By Midnight (66 page)

BOOK: By Midnight

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‘What are you reading?’

April looked up to see Gabriel standing at the foot of her bed.

‘Gabriel!’ she cried and jumped up, throwing her one good arm around him awkwardly.

‘Hey, steady!’ He laughed, hugging her back, then helped her into bed.

‘You came back.’

He shrugged sheepishly. ‘For my coat. I’m feeling the cold all of a sudden.’

April threw a pillow at him. ‘And there I was thinking you couldn’t stay away from me.’

‘That too.’ He smiled.

‘Listen, I’ve got some amazing news,’ said April eagerly, quickly explaining what Miss Holden had told her, then showing him the book. When she had finished, Gabriel just nodded and looked thoughtful.

‘What’s the matter?’ asked April. ‘Aren’t you pleased?’

‘Of course. I want to stick around as long as possible now I’ve found you.’ He smiled at her. ‘But there’s a catch.’

‘What catch?’

‘This potion - assuming we can find all the ingredients - may well counteract the Fury virus, but it won’t cure me. I’ll still be a vampire, April.’

‘But you’ll be alive!’ said April with excitement. ‘And where there’s life there’s hope, Gabriel. Once you’re back to strength we can start looking for the Vampire Regent, but first we have to get you well. Please, Gabriel,’ she said, the tears beginning to run down her face. ‘Don’t go away just when I’ve found you.’

Gabriel pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. ‘I don’t want to leave you. It’s just that this past week, I’ve felt so alive, so connected with the world, with you, and I don’t want to lose that either. But of course you’re right. Let’s find the book, wherever and whatever it might be. Let’s find the Regent. Let’s find the man who had your father killed. Okay?’

She looked up at him with shining eyes. ‘Okay,’ she said.

He pushed her back onto the bed and began kissing away her tears. ‘Besides which, I’ve got some ideas of my own.’

April giggled and reached out for him, but instead he turned away.

‘Hey!’ she protested. ‘Where are you going?’

He went over to the windows and flipped the blinds down, then locked the door.

‘Well, if you’re determined to find me a cure,’ he said, grinning as he walked back to the bed, ‘then we’d better make the most of it, hadn’t we?’

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Dr Jim Muir for his endless expert advice on psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis and the dark side, human and otherwise. Cheers to Danno for the title (although I’m sure you don’t remember saying it), Diggo for the brain-storming and the promo video (
www.thesourcecreative.com
) and Will and Far for the transglobal book club. Big love to Tom for his endless nagging to get wrting and Bowie for the inspiration (seven books and counting!) and the suggestion that one character should be called ‘Fang’. Also to Horse and Philip for the creative bitching sessions down Bodeans.

Huge thanks also to Sheila Crowley and Eugenie Furniss for faith, hope and the occasional sticky bun and to Gillian Redfearn for her vision, editorial wisdom and for all those firm-but-gentle ‘suggestions’. Also to the Gollancz design team for their skill and patience. And thanks to Lucy Fleming Brown for being the first person in the world to read
By Midnight
and for her invaluable feedback.

But most of all, the biggest thanks go to Linda Butt for her generosity, kindness and patience, spending hour upon hour stuck on trains, making puppets and playing Cinderella. Genuinely, without her tireless support this book simply would never have been started, let alone finished.