Where Loyalty Lies (41 page)

“So you’re saying that what I want to do might split everyone into two groups? And you still think it’s a good idea for me to try and do it?”

“The split is already there. Haven’t you ever wondered why all the vampires that Holt associates with just happen to be decent, when there are so many people at Rillith who are anything but?”

I had noticed but I’d never really thought too much about it. I gave a weary sigh. “I know it will be hard and there’s a good chance I’ll fail, but I have to try.”

Saul nodded in agreement and pulled me across the bed so that I was back in his arms.

“I know you do, and I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

Neither Holt nor Henry had seemed surprised to find out that Saul and I were together now. When they’d both walked in through the living room door to find me curled up on Saul’s lap watching a DVD, they’d barely even batted an eyelid. I was obviously more transparent than I’d thought.

Saul and I had spent almost forty-eight hours straight together and I’d wondered if Saul had been reluctant to leave my side in case I changed my mind about wanting to be with him. Saul had been forced to leave now, though, because it was Christmas Eve and he had to go to the Christmas Eve Ball. He’d asked me if I’d change my mind and go with, him but I’d declined. I’d almost expected him to badger me until I agreed, but he must have sensed how much I really didn’t want to go because he didn’t push it.

Making the most of having my rooms to myself, I plugged my iPod into the speakers in my bedroom and sank into a steaming hot, bubbly bath. It was just what I needed.

If I’d thought Saul was relentless in chasing me, it was nothing compared to what he was like in bed. My whole body was weary. I wasn’t complaining, though, I felt like the cat that had got the cream.

Only when all the bubbles had disappeared did I pull myself out of the bath. Then I dug around for my Christmas pyjamas. They consisted of a strappy top that had a huge cartoon picture of Rudolph’s face on the front and a pair of cotton trousers that had hundreds of the same image, only smaller.

My tradition would be a little below par this year. My decorations usually went up during the first week of December, but Monique had given me the half-breed book then and so I just hadn’t been in a Christmassy mood. I didn’t mind too much though because the junk food and film part of the evening was still on.

I turned off my iPod and frowned as the sound of Christmas music carried to me from the living room. I was sure I hadn’t left the TV on. I opened the door and blinked in surprise. My whole living room had been decorated. There was a tree in the corner decorated with fairy lights, tinsel and baubles. Brightly coloured decorations hung from the ceiling. Everywhere I looked there was a dancing Santa, nativity scene or hanging stocking. It was so much to take in, I almost didn’t notice the three vampires sitting on my sofa.

Holt looked very pleased with himself. Saul looked at me like he hadn’t seen me in ages, even though it had been only a couple of hours. Henry was just laughing at my pyjamas.

“What’s all this?” I asked. “Why aren’t you at the ball?”

“We figured we’d give your tradition a shot,” Saul said.

I had no idea how they’d pulled this off but I loved them all for it.

Henry got up and made us snowballs, even though I was sure I was the only person in the room that would actually enjoy drinking it.

I went to sit on the sofa next to Saul but he pulled me onto his lap instead. He seemed to hate there being even an inch between us.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Do you even need to ask?” I replied. “But won’t you get into trouble for not going to the ball?”

Holt spoke up from his seat next to us. “It’s not compulsory and, besides, I think this is going to be a lot better. Maybe next year we can go and stay at my cabin; really get away from Rillith for a week or so.”

            “Sounds nice,” I said.

Henry handed out the drinks and squeezed onto the sofa, despite the fact that there were two empty armchairs in the room.

A bubble of happiness swelled inside me and I felt like the luckiest person in the world. This time last year I’d been sitting on my own, watching
Miracle on 34
^th
Street
, sobbing my heart out when the little girl wished for a family, because it’s what I’d wanted too. I never would have guessed that, one year on, I’d be having the best Christmas yet, surrounded by my own dysfunctional little family.

                                                  * * *

Hours later, Holt and Henry had finally called it a night and I was sitting at my dining room table with my eyes closed.

“I thought we said we weren’t going to give each other Christmas presents,” I complained.

“It’s not that kind of present,” Saul said, making me jump because I hadn’t realised he was right behind me.

My mind went wild. “Why do I suddenly get the feeling that I might open my eyes to find you naked and covered in whipped cream?”

I heard Saul chuckle. “It’s not that kind of present either. But I think maybe we should try that at some point. Open your eyes.”

I did and found a neat pile of different coloured A4 folders on the table in front of me. I opened up the top one that was green and flipped through the pages. It was lists of names and next to each name was a note about where that vampire lived.

“What are these?” I asked. “Naughty and nice lists?”

“You could say that,” Saul replied, resting his hands on my shoulders. “Every vampire that follows the Sénat is noted. In the green folder are the people who I think would believe in your cause. The orange are people who could go either way. The red are people who won’t agree with you. And the black folder are people who are extreme in their view of humans and you should avoid at all costs.”

My jaw dropped slightly as I now understood what I had in my hands. Not only had Saul put a huge amount of effort into this gift but it showed that he really did believe in what I was trying to achieve. How could I ever have thought he was an untrustworthy person?

“Saul... thank you so much.”

Saul’s arms wrapped around me and he nuzzled my neck. “I’m glad you like it,” he said. I laughed as his breath tickled my skin. I twisted out of the chair and into his arms.

“You’re amazing,” I said and kissed him.

We both heard the door open at the same time and, still in each other’s arms, turned to see who it was.

