A Storm of Paper Starlings

41. The Merryweathers

"I thought you'd never call." Jed's voice is all thick and sleep-fried like he's stretching in bed.

"Ain't you up yet?"

He groans. "You sound like Grandad."

"I need a favour," I say.

"Yeah? What's it worth?"

"Please don't be a dick. It's important. I've got... it's for Adam. I made a promise and—"

"I'm kidding. What do you need?"

"A ride to Atherbourn House?"

"When?"

"As soon as possible."

Half an hour later, I'm sitting in a blue Beetle that smells of hot metal and mouthwash.

"It's not mine," Jed says from behind his sunglasses. "It's my cousin's, but she's indisposed right now. I'm getting my own car next month."

"Nice." Then because I need this favour, I say, "Thanks for this. I really appreciate you dragging your arse out of bed."

His eyebrows arch above his glasses briefly, and his jaw tightens.

I laugh, because I know he wants to say something, probably some hideous line about his arse. "I bet that killed you."

He laughs. "I'm really trying." He nods at my lap. "So, you have a letter for Lotus?"

"Yeah, I guess they were friends for a long time," I say. "I mean... shit."

"Relax, Violet. I know what they are."

"Oh. Oh, well... that's good, then."

"Grandad's devastated. He and Adam had been friends since they were boys. That's when they met Lotus."

"She's not a vampire though," I say. "She was at the church. For the funeral."

"I don't know what she is, so don't ask," he says. "Do you know Adam was in love with her?"

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that."

The way Adam used to drift away sometimes. The blue lotus paperweight is heavy in my pocket. I thought she might like it back, but now I wonder if it might be too much.

"Lotus chose Betsy, but Adam was her best friend. Grandad's uncle lived with the coven." He glances at me, then his eyes are back on the road. "He died when I was a kid, but his partner is still a member of the coven. They were heartbroken. They'd been with him for seventy years."

"It must be hard. Loving someone so long, knowing you'll still be the same when they're gone."

"Grandad says Birdie's not the same." He changes gear, his thumb rubbing over his shell bracelet before returning his hand to the steering wheel. "He thinks they'll never be the same again."

Sentimental Jed is unnerving.

Five minutes later, we pull into the drive of a gothic vampire castle. No lie. In the heart of Oxfordshire, there is this: a screaming grey mansion with arches, turrets, and twitching curtains. Bony stone dogs bare their teeth at the door, and I do not want to get out of the car.

To the side of Atherbourn House, a low hedge is smoking.

"Oh god! Is it on fire?"

When we step onto the drive, I see someone in a beekeeper suit wafting the smoke around, and my panic subsides. Bees. I remind myself never to bring Leia here.

Standing next to Jed on the doorstep, I wonder what the hell possessed me to think I could do this alone. Because before Mara came back, that's exactly what I was thinking. I was going to visit a coven of vampires... alone. Because I'm a special kind of fool.