However, this changes things a lot. Alexander knows about us. So Damian’s options are now‘be turned’ or ‘die’, which is hardly a choice in the scheme of things.
We reach Sadie’s door and listen, but there’s no sound or movement.
Me:Can you detect her in there?
Hester:Yes.
Me:Is she alive?
Hester:Yes.
I squeeze Damian’s hand in relief.
Me:She’s in there. And alive.
Damian:Thank goodness!
Me:Yes. Luckily, it wasn’t a major disaster. But you should stay here with us for now so we can protect you.
Damian nods, and I sense his fear return full force at what that means.
Wanting to see Sadie with my own eyes, I knock on the door and turn the handle, which opens easily. Her bedroom is set into the eaves of the roof, so the ceiling is vaulted. With my night vision, I spy the top of her blonde head over by the bed. She’s sitting on the floor.
However, Damian can’t see. So I reach out to switch on the lights.
Hester:Wait, Floss, I don’t think you should turn on the—
But it’s too late. Soft yellow floods the room, and I hurry to the other side of the bed and let out a gasp.
Sadie is covered in blood; her eyes are closed, and her mouth is open in a silent scream. She seems to be paralysed.
Me:Keep Damian back. Something’s wrong.
Hester:What is it?
Me:I don’t know. She’s in shock.
I crouch next to her and grasp her shoulder gently.
‘Sadie? Are you hurt?’
Her eyesopen, and she lets out a thin caterwaul, which causes the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.
Sadie:Alexander’s taken Elliott. He attacked him right in front of me! This is Elliott’s blood, not mine.
Hester:Oh my god, how did he even enter without being invited?
Sadie:He broke in through Floss’s entrance.
Me:What the fuck? How?
Hester:The blood bond may have given him right of entry.He was waiting for you to get back, Floss, so he could—
She gives a sharp tilt of her neck to one side to indicate it being snapped. Thank fuck I was at Damian’s. I feel sick with relief at my lucky escape and try to concentrate on what Sadie is saying.
… He must’ve got bored and hungry because he stormed in and hauled Elliott out of bed. He plunged his fangs into his neck, tasted his blood, and muttered, ‘How intriguing.’ I took the chance to jump on him, but he threw me on the floor. Elliott was yelling for me to save him. But Alexander compelled me to freeze in place, so I couldn’t do anything. He dragged him off.
Me:I just bumped into Alexander driving down Leith Walk. Elliott must’ve been in the back seat of his car.
