Where Loyalty Lies (20 page)

My examiner’s face appeared above me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped. He checked his watch and gave an irritated tut. “We don’t have time to start again now; we’ll have to wait another week. You’ve put us a whole week behind in our schedule.”

I couldn’t bring myself to care. My body had gone into involuntarily spasms. My silence irritated him further.

“You might as well go.”

The last thing I felt like doing was moving but the fear of him finding another test for me to do made me get to my feet and stagger out of the door.

I made slow progress down the hall but was only a quarter of the way to my rooms when my jaw stiffened and my stomach clenched. I was going to throw up. I pushed open the nearest door, praying that it would be somewhere I could have some privacy. I was in luck, it was a changing room complete with toilets and the faint smell of chlorine told me that there was a swimming pool on the other side of the door at the far end of the room.

I huddled in one of the cubicles and heaved repeatedly until the urge passed. Then I lay down on the cold tiles of the floor and gave into the weariness that was taking over me. I wanted to sleep, to let myself pass out and wake up fine and far away from this sinking feeling. I knew I couldn’t make it to my room but I didn’t want to stay here where someone might find me curled around the toilet.

With what I hoped would be a final big effort, I stood and went to the door at the back of the room. Luck was still with me; the swimming pool was empty and around it were soft padded sun loungers. I focused on the nearest one; it felt like it took forever to reach it but it was definitely worth it when I got there. I collapsed onto it and closed my eyes. My face felt slack and cold. The effort it had taken to get there had been great and I thought I was going to be sick again but, as I lay still, the feeling passed. I felt relieved that I could finally let myself pass out; if anyone found me here they’d just think I’d dozed off.

I woke to someone shaking me. It was only a gentle motion but it felt to me like I was on a roller coaster. I tried to tell whoever it was to stop and go away but all that came out was a long moan.

“You can’t stay here,” a man’s voice said. It sounded very far away and I tried to ignore it but then the shaking started again. I moaned louder and tried to push him away but I was so weak I could hardly move my arm.

“You have to leave,” he said again. “If the vamps find you here, you’ll be in trouble.”

I didn’t bother replying. I had more chance of sprouting wings and flying back to my room than I had of being able to string words together to tell him that I was half vampire.

“Shit,” he said. “Was this your first time?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about; I let out a groan of impatience. Couldn’t he see that I could hardly move, let alone answer his questions?

 It was quiet and I thought he’d left me to it but then I felt his arms under me and I was lifted into the air. The motion made my head spin, I whined and buried my head in his chest to try and get rid of the feeling.

“It’s okay, fresh air will help,” he said. I heard noises I was too tired to register and then the cold air hit me. It did help. I wanted to suck in lungfuls of it but knew that would make me sick, so I kept breathing shallowly.

The smell of his scent filled my nostrils and it helped even more than the fresh air. It was crisp, clean and sharp. I snuggled my head in closer, too unwell to realise that it was a completely inappropriate thing to do to a stranger.

I was vaguely aware of the cold air leaving and the murmuring of voices, then there was quiet and I was lowered onto something soft and cosy.  I gave a soft moan of thanks and passed out again.

             * * *

The first thing I was aware of was the smell. It was a familiar crisp, clean smell but a lot more intense. I remembered where I’d smelt it before and opened my eyes. I was in his room, curled up in his bed. I could see him sitting across the room on a chair, flipping through a magazine. He hadn’t realised I was awake so I took a moment to study him.

He was gorgeous. Not really my type but the sort that girls wanted whether he was their type or not. His skin had a soft honey colouring that made me think he’d been really tanned in the summer. He had shaggy blonde hair that looked good messy. As he was sitting I couldn’t gauge his height but I guessed he was just a bit taller than my five feet, five inches, but he had broad shoulders and more muscle on his arms than most guys his age.

Sensing my gaze on him, he looked up. He seemed surprised to find me watching him but then he smiled, making himself even more gorgeous. It was like the million dollar Hollywood smile, complete with dimples.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” I croaked. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the wall behind his bed. I felt weak and my limbs felt like lead weights.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Better. Thank you.”

He crossed to a mini fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. “Here, drink this; it’ll give you back some energy.”

I smiled and drank it. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed drinking so much. As I drained the carton I looked around the room. It was a typical lad’s room – messy, chaotic and with a large poster of Scarlett Johansen on the door. The room was a decent size; big enough to hold a double bed, desk, wardrobe, chest of drawers, mini fridge and an armchair without feeling cramped. A medium-sized flat screen hung on one wall and there were a couple of shelves on another wall that were so loaded with DVDs they looked like they might fall down.

As the grogginess faded, I was suddenly anxious, aware that I was sitting in a stranger’s room, in his bed.

“I should go,” I said. “Thanks again so much for everything.”

I didn’t want to tell him that I wouldn’t have been in any trouble if I’d been found by the pool because I thought it would belittle the kindness of his actions.

He gave me a worried once-over. “I think you should just wait a bit.” He gently held my elbow and sat me back on the bed.

“I don’t want to be in your way. How long have I been here?” I searched his room for a clock but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“It’s six,” he replied. “And it’s fine, you’re not in my way at all.”

I shot him a nervous smile. I had no idea how to get back to my room and I couldn’t exactly ask him directions.

There was a lengthy and awkward pause. Waking up in his bed had given us that distinct “morning after the night before” feeling, even though nothing like that had happened. I downed the last of the orange juice.

“I’m Faine, by the way,” I said, realising that we hadn’t even done the name exchange thing.

“Dale,” he replied, looking relieved that I’d finally broken the silence.

