The Violet Line (7 page)

“
Sam, it has come to our attention that Jade has quite a considerable gift.”

Sam shrugged. “It depends on how you look at it; it’s not that great a gift.” He tried his best to play down Jade’s gift; perhaps if he could persuade them that it wasn’t that wonderful, they would lose interest in her. “Bit of a nuisance actually; completely unpredictable and she can’t control it.”

Oskaar smiled but it wasn’t at all friendly. “Now, Samuel, we all know that is just not true. The high council have uncovered a prophecy for our time; it talks of a woman who, when turned, will become our dark queen. It is said she has the power of death.”

Sam stared at him. “Jade can’t kill with her power; it just stings a little.”

“
She just hasn’t received the correct impetus to kill yet, Samuel. But when she is turned, she will be far more powerful and be able to control it at will.”

“
I won’t let you turn her.” Sam’s voice broke through Oskaar’s speech. “I’ll kill you first.” He lunged at Oskaar only to find he was unable to move; it felt as though he was sinking in tar and none of his limbs wanted to obey his commands.

“
Temper, temper, Sam; think how much worse for her it’ll be if I let Raphael go out and hunt for her. They make quite the team, don’t they? Raphael and Marianne; he’s a very good tracker you know, but I wanted to give you the opportunity to bring her in, save her some unnecessary pain and anguish that I know those two delight in dishing out.”

Sam could feel the terror clawing its way up through his throat at the thought of Raphael touching Jade. “No, I can’t let you; I won’t do this to her. I’m your only connection to her; if I die, the connection dies.”

“
Hmmm you’d think that, wouldn’t you, but is it a risk you’re willing to take? True, her power does seem to obscure her from our trackers but we would find her and all we need is you alive to keep the connection open. The choice is yours, Sam; you can bring her in safe and unharmed or I’ll let Raphael bring her in. I might even let him play with her a little bit first; she needs to have some of the softness removed from her. I have an idea; I could always let Raphael and Marianne turn her in their own little, unique way. What do you think, Sam? Make up your mind fast before I give them this.” Oskaar’s voice was filled with glee; Sam knew he couldn’t let Raphael bring her in but he also knew he couldn’t let them get her at all. If he agreed to it and then after that he could plan on how he would protect her but for now he needed to be able to lie convincingly to Marianne, who could see through lies.

“
Fine, I’ll do it; I’ll get her.” Sam’s voice sounded broken and tired and he hoped this was enough to throw her off the trail. Marianne frowned hard at him.

“
Excellent. You can return to her tomorrow night. We will give you three days to bring her in. I will be keeping in close contact with you, Sam, so don’t try anything foolish.” Oskaar clapped his hands together in excitement. “Now, shall we all join the festivities?” He motioned for them to leave. Sarah regained consciousness and Raphael picked her up, trailing his fingers up over her arm as he winked at Marianne.

“
Shall we, my dear?” Sarah attempted to escape Raphael’s grip but he laughed at her struggles. She caught Sam’s eye and he couldn’t bear the pleading look that filled them. He stared hard at her, his green eyes spiralling down to two small pin points of green light. He could feel her slip easily under his gaze; there was no vampire that could match his power. He could pull vampire and humans under, but because he didn’t drink fresh blood anymore it took him longer to pull a vampire under. Sarah grew limp in Raphael’s grip and he glared across at Sam; he knew there was no waking her up out of her trance now. No matter what happened to her, she wouldn’t feel it anymore; she wouldn’t feel anything Sam didn’t want her to feel.

“
You bastard,” Raphael growled at Sam. Marianne glanced at him and smiled her cruellest smile.

“
It’s ok, my love, plenty more lovelies in the ballroom. I think this one is better off being given as sport for the revenants, don’t you?”

