Gideon couldn’t have looked more out of place sitting in the little, blue armchair in Izzy’s living room. The same armchair that had once been her Gran’s favourite seat. Her Gran had sat there in that chair, that so perfectly encompassed her, with a cup of tea resting on the arm and a murder mystery in her veiny hands.

Gideon dominated the chair, his gangly limbs rested on the arms and his cold eyes fixed on Izzy. His injuries from the night before had healed completely — another skill Izzy was keen to learn. He sat for several minutes in silence, apparently contemplating his decision to train her.

Izzy had spent every minute since she’d woken up this morning doing the same thing. In the dead of night, when the darkness had scared away rational thinking, she’d thought training under Gideon had been a wonderful idea. Now, the cool light of the sun showed it for what it was—madness.

“This was a mistake,” the hunter said. In a swift movement, he rose and strode for the door.

“Wait! What?” Izzy said, jumping up. Her surprise swept aside all the hesitation she had been feeling and the bitter pinch of rejection crept in.

Gideon turned around in the doorway, his lips pressed firmly together. “This job is tough. Becoming a hunter isn’t like becoming a vampire. You don’t drink some magic blood and all of a sudden you’ve got all the powers of a supervillain.”

Izzy shook her head. That wasn’t at all how Ben had described his transition but now was not the time to argue about that. “I didn’t think it was easy.”

“It takes years of training. It takes dedication and commitment. The abilities I have were earned through years of rigorous training and sacrifice. Nothing is handed to you on a platter. This isn’t a job, it’s a religion. You can forget your old life. This will be your life.”

Izzy looked around at all the ornaments that cluttered her living room and wondered if Gideon meant she’d have to give it all up; go and live in a plain, featureless room like a monk.

“I just want to learn how to defend myself,” she said. She wasn’t interested in donning a habit or reciting prayers. She just wanted to stop living in fear.

“I can teach you that but it doesn’t come easy. You have to put everything you’ve got into it. Your mind, your body, and your spirit. Everything. If you want to be able to fight a vampire and walk away then you need to be prepared to break every bone in your body a dozen times over and then get back up and walk it off before round two. Can you do that?”

Izzy cleared her throat and swept a few stray strands of hair from her face. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

“There we go then.” Gideon turned to leave.

“Yes! Yes, I can do that!” she shouted, stopping him once again.

He turned slowly, his eyebrows raised inquisitively. “Are you willing to fight?”

“Yes,” she nodded profusely.

“Are you willing to hunt?”

“Yes.” She nodded again.

Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “Are you willing to kill?”

Her tongue flicked out and snaked across her lips. It was a question she’d already considered whilst she’d lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling.

“If it’s necessary,” she said. She would not kill indiscriminately. She would kill only if there was no alternative. Ben had killed Theo because it was the only option he’d had. Gideon seemed eager to kill every vampire he encountered and that was just wrong.

The corner of the hunter’s mouth tugged up in the barest possible smile. “This kind of training is done on the job. Luckily, there’s no shortage of monsters in the world. Whilst you’re my student you’ll stay away from your friends. That vampire and his pet warlock have trouble circling them like vultures preparing to strike, you can’t be distracted by what’s happening with them. You’ll come with me and I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

She didn’t like giving herself over to him completely and secluding herself from Ben and Rik, but if he was taking her away from them to train her then that meant he would be away from them too. She could train to defend herself and fight vampires whilst simultaneously removing Gideon from Ben’s list of problems. It would mean one less vulture circling Ben and Rik. She’d be hitting two birds with one very effective stone. “Okay,” she nodded again.

“Then pick up your phone. Tell your friend you’re going away for a while and be sure not to make him suspicious. If he comes snooping around I will have to end him.”

She turned, ignoring the threat, and grabbed her phone from the coffee table. “He’s off your radar,” she said over her shoulder. “Whilst you’re training me you forget about your investigation. Ben is safe from you.”

“Until your training is done,” he said, the deliberate promise seeping through each of his words.

