Where Loyalty Lies (43 page)

At some signal I must have missed, the first recruit moved up onto the platform and stood facing the Sénat. He pledged his allegiance and loyalty to The Sénat and then the man standing next to Saul came forward with a document that I guessed was a written confirmation of the verbal promise. The recruit signed his name without hesitation. Saul stepped forward and handed the new guy a dagger. I thought it was just ceremonial but the guy swiped the dagger across the top of his thumb and added a bloody thumbprint next to where he’d signed his name.

He gave a bow of his head to The Sénat and left. The whole process hadn’t taken more than a few minutes, which was probably a good thing seeing as I was going to have to watch it another twenty-three times.

When the line had ended and the last recruit had left, we all stood again as The Sénat left the room. Once again The Sénat didn’t seem to have any emotions, I honestly couldn’t tell if they were happy or not with today’s proceedings. Saul and the other two men vanished behind the same doors as The Sénat and then the rest of the room started to empty.

“You coming?” Henry asked.

I shook my head. “I think I’m going to wait here for Saul.”

The room emptied faster than I’d have thought. I guess everyone was eager to go and gossip about the new recruits. The last person departed and I looked around; the room seemed larger now it was empty. I got up and moved closer to the platform, wondering if the new guys had been nervous in front of such a large audience. A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention.

Monique was standing about four rows back from where I’d been sitting. Great, just what I wanted; a little rendezvous with my personal bringer-of-bad-news. Her being here was no coincidence; I wondered what spiteful bit of information she wanted to pass onto me this time.

Neither of us said anything. She moved through the rows of benches towards me with a deliberate slowness. I sat down on the closest bench and forced myself into a casual position.

Don’t rise to it
, I told myself,
whatever she says. She’s just trying to wind you up, don’t give her the satisfaction
.

Monique came to a stop in front of me. Still neither of us spoke. I looked at her and, for the first time, I saw her for what she really was – a bully. Yes, she was beautiful and powerful but those qualities meant nothing to me now. I knew the main reason bullies picked on people was because of jealousy. She was jealous of me because I had Saul and she wanted him. Suddenly I wasn’t the least bit intimidated or impressed by her. Without realising it, I was smiling and that pushed her into speech.

“I hope you don’t think that you having high-up friends means The Sénat will declare you a vampire,” she said.

“No, my friends are my friends because I enjoy their company,” I said.

“Well, make the most of them because, once you’re declared human, they won’t want anything to do with you.”

I gave her a piteous look. “If that’s what you really think then I feel sorry for you, your friends can’t be as loyal as mine.”

Her face twisted into a snarl. I wondered if she knew how ugly it made her look.

“What do you know? You’re just a stupid little half-breed.”

“Half-breed, yes. Little?” I glanced down at myself, pretending to judge my size. “I guess so. But I’m not stupid. You see, I’m clever enough to have sussed you out. I know why you hate me so much. Oh, I’m sure it’s partly to do with me being a half-breed but mostly it’s because you hate the fact that I have Saul. That’s why you gave me that book, because you thought it would make me hate him.”

Monique’s pupils expanded. “You think you have Saul? You’re even more pathetic than I thought. You’re just the latest in Saul’s string of women. What makes you think you’re different to any of them?”

“What makes you think you are?” I asked.

Monique flinched like I’d slapped her.

“What? You think I don’t know that you and Saul have been together? I told you, I’m not stupid. I can’t say I blame you, though, I mean he’s just
so
incredible in bed, it must be hard for you trying to find someone to top him.”

Now she was really pissed. I didn’t tense a single muscle because she might see it as a weakness, but I mentally prepared my body to be ready to move in a split second.

“Just you wait and see, Saul will come back to me; he always does when he’s bored of whichever slut’s currently warming his bed.”

I actually laughed. “So you’re his fuck buddy? You’re the one he goes to when he hasn’t got anyone else?”

Monique’s hand shot out to smack me but I caught it and threw it back at her. I stood and we glared at each other.

“Do you really think it will last?” she asked. “How long do you think it’ll be until he gets bored of you?”

“He won’t,” I said but, for the first time, a flicker of doubt ran through me.

“Of course he will,” Monique purred, “just like he has a thousand times before. He’s hundreds of years old; you’ll never be enough for him. In fact, the next time he’s fucked you and you’re lying in bed sleeping because you need to recover, you can bet he’s wishing he was with me. Saul and I used to go at it for days, only stopping because we needed to feed and even then he sometimes wouldn’t quit, he’d just ask our meals to join us.”

It was my turn to flinch and I hated the satisfied look it gave Monique.

“That’s right; I’ve seen Saul with three women at a time. Do you still think you’re enough for him?”

I couldn’t answer. I wouldn’t lie, but admitting she was right was something I wouldn’t do either. My silence was enough, though, and with one last satisfied smile, Monique left.

Suddenly I didn’t feel much like seeing Saul. It wasn’t that I was upset with him, or angry, it was just that I knew he’d sense how upset I was with Monique and he wouldn’t rest until he’d got it out of me.

I moved as quickly as I could without running to the door, but it was too late.

“Bored of waiting?” Saul said.

I turned to see him coming out of the double doors he’d disappeared through earlier.

I smiled, trying to prevent it looking forced. It didn’t work. 

“What’s wrong?” Saul asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Faine, the last time I saw you, you were happy and a little bored, but now you might as well have a black raincloud over your head.”

There was no way I could tell him – not to protect Monique, but to protect him. If he knew what Monique had told me then he’d feel like, every time we slept together, he’d need to prove he wasn’t thinking he’d be having a better time with Monique. The bottom line was that, every time we had sex, I wasn’t going to be able to stop Monique’s words from popping into my head. I sure as hell wasn’t going to pass that onto Saul to share too. It was time for a change of subject.

