“Some will want touse you.” Sofia’s voice echoed in my mind.
There are nocoincidences. That’s what my aunt had always said. No matterhow shit things were and how much you hated hearing it, shebelieved that everything in life happened for a reason. That lifehad a pattern and reason to it. That fate was real.
I jumped off thestool, throwing the blanket on the counter. “You’re a freakinggenius.”
“Uh, thanks. I mean—”His expression turned smug. “—obviously.”
“They must have takenher. Think about what Sofia said. “Some will want t’kill you.”
“And as you said, ifthey had done that … well, after three weeks, you’d probably knowby now.” Bottle of mixture in hand, he shut the fridge door. “ButSofia also said, “some will want t’change you.”
“Heather would ratherdie than be turned into a Leech.”
“Which we know isn’tthe case because of point one, but say she did get changed, wouldshe tell you, considering how you’ve been brought up and what yourfamily believe?”
Honestly, I wasn’tsure. Maybe she would feel ashamed. Like she had failed Sofia, hermother and father. Well, everyone. Could I tell my parents if I’dbeen turned? How would they react? I knew how they would. My fatherwould be ready to kill me while my mother tried to talk him out ofit in the hope that I would be different or that I could becured.
No, I wouldn’t blameHeather if she had been changed and hadn’t told us.
“Okay.” I turned andbegan to walk the stretch of the kitchen. “She could have possiblybeen changed, and if so, there’s the smallest chance she would havecontacted us.”
“Very small chance.”He unscrewed the lid of the bottle. “Leaving the “some will wantt’use you” comment.”
“If you want to usesomeone, someone who wouldn’t want to help you, you’d take them,right?”
“Which explains whyshe wouldn’t have contacted you, because she would technically be aprisoner of sorts,” he agreed, before taking a mouthful of themixture.
“Okay. So, Heather andBrendan go and find Luca and whatever happens, one way or another,they get taken.”
“Taken where?”
“The UK ColonyNest?”
“In Scotland?”
“What? No.” I movedback to the counter and leant against it. “No, the Nest is inLondon, or at least it should still be in London. There’s noinformation on its location in any of the archive files, but I hadto presume that she would be taken to the Colony Leader.”
He moved to theopposite counter and leant against the sink, facing me. “Then whywas I held hostage and experimented on in Scotland?”
Yet again, that was agreat question. Why did the Vampires have a very important facilityso far away from their Nest? It was a question that Nathan neededanswering more than I did, and unfortunately, I had no answer forhim.
“I-I’m not sure, but Ithink the best bet we have t’find Heather is t’find the UKNest.”
What would theVampires do with her? Would the Leader, Michael, contact Marko?Would Marko come to the UK for Heather, or wasn’t he bothered abouta trivial little Infected who happened to be born that way and be aVampire Slayer?
Shit, what if Markowas in the UK?
My mind was racing.Marko was an Ancient. The only one we knew of and the only one whoreally mattered to my family. He would slaughter Heather.
“Where do westart?”
Nathan’s questionpulled me from my thoughts.
“I have no idea.”
“Right.” He tookanother swig. “Well then, I propose you go and get some rest andthen we will—”
Again with therest.
“I can’t,” I groundout, irritation creeping up my back as he yet again stated that Ineeded to rest, to get out of the way.
There was too much tofigure out. Too much to do. Why did he keep trying to get me out ofthe way?
“Elle, it’s been threeweeks since the note. Three weeks you haven’t heard from her. Onemore night won’t make a difference.”
Wouldn’t it? A secondcould mean the difference between life and death, and it had beenthree weeks. That was a hell of a lot of seconds that had been andgone.
My hands began shakingas the weight of time and the guilt of not being here with Heatherbegan to crush down on me.
“You don’t know that,”I snapped, walking to the fridge and collecting the pizza box. “Whyare you so eager for me t’go t’sleep all the time?” I threw the boxon the counter and batted the door shut. “What are you up to whileI’m out of the way?”
He almost choked onanother mouthful of mixture. “Woah, Little Miss Paranoid.”
“Seriously, I—?”
“Apart from watchingthe news—” He placed the bottle on the counter. “—I’ve been readingall those big scary books that are down in your cousin’s littlelair.”
I itched to grab mydagger, to stab something. I had been sat on my arse for threeweeks, and my cousin was on a suicide mission. I’d been working ata stupid pub when the Vampire who had destroyed my family could beswanning around the UK … could be torturing my cousin. Three weeksof me doing nothing, and I now stood in a kitchen arguing with anew-born Vampire.
“I’m supposedt’believe that?”
“It’s the truth, Elle.Jesus.” He moved over to the breakfast bar and took a seat.
I gripped the edge ofthe counter to stop myself from reaching for the comforting weightat my hip. I shouldn’t stab him. He’d not done anything wrong.
He’s a Vampire. Noother reason is needed.
I couldn’t stab him.It wasn’t his fault.
How do youknow? He just happens to show up back in your life as aVampire in the same time frame as Heather goes missing. Is that acoincidence?
“Who sent you?”
“What?” His eyebrowscrashed at the bridge of his nose. “No one sent me. Look, I getthat you don’t trust me, and you have so many reasons not to, butI’m really trying here.”
“Trying what,exactly?” My nails bit into the underside of the counter. “Lull meinto believing you’re harmless so you can kill me when your Mastergives you permission?”
“What the— Are youjokin’?” His left fist landed on the countertop, index fingerjabbing the marble. “I’m trying hard t’show you that you cantrust me. That I have no interest in hurting you or
