Chapter 18
"I've got cousins here," Susie explained. "I'd been planning to ask them what Kierlan's deal is, anyway." She didn't mention that it had been Blade suggesting it to her. "They'd probably give us a place to stay for the night too."
"Are they Daybreak?" Sarah asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She'd fallen asleep about an hour ago, it had been night when they'd begun travelling and now it was seven in the morning.
Susie waved her hand dismissively. "Sort of. They leave us to our own devices because they don't want to get involved. They'd rather not put their necks on the line."
"Though they do sell information to either side," Blade said coolly. "Such as the Harman and Redfern family trees. And any obscure prophecies. Many witches loathe them for it."
"They're the ones that brought up Sylvia," Susie said quietly. "She went on to help Delos's grandfather control a realm, that had human slaves. But she repented at the end."
Sarah shuddered at the thought of human slaves: she hated the thought of being a vampire's lunch, or worse, a shape-shifter's! It made her feel so lucky that she hadn't run into the wrong type of Nightworlders yet, nor had to do any of the work for Daybreak that involved going undercover. She'd heard there was a few human Daybreakers who did undercover work, such as investigating some of the most brutal Nightworld practises, such as when vampires tried to organise bloodfeasts. She was glad there hadn't been a bloodfeast for plenty of years…
The car swerved onto a hard shoulder.
"We walk from here," Susie explained, getting out of the car and swinging her duffel bag up onto her shoulder. Blade locked the car as Sarah loosened the strap on her own duffel bag, then Susie led the way into a weak forest of trees that bordered this empty stretch of road, the gravel and clods of dirt slipping and scrabbling beneath their trainers.
The ground was dappled with sunlight over the thick floor of vibrant autumn leaves. The forest was utterly silent and they walked silently too, Blade scowling, his eyes flicking around, Susie striding up the small hills of mud, her eyes blank of emotion. Sarah frowned slightly, unnerved by the silence, both of the forest and of her companions. It was daunting being here with the ex-boyfriend vampire who she'd betrayed and with the witch who was jealous of her. It was nerve-wracking to think about how she was walking to the home of Susie's cousins, who must be powerful witches if they were really able to cut deals with witches on the side of both Hunter Redfern and Daybreak. "They can surprise you," Susie warned, as she reached the peak of the forest.
She realised what Susie meant when she skidded to a halt.
"Little River Jolita," Susie said wryly. "I used to toddle in the shallows here, years ago."
Sarah was surprised that Susie hadn't been washed away and drowned in the Little River Jolita. How could they have not heard this crashing monster of waves and foam as they'd walked? Sticks lay scattered along the shore like broken bones, every few seconds, the river would spit out a mouthful of hard, fist-sized pebbles.
"It used to be a stream then, of course," Susie said idly, and began to walk downhill alongside the river. "Unfortunately, my cousins enjoy fiddling with nature. I hate to think what they've done to their family dog."
Then she pointed ahead. "The bridge is there."
The bridge would need to be as strong as the Golden Gate bridge, Sarah thought privately, unnerved by how the river roared, by how the piles of sticks crackled like kindling beneath her feet.
The bridge looked, of course, like it wouldn't stand the weight of a dog on it, let alone three humans.
"I'll go across first," Blade said coolly.
"It's a glamour," Susie said decisively, watching Blade walk tentatively across the wooden bridge. A shiver made its way down Sarah's spine at watching how nervous Blade was: his jaw was clenched tight and he turned his head at the slightest sound. She didn't blame him: he was walking across something made of the one thing that could cause his death: wood.
Maybe that's where the running water thing comes from, she thought, startled. Bridges used to be made only of wood. Maybe a vampire walked across a wooden bridge, it fell and caused a lot of fear to vampires. The thought made her frown then shake her head slightly.
Finally, Blade reached the other side safely. He nodded slightly at them, then turned and looked out across the ground on the other side of the bridge where he stood. Susie went across the bridge with more confidence, even as the wood creaked more loudly with her every step.
Then it was Sarah's turn. She walked quicker than them, aware that her human senses weren't as sharp as Susie's, and her reflexes weren't nearly as sharp as Blade's.
Each individual plank creaked and sank slightly beneath her feet. The water crashed and slashed at the bridge's supports and seeped up through long cracks in the bridge, darkening the wood. A distant memory seeped into her mind of wood turned black by the water eating at it.
Her foot sank into the mud-spattered grass on the other side of the bridge. Susie and Blade were too busy to have noticed Sarah's troubled nervousness: they were watching what lay ahead. Only when they'd stepped off the bridge had it slammed into focus; it was the same for Sarah.
Now a mansion lay ahead of them. Seven cars were sprawled outside it, all spattered with mud but otherwise clean. The most official car was a black stretch limo. The shabbiest was a navy blue land rover, out of which was stepping a tall girl, dressed in black. She looked out over the grounds towards Sarah, Blade and Susie; her eyes narrowed and she stood waiting outside the land rover.
"She's not one of my cousins," Susie said tensely and started walking through the field of mud. Blade followed with barely a glance at Sarah. Sarah breathed a guilty sigh and sped up her pace.
"What are you doing here?" the girl asked coldly as they drew nearer. She wasn't dressed for the brisk weather: the black jeans that hugged her curves were fine, but the red halter top was strappy and the cream wool coat she wore over it wasn't enough to keep out the cold. But she looked happy enough, a warm glow to her skin.
"I'd like to know the same of you," Susie said authoritatively.
"Business," the girl said coldly. "Now. Why are you here?"
"Visiting cousins," Susie said coldly, a look was in her eyes that suggested she'd love nothing more than to begin arguing with the girl. "And what type of business?"
"My boyfriend," the girl said, somewhat coyly and twisted a ringlet of her sweaty brown hair around her finger.
"That's what she'd like to believe," a boy called out across the driveway. He stood lazily at the front door. "She wants to be able to say she's done it with a true Harman."
"You are still as low as snakes," Susie said defiantly. "You have only grown worse, Laurence."
Laurence gave her an extravagant wink. "And you've only grown more icy-gorgeous, Cousin Suze."
"Dream on, Laurence," Susie sneered. "I'm not getting into bed with you."
"Not even a greeting kiss?" he teased but his violet eyes were serious.
Dismissively, Susie turned to Sarah. "He wears violet-tinted contact lenses, by the way. His eyes are really blue as cornflowers."
The girl who seemed to have been Laurence's date, was gaping. "Blue!" she exclaimed in disgust. "A blue-eyed Harman!"
"He's not officially a Harman," Susie informed her, eyes gleaming. "He changed his name by poll. Really? He's Laurence Brunel. Son of David Brunel and Victoria Leesa. Some very distant cousin of mine."
The girl's eyes narrowed to slits, she stepped forward and slapped Laurence across the face.
Wincing, he gingerly touched his cheek. "Hey, I bought you drinks, remember?"
"He probably slipped some ylang-ylang and ground-up malachite into it," Susie said brightly.
The girl slapped Laurence again, got into the land rover and revved up the engine. As the land rover roared out of the driveway, mud splashed up from its wheels and Laurence only just dodged in time.
"You've ruined my morning," Laurence told Susie flatly. "Now what do you want?"