“You could have told me you were such a big part of the swearing in today; I’d have got here earlier so I could have sat closer.”

“Faine, changing the subject isn’t going to work,” Saul said.

Damn. Okay, time to try again.

“Does it hurt,” I asked, “when someone gets changed from a human to a vampire?”

I could see Saul warring between pushing to see what was wrong and answering my question. His mouth twisted in frustration and then he sighed and sat on one of the benches.

“That process doesn’t and, after that, you’re unconscious for a day or two, but the first few weeks are the worst because everything’s different. It takes a while to get used to your new body and the craving you get for blood. That’s why new vampires are kept under observation for the first year. It’s the time when they’re most likely to let their need for blood override their common sense and that means they might take it too far and kill a human when they’re drinking.”

“What about you?” I asked. “You and Henry were turned before The Sénat started ruling, so you didn’t have anyone watching out for you.”

“The man who turned us, Glenn, he let us stay with him for a couple of months while we learned the basics. Then we were on our own.” Saul’s gaze dropped and it was the first time I’d seen him so full of shame. I could tell that, at some point, he and Henry had done something he wasn’t proud of. Saul didn’t want to talk about it and I didn’t want to ask. Instead I sat next to him and took his hand in mine. He seemed surprised, but I didn’t know if it was because I wasn’t badgering him with questions or because I wasn’t disgusted with him.

We’d reached a silent truce. He wouldn’t pester me about why I’d been upset earlier and I wouldn’t ask why he was upset now.

I was officially lost. I’d been trying to take one of the underground passages to the staff houses but had come to two dead ends and now I wasn’t even sure which was the way back to my rooms. My best bet was to keep walking until I found something that I recognised or someone who could help me. I was definitely underground because there were no windows anywhere, but there were a labyrinth of hallways that all looked the same.

I turned a corner and discovered a flight of stairs going up. I ran up them two at a time hoping that this floor would be more familiar. It wasn’t. I found myself in another hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. There were numerous rooms on either side and all of them had their doors open. After walking past five or six rooms, an odd feeling started to creep over me.

Every room was the same. Each was decorated to a pleasant but unelaborate standard and they all had the same items of furniture – a bed, a sofa and a dressing table with a mirror. I knew they weren’t staff or vampire rooms but I couldn’t work out why they were all here, ready and waiting.

When I noticed that all the doors had a little plaque with a room number on it, everything clicked into place. These were the feeding rooms. I looked around again with new eyes and it all made sense. I thought about what Dale had told me about the staff being beeped and told which room to go to. That was definitely where I was.

I picked up my pace, grateful that the place was empty. I knew that most of the girls who were willing to give blood were willing to give a lot more, hence the beds in the rooms, and I really didn’t want to see or hear a live demonstration.

Just as I neared the end of the hall, a figure appeared. I recognised him as one of the new recruits I’d seen being sworn in; I wondered if he was lost too or if he was expecting company.

“Oh thank God,” I smiled. “I’ve been down here for ages. Could you tell me how...”

My sentence broke off as he grabbed hold of my head and tilted it back so that he could look at my face.

“Ahhh, been getting fed up of waiting for me have you?” he asked.

I frowned at his question and pushed him away from me. “No, why would I be waiting for you? I’m just lost and I was going to ask you how the hell I get out of here.”

He cocked his head and gave me a curious look, the same kind that a dog gives its owner when it doesn’t understand what it’s being told. Then realisation seemed to dawn on him.

“Oh, you like to play games. Yes, I’ve heard about girls like you who love to be drunk from. You put on a bit of a show, make it more fun for us guys so that we’re more likely to request you again. Like it rough do you?” He took a step towards me.

I took several steps back, blinking at him stupidly as realisation sunk in. He thought I was staff. Of course he did, I was a human girl walking around one of the feeding areas, what else would he think? Still, his words had disgusted me so I decided not to bother with politeness.

“Sorry to disappoint but I’m neither staff nor a prostitute and I’m not playing games, I really am lost so if you’d tell me the way, I’ll leave,” I snapped.

“You really do like it. Well, with your pretty face and your good sense of fun, I’m sure I’ll be calling for you regularly.” He stepped closer to me again.

“How stupid are you? I’m going to say it once again, very slowly. I. Am. Not. Staff! You must have heard about the half-vampire girl living at Rillith? Well, that’s me! I’m Faine Hawkes and I watched you and all the other new vampires getting sworn in yesterday.” I stared at him. Surely that would get through? Judging by his face, it hadn’t, so I decided to go all out. “You know, Faine Hawkes, as in Saul’s...” I paused, trying to think of what exactly I was to Saul. Girlfriend sounded too childish. “Partner,” I finished lamely.

The guy’s pupils grew a bit and then he lunged forwards and grabbed me. “Oh, you’re good. There’s nothing better than shagging someone who’s supposed to be off-limits.” He lowered his mouth to my ear. “Well then, Faine! I’m going to fuck you so hard and make you scream so loud that Saul’s going to be wondering why you lost your voice.”

There weren’t any words to describe how revolted I felt. He wasn’t listening to anything I was telling him, so I resorted to something I knew he’d respond to. I’d barely made my mind up before my arm was swinging into action and there was a pain in my knuckles. The guy in front of me staggered back a few paces and a purple swelling came up around his eye.

“Would a normal human have been able to do that?” I yelled at him. “Now listen to me, arsehole, any part of your body that touches me again is going to get snapped off.”

He gingerly touched the swelling on his eye and his pupils fully expanded. “Bitch!” he shouted. “I’m going to teach you a fucking lesson.”