Page 12 of Bad Blood (Monsters of London Book 1)

I wait across the road while Kieran works. I have no way of telling if the magic user is nearby, which leaves me on edge, especially considering the events of the night before.

A shiver runs down my spine. In all my life, I have never been so easily halted by magic. Vampires do not spend time with mages, as a general rule, and the ones who have historically worked with the clan have not attacked us.

For a second, I thought I would watch Kieran die. That Tristan would tear his throat out in front of me, and there would be nothing I could do.

He crosses into view and the tight feeling in my chest eases. His smile comes more easily in the presence of other humans, though it is still restrained. There is something wrong. Something more than this whole mess with Tristan and Adelaide and the way he has become embroiled in clan affairs.

I take a square piece of paper from my inside pocket and begin folding it, never taking my eyes from the shop. The familiar motions are soothing, helping me to focus on my immediate surroundings instead of dwelling on what could have been.

When my phone rings, I pause in what I am doing, taking in the half-finished swan before I fish the device from my pocket. Elle’s name flashes on the screen.

“How are things going?” she asks. “Any sign of him?”

There is no team waiting nearby. As the mage can likely teleport, having them here seems useless—she and Tristan could appear anywhere. It is better that they search, to try to stop Tristan, Adelaide, and the mage before they even reach us.

“Nothing yet,” I reply. “You?”

Elle grunts. “Could be better. I’m with hunters.”

My breath comes short. “What?”

“Adam’s not here,” she reassures me quickly. “I sent him off with Njáll as soon as Vasile told me. Njáll’s team needed someone who could sense magic, anyway. He’s safe.”

The words cut through the sudden haze of panic filling my vision. I wedge the phone between my shoulder and my ear and deliberately make another fold. “But you…”

“I’m fine. Naomi’s here. It’s all good.”

Naomi is Hunter Moreau’s right hand, and for all my justified wariness of hunters, she has never been anything but the epitome of a level-headed warrior. I sincerely doubt she will allow the others to step out of line.

“Good.” I glance at the shop again. Kieran is nowhere in sight. “I will join you after I am finished here.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I do.”

I really do. If I am to take up my position again, then I need to be able to work with our neighbours. It is vital. Besides, Naomi is as safe as a hunter can be, and Nathan is locked away somewhere; he cannot get to me.

“Fine,” she says with a sigh. It is not that Elle does not want me to heal. I know that. She worries, and rightly so. It has been six months, but it has not been a linear journey.

“I will call when I can leave.”

Voices ring out behind her and Elle sighs again. “Yeah, okay. We’re moving on now. I’ll let you know where we are.”

We say our goodbyes and she hangs up first. I lean against the wall behind me and keep folding the paper in my hands. This alley is opposite the shop, giving me the perfect place to watch—I can hide in the shadows.

Kieran comes into view again. There is a woman with him, a woman I remember seeing the night before. He says something and she laughs before she turns her head and looks out into the night.

Her eyes sweep over the alley and for a moment, I fear she has spotted me. But nothing in her expression changes. She just nudges Kieran with her shoulder, and he shoots her a faint grin.

I wait out the next few hours in silence, alternating between watching Kieran every time he passes the window and scanning the shadows surrounding the shop. By the time he leaves, I have folded a rhino and a fox to go along with the swan, though I will have to try the rhino again. Kieran waits for the woman he has been talking to all night to lock up and I am itching to be closer to him, though I do not know why.

He is not in any more danger now than he was earlier in the night.

She drives away and Kieran hesitates as he steps onto the pavement. His eyes land on me and something in his expression shifts, but I cannot read it. I hesitate for only a second before I join him.

He frowns, eyes falling to my hands. “What’s that?”

I realise I am still holding the swan. My cheeks heat, but there is no point in hiding it.

“I—”

I hold it out to him, and his hands are startlingly gentle as he takes it. He turns it this way and that, expression unreadable.

“What kind of swan is it?” he asks, a hint of a smile playing around his mouth.

“Sorry? I do not—”

Kieran huffs a laugh. He goes to hand the swan back, but I shake my head. He does smile at that, small though it is, and my stomach flutters in response.

“Three types of swan,” he says as he begins walking and ticks them off on his fingers. “Mute, Bewick, and whooper. Which one did you make?”

“I am not certain.”

“Well, mutes are here all year,” Kieran says. He pokes the end of the paper swan’s beak with one finger. “I see you kept yourself occupied.”

“I saw no sign of Tristan or Adelaide. Or the magic user.” I do not know if he is teasing or not, but he is right; I should have been paying more attention.

