Chapter 1
At least it had been a typical British summer so far: Some bright hot sunny days followed by weeks of temperate weather, sometimes cloudy and rainy. The British though, having decided to dress in season had declared it summer and behaved accordingly – no matter how cold they got: The stiff upper lip turned into the freezing upper lip, but then, seasons had to be taken with the stoicism reserved for those kinds of calamities.
The breathtakingly beautiful young man leaving his flat in Regent Street to get onto a motorbike on a Friday night was in a good mood. He did not go overboard with the summer fashion though: no brightly patterned shirts or Bermudas for Marcus Trevelyan-Carter, he wore his usual dark jeans and T-shirt with soft boots. He didn’t bother with a helmet though, the feeling of the summer wind in his wavy dark hair was much more important to him than any protection a helmet could provide. Besides, he was dead already, had been so since his father had accidentally turned his only son into a vampire in 1924, thus making him immortal at age 24.
What caused Marcus’ good mood apart from the weather – the vampire could not go out on bright sunny days – was that the three people he liked best were returning to London that night.
Marcus had fallen in love with Naomi when she was at Oxford 17 years ago, a problem, as he was quite sure he would end up killing her if he got as close to her as he wanted. He had then stayed watching her, trying to protect her against everything he considered dangerous, an activity which could include the occasional murder. This had led to him meeting Paul Usher, detective inspector at Scotland Yard, two years ago. Paul had been the investigating officer in a murder case that also involved Naomi. In the end it had led to Marcus’ true nature to be revealed not only to Paul but also to Naomi, who had then insisted on keeping Marcus in her life in spite of it, reasoning that human friends could make him feel human again. She had even left her new boyfriend Paul for a while and tried to live with Marcus two years ago, until they had found out she was pregnant with Paul’s child. Marcus had then made the decision to leave her, realising that he stood in the way of Naomi and Paul – the best friend he had – becoming truly happy and having the life they wanted and deserved. It had taken almost all his strength to tear himself away from the dream of a life they had started, but – he had to concede – it had been the right thing. Thus the third person he liked best had come to be: Gemma, Paul’s and Naomi’s daughter had been born 15 months ago, and Marcus liked the idea of his friends’ existence continuing through the little girl.
So now the Usher family was coming back from a three week holiday in Italy with Paul’s sister and her family, and Marcus was looking forward to spending time with them and relieving his loneliness. He would have fun with Paul and discuss Medieval Studies with Naomi, who was a lecturer at King’s College now. He had kept on working in his field after the change to distract himself from the unquenchable thirst for blood that tended to turn vampires into monsters.
And he would play with little Gemma or look at picture books with her. Getting used to another human so close and dependent on Naomi and taking up her time had been difficult for him, especially in the beginning: When he had first come upon Gemma feeding on Naomi he had lost it, left banging the door and faced a rather embarrassing half hour explaining what had happened to Paul who had followed him. Naomi had simply called him later and they had found a better way to time his visits. Marcus would never have thought he would enjoy watching a baby, but after the bad start it had been different with Naomi’s daughter, even if there was a sad note to that: With Gemma growing older he could see Naomi’s life time slipping away, and the possibility of her mortal life ending became real. He didn’t allow himself to dwell on that thought too much.
Anyway, they would return tonight. Finally! He’d had an email by Paul giving the dates of their holiday at the beginning of June. Marcus didn’t like to leave Naomi alone in London in the summer when the city became a hotspot and feeding ground for vampires from all over the world. This could put Naomi in danger, whose scent was extremely appetising to his kind as he had found out two years ago.
Then last night he had a message on his mailbox by Naomi, stating that she was looking forward to seeing him on Monday. He smiled: Considerate and understanding as Naomi usually was about everything concerning his needs, she had put off their first meeting to a time after their return so as to give him more time to adjust and be in control of his appetite.
He would allow himself a glimpse of her tonight though.
He had parked the bike at a distance and got into the miniature garden of the Kensington house and waited, tense with anticipation. At half past nine he heard Paul’s car pull into an empty space near the house. His acute hearing then told him they had come in, and Paul carried Gemma up to her room and put her to bed. He heard the regular breaths of the small child sleeping soundly.
Naomi came into the biggest room on the ground floor, kitchen, dining room and living room, switched on the lights and started rummaging around for a corkscrew and wineglasses. He drank her in, relishing that from today on he would be able to look at her again at his pleasure.
She was wearing a light blue summer dress and had caught up her curly dark hair in a loose bun. He saw a strand of hair had escaped and had curled itself down her neck, emphasising the impression of a very fragile person. It must have been really sunny in Italy, even her usually ivory skin was slightly tanned. He sighed: Paul would definitely be brown then. How great it would be to be able to change and not be stuck in his kind of fossilised existence!
Yes, Paul came into the room now, tall and sinewy, deeply tanned, his skin an attractive contrast to his light green eyes. Naomi laughed at something he said – a joke Marcus didn’t get. Paul came forward and stood close to Naomi, whispering in her ear, too quiet even for Marcus to understand. Then suddenly he lifted her to sit on the kitchen counter and pushed up her dress. Naomi wrapped her legs around him and kissed him. Paul pushed himself against her, his fingers in her hair. Marcus closed his eyes. He should definitely leave, but for now he was frozen to the spot, wishing more than anything else that he could change places with Paul. When Marcus opened his eyes again, Naomi’s back was arched, and she was bending back her head, thus exposing her neck, her eyes closed.
Marcus swallowed and cursed in frustration: That was exactly why he should not be in Paul’s place. Had he been, Naomi would have been dead for sure. He could feel the monster raising its head even from the distance of the garden, could almost feel her warmth and heartbeat and smell her scent.
He left in a flash, deciding to try again in two days, hoping to have calmed down enough by then. For the rest of the night he let his instincts rule him, seeking forgetting in the dark.
He could not have said what he had done in those hours before he returned to the flat at dawn. When he came to his senses again, he was sitting in the hallway, leaning against the door. Slowly he got up and went to the bathroom, finding what he had dreaded: his face and clothes bore evidence of the exploits of the night. Shuddering he got undressed and cleaned himself of the dried blood. This was not the first time he had passed out after a frenzy of drinking this summer. He would have to talk to his vampire friend Philippe about what was happening to him. Soon.