Dale stood in the doorway, a paper crown that had seen better days perched on top of his head and a look of disbelief on his face.

I swore but I wasn’t sure if it was in my head or out loud. I hadn’t yet told Dale that I was seeing Saul. In fairness, I hadn’t actually seen him in the last few days, but suddenly I wished I’d made a bigger effort.

“Dale,” I started, but he’d already turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

I ran into the bedroom and grabbed a grey woollen jumper from a drawer and threw it on. I didn’t have time to change out of my Rudolph trousers.

“I thought you were just friends,” Saul said. He hadn’t moved from where he’d been standing with me in his arms.

“We are,” I insisted.

“That’s an extreme reaction for someone who’s just a friend.”

I sighed knowing that I didn’t have time to explain to Saul that Dale wasn’t upset that I had a boyfriend; he was upset that it was Saul, who he’d specifically warned me against. Hell, even if I had all the time in the world, I wouldn’t know how to start explaining that one.

“Please Saul,” I begged, “I just have to fix this. I’ll be right back and I promise I’ll explain everything. Please trust me.”

Saul nodded but he still didn’t look pleased. I hated that a wonderful moment had turned into this.

“Thank you,” I said and left.

I ran down the corridor, knowing the direction Dale would have taken. I didn’t want to shout because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but luckily almost all of the vampires were at the Christmas Eve Ball and the hallways were empty.

After a couple of minutes I caught up with Dale. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to a stop.

“Dale, I’m sorry, I was going to tell you, but I haven’t seen you since it all started.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve been really busy.” Dale’s voice had more anger in it then I ever thought he was capable of. “So, is he as good as all the girls say?”

I felt like I’d been slapped. I could smell alcohol on Dale and it was clear he’d had a skinful but I was still shocked by his harsh words.

“Dale...” I tried again but it trailed off into nothing. I didn’t know how to resolve this problem.

“I knew this would happen!” Dale snapped. “I just didn’t realise it would happen so quickly.”

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“This,” Dale held his arms up, indicating our surroundings. “I’m talking about this. I knew you’d get sucked into all this shit.”

Dale was shouting now so I dragged him into an alcove and hissed at him to be quiet.

“You’re being unfair,” I said. “Look, I know you don’t like Saul and you warned me not to get involved with him and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you can’t help who you fall in love with, I didn’t exactly plan...”

I stopped short as Dale’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. Too late I’d realised my mistake. Dale swore and then tried to walk off again but I dragged him back and held onto his hands so he couldn’t leave.

“I can’t believe you fell for his crap, Faine. I thought you had more sense than the stupid girls I hear talking about him all the time.”

“It’s not like that; he loves me too.”

Dale scoffed. “If you believe that, then you’re an idiot.”

I felt tears of anger start to prick the back of my eyes. “It’s true.”

“Really? Well, seeing as you said you hadn’t seen me since you two got together and I saw you five days ago, I’m assuming you got together sometime after that?”

I nodded, wondering where this was going.

“So you’ve been together less than five days. Tell me, has he got you into bed yet?”

My face flamed with humiliation.

“It’s not like that,” I ground out through my teeth.

“You just keep telling yourself that,” Dale said, his voice cold and hard. “Just don’t expect me to be around to put you back together when he leaves you broken-hearted.”

Something inside me snapped and I leant forward so that he could hear my low voice.

“Firstly, if you want to think of me as some stupid slut, then go ahead, half the vamps here already do. I just think it’s a touch hypocritical coming from you. Secondly, he does love me. He loves me so much that he just gave me lists of names of people he thinks will support me in trying to improve interrelations here. And, thirdly, I know you don’t have a very good impression of Saul, but he’d never talk to me the way you just did, no matter how upset he was or how much he’d had to drink.”

I spun on the spot and marched off. I heard Dale swear and call out my name. For a minute we just stood facing each other, trying to work out how to move on from here.

“You’re my best friend, Dale,” I said. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t tell you. And if you listened and still didn’t accept it, then I’d understand, but don’t you dare stand there and judge me when you haven’t even let me explain.”

“I’m sorry, Faine, this is all a bit of a shock. I mean, last time I saw you, you couldn’t stand the guy and now suddenly you’re in love?”

“I know.” I took Dale’s hands in mine again but this time it was to comfort, not restrain. “Go and get some sleep. If tomorrow you decide you want to talk, then just let me know and I’ll come over straight away. If you want to hear about it, then I’ll explain, or if you just want to forget about it and chill, that’s fine too.”

With that, we broke apart and each made our journeys back to our rooms. I took a deep breath; now all I had to do was explain this all to Saul.

It was a week later and I was on my way to see Holt. I was only a couple of feet from his door when it flew open.

“...you’re not leaving me much choice,” Saul said as he strode into the hallway and froze when he saw me. Holt came out behind Saul, his mouth open ready to speak, but he closed it as soon as I came into view.

It was hugely obvious that they were having an argument and, judging by the way they were both looking at me, I could tell they hadn’t wanted me to know.

“Um... I can come back later,” I said, starting to move away.

Saul blocked my path.

“No need,” he said and there was no trace of the anger that had filled his voice a second ago. “I’m just going now.”

He leant down and planted a kiss on my head before leaving me.  He strode off down the hall without saying another word to Holt.

I chewed the inside of my lip and watched Holt carefully. He was watching Saul leave and the thin line of his mouth told me that he wasn’t at all happy.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I didn’t like the idea of them arguing.

“Nonsense,” Holt said, ushering me inside.