Sam tried to hide the horror from his face at this turn in events. Following them back into the ballroom, Raphael dragged Sarah by the hair as Lissie had dragged her doll earlier. Upon entering, he could see Oskaar and Cassiopeia sitting back on their thrones. Lissie sat on the edge of the stage and as Sam passed, she stuck her tongue out at him in a childish gesture.

Raphael flopped Sarah down into the middle of the cleared area in the ballroom floor. Walking away with Marianne, they both chose another human girl from the cage in the back and left the room smiling and giggling with their new prize. Sam tried to leave, too, but found himself held in place by the same feeling he had had in the smaller room; it seemed Oskaar wanted him to stay and watch.

Another door off the ballroom opened to reveal four large burly vampire guards. Each one held a chain in their hands and at the end of each chain was a snarling drooling revenant. They clawed the air and howled in anticipation; the coppery sweet tang of blood that tainted the air seemed to drive them even wilder.

Keeping them tightly chained, they were led into the centre of the room. The moment they caught sight of Sarah’s sleeping form on the floor, they all dived at once. Sam closed his eyes tight against the sight of her being ripped asunder. He couldn’t close his ears against the cheering and the noise they made as they snapped bones and fed, nor could he block the smell from his nose that caused saliva to form around his descending fangs. All he could think of was how he couldn’t allow Jade to ever have to endure anything like this. It was thoughts of his beloved Jade that kept him sane throughout the entire experience and he only hoped that when they released him, he could think of a way to save her.

Chapter Six

We pulled up outside my apartment; not a word had been uttered between us on the entire drive over here. I wondered if Annie would be alright if seeing Aidan like that had snapped something irreparably inside her. It was hard to see a loved one like that and I could only imagine how she was feeling right now. I parked the car and switched the engine off. I listened as the noise died leaving only silence behind and the ticking as the motor cooled down. Turning to look at her, she had her face turned towards her window staring blankly at nothing in particular.

“
Annie, we’re here.” I kept my voice quiet and low; I was prepared for tears but not for the look she turned to me with. Her face had an ashen quality; it stood out starkly against the vibrant red of her short hair. She hadn’t shed a single tear but she had the startled look of a deer caught in the headlights. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

“
It’s ok; give it time. He’ll control himself. It will all work out.” I tried to sound reassuring, anything to remove that look from her face, but I knew that she listened to the news. She knew all the stories and that the likelihood of Aidan ever being able to control himself around her wasn’t very good.

“
Come on, we’ll go in; I’ll make some tea. We can talk about this, figure out what your options are.”

She nodded her head as I clicked my door open. I knew deep down that she’d be ok; she was a survivor, always had been. I knew that Aidan, too, would be ok. I just wasn’t sure how they would both cope without each other. Perhaps because he loved her, it would help him control his hunger faster – or it would make him want to kill her more. I wasn’t sure which way it would turn out but I didn’t want to lose either of my friends. Coming around to Annie’s side of the car, I locked her door after she had stepped out and we made our way across the parking lot to my apartment block.

Shoving open the door, I ushered her inside and we made our way up the stairs. I made small idle chit chat about the unusually sunny weather we were having, particularly unusual for October. As I reached my apartment door, I watched her trail miserably after me; she never answered any of my observations. Opening the door, I indicated for her to grab a seat.

“
Hey, make yourself comfortable. Umm, if I give you the phone do you think you could ring your landlord and ask him to replace the locks on your door,” I asked, handing her my mobile phone.

“
It’s ok, I’ll ring him from mine; I have his number in here somewhere anyway.” She spoke for the first time, not looking at me but fiddling with her phone.

“
Great, then I’ll make some tea and we can figure out how we can sort this out.”

“
Do you think we can?” she asked me, staring at me hard. “Sort it out, I mean?” she qualified.

“
We’ll think of something,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. I had to be positive there had to be a solution to this particular scenario; we just hadn’t seen it yet. Walking into the kitchen, I filled the kettle with water and took down two cups, dropping a tea bag in each.

