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  “Now the real show is about to begin,” he said, sitting back and crossing his arms. I caught a glint of brightness in his eyes – his hunting mode was primed but he was keeping a lid on it. He was ready for a fight.

  The Reverend took his time. He was last out of the car, last through the door, last to discard his coat and walk back to the lounge where he took his time, saying nothing until he had our undivided attention. Then he rocked slightly on his heels and spoke.

  “Severn, Riley, I gather you two have figured out what Aiden and I have known for a couple of days. The girls are in town. Which means we need a containment plan.”

  “And the first part of your plan was to keep it hidden from us?” Severn snarled. “You and Aiden were going to sort them out by yourselves?”

  “No, not at all, but we did want to be sure of our facts first. Now we are, so now we make a plan. Let’s start with what we know.”

  “They’re hanging out at the Heads of Cerberus nightclub, snacking as they see fit in their usual careless manner,” Severn said. “Am I right?”

  “What are they doing here?” I asked. “What do they want?” A thought came to me. “Even if they are here, why does it matter? Okay, at least one of them has been following Severn and me around, and someone was hiding in the trees after the show tonight, but why can’t we just ignore them?”

  “Because uncontrolled, they could blow our cover. They are messy hunters and leave evidence," the Reverend explained.

  I shook my head to disagree. “You’re not thinking straight. Yes, that might apply if you lot were together but right now, you’re here and they are wherever they are hiding out. Even if they got caught being vampires, there’s nothing to connect them to you three. If they jump the wrong guy in a back alley, if they become the scandal of the week, even if their wings and fangs make headline news like Aiden did, nobody is going to connect them with three teenagers, because that’s what you look like, doing some amateur theatre.”

  The Rev opened his mouth to interrupt but I was in full flight. “I mean, honestly, nobody going to the show even notices us. Crew are invisible. I doubt anyone could pick you out from Cameron in a line-up. Sorry, guys, but I think you all need to take a chill pill. Leave the girls alone, finish the show, go back to France and let them do whatever they are here to do. Maybe they just wanted to go clubbing – I bet they can’t do a lot of that in the monastery.”

  “I wish it was that simple.” The Rev gained some time to compose his words by pulling the band out of his ponytail and tying it up again. “Believe me, ignoring them is very tempting, but if we do that, they will kill someone else. There will be another body on the beach. It will be on the same beach, probably in exactly the same spot, because that’s Meredith’s signature move. As the Grand Master of the Guild, I can’t let that happen. Severn can walk away and say it’s not his problem and I wouldn’t blame him. Aiden can walk away but he won’t because Meredith is his twin sister and he cares about her, but I can’t walk away because, ultimately, she’s my responsibility. I can’t let her kill again.”

  Chapter 19

  “I want to know what Aiden’s going to do?” I said. “And you still haven’t answered the question of how they got here when they were supposed to be under supervision in the monastery.”

  From the armchair he was curled up in, Aiden laughed. “Like that was ever going to work. They just waited until no-one was looking, climbed the stairs to the roof and flew away.”

  “And flew all the way across to the other side of the world? On their own wings?” I said as sarcastically as I could.

  “How about to the nearest town with a train station,” Aiden replied, matching my tone. “They did take a bag, with clothes and passports. We’re pretty strong – we can carry a bag and fly at the same time.”

  “Passports?” The Rev exploded. “How the hell did they get their passports? We confiscated them.”

  “Same way we got ours. They went down to the printing press and made new ones.”

  “Merde! Putain! Ca me fait chier!” The Rev was so angry he had reverted to French curses.

  I looked at Severn for a translation. He winked at me and grinned. “Let’s just say he’s a tad miffed.”

  “Aiden,” I persisted. “You must know more than you are telling us. It might be news to us that they’re here, but I really don’t believe it was news to you. Meredith isn’t just your sister, she’s your twin, and if turning into a vampire heightens your senses, I bet it’s heightened your twin-thing communication as well. I reckon you both know exactly where the other one is, all the time.” I glared at him, daring him to deny it.

  “You have been going off on your own in the middle of the night,” the Rev said.

  “To meet them?” Severn asked.

  “So what?” Aiden retorted. “Yes, I knew they were here. Yes, I’ve seen them. If you must know, I’ve gone hunting with them – but only to make sure they didn’t overdo it. I’m piggy in the middle here – I love my sister but I know what she’s like. The Rev is right. We need a plan, but I don’t know what we need a plan for, or against. I know she’s here, with Olivia in tow, but I don’t know why. I have asked but she just laughs and makes jokes that I don’t understand.”

  “What about Julia?” I asked. “Is she responsible for her or was Julia just a genuine natural-causes accident?”

  “If she had been found at her home, I would have thought that, but the beach changes everything. That’s so Meredith,” Aiden replied.

  “There’s no point wasting time analysing the why,” the Rev said. “Let’s focus on how we handle this.”

