Luckily, I’m on the fence about killing her then.
‘I have no intention of hurting her,’ I say solemnly.
Damian claps me on the back.
‘I’m kidding, mate. I like you. We all do.’
Thank fuck for that!
‘I like you guys too.’ And it’s true: I do. ‘Even if you are a bit fucking nosy.’
Damian chortles.
One of the party of vamp bros slouches on the bar next to us, throwing a nod our way. He orders from Trixie, and I hear his thoughts clearly. From the way Damian’s eyebrows rise slightly, he hears them too.
The vamp bro is thinking that Trixie’s a lusty wench and if it was any other night, he’d pay for a session with her. But luckily, he won’t have to pay for it tonight as there’s going to be a free bloodlust orgy with five newly turned vampires—chosen from a lucky dip!
‘Fuck,’ mutters Damian to me. ‘This puts a new spin on things.’
Collecting the pints from Trixie, we quickly head back to the girls. Hester sees I’m frowning.
Hester:What is it?
Me:Ah, we overheard the thoughts of one of the bros atthe bar. Alexander is going to pick out five thralls and turn them into newbie vampires tonight. It’s a free taster session.
I can’t bring myself to say ‘bloodlust orgy’. It sounds overly dramatic.
Sadie:Fuck, that slimy bastard! He must’ve discovered a way to create vampire Viagra synthetically.
Floss:Oh no, those poor girls. They must be terrified!
Elliott:They may not even be aware of what’s going to happen to them. Usually, being turned is a big surprise, especially if you’re enthralled. I know it was for me.
Hester is looking right at me when Elliott says this, and I stare at her, the weight of history pressing heavily between us.
Elliott’s right. I had no idea what Hester was going to do to me that night in 1560 when I walked into Elizabeth’s chamber. I was young, dumb, and full of myself. I vaguely thought that the queen might take a liking to me instead of Robert Dudley. But instead, I was turned into a vampire. So, yes, joining the ranks of the undead was a big surprise, and not an occurrence that I can easily forget.
Chapter 26
Hester | London, present day
We trail the three vampires as they make their way rowdily to the brothel in Covent Garden. They don’t seem too bothered about drawing attention to themselves. To onlookers who glance at them, they look like a bunch of paler-than-normal well-dressed guys in their thirties out on the town. But judging from the snippets of their psychic conversation I’m picking up on, they’re from the ’50s, and they know Alexander quite well. In fact, he sired them.
As we cross Waterloo Bridge in two groups of three, girls behind guys, I gently nudge Floss’s mind.
Me:Can you hear them?
Floss:No, they’re too far in front for me to pick it up. What are they saying?
Me:They’ve been reminiscing about their human lives and chatting about how much the city skyline has changed since the Blitz. Seems they’re Alexander’s sons. He turnedthem into vampires after World War II.
Sadie:So they’re Floss’s brothers? Like Charlie?
Floss:I would prefer not to think of them as my brothers, thanks. Or Charlie. We’re not blood related.
Sadie (snickering):Yes you are, by vampire blood. He’s your brother from a different mother.
Floss:Speaking of Charlie’s mother, do you think we should tell him that Alexander’s journals described her mysterious death as an ‘unfortunate incident’ and that he referred to him as ‘the burden that I now have to bear’?
