Chapter 7

They decided, rather than risk another cab driver, it was best if they took the underground to Kensington. They were meeting at a bar, someplace quiet that Elora had found. There she would tell them where they were lodging and eventually meet with the rest of the Blood Clan. Bryce texted the others to explain their delay. Lucky for them, they had a normal cabbie, and a pretty uneventful drive.

They took the Underground to Nottinghill Gate and followed Elora’s directions until they reached a bustling pub called The Churchill Arms. The pub was first built in the seventeen hundreds, and although Bryce did not recognize the name, since it had been changed after World War II, he recognized the location. Elora had tried her best to welcome him back to a place he once called home by reintroducing him to his old stomping grounds. He had drunk many a pint back in the day and more scotch than he cared to measure.

When they entered the bar, weary from their travels and weighed down with bags of luggage, the hostess took one look at Bryce, beamed a smile and said, “You must be part of Elora’s party.”

“Aye.” Bryce nodded, his eyes wandering past the hostess and taking in the scene. He tried to smell for a scent of wolf, but the air remained clean. They were safe in here. At least from wolves. No telling if another vampire was in the bar.

Bryce followed Tori’s gaze to the ceiling. Massive amounts of trinkets and pint glasses hung to decorate the pub. It was crowded and they had to maneuver around the people armed with drinks to follow the hostess to the back where they found their friends warming themselves by a lit fireplace.

Elora, Corbin, Kane, Kyle, and Liv looked relieved when they saw Bryce and the rest of his party behind him. Tori had instructed Bryce to wash the blood off of him in the men’s room in the Underground. He was thankful for her advice. He wouldn’t have wanted to startle them—or anyone else in the pub—by arriving covered in blood.

Elora gave Bryce and Tori warm hugs and kisses on the mouth, as was Elora’s way. Bryce was happy to see them again, but still saddened by the circumstances. He introduced the witches to Erin and Derek and Elora greeted them as if she had always known them. Warm hugs and kisses. Corbin introduced herself as well and Bryce caught Tori smiling, happy to see the women who had helped unleash her power.

They ordered a round of drinks and took a seat. After Tori had explained the cab ride from hell to everyone, Bryce took another sniff at the air.

“Nae wolves in here. Nae trace.”

“Oh, sugar, you won’t be finding any wolves in this joint. A few years ago, the bartender’s daughter was killed by a wolf, so they’ve been serving wolfsbane in all of their drinks as a precaution ever since.”

It wasn’t easy to shock Bryce, but his jaw dropped. “How the hell did ye know all that?” He couldn’t help but smile broad. Elora was one in a million.

“Bartender is a witch,” Corbin stated.

“I’m nae going to even question it. Ye two are brilliant beyond belief!”

“Well, that helps with the wolves, but what about other vamps?” Liv asked softly, her expression was one of fear. It was realistic to believe that one might hear her and turn them all in.

Elora looked at Corbin who bit her lip to hide a smile. “They want to know if there are any vampires in this bar. Let’s see if there are.” Elora pulled up her sleeves and raised her hands up.

Feeling as though someone had attached invisible strings and jerked him up, Bryce stood straight up out of his seat. So did Tori, Derek, Kyle, Kane and Liv. Erin remained seated looking confused. Elora looked past the standing vampires and said low enough for only her table to hear, “All vampires please give a wave.” She waved her hand and Bryce's right hand snap up and moved left to right.

“Erin, I’m sure with your slayer vision you could see better than me, anyone else waving in the bar?”

Erin rose up and peered around, but only the members of her party were waving like fools. “Nope, all clear.”

“Good. Have a seat y’all.” Elora motioned for them to sit, and the six vampires fell into their seats with a thud.

“So as y’all can see, I have good news, and bad news.”

Tori looked at Bryce, then at Elora. “Good news first.”

“The good news is, y’all are the only vamps in this bar.”

“And whit would be the bad?” Derek asked.

“I can’t control Averill and her vampires unless I control all vampires that are close by at the same time. So, when we attack, I can only focus my powers of necromancy on one vampire at a time. If I want to hurt them all at once, I’d have to hurt y’all too and I refuse to do that. But there is a bright side to all of this.”

Kyle ran a hand through his bright blue hair and gave it a hard shake. From his stern expression it was clear he did not like being controlled. “What’s the bright side?” he asked.

Elora leaned in. “If there were any vampires close by, I just momentarily controlled them. They have no explanation why. Don’t y’all think they are a tad freaked out? Freaked out enough to whisper their panic amongst each other? If we’re lucky, they may even tell Averill.”

Bryce thought about this for a minute and then gave a hearty laugh as he imagined all-powerful Averill stricken with fear.