  Severn stole one of my chips and waggled it in the air. “I’m tempted to go with Riley’s suggestion. The show finishes in three days. On Sunday we pack it all up and then, if we need to, we can leave. I am sick of those bitches, so I vote to ignore them. If they do something else dumb and get caught doing it, I don’t care.” He stood up, picked up his coat and held his hand out to me in an invitation to join him. “Tell you what – you guys can sort out whatever plan you like. You didn’t let me in when you first learnt they were here, so if you didn’t want me involved before, I’m not getting involved now. Come on, Riley, let’s go to your place.”

  I wanted to hear more but I wasn’t going to ruin Severn’s dramatic exit, so I grabbed my chips with one hand, took his hand with the other and left.

  “Merde!” I heard the Rev swear as we closed the door.

  I expected us to walk out to the street but Severn pulled me around the side of the motel and put his fingers to his lips to warn me to be quiet. He pointed to the motel then to his ear and I got the message. He was listening to their conversation now we had left. After a few minutes, he gave a derisive snort and motioned that we should leave, although he reminded me to keep quiet. We sneaked carefully out to the road and walked briskly until we were out of vampire hearing range before Severn spoke.

  “Those two are never going to win any awards for precise military-style planning,” he said. “Their decision was to go back to the Cerberus tonight and try talking to the girls again. Brilliant!”

  “It sounds pretty dumb,” I agreed. “You’re not going with them? Or after them?”

  “Nope. I meant it when I said I don’t care.” We walked for a while in silence before he spoke again. “Did you really see them at the show tonight?”

  “I don’t know. It was when I went back to the dressing room to collect the radio mics. I looked up as I was crossing the bridge and thought I saw a shadow behind that big grove of trees, but it might have been just that, a random shadow. I swore at it and got no response, so maybe it wasn’t anything.”

  “Or maybe it was. Now I’m torn. I want to ignore them but, at the same time, I want to know why they are following us. What should I do?”

  “Nothing.” I stopped, pulling his hand to turn him towards me. “Like you said before, the show finishes in three days then you could be gone again. For ages. Let’s just spend the next
few days concentrating on us.”

  “I like that.” Severn put his arm around me and pulled me close. I lifted my mouth for his kiss and let the warmth of our emotion chase away any dark thoughts of the girls and their unknown purpose.

  We resumed walking, our arms entwined around each other, my head resting against his shoulder. A car racing past us tooted and a voice from inside it yelled, “get a room”. Severn laughed and hugged me tighter and I gave them the fingers. We were two normal people on a warm Linwood night.

  Walking had always been the best way for me to sort out my thoughts so I let them bounce around in my head as we strolled along. We were nearly home when they started to line themselves up.

  “There are at least three separate questions to answer,” I said.

  “About the girls or about us?”

  “The girls. Question one is why are they here. What did they come all this way to do? And I don’t believe it was for the nightlife. I doubt Christchurch’s Strip is as exciting as Paris, for example.”

  “True. It’s not.”

  “Question two: did they kill Julia? If they did, is that the answer to question one? Did they come here to do that? And if so, why?”

  “Yeah. If they did kill her, it’s hardly likely to be random. What’s question three?”

  “Where do the Rev and Aiden fit in? Are they as confused as we are or are they an integral part of the whole plan? Oh, I guess that makes four questions because there is also why are they keeping you out of the loop?”

  “Aarrgghh.” Severn let out a long drawn-out moan of despair. “That’s the bit that’s doing my head in the most. After Seth, while we were away at the monastery and now, back here, it seemed like things had changed. The old balance of Severn at the bottom of the kicking pile had shifted. I really felt we were working as a team. But it seems we are not. We are back to little cliques doing things behind each other’s backs and Severn being the last to know anything. You know how you can just be around a group of people too long?”

  I nodded. “Yep.”

  “Well, believe me, a hundred and ten years has been about a hundred and nine years too long for me. I need to do some serious thinking about what happens next.”

  “Would you leave? Can you leave?”

  “Would I? Yes. Can I? That’s the million-dollar question. I presume there are solo vampires out there but I don’t know how they manage without the support of a group. I may be trapped with these idiots for ever. I wish Finn was here. I could always talk to him. He’s a wise old man. He was a wise old man before he was turned and he’s seen a lot more since then. I would value his advice right about now.”

  “Can you contact him? Maybe it would be good if he was here. Aiden and Meredith are his kids, after all. Maybe he could help us sort all this mess out.”

  Severn stopped walking, spun me towards him and planted a resounding kiss on my forehead.

  “You are brilliant! I was thinking I might have to call in Brother Martin but Finn is a much better choice. Or both of them. The Rev won’t be happy if I go over his head and call in reinforcements but I have to do something.”

  “I thought your plan was to ignore them all.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not sure I can, even if I want to. But I can ask for help.”

  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pushed a couple of buttons. He must have had the monastery on speed-dial.

  “Puis-je parler au Frere Finn, s’il vous plait?” A long pause during which Severn turned to me to explain. “It will be about one o’clock in the afternoon over there so Sext, the midday prayers, will have just finished. Finn will be back down in his workshop, tinkering with something, so it may take them a while to get him to the phone.”

  “Do you all have to do all the prayers and other monk stuff?”

