“No…” Alex said in shaky voice, almost like a squeak, and threw her arms around the lifeless Dante. “What are you going to do to him?”
“I think you should be more concerned about what I will do to you,” the stranger said softly, but without a trace of kindness. “I have waited centuries for this moment and you are not the prettiest or youngest I have broken into pieces. Be assured, my little mule, you will die tonight. If you back away now, I won’t insert my teeth into every hole you possess and make them engorged and deformed before I do.”
Alex stood her ground, barely. The stranger gave her a delighted smile. “Bravery often gets mistaken for stupidity.”
A loud cracking sound made Alex blink and shudder. The stranger shoved her back with tremendous force. Her head exploded with pain as the concrete came up to meet her. Blackness closed in upon her, and the last thing she saw was the stranger backing away from another figure standing protectively over her.
“Dougie,” she whispered, and then nothing.
Chapter Twenty Four
Don’t You Have Anything To Say To Me?
Alex awoke not knowing how she had gotten on her bed, fully clothed in her evening gown. It took several seconds for the memories of the previous night to register, and the fact it wasn’t a dream was just as bad as seeing it play out in her head the first time. “Mum…Michelle?” she called.
She called again, this time with a plea in her voice. No one was there. She went over the incident in her mind. She wanted answers, even if they wouldn’t help numb the pain. Could she have done anything different? Was it her fault? What was Dante trying to tell her? “Alex…don’t” he had started to say. Don’t what? Worry? Forget? Cry?
It had been too late for any of those things by the time his face had hit the ground. Over two hundred and fifty years of a life, gone like that.
A turn of a key clicked Alex awake from her thoughts. She sat up, making sure she heard what she thought. Yes, the front door was closing again. Was it Lauren? No, Alex hadn’t invited her in. But if a key was used, Lauren’s key, maybe that was an automatic invitation. It was still Lauren’s apartment as well.
The figure’s footsteps weren’t slow, they were cautious. Alex moved towards the bedroom door, unsure of what to do. What was the point of closing and locking it? She would be able to break it down.
“Alex?” a voice called.
Alex couldn’t believe it. She stepped out into the hallway and faced the speaker moving towards her.
“Hey,” Matt said, a cautious smile on his face. He looked like a returned soldier, back from doing his duty for the country. Alex was sort of relieved, but there was something strange… She froze, yet he still came closer.
“It’s ok, I forgive you,” he said gently, his arms outstretched.
“Don’t touch me.” Alex pushed him off her.
“Whoa, whoa! I thought it would’ve worn off by now.”
“Worn off?”
“Yeah, the spell he put you under. Don’t you realise what happened to you?”
“Spell who put me under? What are you talking about?”
“Dante.”
Alex began to connect the dots. “Don’t you realise what’s happened?” she roared. “You killed a man!”
Matt made a violent gesture for her to shut up.
“Oh, so you don’t want the neighbours to hear us fighting? But you commit murder in cold blood in front of heaps of people?” Alex screamed.
“Shut up, for Christ’s sake! They were all inside. No one saw me,” Matt fired back. He put both his hands up and closed his eyes. “Ok, look… You obviously don’t know what’s been going on, so I’ll level with you. Dante was not what you thought he was.”
“I know exactly who he was.”
“No,” Matt said with a patronising laugh. “No you really don’t. When you do, it will blow your mind. The fact is, I’m sorry, but I was right. He was bad news. The reason you were so infatuated with him was because of hypnosis.”
“No it wasn’t. Only certain vampires can do that. He couldn’t.”
Matt’s face fell. “What? You… You knew?”
“Of course I knew. He told me.”
“And you still wanted to be around him? He was a vampire!”
A door to what used to be Lauren’s bedroom opened and Margaret marched out, dishevelled as she tightened her dressing gown robe. “What the hell is going on out here?”
“Mum!” Alex cried. “You’re here!”
“Mum?” Matt asked. “That’s your mum?”
“I was asleep,” Margaret started, addressing Alex before turning to Matt. “Otherwise, I would’ve opened the door and introduced myself. Alex needs her rest. More importantly, who are you?”
“I’m Alex’s boyfriend.”
“Ex,” Alex corrected. The hurt she saw in his face did nothing to cool her anger.
“I think I’ll come back later,” Matt said, eyes crossing from one woman to the other.
“You don’t have to play it safe. Mum knows all about it. And I want answers before you think I should be grateful. Who told you about Dante?”
Matt looked again from one to the other, finally appearing to make up his mind. He continued. “I have had a few phone calls from a guy. He never told me his name. He told me what to do. He said it was the only way to free you. He said you were under a spell.”
“And you just believed him?”
“I saw Dante bite that chick he hung around with. You were there. Why wouldn’t I have believed him? He said Dante is a killer and he was after you. I saved your life!”
Alex could only shake her head in disbelief. The stupidity, the misguided efforts to prove he was her saviour.
“I told
