Angel's Demon

21. Messenger-1

21. Messenger

There was a commotion outside. Lots of yelling and shouting and people running in the direction of the cottage. I ran out to meet them.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“Stranger danger,” someone yelled.

So, someone had found us. I ran through the crowd, pushing people aside, trying to locate the stranger, only to find a familiar face — familiar to me, a stranger to everyone else.

“It’s all right,” I called behind me. “I know him.”

“Greetings,” Marcus said. “It’s been a while.”

Drake’s lieutenant — a tall, lean and not entirely unattractive man — had met with me on numerous occasions over the past year, while he was filling in for Drake. I always asked him if he’d had word from Drake, and the answer was always No.

“We came across a messenger, asking for you. She is badly hurt. I did not know if you wanted your location revealed, so she was brought … to me.” Marcus peered over my shoulder but said nothing further.

“Who is she?” I asked.

“She would not tell me her name. Helena, she’s been tortured. I thought it might be important, and so I came myself, to tell you.”

Maybe this woman knew who the culprit was. If I was the only person she’d talk to, I had to go. I glanced over my shoulder.

“You’re worried?” Marcus asked, indicating with his head towards the people who were milling around behind me.

“Not anymore.”

Alice, whom I’d gotten to know quite well in the past few days — there was something more to Alice and I was trying to discover what it was — stood quietly behind me. I could feel her there.

“Alice,” she jumped when I mentioned her name, without turning to look at her, “I need to go somewhere for a few hours. Everyone will be quite safe.”

“Okay,” she whispered. I could feel her peering over my shoulder, staring at Marcus. He gave her a hungry smile — old habits die hard — and the air around me stirred as she quickly ducked her head back behind me. I couldn’t help but grin. What was she thinking about our visitor?

“Why don’t you paint his portrait while I’m gone, in the interests of mortal-vampire relations?”

Marcus bowed with a flourish and together we took off, at a gentle jog to begin with, then a faster pace as we entered the forest. The wind rushed through my hair, causing it to dance wildly behind me. I had not run like this for months — hearing the sound of blood pulsing in my ears and feeling it coursing through my veins. I was free.

All too soon we arrived at one of many hidden entrances to the underground network of tunnels that riddled this area. Marcus pulled back the curtain of shrubbery, careful not to reach breaking point. He gestured for me to step inside, and I obliged him. The bushes made a whooshing noise as he let them go. He turned on his heel and headed deeper into the tunnels.

Marcus remained silent as we walked through the tunnels. What was troubling him? Me, I exchanged pleasantries with anyone who waved or said hello.

When I realised where we were headed, I hesitated for a moment. Don’t be stupid, Helena, it’s not some ruse to get you into bed.

Marcus opened the door and before I could step inside Drake was there, standing just beyond the doorway. I was so happy to see him that I didn’t stop to think that he might have an ulterior motive.

“She is awake and asking to see you,” Drake said in a neutral tone. Was he happy to see me or not?

I wasn’t sure whether to hug him. He made no move to bridge the gap between us. I didn’t want to make the first move.

“When did you get back?”

“Would you prefer I lied to you?”

He’d been back a while then, but how long, and why hadn’t he made contact?

Marcus coughed into his hand and Drake indicated that he could leave. I watched Marcus walk away as butterflies quickened in my stomach. My hands were numbingly alive, there but not there.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”

“Would you offer heroin to someone trying to break free of their addiction?”

I thought he loved me. Was it only lust after all? Part of me wanted to cry, and the other part wanted to sigh with relief. Danny would be secretly pleased, when I told him.

“Did you succeed?”

Drake turned around, walking back into his rooms. I reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him. “Well? Did —”

He pulled me close to him with his free arm, the motion too fast for mortal eyes to follow and I felt his cold lips briefly on mine. “Does that answer your question?”

My heart was dancing in my chest. He would know how my body was reacting. He always knew.

Get a hold of yourself, Helena, I told myself. I willed my heart to slow to a resting heartbeat. Drake was watching me carefully, not smiling, but not frowning either.

“You and I are slaves,” he said. “There is no escape for us.”

Drake freed himself from my grip — why was I still holding him? — turned on his heel and headed towards the bed.

“Then why did you come back?”

He whispered, so low that only my ears could hear it. “Because I can no longer fight what I cannot change.”

I heard a groan. Drake and I would have to talk later. “Who is she?”

“She has not told us her name, and I did not want to force the issue, in her present condition.”

Drake sat on the edge of the bed and talked soothingly to the woman who was swallowed up by bedding and soft, downy pillows. She turned her head when she heard me approach. I gasped. It was Kiana.

Kiana threw back the covers and shuffled her body to the edge of the bed, before swinging her legs over the side.

I watched as she slowly stood, and noticed her wince, and how stiff her movements were. I closed my eyes and breathed in my surroundings. There were the familiar scents in Drake’s chamber — tapestries, paintings, old leather and Drake himself. And then there were new smells, that didn’t belong here — wounds, the flesh still raw and oozing blood or badly burnt and … fear.

