Blood Ties (4 page)

She knew perfectly well what she’d have done. She’d have refused. Run a mile. Screamed the place down and called the cops.

As if reading her thoughts, Ranjit said, ‘You know, you can feed without her knowledge. Even though she knows what happened to you, there are ways round—’

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I’m not going to lie to my best friend. Sir Alric says he’ll teach us both.’ In a mutter she added, ‘If she agrees, I mean …’

‘It’s for the best, Cassie. You have to know how to feed safely. And if it’s done right, it really doesn’t do any harm.’

Shutting her eyes, Cassie gave a frustrated moan; then she felt Ranjit’s hand squeeze hers once again. He sighed deeply and turned to Cassie with an attempt at a smile.

‘Look, I’m just glad you’re here, and you’re OK. We’ll get through it … together.’ He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips, lingering for a moment before pulling away. ‘And about this …’ he murmured, pressing his forehead to Cassie’s.

‘Yeah?’ Her voice was hoarse.

‘I think it might be a good idea for us to try and take it slow. I mean, I don’t know what happened in the atrium but it felt almost … out of control?’ He looked cautiously at Cassie, and she nodded and smiled.

‘It did. Not that I’m complaining.’

‘Me neither. It’s just that, given our circumstances and … past experiences, I just don’t want anything to go wrong for us. We should be careful.’

Ranjit ran a reassuring hand along Cassie’s arm and turned to drain the rest of his coffee. Cassie stared down at her own barely touched drink. She’d hardly thought about it before, but the way he’d said past experiences, and the expression on his face when she mentioned that she had been destined to be Isabella’s life-source, spoke volumes. How could she have forgotten?

Jessica.

Jake’s sister had been involved with Ranjit before she died. In fact, she was meant to be meeting him the night she was lured to her death. The girl who finished up drained of her very essence by Katerina and Keiko was the same girl everyone said looked like Cassie. The thought of it made her head spin. OK, this could be weird.

‘Cassie?’ Ranjit’s voice brought her out of her reverie. ‘We should get going. You look tired.’

His beautiful face smiling down at her, and his hand gently laid on her shoulder, made her head spin once more – but for the right reasons.

This is ridiculous, she thought. You’re not Jessica. It’s not the same. Don’t talk yourself out of this before it’s begun.

Forcing a smile, she stood up. ‘Tired? Come on then, I’ll race you back to the Academy!’

CHAPTER FOUR

T
he corridor was dark. Cassie was running, urgently searching for something. Someone. She rounded the corner into yet more darkness. No, not darkness – two eyes, glowing red, were there ahead of her. Looming out of the black. Coming towards her. No. She was moving towards them …

There he is, Cassandra! Grab him. Take him, He’s the one for us. Don’t let him convince you otherwise. We belong together. We need him.

Cassie’s arms reached out blindly, snatching at the void.

You don’t want to be alone, do you, Cassandra? Reach for him. Grab him. We don’t want to be alone. We want them both. You and I, he and his . . .

‘Ranjit?’

Cassie’s voice was a growl, echoing through the empty space. She lunged forward once more, her hands grabbing on to something. Shoulders: hunched, muscular. His bare skin almost burning under her touch. Then his arms, encircling her, squeezing her until she could barely breathe. Her fingernails like claws, digging into the flesh of his back.

Yes, Cassandra. Don’t let him go! We mustn’t let go!

‘I won’t.’

You won’t. You won’t? But you’ve abandoned me! Why have you abandoned me, Cassie? There’s a part of me alone, you know. The part we left behind.

‘What? I’m here! Estelle?’

You felt that void, didn’t you, dear? Only for a little time, but you felt it. Imagine being trapped there. It’s not nice. Why are you being so unkind? Poor, poor Estelle. Are you going to let me stay out here, Cassandra? Are you going to keep me apart? Keep us apart?

HOW COULD YOU?!

Cassie woke with a start, shaking. Throwing off the blankets, sweating and gasping for breath, she sat up straight and raked her fingers through her hair. It was still dark: the faint glow from outside was street lighting.

It was a nightmare, that was all. Cassie sighed. With all that had happened, it was a wonder she hadn’t had more bad dreams. She gave a wry half-smile. Sometimes it seemed like her whole life now was a bad dream. It didn’t help that she had Estelle inside her head, messing with her mind. Although all was quiet now, so maybe the spirit had spent her fury for the time being and Cassie could sleep in peace.

Still, her heart continued to thrash, and it wasn’t just from fear. She had a terrible sense of sadness, guilt and regret in the pit of her stomach, almost in spite of herself.

