Chapter - Five

The next morning I dragged myself from the bed, showered and brushed my teeth, then changed into my favourite old jeans and a cosy butterscotch-coloured sweater. My jade-green eyes stared back at me in the mirror, the bags beneath my eyes unsettling. I had barely slept through the night thanks to the questions I couldn't escape. But I shook away the exhaustion as I brushed my hair, yanking the hairbrush through the snarls of my auburn waves.

I met Calum in the hallway, and we walked in silence across to the main house, my shoes crunching on the frosty grass.

Inside, I stalked to the kitchen, finding Felix at the stovetop cooking eggs. He wore a simple grey shirt and black jeans. Curiosity burned inside me as I asked him, ‘Why are you cooking?'

He raised a brow. ‘For breakfast?'

‘You can eat human food?'

‘Duh,' Felix answered, frowning at me. ‘What else would I eat?'

‘I thought you just drank blood.'

‘No. Well, yes and no. We can survive off a blood diet, but we have to feed more regularly that way.' He put the eggs on a plate with two pieces of toast. ‘Do you want something to eat?'

My stomach growled. ‘Do you have crumpets?'

He went to the fridge and dug around before throwing a packet at me, which I caught. ‘What do you want on them?'

‘Uh …'

‘Hurry up.'

‘Jam or honey is fine,' I said.

He dug through a cupboard and placed both on the countertop. I watched him prepare our breakfast, secretly impressed that he could cook, then followed him to the dining area. He sat on one side and I sat on the other. Calum was seated at the head of the table, texting.

‘Is it Florence?' Felix asked him.

‘She's on her way back here now,' Calum said. ‘Should be a few minutes.'

Felix glanced at me and caught me staring. ‘What?' he said. I blushed. ‘Any other things you want to know?'

I blurted out, ‘Does holy water burn you?'

He scoffed and Calum chuckled. ‘No,' Felix said. ‘It itches; it's a little like a bee sting but it doesn't peel or burn away flesh.'

‘What about silver? Does it brand you?'

‘No but faeries tend to hate it.' He looked at my hands wrapped securely around a knife and fork. ‘You don't seem too uncomfortable with it.'

‘The feeling makes my skin crawl a little,' I answered.

Felix bobbed his head while swallowing a mouthful of toast and egg. ‘Figures.'

‘What about your teeth?'

‘My canines?'

I nodded.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘What about them?'

‘Why do they appear sometimes and not others?'

He sighed and rolled his eyes, then swallowed his mouthful of food before answering. ‘I can withdraw them into my gums. It's a child of death perk. If we walked around with them out, wouldn't we look a little suspicious?'

‘Oh, right.' I faltered for a minute. ‘Can you run really fast? You're always out of the room so quick, it's like I don't see you leave. Are you, like, super strong? Could you lift a car? And can you drink anyone's blood or is it just humans you fancy?'

He finished chewing. ‘Why would I be lifting a car?' Another eye roll before he continued. ‘We're faster than humans, but lycanthropes can outrun us if they shift, and they're definitely stronger. Warlocks would run but they're only as fast as a human athlete. Faeries don't run unless in battle. And even then, they just tend to walk a bit quicker. And we can drink anyone's blood, just depends on taste. Humans are just the easiest to drink from because they're the only kind we can mind manipulate to forget the bite.'

‘Tell me more about faeries,' I said. ‘How long do they live?'

‘As far as I know, they don't die much. Perhaps a few thousand years, often more. Some are still alive from the creation of the great pyramids in Egypt. I once met a man in a bar who had been Cleopatra's personal blood bag. Or so he bragged.'

‘This is a whole lot of brand new information,' I said. ‘So, if I'm a youngblood and part child of death, would I have to drink blood?'

‘Most likely, but perhaps not.' Felix shrugged. ‘Can always test it out,' he said with a genuine smile. ‘The council will help you figure out who you are.'

‘Whatever that means,' I mumbled.

???

After breakfast, Blanche and Talora joined us at the dining table. Florence darted into the room wearing a thin smile and took a seat. Felix said, ‘You were gone for a while.'

‘She is a hard warlock to find,' came her blunt reply. ‘Angel doesn't work for the council. She works as a Rogue and she's as mad as a cut snake. That happens when you've been part demon for too long and work with uncontrollable magic; you lose empathy for those around you.'

Felix nodded. ‘And where is she now?'

‘At a club called "Addiction". She'll be there tonight for a little while. But you can't just turn up and start firing questions at her; she'll turn you into a frog.'

‘She'll meet us or I'll bite her.'

Calum spluttered. ‘Sure – like demon blood wouldn't taste like battery acid,' he said. ‘Warlock blood is cursed.'

‘We can't wait,' Felix said. He glared at Florence. ‘If we wait and lose her, we lose a lead for Tabitha's birth parents. I'll go tonight – alone if I have to.'

‘No! Let me try and ask around, see if I can get us an appointment with her,' Florence said, her eyes wide and pleading. ‘If you storm in there and demand to see her, she'll hurt you. I can't have that on my conscience.'

He squeezed the dining table hard enough that it splintered beneath his grip before he relaxed back in the chair. I watched him unclench his jaw. ‘Fine. But we see her tonight. I don't care when or how, we have to see Angel. Make it happen.'

Florence nodded. She drew a phone from her pocket and dashed from the room, pressing it to her ear. She returned a few moments later, giving us all a tight-lipped smile. ‘We'll meet her at ten o'clock this evening.'

‘Will you help me choose what to wear?' I asked Florence.