“You’re hurt,” I said, walking towards her and extending my arm. She took hold of it to steady herself. Through her touch I felt a sense of desperation. She clung to me as though I was her saviour.

“I …” Kiana began hesitantly. She looked into my eyes, though what she hoped to see I couldn’t fathom. “Yes, I’m hurt, in more ways than one.”

“Let me try to heal you, or at least summon someone who can.”

“Perhaps later,” Kiana said, “when I’ve told you all that you need to know. I —”

“She’s travelled a considerable distance,” Drake interrupted, “and is weak from loss of blood, not to mention lack of nourishment. She refused to accept any aid until she’d seen you.”

I knew Drake was right, even without taking the time for a careful inspection of my own. She was wasting away and would die if she didn’t let us care for her.

She did say later when I asked if I could heal her. Maybe she hasn’t come here to die, I told myself.

“How about you start telling me your story, and when I butt in with a question, you have something to eat or drink while I’m talking?” I said.

I looked at Drake. He knew she was a varakiana, and what their diet was. Did he also know that she and her family had turned their backs on that way of life? When his eyes caught mine, I gave him a slight sidewards nod, and indicated with my eyes that we needed to have a private word in a corner of the room.

“Excuse us for a minute, Kiana. I need to check something with Drake.”

A few moments later we were in a corner, our backs to Kiana.

“What have you got for her to eat?” I whispered.

“Fresh flesh is easy enough to obtain,” Drake replied in a low voice.

“She doesn’t eat fresh flesh,” I hissed through my teeth. “She eats cooked food now, like a mortal. Human is off the menu, so if you have a cow handy that can be slaughtered and cooked, that would be great.”

“Helena, you know we don’t have those things,” Drake said dryly. “What do you propose I do, ring a pizza place for delivery?”

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” I retorted.

A sly grin spread across Drake’s face. “Yes, it was your side, only you weren’t there.”

I couldn’t help but smile back. Drake never missed an opportunity to let me know that I was always welcome in his bed, and life, for that matter. He would even let me redecorate his chambers in a bright and gaudy pink, if he thought that might help. This was the Drake I remembered.

“Okay, I’ll have to take care of the catering then,” I replied.

I glanced over at Kiana. She was still standing, though I didn’t think she’d remain upright for much longer. We’d have to postpone our conversation, whether she liked it or not. It was time to make her comfortable and let her body start the healing process. There would be plenty of time to talk and eat later. For now, her body needed a rest from the shock of what had happened to her.

Kiana was watching us. If I was her I would have been watching us as well. Her hearing wasn’t as acute as ours, so she had no idea what we’d been discussing. When our eyes met briefly I gestured to Drake’s bed. Kiana was gently raised from the ground, her body slowly rotating from a vertical position to a horizontal one. She floated on a cloud of nothingness, until she was directly over Drake’s bed. Then she gradually descended. As her head was about to touch Drake’s pillow an extra pillow appeared, to help prop her up slightly.

I walked over to the bed. She was already trying to slide over to the edge and stand up.

“No,” I said firmly, and she was nudged back into the middle of the bed. I leaned over and placed the palm of my hand on her forehead. “Sleep.”

Kiana’s eyes closed, though not willingly. She fought like a demon to stop the sleep from taking her. I remembered a time when I’d tried to do the same thing.

“I do believe it can be done,” I whispered in Kiana’s ear.

“What?” Drake asked. It may have been a whisper, but it wasn’t hard for sharp ears to hear it.

“To stop the sleep from dragging you under,” I said as I stood. “I came close once, when I was …”

Drake came to me and wrapped his arms about my waist, pulling me closer to him. He pressed his cheek to mine and I placed my hands lightly on his back, not encouraging him to believe that this was anything other than two friends hugging. We stood there like that, as still as stone, for the longest moment. It was the embrace of people who had shared a loss. For us, that someone was Gina. Danny may have been her father, but Drake thought of her as the daughter he never had. She had even called him Uncle Drake, such was her affection for him. Now he was remembering what had happened to me, and my unborn child, in hell. I had fought, just like Kiana, to stay awake. I did succumb, though I had not slept for as long as the command would usually demand.

I let my hands drop to my sides, indicating to Drake, without using words, that the moment was over. He lingered just a little longer, savouring the heat of my body, before stepping back.

“How long will she sleep?” he asked.

“Somewhere between six and eight hours, I think. I’m not as good at this as Danny, or Satan. I guess the more I practice, the better I’ll get.” I grinned at Drake. “Finding volunteers to practice on isn’t easy.”

Drake laughed. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed that sound, so uninhibited and free.

“Come,” Drake gestured towards the open door, “let’s visit old friends.”

I furrowed my brow questioningly. What old friends did I have, apart from Drake and Marcus? How many of the vamps who had fought with me against the angelic armies, what seemed like a lifetime ago, remained here?

When Drake offered nothing further, I simply shrugged my shoulders and followed him. I had nothing to fear in this place, and nothing else to do, until Kiana awakened.