New Order (2 page)

‘You just attacked me,’ she points out calmly. ‘Imagine if word got out that the Montserrat Family is allowing dangerous new vampires onto the street where they are harming innocent bystanders. After the murders a couple of months ago, there’s enough concern about your lot as it is.’

Unbelievable. I shake my head and curse then, without looking, scoop up two random objects from the display to my left. ‘Fine,’ I mutter. ‘I’ll take these.’

‘Too cheap,’ she scoffs. ‘Someone of your calibre can surely afford to spend a little more.’

I’m tempted to smack her hard on the head and walk out. Instead I grit my teeth. ‘Can you make any recommendations?’

She smiles. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ She picks up the amethyst she was frowning at earlier and passes it over. ‘This. And…’ pursing her lips she examines the shelves then hands me a bright green feather ‘…this.’

I stare down at the price tags. ‘You have got to be kidding me.’

‘They’re very good value.’

‘Fifty quid? For a feather?’

Her eyes sparkle. ‘It’s a very special feather.’

Gods above. I dig into one of my pockets and pull out some crumpled notes. Thank goodness I tapped Arzo for some cash the last time I saw him. He wasn’t happy about it but given the mess his machinations got me into, I didn’t give him much choice.

I thrust the notes at her. ‘Here.’

‘It’s been a pleasure doing business with you. Wait here while I ring it up.’

‘Don’t bother.’

‘Oh, you must have a receipt. Rules are rules.’

I give her a dirty look. ‘Does that mean I can return the items later?’

Her smile is more patronising than friendly. I mutter a curse under my breath that would have my grandfather gasping in horror at my unladylike language. Then I leave, stupid feather, sparkly stone and bloody receipt clutched in my hand. She didn’t even give me a bag.

I shove the amethyst into a side pocket. With nothing better to do with the feather, I stick it behind my ear. Then I pull out my phone. I shouldn’t have it; fledgling vampires are meant to stay well away from the real world to ease their transition into their new life. This, however, is another helpful ‘gift’ from Arzo.

‘That was a total bust,’ I say as soon as O’Shea answers.

‘Really?’ I don’t believe he’s as surprised as he sounds. ‘I’d heard she might be amenable if the price was right. I guess my sources were wrong.’

‘It’s a legit shop, O’Shea, and the owner is far from stupid. She’s not going to go against the Families.’ I’m trying not to sound accusatory because he got my hopes up - but it’s not easy.

‘It’s not for the Families. It’s for you,’ he answers pragmatically.

I sigh. ‘You know and I know‒ and she most definitely knows‒ that they wouldn’t like it.’

O’Shea takes a deep breath. ‘You could always leave.’

‘Leave?’

‘Leave the Family. Strike out on your own. Be independent.’

I snort. ‘Yeah, right. Like that’ll work out well. What I really need is for you to speak to your shadier contacts and see if there’s anyone with a grudge against the vampires who might be willing to help.’

There’s a moment of silence before he speaks. ‘Sure. Except…’

‘What?’

‘I’ve already spoken to everyone I can think of, Bo. Nobody wants to get involved.’

‘Try harder,’ I growl, walking back down the cobbled alleyway. ‘It’s not like you’re doing much of anything else right now.’ One positive side effect of the recent events that saw me transformed into a vampire is that O’Shea is now being kept on a short leash. He takes almost every opportunity to complain about it but, secretly, I think he likes the attention.

‘That’s mean,’ he whines. ‘I’m doing my best.’

My fingers curl into fists. The trouble is that I believe him. ‘There’s got to be something else you can do,’ I tell him briskly.

‘Bo…’

A well-dressed man suddenly appears at the end of the street, silhouetted against the street lights. Bugger it.

‘I have to go.’ Without waiting for a response, I hang up and stuff the phone into my pocket. It’s probably too late to hope that the man’s not seen it yet, but maybe I’ll get lucky. I straighten my shoulders defiantly.

‘My Lord,’ I say, when I reach him. ‘Out for a stroll?’

Michael Montserrat glares at me. ‘This is the third time in a week.’ His tone conveys his mood. ‘Don’t you think I’ve got better things to do than run around after one bloody recruit?’

‘Technically,’ I tell him coolly, ‘I’m not a recruit, I’m a fully-fledged vampire.’ Although I have to admit I’m surprised that he’s out here. It’s usually great, hulking Ursus who deals with newbie issues. I may not have been with the Montserrat Family for long but even I know that Lord Montserrat rarely bothers his arse with fledglings’ problems.