“I didn’t—” Kieran sighs and shakes his head. He holds the swan as we walk, and though I feel his eyes on me, I cannot bring myself to speak. The further we go, the tenser his shoulders become.

It is past eleven now, and this area is full of blocks of flats and houses, so it is quiet, many windows already dark.

“Why did you jump in last night?” Kieran finally asks. He looks annoyed at the question, as though that was not what he wished to say.

“When Tristan attacked?” I reply. Kieran nods. “He needs to be returned to the clan to face his punishment.”

I feel that it is not the answer Kieran wishes for, but I do not know what is.

“Why did you attack him at the clan house?”

I freeze. I do not have an answer for that—at least, not one that makes sense. “I—”

“Vasile tried to act like he wanted you to,” he continues. “But he didn’t. No one said anything, I know that. So why did you attack him?”

My mouth is dry. “He was going to kill you.”

Kieran stops dead and when I look at him, his eyes are wide. I hear his heart pick up for a second until he somehow settles it again. I have met few people who can do that, especially as consistently as he can.

Why can he do it? Why was he so resigned to being bitten?

“And?” he says finally, tearing his gaze away. His cheeks darken and he goes to cross his arms over his chest but pauses when he realises he is still holding the swan.

My own heart thumps traitorously in my chest. I should not push. I know better.

I have never been able to help myself.

“And I did not want him to. Nor did I want him to hurt you last night.”

It is true. It should be true, anyway; I should not want to see a human killed.

This is different, though, and I fear we both know it.

Kieran looks at me again, and when he swallows hard, I cannot help the way my gaze drops to follow the movement of his throat. Then up to his mouth, his lips parting as he sucks in a breath. He is shorter than I am, and though not by much, I would still have to duck down, to swoop in and—

Kieran clears his throat and when I look up, he isn’t looking at me. His heart is beating too fast again. Can he not control it this time?

My stomach flips at the thought. I feel giddy.

“C’mon,” he says, and his voice comes out rough. “I need to get home.”

I do not speak again as we walk, but I cannot help the way my gaze is continually drawn to Kieran. He seems reluctant to look at me. I frown, forcing my eyes away.

I know better than this. Kieran is not… If nothing else, he is not for me.

Still, when he pauses at the wards I now know are there, I cannot help the way I lean towards him, desperate to hear whatever it is he has to say.

“I won’t leave again tonight,” he says, looking anywhere but at me. “You don’t—You don’t have to stay.”

Disappointment curls in my stomach, but I do not allow my face to betray me. Kieran bites the inside of his cheek, turning, and I hear the sudden call of a bird from a nearby roof.

“What is that?” I ask. I cannot help the way I want to prolong this moment.

Kieran turns his head towards the sound, closing his eyes for a second as he thinks. He is not behind the wards, making himself startlingly vulnerable.

“A robin,” he says after a moment. A smile curls the corner of his mouth, and he raises the swan in farewell. “Good night, Lucien.”

“Good night, Kieran.”

My voice is low, and for some reason, it brings colour to his cheeks. Our eyes lock, just for a second, and then he turns and makes his way up the path.

I watch him go inside, and only when I am certain enough time has passed for him to enter the flat do I walk away. I call Elle as I move.

“Where are you?”

“Highgate Wood. We can wait for you here.”

I hum my agreement. It will not take long for me to reach them; vampires run quickly, after all.

“Everything okay there?” she continues. “I thought you’d be with us earlier.”

“I had to wait for Kieran to finish work. He said he would remain in his flat for the rest of the night.”

“The magic user could still—”

“He said he would be fine, and I trust that.”

Elle is silent for a moment too long. When she speaks again, her voice is laced with tension. “Lucien. No.”

“Elle, I am not—”

The voices I hear behind her quiet as she moves away. “I am not one to paint them all with the same brush, Lucien, but you saw him before. He’s dangerous. You’re getting too close.”

“I am doing nothing more than what has been asked of me.”

“Vasile shouldn’t have asked you, then!”

I bite back my next retort. We both know I will do anything Vasile asks; that has always been true, but never so much as it is now. “It does not matter,” I say. “He is still our best chance of drawing Tristan out.”

“Does he know that’s what he’s doing?”

“He already guessed.”

Elle hisses. “Lucien!”

“How were we supposed to hide it from him, Elle? And besides, why should we, when we are the ones who have chosen to actively risk his life? I know you think me a fool, but I trust him when he says he wants this to be over because I cannot spend the rest of the long, long time I have here being unreasonably suspicious of every single person I meet. Kieran has not made a move to hurt me or any of us. He has also not acted as though I would turn on him, despite what I am and my past behaviour. If he can give me the benefit of the doubt, why can I not extend that same gesture to him?”