Izzy accepted the promise and called Ben. She moved to the corner of the room, wanting some small amount of privacy. She could feel the hunter’s eyes on her back.

“Everything all right?” Ben asked. The wariness in his voice was becoming all too familiar. She realised that he would have been sleeping and calling him so early had given him more reason to worry.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s okay. Listen, I think I’m going to take your suggestion and head out of town for a little while,” she said, trying to keep her tone natural.

“Has something happened?”

“No. Nothing’s happened. I’ve just had time to think about things and… That woman wanted to kill me last night and I could see in her face that she is not going to let it go. I think I’d be better off out of town until Darius has left and taken her with him.” She wasn’t lying; Mia had stared daggers at Izzy until she’d left the shop.

Ben was quiet for a moment while he processed what she’d said. Izzy heard nothing but his gentle breathing through the phone. “You’re right,” he said at last and she could have sworn she heard a little relief in his tone. “Where will you go?”

“I’ll go and see my mum in Essex,” she lied. “Let me know when Mia is gone, yeah?”

“Of course. I’m sorry you’ve had to do this.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said quickly, not wanting him to feel bad for her. Although, everything that was happening kind of was his fault. His desire to become a vampire had been the catalyst that had set all the gears in motion. But Izzy didn’t blame him for any of it. He’d done what she’d always told him to do and pursued his dream; how could she ever have known that his dream would actually come true?

They said goodbye and she ended the call.

“Nicely done. Pack a bag then and let’s get going.”

Izzy shoved some clothes into a bag and then said goodbye to her little house. She’d be back, of course, but not until she knew how to defend herself from vampires.

🦇 🦇 🦇

“I want to visit my mother,” Rik said suddenly snatching Ben’s attention away from the TV.

“Go on then,” Ben said. That was hardly something Rik needed to announce. Ben turned back to the TV and struggled to reclaim his former comfort; apparently turning his head had thrown everything out of whack.

“I want to go now. I need to know why she helped Stuart.” Ben understood why Rik needed answers. If his mother had sided with her stepson over her real son he’d have some questions too. What he didn’t understand was why Rik was telling him.

“Like I said, go on then.” This time he didn’t take his gaze from the TV.

“Do I need to remind you that you are my protector?” asked Rik.

Ben paused the TV and sat up. Clearly this conversation was going to be more attention-consuming than it needed to be. “You don’t need a bodyguard anymore. The Coven is off your back as long as I keep looking after Grace on her dates.”

Rik ran his hands through his long dark locks. “Clearly Mumsie didn’t get that memo since she helped my brother from another mother attack me. I’d be dead if it hadn’t been for that stone around your neck.”

Ben’s fingers reached for the stone automatically and twiddled it as he spoke. “If you told Christine wouldn’t she have to do something about it?”

Rik let out a tiny humourless laugh. “I don’t want my mum to be forced through one of the Coven’s archaic trials. I just want to know why. I need to know.”

Ben understood what Rik was not saying. He didn’t want physical protection when he went to visit his mother, he wanted emotional support. Confronting the woman who’d birthed him was not going to be easy but it would be a tad less difficult with a friend in the room.

“Whatever she says you’re not going to like it. You know that, right?” Ben said gently. More than once in the past he’d gone digging for answers only to realise later that no answer would ever have made him feel better.

“I need to know.”

“Okay,” Ben nodded. “Let’s go then.”

Ben was surprised when he walked into the living room of Rik’s family home. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but what he had not expected was a decorative plate of the Queen and Prince Philip, and yet that was the only artwork to adorn the walls of the little room. If it even classified as artwork. The rest of the room was minimal with every item being functional rather than decorative.

The smell of whatever Rik’s mum had eaten for dinner was still present in the house. Potatoes, onions and gravy if Ben’s nose was unmistaken. He wondered if he would be able to taste it in her blood.