  “No, they let us out of a lot of it, but Finn enjoys it. Says it brings him some balance. I can understand that. Hang on, I can hear footsteps. He’s coming.” Another pause then he smiled. “Finn, good to hear your voice ... yes, unfortunately you are right, I’m not phoning from over here just to chat. We have a bit of a problem ...”

  Our walking pace slowed as Severn explained the situation to Finn and when we reached home, we perched on our waist-high, stone block fence while they spoke. When the conversation ended he put his phone away and took off his glasses to polish them on the edge of his t-shirt, his expression sombre. He replaced his glasses and pulled his lips back in nasty grin, his fangs partially extended.

  “That’s put a cat among the pigeons.”

  “Are you coming in? Staying for a while?” I asked, full of hope but expecting the answer I received.

  “No, sorry. I need to go and find a bit of that balance that Finn is always on about. I’m going to find somewhere quiet and sit and think for a few hours. Get some sleep, you need it more than I do. I’ll see you tomorrow but it might not be until the afternoon, depending on how and when I feed. Or even if I feed – that’s the last thing on my mind at the moment?”

  “Whatever you do, stay away from the others.”

  “I intend to. I don’t want to see them or talk to them for a while.”

  “And if you need to feed, I’m here.” I waved my hands to ward off his objections. “I know what the Rev said, I understand it, but if you need blood I’m a safe supply that’s not going to add any complications. Plus, if the Rev is right, if you’re a bit hungry then we’ll get the fun side, not the sleepy side, and I’m all for more of that.” I leant forwards to give him a teasingly light kiss. “I’ll leave my window unlatched.”

  Chapter 20

  Mum woke us in a panic.

  Severn had slipped through the window and crawled in beside me about three in the morning. I knew that because I had glanced at my bedside clock as he smoothed my hair out of the way and tantalised me by running a fang lightly over the skin of my neck. We were still curled together when Mum burst through the door.

  “Riley! Wake up, you have to see this ... oh, Severn, I’m glad you’re here.” That wasn’t the reaction either of us expected. “You need to see this too. Now! Hurry!” She raced away leaving us gaping at each other, totally bewildered.

  Out in the lounge Mum pointed to the television.

  “Oh hell, it’s the girls.” Severn moved to the screen to look closer.

  “And Aiden,” I added, pointing to the third figure, higher in the sky than the two taking up the majority of the screen.

  “Where are they?” Severn squinted at the screen “What building is that?”

  “It’s the cathedral. In the Square,” Mum said. “They’re perching just above the entrance like gargoyles. But it gets worse. The cathedral’s only one of the places they’ve been seen. Oh, and in case you hadn’t noticed, they’re naked.”

  “Yeah, that is kind of obvious,” I said.

  “I can appreciate that you can’t spread your wings with your clothes on,” Mum said, directing herself to Severn, “but surely they could wear a halter top or something? And put on some knickers.”

  “I doubt either of them has worn knickers for a couple of centuries,” Severn replied. “That would cramp their style.”

  “Well, I hope you don’t ... flap everything when you’re flapping your wings.”

  “No way!” Severn laughed at Mum’s discomfort. “As you saw, I can flap my wings with my pants on.”

  “Just as well.” Mum pretended to straighten the cushions on the couch to cover the blush I could see creeping up her cheeks.

  “Where did the pictures come from?” I asked.

  “We’re lucky it was dark and whoever took it had a shaky hand and wavers all over the place,” Severn said.

  Mum answered my question by turning up the volume. The picture on the screen had cut to a reporter standing in front of the cathedral beside a rotund man whose stomach pushed out over the belt of his taxi driver’s uniform. The reporter spoke breathlessly into her oversized microphone.

  “Here with me is the man who
captured these amazing shots. Salesi Taumalolo was working the late shift and had driven back into the Square when he saw the figures. Salesi, tell us what you saw.”

  “I don’t know.” The man twisted his hands nervously and looked everywhere except into the camera. “I don’t know what they were. Demons, some kind of demons, flying over the cathedral and laughing, then perching on the top. I just grabbed my phone and started filming. Then I dialled triple 9 and called the cops.”

  “What happened then?” The reporter prompted him to continue. “What did the police do?”

  “Nothing. Those things were gone by the time the police got here. They didn’t believe me. I think they thought I was drunk. They were going to breathalyse me until I showed them the pictures on my phone. After that they called the station on their radio and found out there were other calls coming in from all over town.” He looked straight into the camera lens. “There’s demons loose in Christchurch. Demons. I’m going to church as soon as I leave here. We need to pray. We need the help of Jesus Christ to deliver us from the demons.”

  “We need the help of some monks from a certain monastery, that’s for sure.” Severn said. “Just as well they’re on their way.”

  “Who’s coming?” Mum asked.

  “Finn,” Severn replied. “Remember him? The old guy who did floor electrics.”

  “Oh yes, lovely man.”

  “Yeah, I figured as he’s Aiden and Meredith’s father, if anyone can handle them, it’s him. I called him last night. And I’m betting Brother Martin, our resident fix-it man, will be with him. For one thing, Martin can fly a plane. Finn can’t.”

  “But your plane is here, at the airport,” I pointed out.

  “One of our planes is here. We have others.”

  “Of course you do,” Mum said. “Coffee anyone?”