“That’s not all,” Derek intervened. “If they don’t know by now, they will know soon enough that we took out two of their wolves tonight.”

“But isn’t all of this bad?” Liv asked, her voice filled with worry. “I thought we wanted the element of surprise.”

“No, it’s still good,” Corbin said, resting a hand on Liv’s to offer her some comfort. “You see, they have no idea if we are a party of one or one thousand. They won’t be running out hunting us down until they have proper information, and by then we would have attacked and started our assault.”

“Yer wrong there, lass,” Bryce interjected. “The assault has already begun. It began the moment my mate was threatened. I was exiled from this land, and I’m back wi’ out them escorting me here for their make-believe trials and false accusations. Dinna be afraid Liv, they fight for power and greed. We fight for freedom and love. They will nae defeat us.”

Tori looked at Bryce, her eyes filled with admiration. She raised her glass, “To the Blood Clan,” she cheered.

“The Blood Clan,” they echoed, clinking glasses and beaming smiles of pride and determination.

****

Six miles away, in the bowels of the Tower of London, more and more vampires reported to Averill that they had been briefly possessed. She had all those claiming of possession shackled in chains and locked in her prisons. Her army had been infiltrated. She worried these vampires might turn against her. She could not be too sure. Closing the doors of her bed chamber she shrieked in horror, alerting Dante to run to her side. She had aligned herself with wolves, this was how she ruled her kingdom. Someone was plotting against her, and whoever it was had dark sorcery on their side.

Her mind fluttered to the possibility of it being Alasdair, but he was nothing. An exile cast out of England. A barkeep in a grungy area of New York. No, he was not powerful enough to have alliances that strong.

Was he?

****

Elora gave the group the address of an apartment building for them to meet up at. They agreed it might look suspicious to travel together since they were a group of nine, and the Council now had reason to suspect they were on their turf. They left the bar at different times. Elora and Corbin were first. A half hour later Liv, Kyle, and Kane headed over leaving Erin, Derek, Tori and Bryce to have one last drink together.

“If anyone did report their suspicions to Averill, I wish I could’ve seen her face.” Bryce showed a toothy grin and relaxed in his chair while he sipped his scotch.

“Aye. Do ye think she suspects it’s us?” Derek was giddy as a schoolboy.

“Of course she would suspect us! Why aren’t you guys taking this more seriously?” Erin glared in disbelief at the men.

“I know ye think we’re a tad too relaxed—” Bryce began.

“Considering we were attacked by Weres today… uhh, yeah! I would think so!”

“Let me finish, please.” He flashed his green eyes at Erin with such intensity, even Tori stiffened.

“Averill took something from me and Derek that we’ll nae get back. There’s a piece of me that she stole. I lost my mate, and Derek lost his mother. In Tori, I found love again, but darling, Derek will never have his mother back. So if a moment of necromancy brings a wee smile to us in an otherwise bleak situation, I’d say we’re entitled to that much.”

The tension in the room was thick. Bryce could see in Tori’s eyes that she didn’t like to hear about the loss he bared. She stood up and signaled to Erin.

“We can go back now. You guys finish your scotch. We’ll see you at the loft.” Tori bent down to kiss Bryce goodbye, but his eyes glazed over in anger.

“Ye’ll be doing no such thing. Sit back down.”

Bryce had never spoken to Tori with such authority before. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and flipped it over so he could see her sun tattoo. He rubbed his thumb lightly over the ink and looked up to meet her eyes. “I’m nae about to let you out there unprotected.”

“Excuse me!” Erin was livid. “I’m a slayer, she’s rocking telekinetic powers and you two are looking at us like helpless little girls. You may be five hundred years old, but I got news for you, Bryce, I could take you down with my eyes closed.”

Bryce nodded. “I dinna doubt it.”

“Huh?” the two women replied.

Bryce pulled Tori onto his lap. “Just a moment before ye thought that we didnae take this seriously. Trust me. I know whit’s out there. If I come across as a five-hundred-year-old stubborn feck, so be it. But dinna leave wi’out me by yer side.”

“I agree wi’ Bryce, Erin. Despite our arguments the past two days, I still canna risk anything hurting you.”

“I’m the Slayer,” she seethed.

Derek was by her side in a flash. Tori was thankful that the bar was so crowded. He had moved too quickly, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Derek cupped Erin’s face in his hands. “And I’m the vampire in love wi’ her.”