“Riku,” Rik’s mother said, the faintest trace of her native accent still present. Ben wondered if it had faded over time or if she had stamped it out in order to fit in. Clearly, Rik got his black hair from her as the straight locks that ran past her shoulder were the exact same colour. Rik’s curls must have come from his father. She stood in the middle of the room with her hands clasped in front of her. “I thought you might never come to see me.” Her voice was quiet. Hurt. “Who is this?”

“Mother, this is Ben. Ben this is my mother, Hitomi,” Rik said plainly. No extravagance was to be wasted on the introductions.

“Mrs Ferris would be more appropriate,” she said without even looking at Ben. She clearly wasn’t a fan.

Rik threw out his hand and the small velvet sack that Stuart had used to sneak up on him thudded onto the carpet. Hitomi stared down at it like somebody had spilled some wine. Her pursed lips parted just enough for her tongue to crawl out and wet them.

“I know you made it for Stuart so save us both some time and tell me why,” he demanded. Ben could not imagine ever having spoken to his own mother in that tone, but his mother had never helped somebody try to kill him. And she never would have done either.

Hitomi stared at the bag a while longer, probably putting together a plausible story to try and explain her despicable actions.

“He asked me to make him a sacdesim. He didn’t tell me what it was for,” she said feebly. She was unable to meet her son’s gaze and kept her eyes on his chin.

“Do you seriously expect me to believe that?” The venom in his voice was enough to make Ben flinch.

Hitomi’s head rose swiftly, her eyes narrowed in anger. “I am your mother, Riku, and you need to show me some respect,” she said.

For all of a second Rik was cowed before the reality of the situation flooded back to him. “You tried to kill me.”

Hitomi blinked twice and took a tentative step back. “I would never…”

“What did you think Stuart was going to do with that?” He pointed down at the sacdesim with a furious finger. “Why did you even tell him what I did?”

“He deserved to know the truth about his father.”

“You mean like the truth about what his father did to me? You didn’t seem too keen on that truth coming out did you, Mother?”

Hitomi’s lips curled back to expose her teeth. Her voice quivered with every word. “I would never allow that shameful truth to come out. You should want it kept quiet as well. Do you have no shame at all for your part in that?”

Rik was staggered. All he could do was stare at his mother with his jaw dropped. “My part?”

“Riku, I do not believe that you did not want it. You might not have explicitly asked for it but you must have given him signals.” Her face was twisted viciously as she laid her vile accusations on her son. “We had a good family here. A good family. But as with everything, you had to ruin it. You always were the boy who ruined everything. You have brought nothing but shame on what is left of this family.”

Tears rolled down Rik’s face freely. His eyes were stuck fast on his mother’s savage face. His mouth was open but no words were coming out. His mother was one of the few people with the power to render Rik speechless.

Some part of Ben wanted to step in and help his friend. Standing idly to the side did not seem sufficient. If Rik was unable to put his mother right then Ben should do it on his friend’s behalf.

“Never in all my life have I heard a mother say something so abhorrent to her own son,” Ben said in a disgusted whisper.

Hitomi turned her hateful eyes on him. “You’re the vampire I have heard about. You are exactly the despicable kind of company I would expect Riku to keep. Do not dare to come into my home and pass judgment on me.”

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself.” Ben stepped forward, to do what he did not know. Rik’s hand fell on his chest, holding him back. He did not want Ben to fight this one for him.

The warlock’s tongue flicked out and licked the tears off his lips. “If I lived for a thousand years I still couldn’t bring more shame on this family than you have in the last three minutes. I wonder if my real dad would have found such an early grave if he’d married a better woman.”

Hitomi’s hand flew out and slapped Rik across the cheek. His head whipped to the side but he held his ground and made no move to retaliate. Slowly, he turned back to face her, his tearful eyes dark and foreboding, a pink handprint blazing on his cheek. When he spoke his words were delivered quietly and carefully with just the right amount of menace to wash a chill over the room. “If you or Stuart ever come after me again in any way, shape or form, I will murder you both, and since I killed your husband I know how easy it is to kill a person and walk away without a care in the world.”

