Page 50 of No One’s Daughter

“Yeah. And when I almost died, she saved me again. By feeding me her blood.”

“Oh fuck, no wonder you look so rough,” she said, eyed widening in surprise. “How are you in control right now?”

I inhaled through my nose, rubbing at my temples. “I’m not sure I am,” I admitted. The truth was, the thought of her had been driving me insane and I hadn’t felt this out of control in centuries.

“And her? Is that why she’s locked in the boot?”

I snorted a laugh. “No, actually, she’s not affected. She keeps trying to run from me.”

Marlette's lips thinned as she suppressed a laugh. “Come on, I brought blood bags. Figured you might be in need of them. Hadn’t considered this of course, but yeah, you may thank me later.”

I followed her to her bike and quickly drained the bag handed to me. It tasted like utter piss in comparison to Ailsa’s blood, but I was glad to have it and it took the edge off somewhat at least.

“You should probably feed your new friend, too,” Marlette smirked, handing me another bag.

I hummed my reluctant agreement.

I put the key into the boot lock, stopping to warn Ailsa. “Don’t even think about running. As I’m sure you heard, Marlette is here too and if you behave, she has some blood for you.”

Silence was my only answer and I opened the boot to find her staring daggers at me. She was as expected—furious, dishevelled, eyes bright with something she didn’t quite have control over. I caught her by the arm before she could try anything, pulling her upright with little effort.

“Behave,” I muttered, more out of habit than expectation.

I reached for the blood bag Marlette held out for me and I paused, having half a mind to worry that if she refuelled properly that she could teleport away again—this time without me. But for some reason or another, I’d rather her have that ability than not. I just had to keep control of the situation. She still wasn’t aware of how her magic worked, so I shoved the open port of the blood bag against her mouth, not trusting her enough to untie her just yet.

“Drink.”

She hesitated, then took a sip.

Marlette stepped closer, studying her with open curiosity now, but said nothing.

For a moment we all stood there in silence.

“Listen,” Marlette started. “After your call I did some digging—don’t worry, I was careful, but you were right. The Greystone is compromised. You need to disappear. I had Merrick pack you and your guest a bag and arranged for him to leave a clean car at a petrol station ten miles up the road. It’s an old black motor, you’ll know it when you see it.”

“You trust him?”

“Implicitly.”

“What about you?”

“From what I’ve gathered, their interest is in you so I’ll stay at the Ninth, stay right under their nose—you know, forever invisible as a woman—and focus on the case while keeping my ears open. I’ll make contact when I can to keep you updated.”

“Okay then,” I said, putting an arm around her. She handed me two pre-paid burner phones. “Look after yourself, Marlette. I’ll be in touch.”

“It’s not me you need to worry about,” she said, nodding to Ailsa who was clearly calculating her next move. The woman wore her expressions on her face like she wanted me to know exactly what she thought of me.

I sighed as I looked Ailsa over, once again finding myself drawn to her. She had a way of mesmerising me that scared me.

Maybe I should tie her feet together too. Stop any lingering thoughts of running.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Aisla

I WAS LOSING control of my life.

He’d thrown me in the boot of the car once more like I was nothing more than a piece of fucking luggage, ignoring every one of my protests and questions. I was nothing in comparison to him and his strength. I kicked into the roof of the boot, but it was futile. He wouldn’t let me out. And I had a feeling that if I didn’t play my cards right, I’d never know freedom again.