            It occurred to me that he didn’t seem affected by my Attraction at all. Here I was, vulnerable and in his bed, and all I could see in his face was anxiety.

            “You still look pale, I’m gonna go and get you something to eat,” he said.

I nodded gratefully and he left. I stood at the door listening as his footsteps faded. There was a key in the lock on my side of the door and the key ring hanging from it read “Room 56”. I crossed to the window and pushed it open, relieved to find that we were on the ground floor. I felt rude as hell running off like this, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react to me telling him I was half-vampire and I didn’t want to have to lie to him. I scribbled a quick note of thanks, left it on the bed where I was sure he’d see it and climbed out the window.

From outside, I could tell we’d been inside one of the staff buildings around the back of Rillith. I headed around the side of the building and the main castle came into view. I didn’t try to run, I was still too shaky for that but, with each step, I felt stronger. I decided it was best not to tell Holt what had happened at my tests today. It seemed to upset him, if he thought I was having a hard time, so I’d taken to editing my updates of how my tests were going.

Dale had said it was six which meant Holt would probably be in my rooms worrying that I hadn’t got back yet. I still wasn’t perfectly clear what it was he did as a job; I knew it meant hard work and long hours, but he always managed to find time for me. I don’t think he had any idea how grateful I was for that. I owed him big time and, if all I could do at the moment was slightly alter the details of my daily events so he didn’t get upset, then that’s what I’d do.

As anticipated, when I opened the door to my rooms, Holt and Henry were sitting in my living room. I knew I probably looked awful so, before Holt could ask any questions that would force me to lie about where I’d been, I pasted a smile on my face.

“What a workout!” I said. “Rillith should bring out its own fitness video. At least now I can sit and eat a whole tub of Ben and Jerry’s without feeling bad. But first, I need a shower.”

I scurried off into my bedroom and sighed with relief as I closed the door. I never wanted to have to lie outright to Holt. Henry, with his built-in emotion detector, could probably sense that I’d been a little on edge but I was sure that, if he was worried, he’d talk to me first, rather than Holt.

As I started pulling off my trainers, I noticed something on my pillow. Careful not to let any of my sweat-stained clothes touch the bed covers, I leant over and grabbed the object. It was a flower but not one that I recognised. It had six large petals that curved outwards, making it look similar to a star. Its colours were stunning. Shades of purple, yellow and pink melted into each other. It looked like it had been painted with watercolours.

There was a half-filled glass of water on my bedside table, so I topped it up from the tap in the bathroom and used it as a vase. This must be Rillith’s version of leaving a mint on your pillow. Trust them to use such amazing flowers. I guess that, after Sénator Aimery announced in the MM that I was an official guest, I now qualified for full members’ benefits.

Considering Henry had had a few hundred years’ more practice than me, I thought I was doing quite well against him at pool. True, Henry had won all the games so far, but not by much. I lined up my shot and took it, giving a satisfied smile as the white ball knocked the red into the pocket where it found its way back to its home in the depths of the table with a series of clunks. That shot put me in the lead, but Henry didn’t seem too bothered.

We were in yet another room I’d never seen before. I wasn’t sure what the room was called but it reminded me of one of those old-fashioned gentleman’s clubs. The walls were covered in a deep blue and burgundy striped paper and it had a very masculine feel. In one corner was a bar area with old worn leather seats. At our end there was a chess board, a book shelf with heavy leather-bound books and the pool table.

Henry strolled around the table carefully looking for the best angle to take his shot. Before he could decide, Saul came through the door. As he strolled over to us, Henry took his shot and somehow managed to knock two of his yellows into different pockets. Now Henry was winning.

Saul came to a stop next to me and I felt the familiar thrill I always experienced when he was close to me.

“Have you come to join us?” Henry asked.

“No,” Saul said casually. “I just thought I’d come and let you know that your latest purchase has arrived.”

Henry’s eyes lit up. “It’s here?” he asked and, before Saul could nod in agreement, Henry was snatching my queue out my hand and setting it down next to his on the table. Apparently our game was over.

Henry looped his arm through mine and started dragging me out the room. Saul followed and I gave him a questioning look, trying to find out what all the excitement was about.  He gave me a little smile and a shake of his head to tell me I’d have to wait and see.

We ended up in Rillith’s enormous car park. I could see my little Yaris tucked away towards the back where it seemed to stand out a mile. I felt a twinge of sadness for it, sitting there surrounded by such expensive cars. We abruptly stopped in front of a bright green Lamborghini.

I laughed, “I’d never have guessed it was yours, Henry.”

Henry didn’t seem to notice my sarcasm and he walked around the car, running his fingers over the bonnet.

“She’s beautiful,” he said. “Much better than Saul’s boring old thing.” He gestured to the black Jaguar in the next spot and I raised my eyebrows at Henry’s idea of boring.

“My car is not boring,” Saul retorted. “It’s sophisticated. Yours is garish.”

“How can you say that?” Henry asked in astonishment. “She’s not garish, she’s striking. Yours is dull.”

“It’s not dull, it’s refined,” Saul said, going to stand next to his car for extra support.

“No, it’s not. Her doors open upwards instead of outwards. Very sexy,” Henry concluded.

“Not sexy, just unnecessarily showy,” Saul replied.

There was a moment’s pause during which they glanced back and forth between the cars and then they turned to me.

“What?” I asked.

“Which one’s better?” Henry asked, moving to stand next to me. Saul copied Henry’s movement so that I was literally stuck in the middle. I looked at both cars and then at the expectant faces. This wasn’t a question I was going to answer.