A noise halfway between a bark and a sob fell out of Hitomi’s mouth and she clapped a hand to cover the orifice. Rik turned on his heel and stormed out of the room beckoning for Ben to follow him. Ben spared Hitomi a final shake of his head before following his friend out of the house.

“Is it true what you said about being able to kill people without a care in the world?” Ben asked when they were both back in his car. He hadn’t been able to walk away from Leon without a care. Although white socks no longer plagued his mind like they had in the days following the event.

Rik’s reply was delivered in a flat and flavourless tone. All of his emotion had been spent in the house. “Do you ever feel bad about killing Theo?”

Ben didn’t even need to think about it before shaking his head. “No, but he was a bad person. He was trying to kill me.”

“So, make sure you only kill the people who deserve it.”

Ben didn’t want to go straight home. Seeing Rik with his mum made him want to speak to his own mother. Seeing the cold and callous way in which his mother had treated him had made Ben long for the unconditional love that his own mum had always showered him with. Unfortunately, that was impossible since she’d been dead for years. However, his father was still alive and tucked safely in a care home where Ben had not visited him for several months.

He knew that visiting his dad would achieve nothing since his condition had robbed him of the ability to recognise his own son, but he had a longing for some parental contact and this was the only way of achieving that.

“Do you need me to come in?” Rik asked his hand already on the door.

Ben did not need Rik to come with him, he needed no emotional support, and nor did he want any. But after the horribly private moment that Ben had just witnessed and would likely never forget, he felt like Rik deserved a peek into his own personal life. Perhaps that might alleviate some of the awkwardness Ben now felt.

“Sure,” he mumbled and then climbed out of the car.

The care home’s visiting hours were during the day and since it was now well after dark the facility was closed for the night. That was not a problem for a vampire like Ben. He mesmerised his way into the building and past every staff member he encountered.

He didn’t visit his dad often but he still knew the way to his room like he was traversing the hallways of his own home.

His dad had a decent-sized room at the back of the building with a window overlooking the floral garden. Ben had often wondered if he enjoyed looking at the garden or if the view was completely wasted on him. In the summer the carers took him out and sat him in the garden, they were sure that he enjoyed it, but he never showed Ben any sign that he did. He just sat there in the sun staring vacantly into the distance. Just like he was sitting now inside his room.

“Rik, meet my dad, Kevin,” Ben said. The room smelled of bleach as it always did. Either it was cleaned very regularly or the smell had been ingrained into the building over years of being exposed to it.

“Hi,” Rik said to the man in the green vinyl chair. Kevin gave no sign that he’d even heard him.

Kevin was a frail man, years of sitting in a chair had eaten away at most of his muscle mass leaving him a thin shell of what he used to be. His light hair had thinned so much on top that it struggled to cover his dome.

Ben sat down in the chair next to his dad’s and stared into his expressionless face. His eyes were still alive. They hadn’t faded over the years or lost any of their keenness.

It was like he was perfectly alive on the inside but he just couldn’t wake up his body.

“I haven’t been by for a while and I just thought I’d stop in and see how you are. Give you a little update.” He didn’t know why he was bothering to speak when his dad didn’t show any sign that he could hear him. He felt almost silly doing it. He might as well have been talking to a statue. But the nurses had that Kevin could hear, he simply couldn’t respond.

“What happened to him?” Rik asked in a hushed voice as though he was afraid of offending Ben’s dad.

Ben sighed and plunged down into the free chair. The vinyl squeaked as he landed. “An accident. He fell down a flight of stairs on his way home from work. Hasn’t woken up since. Not really.”

“I’m sorry,” Rik said, smiling pointlessly.

Ben was used to those helpless little smiles people gave him when he told them about his dad. The awkward smile that was accompanied by wishing they’d never asked. Ben gave a compulsory smile in gratitude and turned back to his dad.

“So, you were right by the way. That incident I saw in the park across the road from the house was a vampire attack. I know you were only joking but still.”