Poor, poor Estelle …

Cassie rubbed her fingertips against her temples, groaning inwardly but not making a sound in case she woke Isabella. Part of her was sorry for Estelle. When the ritual that was supposed to bind them together forever was interrupted, part of the Few spirit had been left stranded outside Cassie’s body, divided from the rest. Ever since, Estelle’s voice had begged Cassie to let her in. But even if she knew how to do that, Cassie was far from certain that she wanted to. Fractured visions of the Few woman’s past revealed her to be proud and strong, yes, but also vindictive, cruel and selfish. If she joined fully with Estelle, how could Cassie be sure that she wouldn’t follow the same path?

Fumbling for the tumbler of water on her nightstand, the back of Cassie’s hand bumped against one of her framed photographs. Irritably, she picked it up to move it aside, and froze.

Something was wrong. The frame felt strange beneath her fingertips. She brought it close to her face. Even in the dim glow of an artificial dawn, her hand trembled.

The metal frame had melted. That was how it looked, anyway. Twisted, buckled and warped – as if it had been left too close to a fire. The grinning faces of Patrick and the Cranlake kids had melted into hideous masks. Alarmed, she reached out to touch the nightstand. It was quite cool. Cassie swallowed hard. Swinging her legs down on to the floor, she picked up the other photograph, the one she had surreptitiously taken of Ranjit at the end of last term. It too was badly distorted: the silver frame looked as if it had turned liquid in the night then re-solidified, like candle wax. And Ranjit’s shyly smiling face – it was unrecognisable.

She stroked it remorsefully, tears springing to her eyes. What had she done?

Hang on. What made her think she’d done anything?

A feeling, that was all …

Miserably, she cursed, but not far enough under her breath. In the other bed Isabella stirred and stretched, yawning. Cassie had barely enough time to shove the melted pictures under her pillow before Isabella blinked sleepily. Her roommate yawned and smiled.

‘Morning, Cassie. Mmm …’ Abruptly she sat up. ‘Hey! We’re in New York!’

Cassie shook her head. She instantly felt a little more cheery. How could Isabella be bursting with such enthusiasm at this hour? Her friend hadn’t changed since Paris – which was kind of nice, when so much else had. Affecting a drawl she said, ‘Chill, honey. It’s six o’clock in the morning. Ain’t sun-up for an hour.’

Isabella rolled her eyes. ‘Cassie, that accent is more South Carolina than South Bronx and even I know it. Now …’ Slumping back on to her bed, she rubbed her hands with glee. ‘What shall we do today?’

‘Um, apart from start school, you mean?’ asked Cassie.

‘Yes, yes, apart from that. This is the City that Never Sleeps! And neither should we!’

‘Uh-huh.’ Cassie didn’t bother mentioning she already had a head start in that department. ‘You know the first class is maths, right?’

‘No. No, no, no! I shall not even think about it!’ wailed Isabella. She paused and then gave Cassie a sidelong glance. ‘We need to talk about you, Cassie.’

‘Oh, God.’ Cassie sighed. ‘Not again. First Ranjit, now you as well. Can’t we talk about someone else?’

Isabella folded her arms crossly. ‘Cassie. I let you off yesterday because you were meeting your Indian prince – which you need to fill me in on as well, by the way.’ She paused to give Cassie a wink. ‘But I know you’re not telling me something. You fainted at the airport! You did not look so terrible and starved just from missing breakfast or having a bug. It’s because of what they did to you, isn’t it? At the Few ceremony?’

Cassie rubbed her neck. ‘Yes,’ she mumbled.

Isabella nodded, her eyes narrowing. ‘Right. And what have you done about it?’

‘Sir Alric had a … er … solution.’ Cassie smiled brightly, hoping an explanation would stall Isabella’s questions for now, even if she was being economical with the truth. She needed time. More time. ‘Literally, I mean. A liquid solution.’

‘You mean drugs?’ Isabella’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Cassie, I’m not sure—’

‘Please, Isabella, it’s nothing to worry about.’

‘Oh?’ Isabella folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. ‘If it is nothing to worry about, why are you still so unhappy? I know you better! Why are you so nervous and sifty?’

‘Shifty …’

‘Out with it, Cassie Bell!’

Defeated, Cassie went over and slumped on to Isabella’s bed. ‘Remember what I told you about Keiko and Alice last term? About seeing Keiko kind of feeding on Alice? Well, that’s how the Few stay alive.’ She sighed miserably, trying to avoid meeting Isabella’s eye. ‘They draw life-energy from someone who’s non-Few. And, apparently, that’s something I’m going to have to do too …’ Cassie trailed off. She hadn’t the heart to carry on any further, to ask the question out loud.

Isabella didn’t reply. Maybe, thought Cassie, she was remembering Cassie’s horrible description of Keiko draining the life out of her helpless roommate. Or her boyfriend’s sister being sucked dry …

The air seemed to crackle with tension as the silence stretched on and on, but Cassie couldn’t bear to look up to see the horror and revulsion on Isabella’s face. Any minute now, it would all be over. Isabella would leave the room. She’d go to Sir Alric and demand a change of roommate. Of course, she’d say they’d still be friends, but she’d never quite forget what Cassie had asked of her. She’d never quite forgive—

‘OK.’

