Savage Wings: Book Three of The Whitechapel Chronicles

Chapter 34

"Putting distance between yourself and Lucius isn't the answer, you know?"

I bunched my hands into fists by my sides as Harper and I walked through Battersea Park, with the imposing cylindrical towers of the power station looming over the top of the tree line ahead of us. In the distance they looked like thin ghostly giants, sweeping their watchful glare across the park and keeping an eye on all who dared to venture into this lush oasis, located in the midst of the grey urban jungle of the city.

Spring may have brought with it bursts of bluebells and explosions of tulips, but the nights were still full of winter chill, almost as if it was stubbornly refusing to give up its throne for the next season to take its rightful place for the next few months. Despite the cold night air that bit cruelly at faces and fingers, there was still a few joggers about, still a few people taking a leisurely walk before the gates were closed at ten-thirty.

We were making our way towards the river that bordered the north side of the park and power station, with the intention of picking up some poor vagrant bastard or with luck, some other poor bastard who thought they might try their luck picking on a couple of vampires down near the water's edge. My body had hungered for blood sooner than usual, no doubt because the cleansing of Amy had exhausted whatever energy supplies I had left, but truth be told, there were closer places to hunt than Battersea Park.

I was running away, without actually running away and I hated myself for it. I hated avoiding Lucius because I knew it didn't feel right to avoid him. All this time I had spent with him never that far from my side, never far from my vigilant eyes, always heeding Garrick's words to look after him and yet all the while knowing that I would have done that regardless, because the little boy had come to mean more to me than I could have ever imagined. Being apart from him when Brandon had captured me had hurt so bad it had felt like a physical pain, a throbbing, grinding ache in the base of my stomach, a pounding heart-wrenching burn in my chest. Locked into my contract with Josiah and without Harper to lean on, Lucius had been the one thing keeping me going, the one thing that I could count on, when it seemed I had nothing left but him. There was no denying it; the strange little boy with the terrifying gift had become a part of me.

Not once had I ever sensed I might be a danger to him. Even in those early days, when he'd tormented me with dark dreams and hideous visions, I'd never imagined that I could ever hurt him. And yet now, here I was, the one person who'd vowed to protect him, apparently also the one person destined to end his life.

Destined. 

When said out loud, the word seemed to leave a bad taste in my mouth, like that final acidic burn of bile that you would cough up once there was nothing left in your stomach to vomit into the toilet bowl. It was a cruel pretense, a word meant to conjure pride and honour, yet all the while concealing a dark, nasty secret behind the smile, like a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Harper was right, of course. Putting distance between myself and Lucius wasn't the answer, but right now, it was all I had. I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do. The night of the second moon, I had discovered, was just over a week away – a blue moon, to be more precise – and if it wasn't for the fact that I knew I still had a duty to protect Lucius, I think I might have travelled halfway across the world to get away from him in fear of what I might be capable of.

I'd walked on for a few metres before realising that Harper's footsteps were not in tandem with my own and turning back, I saw that he had stopped in the middle of the path, with his hands shoved into the tops of his jean pockets and one dark eyebrow raised, as if waiting expectantly for my response and clearly insistent that he get one.

My shoulders slumped as I looked at him, the ache rippling down my back and along the hardened ridges that ran parallel to my spine. "I know," I said. "But what else can I do?"