Kevin sniffed and his nostrils flared. In the early days, Ben and his mum had mistaken those little gestures as signs that he was waking up. The nurses had put them right. Kevin wasn’t completely out of it. Every now and then he would move or make a noise, he’d say the odd word or two. There had been rare occasions when he’d even fed himself or brushed his own teeth. But they were few and far between.

“I’m a vampire now too. I found the vampire from the park and killed him. I guess that makes me kind of a superhero.” Ben laughed but his dad did not react.

“Blonde lady,” Kevin mumbled almost without moving his lips.

“What was that?” Rik asked, perking up like a dog who’d heard someone approaching.

Ben waved his hand lazily. “He says that sometimes. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s about the only thing he does say. The doctor said that sometimes people with brain disorders can get fixated on things in their heads. Probably a recurring dream or some place his mind goes to. This is his thing, I guess. My mum was blonde. He probably dreams of her.”

“That’s sweet,” said Rik.

Ben touched the obsidian stone that hung around his neck. If his dad had been awake he would have probably mocked him for wearing a piece of girly jewellery. Kevin Blake had been a bit of a neanderthal when it came to things like that. Men did not wear jewellery unless it was a gold watch or a wedding ring. He wondered how his dad would have reacted when Ben told him that the necklace was magical.

An idea came to him like a pile of rocks landing on his head. He straightened up and turned to Rik, hope swelling within him before he’d even begun to speak.

“Rik, couldn’t you do a spell or something to fix him?” Ben gripped the wooden arms of the chair, his knuckles turning white. But Rik shook his head apologetically.

“Sorry, Ben. If that kind of thing is possible then I don’t know how to do it. It’s not like healing a cut. The damage is inside his mind. Knitting skin back together is one thing, rewiring a brain is another matter entirely. I can’t heal something if I don’t know exactly what it is that needs to be healed.”

“So, if I could find out exactly what needed to be fixed then you could do it?”

“Ah…” Rik was clearly reluctant to give Ben any false hope. “It’s not that simple. I could sort out a healing potion of some kind but they really only work with obvious physical damage. Stuff you can see, you know. What is this caused by, brain legions?”

Ben shook his head and thought back to when the doctors had diagnosed his dad. “They said the scans didn’t show any signs of brain damage. None of their tests showed anything. But they said that was the case 25% of the time.”

“If they can’t even see where the problem is it’s unlikely that any kind of magic I know of will be able to fix it. You can’t remedy a problem if you don’t know what the problem is. I’m sorry.”

Ben leaned back and released the tension from his body. It had been a stupid idea anyway. He’d long ago accepted that his dad was gone, but for just a moment then he’d thought that maybe the supernatural world might have been able to offer a cure.

“Wait.” Ben sat up straight, a new brainwave coming to him. “What if I mesmerised him?”

“You want to mesmerise him to not be brain damaged?”

“Could it work?”

“I don’t know. I don’t see how it could make things worse,” Rik said with a shrug.

A little prickle of excitement stabbed away at Ben’s stomach. He was reluctant to let it grow for fear of being horribly disappointed again.

He dragged his chair in front of his dad and stared into his dark blue eyes. He had to wipe his palms on his jeans to remove the thick layer of sweat that had gathered there. He was less nervous about it failing than what would happen if it actually worked.

“Dad, I need you to wake up,” he said, forcing as much will as he could muster into the command. His dad didn’t so much as blink, he simply continued staring dead ahead like he was looking right through Ben.

“I think it’s going to take a tad more than that,” Rik said rather unhelpfully. He planted himself on the edge of the bed so he could see the show.

Ben redoubled his efforts and stared intently into his father’s unconcerned eyes. “Kevin, you will recover from this state right now.” Ben’s voice quivered with bass on the final word and he felt the power leave him.

Kevin recoiled as though somebody had spat in his face and then his eyes widened.

“Dad?” Ben’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Blonde lady…” Kevin mumbled. His eyes flicked around the room like they were searching for the woman in his mind. Searching for the wide he’d lost so long ago.

