Bloodline (20 page)

They pressed their Oyster cards against the reader and followed the signs for the Bakerloo line. Inigo snatched a couple of leaflets from a board they passed, and Micah gave him a quizzical look. When he stepped off the escalator, Inigo wasn’t behind him, and he was on the point of going back up when he spotted the vampire descending.

“What are you up to?” Micah asked when Inigo reached his side.

“You’ll see.”

By the time they’d changed trains and arrived at Kings Cross-St. Pancras, Micah
did
see. Using blank areas on the leaflets and a pen he’d
persuaded
someone to give him, Inigo had produced amazing sketches of all three missing faeries.

“Wow.” Micah’s eyes widened. “You’re good.”

“Not sure how much help it is, though. London has a population of over eight million, and we don’t even know if they’re in the city.”

“Eight million mortals, but supernaturals are numbered in the thousands. We can start by asking my parents and my sister Pixie. She runs with an interesting crowd.”

“What’s she like?” Inigo asked.

“An irritating pain in the neck. Selfish. Fickle. Blabbermouth…er, maybe not as much of one of those as I thought. Ellie and I suspected Pix had gossiped to her friends once we’d found the Kewen, but I don’t think she did. That misjudgment caused us to rush to Faerieland to give the Kewen back. I should have talked more to Ellie about how to handle the situation, but everything slipped out of control. I’m not good at handling women.”

The vampire smiled.

“Pix goes through boyfriends at a rate of knots and has a tendency to break everything she touches. She loves and hates being a faerie. Loves and hates not being normal. She acts without thinking, or maybe she does think and does stupid stuff anyway. She’s currently friends with four banished fae, two werewolves, and a vampire, plus there’s a zombie stalker who’s obsessed with her. She seems to attract misfits.”

“They’re her friends because she doesn’t feel she fits in either?”

Micah gave a short laugh. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I feel like that too. Easier for faeries to fit in than vampires, though. You’re far more sociable. Vampires tend not to make friends easily.”

“I find that hard to believe.” He smiled at Inigo.

He didn’t waste time in the phone shop, just purchased the cheapest pay-as-you-go phone and dumped all the packaging.

“I need something to eat.” He glanced at Inigo. “Are you okay? Don’t need to—”

“I’m fine.”

Micah led him to a café inside the station and looked for a table near an electric socket. He plugged in the phone and picked up the menu.

“What can I get you?” asked a young foreign waitress.

“Coffee, baked potato with cheese, and a slice of coconut cheesecake.” Micah smiled at her.

“And for you?” She turned to Inigo.

“Just a black coffee, thanks.”

As she walked away, Micah raised his eyebrows. “Coffee?”

Inigo shrugged. “We want to blend in, don’t we?”

“True.”

Micah used his phone to take a picture of each of the sketches done by Inigo, then called his father.

“Hello?” asked a tentative voice.

“The rabbits are eating everything,” Micah said.

There was a long pause. “Whose bloody idea was it to talk about rabbits? I can’t remember what I’m supposed to say.”

Micah laughed. “You’re all okay, I take it?”

“I have a pissed-off daughter and an equally irate wife who aren’t best pleased with the accommodation I’ve brought them to. Oh, I remember now. I need to buy a gun.”

Micah
felt
his father was okay, but he was still happy to hear the coded message, though not so pleased to hear his mother and sister complaining in the background.

“It’s horrible here,” Pixie yelled into the phone. “We’re freezing. There’s no Sky TV. The shower is a pathetic dribble. How long is this going to go on?”

“Hopefully not long. Put Dad back on.”

“Yes, Micah?” said his father.

“I’m sending you three images. Tell me if you recognize any of them. Ask Mum and Pix too.”

The coffees arrived while he was waiting for a response. Micah smiled his thanks to the waitress.

“Your mother doesn’t. I recognize the older two. They came to the library a few months ago. Said they were researching their family tree. Their names…I can’t recall. Strange. I usually do. Pixie—”

“Why do you want to know?” his sister snapped.

“It would take too long to explain. Do you recognize any of the three?”

Silence, which told him she did.

“It’s important, Pix. They’re in danger.”

“That’s why I shouldn’t tell you.”

“So you
do
know them.”

“Shit,” his sister muttered.

“Language,” he heard his mother say.