****

The loft was about four hundred square feet of open space. It had two closets and a bathroom. Elora and Corbin had boarded up the windows to make it light-tight. It was the top floor, so no one below would notice that the windows had been sealed. Without any real walls to separate the space, they wouldn’t have too much privacy. Corbin had hung sheets to separate the room into sleeping areas for the four couples, and one additional area for Kane. There were sleeping bags, blankets and pillows to make the area as comfortable as possible. She even provided candles for each couple.

“Thanks for these,” Kane said holding up his candle. I may want to rub one more out before I die. This will help me get in the mood.”

Corbin’s creamy caramel skin flushed with her blush. “I like to read by candlelight,” she reasoned, avoiding his eyes.

“Oh, is that what they call it in New Orleans? Reading?” Kane laughed and Corbin returned his smile. He winked at her, tossed his candle in the air and caught it in his opposite hand. He disappeared behind his curtain. Corbin turned to Erin, the smile still swirled across her face.

“Little flirt, ain’t he?” Her eyes glistened as she watched Kane remove his shirt behind the curtain. He had decided to light the candle after all.

“No. Big flirt,” Erin corrected, then joined Derek inside her curtained area. Elora just laughed and lit a few candles for herself, as she took out her tarot cards.

“Excuse me… Elora?” Kyle approached the witch cautiously. He probably feared she would use her necromancy on him.

“Yes, lil blue? What is it child?” Elora’s voice was sweet as honey. Clearly she was trying to show Kyle and the others that it wasn’t in her nature to use her powers.

“The guitar in the corner…” Kyle turned and pointed to a battered acoustic covered with colorful hand painted designs. Butterflies, flowers, and skull images that seemed more decorative than symbolic. “Is it yours?”

“Mmhhmm. Often times, I can’t sleep. Playing helps calm me down.”

“Me too. I left my electric at home. Bryce suggested we pack light.” His words were filled with regret.

“It dinna stop, Erin,” Bryce chimed in.

“Oh let it go, Bryce!” Erin called back from behind the curtain.

Elora crossed the room, picked up her guitar and presented it to Kyle. “You can play it.”

“Really?” Kyle’s face lit up.

“Of course.” Her smile was broad and magical in that it made everyone around her want to smile in return.

“Thanks, Elora.” Kyle took the guitar into his curtained area with Liv. Tori walked beside Elora and slipped her hand in hers.

“That was very sweet of you. Kyle loves to play.”

“I like him. I like all of your clan. You’re a beautiful family.”

Tori considered this. Family. She always just saw Bryce as being her family, but all of these people under this roof were fighting for Bryce. Fighting a battle that didn’t belong to them.

They were her family.

Tori gave Elora a kiss on the cheek and bid her and Corbin a good night. Taking Bryce’s hand, they entered their own private area of the loft. It was almost four and the night was starting to slip closer to day. This was always Bryce’s favorite time. It was when he had a few precious hours left to spend with Tori, to just shut out the rest of the world.

Tori unzipped their luggage, startled by what she found on top. It was Bryce’s kilt. She pulled it out of the suitcase and held it up to him.

“Uh… hon… please don’t tell me you’re planning to paint your face blue and ride into battle wearing this.” She waved the kilt at him, causing the pleats to flap.

Bryce pulled his kilt away from her hands. “Ye’ve seen too many movies.”

“Why did you bring that?”

“If the occasion arrives that I planned on wearing it, then ye’ll know. Till then, mind yer business.” He kissed her nose and carefully folded his kilt.

“Fine. Keep your secrets.”

“Trust me. If I get to wear it—” he smiled like a schoolboy and kissed her. “It’s for a great reason.” He didn’t want to tell her that he desired to wear it as he set foot back home in Scotland again, with her beside him—for what if that dream never came true? Bryce was so close to home, and should they be victorious he had every intention of seeing his land again before they returned to New York. “Now, stop unpacking and get over here.” He deflected her attention away from the kilt and back where it belonged, by pulling her down hard by her waist so she landed in his lap. Tori squealed in delight.

“I’m regretting my decision to tag along!” Kane called from his area of the loft.

Tori’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “Sorry Ka—”

She couldn’t finish, Bryce’s mouth was on hers, his hands pulling her shirt up and over her head. “Bryce! We can’t” she tried to whisper, but in a room full of vampires she knew they heard every word.

“I dinna want to—I mean, of course I fecking want to, but nae now. I just want to feel yer skin against mine. It’ll help me sleep.”

Tori conceded and slipped under the blankets with Bryce. The floor was hard beneath the thin sleeping bag, but she didn’t mind. She had him. And in this moment, he was all she needed. Bryce removed his shirt and pressed his chiseled chest against her soft breasts. And as he laid his mouth on hers, the soothing sounds of a guitar could be heard from the far side of the room.