“Dad!” Ben said firmly. He grabbed his father’s head and forced him to look into his eyes. “Calm down,” he commanded him.

Kevin stared into his son’s eyes, brow furrowed in confusion like he’d been woken suddenly and hadn’t quite got his bearings yet. Blood trickled from his nostril as he slumped back into his chair, his head slipping from Ben’s grip. His eyes stopped moving and he reverted back to his former state. It was as if he had never changed at all.

Rik was on his feet, staring at the blood dribbling from Kevin’s nose. “I think you should stop,” he advised. “I’m not convinced his mind can take it.”

“Yeah,” Ben agreed in defeat. For a second it seemed as though he was actually getting somewhere, but all he’d done was cause more damage. Any further attempts would probably frazzle what was left of his mind. His dad was beyond repair.

“What is going on in here?” a nurse demanded as he appeared in the doorway. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Ben moved lethargically to the door and stared into the nurse’s eyes as he passed him. “Don’t worry, we never were here.”

Ben was pulling into his parking space, and trying not to think about the horrendous start to the night when the man from the apartment next door gave him a cheery wave. Fred was on his way to his car with his wife, Theresa, just behind him. They’d been overly friendly toward Ben since he’d moved in for the single reason that he had gotten rid of the drug dealer who had lived next door to them before. Small things like that were enough to buy friendliness from grateful neighbours.

Ben waved back and was turning away again when he noticed that Fred was clutching a bag in his other hand. The zip was open just enough for Ben to see the bank notes sticking out. An identical bag was in Theresa’s arms and although it was closed, Ben had a hunch that her’s was also full of cash.

“And there I was thinking we were the only dodgy people in the area,” said Rik. He too was staring at the bag of money.

“This is intriguing, but should we mind our own business?” Ben asked. His neighbours might one day see him in the process of an intriguing situation and he would prefer it if they looked the other way.

“Hell no!” Rik said, already halfway out of the car. “Hey, what’s going?” he asked with all the tact of an angry wasp.

Fred was in too good a mood to be offended by Rik’s bullishness. “We’re just moving out. Off on our next adventure!” he said full of ridiculous joy.

Ben’s suspicion was dialled up to eleven. “I didn’t realise you were moving.”

Theresa shook her head and laughed airily as she tossed her bag onto the back seat of the car. She reached out to take Fred’s bag too. “No, well we weren’t planning on it. Not at all. But we were made an offer we simply couldn’t refuse.”

“A woman turned up on the doorstep and offered silly money to take the place off our hands,” said Fred.

“All in cash!” Theresa added. “As long as we left tonight and included everything in the apartment in the sale. So we’ve packed our clothes and personal effects and left everything else.”

Ben groaned internally and looked at the twin apartment of his own. Ben had never been a big believer in coincidence and this was far too much of one to be real.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rik asked.

“Darius and Mia,” Ben said.

They said a hurried goodbye to the former neighbours and strode up to the newly sold apartment. The front door was still open allowing Ben to step right in. The next-door apartment was the mirror image of his own so when he walked in it was like standing in a parallel apartment. Thankfully, the furniture was totally different so it wasn’t too peculiar.

The dim lighting and the dark wood decor made the living room look like a university dean’s private chambers. Empty hooks were fixed to the walls where family photos had hung not so long ago, the exposed wallpaper lighter than that which surrounded it.

Leaning on the mahogany dining table at the far end of the room was not Darius or Mia, but Erin.

“Oh,” he said with relief. Ben was surprised by the bubble of warmth that her presence invoked in him. As usual, she looked impeccable; her clothing looked expensive and her hair had clearly been attended to recently. She did not look like somebody who had been a prisoner just one night ago.

“I hear you’re the reason I got released,” she said without so much as a smile. It was like she blamed him for something terrible. The lack of a thank you did not go unnoticed.

“It was a condition of the deal I made with Darius. How did you get caught?”