“I’m not telling you over the phone,” Pixie said.

“If you’re at the other end of the country, I’ll bloody kill… Give the phone to Dad.”

“Yes, Son?”

“Text your address to this number.”

“Er…what sort of gun should I buy?”

“Water pistol.”

Micah heard the relief in his father’s sigh. “See you soon.”

He waited until the text had arrived, and tension eased in his chest when he saw the address wasn’t too far away, then memorized and erased it before he switched off the phone.

“Dad has seen April and Flint at the British Museum looking up a family tree. Pix, I suspect, knows Kit at least, but she won’t talk on the phone. When I’ve eaten, we’ll go to see my father. Fortunately, he’s not too far away.”

“What did the vampire do to you?” Inigo asked.

The breath caught in Micah’s throat. “Ah, you didn’t miss that.”

“I don’t miss much. Thought if I just threw it into the conversation, you might tell me.”

The food and drinks arrived, and Micah waited until the waitress had walked away.

“It’s been eighteen months since I went to bed with a guy—a vampire. I trusted him, and he let me down.” He glanced at Inigo. “I swore off vamps after what happened. Then I met you and changed my mind.”

“What did he do?” Inigo whispered.

Micah started to eat but tasted nothing. “He threw a party, invited his friends and, fortunately as it turned out, none of mine. He was so busy fucking some stranger that he failed to protect me. When he realized his friends had pinned me down and were feeding on me, he dragged them off and threw them out, but then he fed on me himself. He was angry with
me
, but it was his fucking fault. He nearly killed me. I had just enough energy to buck him off, lock myself in the bathroom, and call my brother, Asher. He brought backup and rescued me, but by then I was unconscious on the bathroom floor with the vampire apparently wringing his hands over my body. Asher shared his power with me and saved my life.”

Inigo squeezed his fingers. “So that wasn’t the difficult situation Roman rescued you from?”

“No, that came later when the vampire came after me and wouldn’t listen to no. Roman stepped in and made sure he understood.”

“What’s the vampire’s name?”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

Inigo widened his eyes. “Nothing.”

“I’ll tell you his name if you promise to do nothing.”

“I promise.”

“I mean it, Inigo. I don’t want…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

The vampire’s smile would have taken him out at the knees if he’d been standing. In his way, Inigo was as dangerous as Philip.

“Tell me.”

“I’m trusting you to keep your word.”

Inigo nodded once.

“Philip Minard.”

“I don’t know the name.”

“Good.” Micah gaped as Inigo stuck a fork in the cheesecake and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Ohhhh,” Inigo moaned. “Ahhhhh. Ummmmm.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

A second forkful followed the first. “This is delicious.”

“You can’t eat.”

Inigo wrapped trembling fingers around his untouched mug of coffee, raised it to his lips, and sipped the liquid. “Whoooooa, coffee. I’d forgotten.”

Micah grimaced. “Am I going to have to rush you to the bathroom for you to throw all this back up?”

“Maybe, but I don’t care.” Inigo forked off more and then hesitated with it partway to his mouth. He changed direction and offered it to Micah, who ate it.

Inigo’s shoulders slumped. “You were supposed to say no.”

Micah swallowed the cheesecake and laughed. “Why are you eating?”

“I just…wanted to. I can’t remember the last time I consumed anything other than blood or er…yeah, well.” He grinned.

“What
is
the stuff in that flask, by the way?”

“Hadn’t I told you? Unicorn blood.”

Micah almost spat out his coffee. “What?”

“That’s how I managed to talk to Blade. Doesn’t seem to work on this side, though. I tried chatting to a poodle, but she ignored me, though she could just have been a snooty bitch.”

“It tasted vile.”

Inigo shook his head. “Not to me. I think it’s what’s helping me walk in daylight. But if you see an unusual lump erupting on my forehead, let me know.”

“I hope you’re kidding.”

“So do I.”

* * * *

Micah stared at Inigo sleeping beside him. They’d hardly made it onto the M25 in the hired car before Inigo had started to act strangely, pulling away from the window, tucking his hands under his arms, and shaking. Asking what was wrong had only brought one word—“sleep”—so Micah had pulled off the motorway and booked them into a service-station motel. The moment they’d reached the room, Inigo had collapsed on the bed and not moved since.