‘What?’ Cassie wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.

‘I said OK. You will feed from me.’ Seeing Cassie’s incredulous expression, Isabella flapped her hands. ‘Look, I’m not saying this is ideal. One thing is for sure, I had a very different view of the Few before I knew all this craziness was involved. But another thing I know for certain is that you’re not like Keiko. Not a bit like her. She was insane. You, on the other hand,’ Isabella grinned, ‘well, you have your moments. But you are my very good friend, Cassie Bell. If this is what you need, then this is what we need to do.’

Cassie could only stare at her. ‘Isab—’

Isabella interrupted, holding up her hand. ‘Hold on. Alice did not know what Keiko was doing, did she?’

‘No.’ Cassie picked at a chewed nail. ‘The Few have a special drink. It makes your roommate forget everything. They think it’s kinder.’

Cassie finally made herself look at Isabella’s face, but there was no disgust on it. She was nodding, intent and serious.

‘Yet you don’t want to deceive me, Cassie. You have told me everything, and that shows you trust me. Thank you. So I will be honest with you, because I trust you too.’ Isabella raised a warning finger. ‘You must never give me this drink. I won’t ever be tricked or lied to.’

‘Isabella, I don’t know—’

‘Cassie, you need to feed. That’s obvious. It’s why Sir Alric is so worried about you, yes?’ Isabella grasped Cassie’s hands.

‘He – yes. He said he’d teach me, show us how to do it safely.’

‘Well, Sir Alric is a good man. He knows what is necessary and what is or isn’t dangerous. Don’t worry, Cassie.’ Isabella’s smile was cautious but sincere. ‘If he shows us how to do it right, then it will be fine. I’ll be your … what do you say?’

Cassie swallowed. ‘My life-source. But wait, Isabella. What about Jake? He’ll never allow you to do it.’

‘Jake is not my boss, he’s my boyfriend,’ sniffed Isabella. ‘You’re right, he won’t like it, but this is my decision. I am not Jessica and you are not Keiko. And anyway, maybe what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’

‘You can’t keep it secret from him, Isabella.’

‘Why not? A girl is entitled to some secrets,’ Isabella replied, her dark eyes flashing. ‘When the time is right, I will tell him. He will understand.’

Cassie stared at her roommate. Wasn’t this the perfect outcome? She’d been honest with Isabella, and Isabella had agreed freely.

So why did she still feel like a piece of dirt?

‘All right.’ Cassie breathed out and smiled. ‘Thank you. Thank you, Isabella.’

‘You’re welcome. Just make sure you don’t overindulge.’ Isabella grinned. ‘I am sure that my life-energy must be very strong stuff!’

‘There’s no way in hell I’m getting anywhere near you until Sir Alric’s taught me everything there is to know about this feeding thing.’ Embarrassed, Cassie bit her lip self-consciously. How had they come to this?

Isabella looked at her roommate and giggled.

‘Your face is a picture, Cassie Bell. It will be fine. Besides, being one of the Few is not all bad news, huh? What about Ranjit? I heard how he swept you off your feet in the atrium yesterday. Surely he is some comfort?’ She grinned wickedly, and Cassie couldn’t help but smile too.

‘Look,’ Isabella continued, her eyes sparkling with mischief, ‘I wish this whole Few thing had not happened. But it has happened, and you’re in. And seeing as it’s Fate Accomplished, you might as well have some fun being Few, no?’

Cassie was about to correct her when she thought: no, Fate Accomplished is quite appropriate.

‘Isabella, I’m not going to start throwing my weight around.’

Isabella sniffed. ‘Hmph! Since Christmas there isn’t enough of you to throw.’

Cassie smiled wryly.

‘And of course you won’t play the Queen Bee, that wouldn’t be you.’ She grabbed Cassie’s arms and shook them. ‘Don’t forget, you are still you.’

‘I hope you’re right.’

Isabella ignored her. ‘Hey, you can invite me to the oh-so-sacred common room. And extra time off for being Few means more time on Madison Avenue.’

‘How did I know you’d work shopping into this somehow?’ Cassie said, a genuine smile finally crossing her lips. She purposefully stood up and stretched. ‘Come on, let’s get dressed and find some breakfast. It’ll take me at least an hour to look as good as you look right now. And let me tell you, you don’t look great.’

Isabella threw a pillow at her. ‘Swine. Anyway, it isn’t true. You look very beautiful since you had your famous “solution”. But wait till you start feeding on me!’ She preened, licking a fingertip and smoothing an eyebrow.