I wondered what Sam was doing right now. Was he safe? Was he happy? Would he come home? The questions swirled round and round in my mind as I watched the steam rising from the kettle. I remembered the cut I had on the back of my head and carefully ran my fingers over where it should have been. Luckily my gift allowed me to heal a little quicker than ordinary humans and all I could feel now was a small scab that was starting to close. Lifting my top, I examined my side and discovered the bruises I had felt appearing earlier had turned a healing yellow tone. It still hurt like hell but at least I didn’t have any lasting damage.

Filling the cups, I tried to block out the thoughts of Sam; I wished that he was here right now to wrap his arms around me and tell me that everything would be alright. I knew that only his presence would calm me; he had that effect on me. He could have talked to Annie and reassured her. He would have been able to deal with Aidan too, teach him and guide him. With Sam not being here, it left such a gaping hole in my life and only served to reinforce just how much I loved him; he was so important to me. I closed my eyes as I waited for the tea to settle and prayed that Sam would return to me.

Carrying the two cups back into the messy living room, I set it down on the table in front of Annie.

“
I made you camomile; it might help, even a little.”

Lifting the cup she stared into the bottom of it. “What’ll happen to him now,” she asked still watching the hot liquid.

“
Well, if he returns to his master he’ll be ok. They’ll teach him control and how to hunt properly and how not to hurt anyone unintentionally. They’ll also teach him all the skills he’ll need for his new life. He’ll be ok.” I watched her intently.

“
And what about us? What happens to us,” she asked, still not looking at me but I could see the tears sliding down into her mug.

“
Well, I don’t think it would be a good idea for you two to be around each other, alone, just yet. He has a lot to learn, but he loves you so much I’m sure he’ll learn fast.” My voice sounded positive but Annie still continued to cry.

“
He just didn’t look like Aidan today,” she told me. “He would have killed me, Jade. I could see it in him; he was a monster and there was nothing of the man I loved in there. But I couldn’t hurt him and I couldn’t have turned him away. I do love him, Jade, and I’m scared.”

I looked at her as she spoke. I understood where she was coming from. If Sam ever did that, I couldn’t turn away from him either; I hadn’t turned away from him when he had been overcome that one time, but at least I could protect myself. Annie was helpless.

“
Look, it’s going to be fine, but for a while you both need a bit of distance from each other. It’s not fair to Aidan to put him through that and it’s not fair to you either. When he gets himself under better control, then you can be together; but until then maybe look at it as being a long distance relationship. You both have mobile phones, don’t you?”

Annie nodded slowly.

“
Well, you can stay in contact just not have physical contact.” I finished.

She looked at me then. “You really think that might work?”

“
If you really love each other than I don’t see you two having too many other choices in all of this. Maybe ring him, see what he thinks about all of this; at least over the phone he can be Aidan. Just be sure to tell him that you shouldn’t really be alone together; you can’t take that risk and he wouldn’t be able to handle the guilt.”

She smiled then for the first time. “I’ll ring him now,” she said, bouncing up off the couch. “Can I use your bedroom?”

“
Yeah, go ahead,” I said, not looking at her. She reached the door and turned back to me.

“
Wait, where’s Sam? He’s not in there,” she whispered, pointing at the bedroom door.

“
Sam,” I said, still not looking at her. “I wish I knew but it’s another story. Go make your phone call I’ll fill you in after.”

She looked serious as she nodded, and slipped into my room. I could hear her voice muffled through the wall as she talked to Aidan. I felt a small pang of jealousy that I tried to quickly smother; I wanted so desperately to be able to reach Sam.

Picking up my discarded phone, I checked for messages but there weren’t any. Sam’s phone rang and rang, then went back into the network message. I slipped the phone closed and looked out the window at the traffic passing on the street. My mind wouldn’t be kept busy with mundane thoughts; it kept wandering back to Sam.

Annie slipped quietly back into the room. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I hadn’t heard her finish up.