Once he’d drawn the curtains to shut out the remains of the afternoon, Micah had undressed the vampire and hung up his clothes along with his own. He felt the little flask of unicorn blood and pulled it out to look at it. Less than half-full. Micah pushed it back in place and joined Inigo in bed.

Worry that the vampire’s immunity to sunlight would wear off was constant. Inigo might have been joking about the fire extinguisher, but the foil blanket sounded like a good idea. The guy stirred in his sleep and rolled over with a groan. Micah had never seen Philip do that. Once he was out for the day, he didn’t move a muscle. It had to have something to do with the unicorn blood. It had thrown Inigo’s system out of sync.

Micah curled up behind Inigo and wrapped his arms around him. He might as well sleep while he could. Except his cock had other ideas. Pressed against Inigo’s backside, it hardened and wedged itself in the crease of his butt.

Don’t do anything. Just go to fucking sleep.

* * * *

Oberon scowled at the hunter standing in front of him. He’d hoped to hear that Cavan and the faeries had done their job. They hadn’t. The news that his aunt and uncle had died in a fire was much too convenient. He thought about the way he and Cavan had drowned his father. Maybe death in a storm looked suspicious too, not that any faerie would dare to suggest it.

“Tell Cavan to find Micah and the vampire and to keep looking for my aunt and uncle. Give him this.” He handed over a rose-gold and diamond necklace and bracelet. “Part of the Kewen. He should be able to use magic to find the matching ring. It’s in the possession of Micah’s thieving sister. Ellie Norwood can be used as a lever.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Oberon turned when he heard the knock at the door. “Enter.” He glanced at the hunter in front of him. “Stay and keep quiet.” He’d taken a risk sending so many of his loyal hunters out of the kingdom. It offered temptation to those who were less loyal.

Serge and Elisa came into the room, and Oberon plastered a smile on his face. He didn’t trust these two as far he could spit them.

“Oh you’re busy. We can come back, Your Majesty,” Serge said.

“No, it’s fine. What can I do for you?”

“We wondered if there had been any word about your aunt and uncle.”

“I have sad news from Tyron, who just told me they perished in a fire on the other side.”

Elisa gasped and clutched her husband. “Both of them?” she whispered.

“Tragically, yes.”

“How upsetting they will not be here to see your coronation,” Serge said.

“Indeed. If they’d stayed in Faerieland, they’d have been safe. I wish they’d told me they were intending to travel. Did they tell you?”

It was a question he’d asked before, and no faerie had admitted knowledge of the pair’s plans. He suspected this visit from Serge and Elisa was to find out if his aunt and uncle remained undetected.

“We had no idea,” Serge said.

Elisa was quietly crying. The tears looked genuine, but he didn’t trust anyone.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“The unicorn blood. The small flask is missing and rather more has been taken from the large bottle than was anticipated.”

Shit
. Rage rushed along Oberon’s veins. “Obviously, one of the reasons the hunters will apprehend the vampire.”

“Of course. Excuse us, Your Majesty.” Serge tugged his wife from the room.

“Are you not interested in Micah Norwood?” Oberon called.

Serge turned at the door. “I’ve every confidence our hunters will track them both down.”

The door closed, and Oberon frowned. He had the feeling he’d missed something, but he wasn’t sure what.

“Do you wish—” Tyron said.

“Shut up,” Oberon snapped.

Why had the pair come now? Maybe it had been a mistake to tell Serge about the fire. The word would spread and so would rumors of another suspicious death. There were still mumblings about the way his father had died. Perhaps Serge and Elisa knew his aunt and uncle were alive. Oberon still wasn’t sure why they’d run. Yes, they knew he was half-mortal, but considering they were even less fae than him, they’d gain nothing from the revelation. Neither had children, so there was no rival for his throne. Even if one did have a child, the throne was Oberon’s by rights.

A child
. The thought circled in his head. He’d have known.
Should
have known. What if it had been kept secret? Why? He’d lacked playmates as a boy. He’d have welcomed cousins. Particularly ones who had no more power than him. Why had neither April nor Flint ever married? In a flash of inspiration, a thought made him gasp. Had the pair been fucking each other? They weren’t actually related. His father had told him April was his sister, Flint a friend. What if they’d had a child together? If only he’d been able to silence his father before he told the truth to April and Flint. All this could have been avoided. Well—most of it.