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I grab a cushion and throw it at his head, but he ducks and I miss.
“One more word from you and I swear…”
“You’ll what? Jump my bones in your state of unquenchable lust?” he asks laughing. “We both know I’d enjoy that punishment, Petal.”
I try to think of a good comeback, but my traitorous body is urging me to do exactly what he’s suggested. Instead I steel myself and dash out of the room before I do something I regret.
Chapter Four
You’re So Jealous, I’m So Lonely
I spend over an hour in the bath. For some reason, sitting in the luke warm water soothes my overworked hormones and puts them in check. I get out and climb into bed after putting on some night clothes, and drift off into an exhausted sleep. I wake up at about two in the morning when I hear shuffling noises coming from outside.
Hurrying to my window, I stare down into the darkness of Finn’s back garden. It takes a moment for my sleepy eyes to adjust, and when they do I make out the familiar shapes of the vampires lugging jars into the shed. The exact same jars as the one Rita used to catch the mist she and Delilah found yesterday.
I pull on a long cardigan and make my way downstairs, interested to know what’s going on. I can hear the not so mellifluous orchestra of Finn and Ira’s snoring, so I know they’re both fast asleep in their rooms.
When I open the back door and step out into the garden all eyes dart to me. Vampire eyes are far more intense than those of a human, so even when you’re not looking you can almost feel them on you, sliding across your skin. I pull my cardigan tight around me and walk over to them. Lucas, Dru and Will ignore me and resume stacking the jars in the shed. I meet Ethan’s stare head on. He’s just standing there watching me. I can still feel the heady lust for him, but it’s not as strong as it had been since I’ve sweated so much of it out. It doesn’t take as much energy to keep myself together now, thankfully.
“What’s going on?” I ask, shivering in the chilly night air.
“We continued our search of the city tonight,” Ethan answers, his voice as cold as the air around us. “We found nothing of Theodore, however we did find these things everywhere. Delilah said that she and the witch only saw one today. It seems that night is the time when they come out to…feed, if that’s what you’d call it.”
The lack of emotion in his voice when he speaks to me makes me feel terribly lonely. Perhaps it’s just down to the hour. I’ve always felt more alone in the middle of the night than I do during the day.
I stare inside the shed at the stacks of jars. The dark mists contained within them move frantically, struggling against being captured.
“There are so many,” I whisper, unable to fathom a way of getting rid of them all. Rita can’t even figure out how to kill one.
“This is barely half of what’s out there. Look at the news in the morning, I’m sure there’ll be reports of fights and riots just like the other day. It’s almost as though they’re multiplying. The human population is fracturing. Things are only going to get worse.”
“What can we do?” I whisper.
My heart sinks as I think that this could be it for Tribane. The mists could just keep growing and growing, infecting more and more people until they all go so mad that they end up annihilating one another.
“Perhaps I’m the one who should be asking you that question,” says Ethan, glancing away into the darkness.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
His eyes cut back to me. “It means I’d like to know how exactly you managed to burn half of Eliza’s face off with nothing but the palm of your hand. You’re not all that I thought you were; there’s magic in you.”
Ethan looks at me differently now. His hostility is still there, but it’s like he’s fascinated too.
I suck in a harsh breath. I’d almost allowed myself the luxury of thinking Ethan had forgotten about my performance at Whi
tfield’s. “That was…that was something I don’t quite understand yet.” I go quiet for a moment, not sure how to explain things to him. “Anything you see me do, anything magical that is, it comes out of nowhere. I’m not like Rita, I’m not really doing any of it with a conscious purpose. It just comes out of me like I’m possessed.”
“You’re lying. I can sense your anxiety,” Ethan states, tilting his head.
“I’m not bloody lying. I’m anxious because you make me anxious. You’re a vampire and not exactly my number one fan right now. Not to mention I’m standing in the dark in my pyjamas with no method of defending myself if you decide to let those fangs of yours get the better of you.”
Ethan laughs joylessly. “You know how old I am, Tegan. Long gone are the days when my fangs could get the better of me as you call it.”
He goes quiet for a moment, like he’s thinking of doing something but isn’t quite sure if he should. The next thing I know his eyes have morphed from dark blue to crimson, his fangs are out and he’s advancing on me. He hisses and crowds me up against the wall of the house. Lucas, Dru and Will don’t even give him a second glance.
My heartbeat goes haywire and I let out a high pitched yelp. Every tiny hair on my body stands on end. In a fight or flight response my magic comes to life. My hands whip out at him, overflowing with burning sparks like a sink where somebody’s left the tap running too long. He rears back out of range of the sparks and his fangs retract. His eyes go back to normal and he gives me a slow grin, looking satisfied.
“So you weren’t lying. It seems you’ve got a nifty little defence mechanism there. When you feel threatened your magic comes out to keep you safe. Interesting.” He rubs at his chin ponderously.