I am breathing hard, and all the fury that rushed through me is gone all at once, leaving a hollow emptiness in its wake. I do not mean to take this out on Elle, not at all, but I am tired. I am tired of not trusting myself, never mind of others not trusting me.

Kieran has not acted as though he does not trust me. Even if that is to merely do as the clan requires.

“I’m sorry,” Elle says quietly, and the honesty in her voice has my head snapping up. “I don’t think you’re a fool, Lucien—I never have. What happened… It was Nathan’s fault, no one else’s.”

“I know,” I say. I do not. Guilt still rolls in my stomach. I cannot voice it, not aloud, but from the sigh Elle lets out, I think she knows anyway.

“I’ll stand by you, whatever you do,” Elle says. “I just—I can’t see you hurt again. I won’t.”

“Thank you.”

We are both silent for a moment and Elle clears her throat. “Are you almost here?”

“Five minutes.”

It is ten minutes before I enter Highgate Wood, following the sound of four heartbeats to track the hunters and Elle down. She is eyeing them as I step into view, and two of the hunters jump at my sudden appearance, one shooting a scowl my way.

“About time,” Elle mutters. Her eyes soften when she looks at me, and I know she will apologise again later. There is no need. She is concerned, and I understand why.

I recognise Naomi, who approaches with an easy smile, sticking out her hand. Her usual braids are pulled back out of her face. “Good to see you again, Lucien.”

“And you as well.” She knows about Nathan, though I do not believe all the hunters do. I have not seen her since that night, but she does not appear to harbour any ill-will.

“Let me introduce you to the rest of our little team. Thistle, Arty, and Nora. This is Chieftain Lucien.”

I open my mouth—I have not officially been reinstated yet—but Elle shakes her head out of the corner of my eye. Fine. We can go with that.

Thistle is fairly androgynous-looking, dark hair falling in a mop over their eyes. Arty’s smile is thinner than Thistle’s, but his posture remains loose, so I take it for the welcome it is. Nora offers a small wave, and though she stays behind the others, she seems alert to danger.

“We had a lead here,” Naomi says. “A vampire called in a tip about someone matching Tristan’s description entering the woods, but we’ve had no luck so far.”

Elle sighs. “We don’t know if the magic user is muddying the trail,” she says.

“Can they do that?” I ask. “We know they can teleport, but—”

“They can?” Thistle says. “Whoa. That’s powerful.”

We all turn to look at them and they flush under the combined attention. “There aren’t many mages left with power like that. I can’t do much more than a couple of sparks.”

They wriggle their fingers, and my eyes widen when actual sparks appear, dancing in the air before they vanish again. Arty snorts quietly. Nora looks as stunned as I feel.

“Well, we’ll keep an eye out,” Naomi says. “Come on. Let’s get moving.”

Arty walks ahead, dark eyes sweeping the shadows of the trees. I cannot hear a heartbeat, but that matters little when it comes to vampires. We need a heart to keep the blood moving, but we can stop it for a time, in much the same way we can stop breathing, and the death magic keeping us—for lack of a better word—living, will also keep us animate.

“We’ve worked with worse hunters,” Elle murmurs.

I smile faintly. “We have.”

“We’ll find him before he causes any more trouble.”

I nod. I want to share Elle’s confidence, but I am not certain I do.

We walk through Highgate Wood and once we have covered every inch of it, we slip out and onto the streets again. Arty leads the way most of the time, but sometimes Thistle slips in ahead of him, and I wonder if they are doing magic.

Nora drops back to walk with Elle and me after a while. We do not speak, all too focused on any hint that might betray where Tristan, Adelaide, and their magic user have gone, but her presence is not an unwelcome one.

An hour before sunrise, Naomi stops us all. “We’re done for the night.”

Elle frowns. “We didn’t—”

“You two need to get to where you’re going before the sun comes up. No one’s called anything in. If he’s done anything tonight, we don’t know it yet.”

Elle’s frown deepens, but I nod. “You will be searching again tomorrow?”

Arty bristles, but Naomi doesn’t. “Of course.”

We part ways amicably, and Elle sticks by my side as we head back to the clan house. “Do you trust them?” she asks me.

I am uncertain. Something inside me rears its head at the thought of trusting a hunter again, but at the same time, this affects them too. Protecting humans is their main purpose.

“I do,” I say finally. I do trust Naomi. I should trust her team, too.

“All right then,” Elle says. “I guess we’ll go hunting again tomorrow night.”