Hellfire

Chapter Ten

I woke with a start, flying upwards and snatching at my throat where Lucius had bitten so deeply. My heart was thumping, my mind a hive of different frantic thoughts - how I wanted to punch Lucius for not telling me he just needed to bite me and put himself through that torture to wanting to hold him; how his bite had been the most pleasurable yet frustrating thing I'd ever experienced; how I desperately needed to see him and know he was himself again.

I flinched and tore myself away from a hand that grasped my shoulder, snatching at the baseball bat I kept handing and waving it above my head. For a moment, I couldn't see well. My chest heaved, my heart flew manically, but slowly I realised it was Arnold leaning towards me, his old gaze furrowed with worry.

'Susan. You're safe.' He eased.

I stared at him, relief rushing through me at the sight of him well and safe, not a speck of blood on him or a single scratch. I tossed the baseball bat and scrabbled forward, gripping his face between my hands as I looked him over frantically.

'You're okay? I thought Lucius hurt you.'

'He did. Samantha did a wonderful job at healing me, as always. Doc is worse by far though. He's resilient at least. It'll take more than a split head to kill him.'

I sunk back into my bed, my hands slapping over my bare thighs, before they tightened into fists and my back straightened.

'What the fuck happened, Arnold? How come I was so in the dark?' I demanded, my eyes blazing. 'I was waiting for Lucius to turn up to bring me home, instead he turns up atrophied and ready to murder me and anyone in his way!'

Arnold raised a hand against my heated words, clearly not bothered by my rising temper. 'Because seeing him chained was enough to set you on fire, Susan. I wanted you away from him, far away, until we figured out what the problem was.'

'But you found that out, yet didn't tell me.' I said sharply.

He sighed. 'Lord Vortigern wouldn't go through with it, Susan. We agreed to only come to you if he agreed to it. More stress would make the situation worse.'

'If I had come to him sooner, he may not have become that bad.'

'Possibly. Or it would've been your death.' He peered at me with a hard look. 'We weren't going to take needless risks with either of you.'

I breathed out a rush of dead ash and forced myself to set the argument aside. It was pointless to continue.

'Why does he need to bite me then?'

He spread his hands. 'I can't say. Lord Vortigern won't talk about the matter and Eva refused to go into details. She said it was part of the process Lucius was going through.'

My temper subsided. 'What do you mean?'

'He's facing himself.' A new voice said kindly – a married accent of Scottish and eastern European lilting her words.

I glanced up sharply, seeing a woman standing at the other side of my room. She was short with a plump, hourglass femininity, silver hair bundled up in a messy bun upon her head, her soft features smiling with kindness and patience I could never replicate. And there in her belly, was a small sign of pregnancy. Her name was Eva. The Eventide Queen of the British vampires and Lucius' good friend.

She smiled at me in her usual friendly way, her doe eyes glittering with affection. I released my hands from the achingly tight fists I'd bunched them in and tried my best to calm. Eva was the reason I was still alive to this day, why I hadn't burnt anyone to death and why no one knew about Lucius' need for my blood. She built the lock in my soul to keep my hellfire under control and tore apart any rumours, any inklings, I was a witch. Without her, both Lucius and I would be long hunted and killed, so I did my best to be patient with her, even when her laziness and gentility rubbed me the wrong way.