicle.
"We're close. I can smel their faint scent," Blake whispered.
Kieran snorted. "That makes one of us. Al I smel is dog shit."
Leaves rustled. The long grass swayed in the wind. "You know this is the craziest thing we've ever done," Clare said, wide-eyed.
"That you've done," I said. My work as a bounty hunter usual y involved more than trekking through the Scottish Highlands.
"Exactly," Kieran said. "Like Aidan, I live for this kind of stuff. If you want adventure, I'm the guy for you."
"I just hope Thrain doesn't screw us over and feeds us to the wolves," Blake mumbled.
I nodded. "Me too. I can't believe we're putting our lives in the hands of Cass who picked this winner."
"She says he's the best shape shifter there's ever been," Kieran said. "Yeah, right."
"We haven't seen him shift shapes, so quit judging a book by its cover." Clare's blonde hair shifted in the wind, floating around her like a halo, as she turned to stare at Thrain.
Kieran snorted. "The best? I find that rather hard to believe. The dude can't even grow a beard, he's never seen a brush, he's never heard of an iron, and—"