He rubs his hand across his close-cropped hair. ‘Like I don’t know it. Bo,’ he sighs. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I needed some air. I was tired of feeling cooped up.’

He glances at the lit window of Fingertips and Frolics. ‘I know you don’t like this,’ he says, ‘but you can’t change it. There’s no way back. It’s time you stopped trying to find an escape route and started facing facts.’

I look him in the eye. ‘That’s easy for you to say. I never wanted this.’

‘Do you think I don’t know that?’ he snaps. A muscle throbs in his jaw. ‘I’m sorry. There are only so many times I can say that, though. What’s done is done. Sooner or later you’ll realise that being a vampire isn’t so bad.’

‘I doubt that,’ I scoff.

‘Bo,’ his voice softens, ‘I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I feel responsible for what happened to you.’

‘You
are
responsible.’

He sighs. ‘Fine. I’m responsible. Feel free to blame me as much as you want. But you can’t keep leaving the mansion. The rules are in place for a reason. Right now, you’re still too vulnerable to be outside.’

I don’t want to keep arguing with him but I just can’t help it. This is too important. ‘I wasn’t doing anything dangerous.’

‘How do you know? Anything could have happened! Anyone could have been in that shop!’ Frustration crosses his face. ‘I don’t want to see you getting hurt.’

Despite feeling oddly warmed by his words, I don’t veer off track. ‘I can look after myself,’ I tell him.

‘You’re part of the Montserrat Family now. That makes you my responsibility.’

‘I’m not a child.’

He looks at me steadily, then gives a short, sharp laugh. ‘No. You’re definitely not that.’

There’s something in his eyes that makes my stomach squirm. I tell myself that we have a special connection because he’s the one who turned me. In these modern times, would-be recruits are usually injected directly into their veins with a combination of vampire blood. To make it easier for me to not drink for the full lunar month following my initial turning, so that I could become Sanguine and be more human than bloodguzzler, I drank Michael’s blood directly. Clearly, it didn’t make much difference in the end.

I put my hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make your life more difficult. I’m really not. I just…’ My voice trails away.

‘Bo,’ he sighs again. ‘I get it. I do. But you can’t do this.’ He reaches out and pulls the feather away from my ear, twirling it in the palm of his hand. Then he changes the subject. ‘This is pretty.’

‘Not pretty enough to warrant the cost.’

His eyes narrow for the briefest second. ‘Where did you get money from?’ He holds up his hands. ‘On second thoughts, I don’t want to know. The last thing I need is to have to discipline someone else.’ He tucks the feather back behind my ear, his fingers brushing against my skin. ‘How about a compromise?’

I stare at him warily. ‘Go on.’

‘You’re not going to find a cure. If such a thing existed we would already know about it.’ I open my mouth to speak but he places a finger against my lips. ‘However,’ he continues, ‘your case is a special one. Because you didn’t want to be recruited and you agreed at my urging, I can afford to treat you differently without receiving too much flack.’

I find it hard to imagine anyone giving Michael Montserrat flack for anything.

‘If you promise not to sneak out again, I’ll take you out once a week.’

I have a sudden vision of us dating. Dinner, dancing, bowling. I shake my head to rid myself of the images. Far too weird. That can’t be what he means.

He looks amused, as if he knows what I’m thinking. ‘I’ll show you how far you can push yourself. What skills you have now that you’re one of us.’ His eyes gleam at me in the darkness. ‘I can show you your real potential.’

One-on-one vampire lessons with the Head of the Montserrat Family? I don’t want to know what amazing skills I have now or what my potential is, but that’s still a hell of an offer.

‘Of course,’ he adds, ‘if you don’t agree, then the only alternative is to lock you up in your room until you see the light. We’ve got plenty of time and I can be a very patient man.’

I’m fairly certain he’s telling the truth – he’d have absolutely no qualms about sealing me inside my tiny bedroom back at the Montserrat mansion until I choose to drink the Kool-Aid and give in.