She jerked her head over at the corner. Slumped in a red armchair was Aiden, but he looked about as present as Ben’s dad. He was staring dead ahead and staying completely still like a junkie who’d just had a fix.

“Part him, part the fact that the Veil just has vampires all over. I guess when they want you, you really can’t run from them.”

Ben found it difficult to pull his eyes from Aiden. “What happened to him?”

“Mia. She’s quite the torturer.” Erin’s voice was laced with poison.

“At least you’re free now.”

“Am I?” She stood up straight, her posture rigid. “Last I heard I had to stick with you or I’d end up right back where I started.”

Ben picked up on the hostility in her words, not that he understood why it was being directed at him. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t get you a better deal. I’m not a lawyer.”

“No, you’re bedpan scrubber, right?” The look on Ben’s face must have told her she’d been too harsh and she immediately backtracked. “I didn’t mean that.” She shook her head and turned away. “It’s been a rough… however long it’s been. That bitch tortured me.”

“Mia.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she meant by bitch. The same person who had tried to kill Izzy and Rik. The same person who had put Aiden in his current state.

“It doesn’t matter that I have to stick with you since I had no intention of going anywhere anyway. And look, I got a nice new house.” She spread her arms to show off her new abode.

“Technically it’s an apartment,” Ben told her.

“But it’s got an upstairs. Apartments don’t have stairs.”

“I think some do. I think flats don’t have stairs.”

“I thought apartment was just a fancy word for flat,” Rik chimed in.

“Whatever,” Ben said, putting the matter to an abrupt end. “I’m surprised you paid for it and didn’t just kill the owners.”

“It would have been bloody stupid to murder the owners and then stay in their house,” she said. “Plus, Darius wants me to keep a low profile. None of my silly hospital shenanigans I believe was his exact wording.”

“Where’d you get the money?”

“Robbed an armoured van. Mesmerisation makes that kind of thing pretty easy.” She winked slyly. “So, we should probably have a little catch-up.”

Erin proceeded to tell Ben all about the torture she’d suffered at Mia’s hands and that Aiden had shut up shop for good because of said torture. Then it was Ben’s turn to tell her everything that had happened since she’d left right up to the deal he’d made with Darius the night before.

“How nice it must be to be one of the most sought-after vampires in the world not five minutes after being turned,” she said. Ben may have been imagining it but he thought he could detect a hint of jealousy.

“Nice isn’t really the word I’d go for. Inconvenient. Annoying. Utterly horrendous. Any of those would do.” Erin might say “sought after” but Ben preferred “hunted”.

Erin tutted without sympathy. “You brought it on yourself kid. Darius wants me to sit out of the way and behave myself and I’m more than happy to partially obey him. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll stay out of this mess you’re in and stick to my own plans.”

Ben’s phone vibrated in his pocket. “That’s fine by me,” he replied distractedly as he fished the device out. It was a text from Grace. He hadn’t spoken to her since he’d updated her on the window at Frederic's. Seeing her name on his screen brought an unexpected burst of happiness.

Up for a date Thursday night?

The words on the screen made his heart beat faster. He had not been expecting that. He didn’t deny that he’d had a good time with her at the bowling alley, but he hadn’t expected it to lead to a date of their own. His tongue was dry in his mouth.

A date?

It was all he could think of to reply. He didn’t want to say anything that would make him seem overly eager or utterly disgusted by the proposition. Her reply was instant.

Kieron wants to go on a river cruise. Your services are needed.

It immediately made more sense. She needed him to chaperone the date not go on it with her. An unexpected sinking feeling took hold of his stomach. He’d completely misread her plans. Speaking of plans he suddenly cottoned on to something Erin had said.

“Hold on, what plans are you working on?” Ben asked, reverting his attention back to her.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “You really are slow. What plans do you think? I’m going to kill that bitch Mia.”

Ben stuttered in his attempt to respond, in complete disbelief at the words that had just fallen out of Erin’s mouth. Clearly she had learned absolutely nothing since her vendetta against Theo.