I push down my rising anger and chew my lip. I know that O’Shea has exhausted every possibility he can think of. My next plan was to visit my grandfather. He has a wealth of knowledge in that crafty head of his. The trouble is, I’m not sure how he’ll react to me not making it to Sanguine. That’s the main reason I’ve put off going to see him up till now. I don’t want to have to deal with his censure as well as my own. I’m scared to think what the look in his eyes in will be. The last conversation I had with him suggested that he understood what I was doing, but that was when there was the chance I could avoid being a real vampire. He bloody well sent Beth after me to help with that. Promising Michael that I’ll stay within the fold might give my grandfather time to come around to what I am now. And it’ll give me time to become brave enough to face him.

I’m not giving up on the chance of finding a cure but I can put it on hold for a while. Just because I’ll be a virtual prisoner doesn’t mean that O’Shea will be. Besides, Michael’s not mentioned my illicit possession of a phone so I’m sure I managed to hide it before he saw it. That means I can contact Rogu3 as well. Perhaps playing docile little fledgling for a while will be a good thing.

Michael’s arms are folded as watches me. ‘Okay,’ I say cautiously, ‘I can promise that for now.’

His mouth tightens, but I swear there’s a sparkle in his eyes. ‘For now?’

I shrug. ‘Best I can do.’

‘Then it’s a deal. I’ll throw in a sweetener and even let you keep that damn phone.’

Before I can say anything, he sticks out his hand and I shake it. His grip tightens until I can’t pull away and my fingers start to feel crushed. He leans in towards me. ‘Don’t break your word, Bo,’ he whispers into my ear. ‘There’s no telling what I’ll do.’

He releases me and I yank back my hand, pain shooting through my fingers. I stare back at him, remembering that he’s not the Head of the Montserrat Family because he’s a nice cuddly guy with good looks and a pretty smile. He’s bloody scary.

Chapter Two: Rooftops

Beth and I are lounging on the sofa in companionable silence when Ursus appears. He gives a good impression of a snarl. With a lazy yawn, she gazes at him. ‘Hi Ursus.’

‘You are supposed to be meeting Ria to go through your latest evaluation.’

Beth checks her watch, an old battered Timex that she never takes off. ‘Oh smeg. Yeah, okay.’ Slowly clambering to her feet, she yawns and stretches her arms high above her head.

‘Get a bloody wriggle on!’ Ursus curses, his expression growing more irate when she takes her time over finding the stilettos that she insists on wearing. Eventually she manages to put them on and flashes him a brilliant smile. ‘Thanks for the reminder, boss!’ she trills, before sauntering away.

I hide my smirk, not moving from my position on the sofa. He jabs a finger in my direction. ‘This is all your fault!’

I blink, a picture of innocence. ‘I didn’t know she had a meeting. I don’t see how it’s my fault.’

‘It’s your attitude,’ he hisses. ‘It rubs off on all the others.’

‘Hmm. My attitude, you say? I’m never late for a meeting.’ It’s true. I can’t abide it when people aren’t punctual so I make a point of always being on time. Or if not on time then early. I just don’t think my time is more valuable than anyone else’s. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying Beth’s little show.

Ursus glares at me. Since the time he and Ria attacked me in the garden of the Montserrat mansion – followed swiftly by me saving the day from psychopathic Nicky – we have fallen into an uneasy truce. I have a bit of a soft spot for the big bear. He tolerates me; I think he’s wary of the fact that I seem to have a good relationship with Michael and is worried that I’ll blurt out what he did to me. I wouldn’t do that but it’s fun watching him tiptoe around. For all that vampires are supposed to live exciting, glamorous lives, it does get rather dull hanging around the Montserrat mansion as a fledgling. I need to invent my own entertainment if I’m not going to go completely stir crazy. It already feels as if the walls are closing in on me and I’ve barely been here for six weeks. And that’s with sneaking out several times too. Goodness knows how bad things will get when I can’t enjoy any solitary freedom in the outside world.

‘You need to drink before you go out.’

The humour leaches from my face. ‘I’m not hungry.’

‘You’ve not had any blood today.’

I gesture towards a bowl of salt and vinegar kettle chips. ‘I’ve been nibbling.’

‘You didn’t drink yesterday either.’

My stomach grumbles, loudly betraying me. Ursus raises his eyebrows but doesn’t say anything.

‘I’ll grab a blood bag on the way out,’ I say, getting up. I try to face up against him but he’s almost two feet taller than I am and considerably wider. Even I know my posturing looks ridiculous.

He shakes his head. ‘That’s not going to cut it, Bo. To have full strength, you need to drink from the vein. You know that. I have no idea why you insist on having this conversation at least once a week.’