“Are you out of your mind?” Ben asked slowly, making sure she heard every word he uttered. “You cannot go on another one of your crazy vendetta plots. You barely survived the last one. I barely survived the last one. If you even look at Mia in the wrong way Darius will kill us all.”

“I’m not asking permission,” Erin said, her arms crossed over her chest.

Ben turned to Rik who was standing by the door looking just as shocked as he was. “Are you hearing this?”

“Unfortunately I am,” Rik replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Have you even taken a moment to think about the consequences of going after Mia?”

“You sound like an old woman. I think I preferred the nervous, twittering idiot who walked into my hospital room a few weeks ago.”

“You preferred it when I was easier to push around. I’m not going to let you endanger me and my friends, Erin.”

“Listen, Ben,” she snapped, pointing a finger at him. “I don’t know who’s been blowing smoke up your arse and given you the idea that you’re in charge, but you’re not. That bitch tortured me. She blinded me every night and burned me every day. Eighty years Theo kept me in his prison and I’d happily go back there before I suffered a single day with Mia again.”

“I get it,” Ben said, trying his best to be understanding rather than antagonistic. He didn’t want to fall out with Erin. He needed all the allies he could get. “I understand that you want—”

“Oh, spare me the false sympathy speech, kid. Your words are wasted on me.”

Ben took a determined step forward, letting his anger seep through a tiny crack in the hope it might make her back down. “I will hand you right back to Darius if you put any of us in danger.”

“Will you really?”

“Without hesitation.”

“When did the little boy get so ruthless?”

Erin charged and Ben jumped out of the way just in time to avoid having his face pummelled.

“I’m not quite the easy target you remember,” he said.

She came at him again and this time he managed to knock her aside with a well-placed punch that had more to do with luck than skill. He swung another punch and this time she caught his arm. In three rapid moves, she had him on his back on the dining table. Pain rang through his spine and he ground his teeth as it faded away. Though he struggled, he was unable to get out from under her.

“I’ve got decades on you, Ben. My age will always trump your fists.”

Rik shouted a string of words and Erin was flung onto her backside and dragged by an invisible force across the carpet. Her eyes were wide in bewilderment and when she tried to rise Rik shoved her back down again, holding her against the floor with his magic.

“My warlock will always trump your age, old woman,” Ben said as he rolled off the table and back to his feet. The shock on her face boosted Ben’s ego to new heights. A sudden rush of power surged through him as he looked down at her knowing that he had her beat. But putting Erin in her place was not what this was about and he knew that it would only serve to make her angrier. The last thing he wanted was for her to add him to her hit list.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Erin. I don’t need another enemy. I asked Darius to release you because I thought you were a friend.”

“Then why are you holding me down?”

“I’m not.” He gave Rik a look and the warlock ceased his spell. “I’m trying to hold you back for now. Give me time. Let me fulfil my deal with Darius and then you can go after Mia to your heart’s content.” He extended his arm, offering her an olive branch, hoping she’d take it.

Erin chewed her lip as she stare at his hand, trying to decide to accept it or rip it off.

“You’re a vampire, it’s not like you don’t have time to wait.”

“Fine,” she said, taking the hand in her own and pulling herself up. “I’ll wait for now. But if you ever try telling me what to do again I’ll kill you too.”

“Fair enough,” Ben said with a relieved smile. “Just please, keep your head down, stay here and make all the plans you need. Just don’t act on them yet.” Seeing the look on her face he threw up his palms and took several steps away from her. “That’s not an order, it’s a request.”

Erin nodded in silent agreement and then told them both to leave her in peace.

“Well, that could have gone considerably worse,” Rik said as they walked next door to their own apartment.

“It still might. I don’t fully trust her. That spell you used to trap Gideon, do you think you could do it over an entire apartment?”

“Yes, but do you really want to resort to that? I get the impression she’ll just add you to her list of targets.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to, but get everything you need ready. If she forces us we’ll lock her up. It will be better if we do it instead of Darius.”