Felix whipped his head towards me. A shadow crossed his face. ‘You're not going. You're to stay right here, where it's safe.'

‘No way!' I cried, not wanting to be left out.

‘Oh, she's coming tonight,' Calum answered, sounding far too smug and winking at me.

‘I promise you, she is not coming!' Felix yelled. He stared me down as he continued. ‘You are staying inside this house with Blanche and Talora, reading some stupid book, and then going to bed at a reasonable time. There is no way I am risking your youngblood neck by taking you to a warlock's club in the middle of town. It's not happening. End of story!'

???

We entered the club after the bouncer checked out our identification, Felix leading the way while Calum, wearing a black mesh shirt and leather pants paired with gold necklaces and rings, gazed over the sea of people. With his golden, buzzed hair and canines out in full view, he drew eyes from everywhere as he strolled behind Felix, leaving me to catch up.

Felix wore less daring clothing – an emerald and butterscotch striped silk shirt, slashed black skinny jeans, and his black combat boots. He strode forward with a mischievous glint to his silver irises. He'd put in contacts instead of his glasses and had let Florence brush some highlight over his cheekbones.

My mouth felt dry as I scurried after the pair of them, trying not to topple over in my heels. I wore a ruby-red skirt that barely scraped my mid-thigh. The more I tried tugging it down, the more it exposed my waistline. With a sigh, I gave up, flicking my sleek ponytail over my shoulder and adjusting the fall of my long-sleeved, ebony crop top. One of the bartenders eyed me off like I was a steak and he was starving. He ran his tongue over his canines while I quivered, unable to push through the crowd to escape.

Felix tugged on my arm and pulled me away. ‘Pay attention. Everyone in here will be interested in you because of your mixed scent, so stick close to my side and don't wander off. We're here to wait for a warlock, not to have a night out.'

Calum rolled his eyes as Felix dropped my arm and stalked off. The crowd parted for him like he owned them. I slipped in through the crowd with Calum following me. But before I could pass through the sea of people, a girl pressed herself into my side. Her serpent tongue dripped from her mouth and I hesitated, fascinated by her beauty, as she began to sing a beautiful melody. Before I even realised it, her hands found my hips and she dragged me further into the crowd. Calum threw an arm over my shoulders and pulled me away from the girl. He swept me out of the crowd, never looking back. When I turned back to find her, the girl had disappeared into the haze of smoke and people.

‘Careful,' he said, moving in close to my ear. ‘She's a siren. Nasty folk. Would have snatched your eyes out of your skull as payment for her song.' I shivered at his words. He shot me a grim smile. ‘You're safe with us. Just keep walking, okay?'

We rounded the edge of the dance floor to find Felix waiting beside a booth. He slid along to the end of the bench seat on one side, leaving a space for me to sit next to him, then glowered at me when I took a seat beside Calum instead. He twisted towards the bartender and waggled his fingers in the air, signalling for a round of drinks. Mission accomplished, he raised his voice over the music. ‘Florence will be joining us soon.' Then he brought out his phone and began to text. He didn't even raise his head to thank the bartender who served us our drinks.

Calum slipped out of the booth and onto the dance floor, his canines flashing in the disco lights as he was swept into the crowd. I stayed quiet, watching the people enjoying the beat of the music, their bodies all tangled together on the dance floor.

After a few moments of sitting and watching the crowds, I noticed two men dressed in black suits approaching the booths. One of them carried a flashlight. He caught me staring and whispered something to the man next to him, who then also looked my way. The one who carried the flashlight began to angle the light towards our booth. I squirmed in my seat, unsure of what was happening. But it seemed Felix knew more than me because he swept over to my side of the booth, his knee hitting mine. I turned to find his face inches from my nose.

Without a word, he pressed himself flush against my chest. My lips parted in surprise. I raised my hands to his shirt, the material silky beneath my fingertips. Felix wrapped his hands around my wrists and pulled my hands up around his neck.

I tried to draw away from him. ‘What are you doing?' I hissed.

He slipped in closer to me, nudging my nose with his. My heart almost cracked my ribs. ‘Just leave it for a second, would you?' he mumbled. His eyes were on my mouth. The skin of my palms grew cold and clammy at the darkening of his pupils.

I tried to question him but he was much quicker. Felix leant down and pressed a hard kiss to my throat, his tongue sliding over the vein he'd punctured only nights before. I gripped the back of his shirt at the heat of his canines dragging over my skin. Felix pulled me even closer as he emitted a low groan that made me quiver. My body begun to react in ways I had never imagined as his teeth nipped the soft skin of my neck.

With a glance to my right, I noticed the two guards wandering away, their flashlight beam crawling to the next few booths. Neither of them seemed prepared to interrupt and they continued on their rounds. Realisation hit me and I withdrew my hands from Felix's neck. I pushed against his chest and his mouth was ripped off my neck. The patch of skin he'd been kissing grew cold without the heat of his tongue against it. Felix drew back from me, grit his teeth and reached for his drink. He swished the liquid around his mouth before swallowing.

‘What was that for?'

He didn't answer for a moment. Then, with a glance towards the retreating guards, he murmured, ‘Those two lycanthropes could smell your mixed scent. Youngbloods are forbidden to enter this club; it's Purebloods only.' His silver eyes danced over the hollows of my throat and his voice was low and rich like the whisky he sipped. ‘Me kissing your neck made it look like two children of death simply hooking up. A youngblood never offers up their throat willingly.'

I stared at him as he continued sipping on his drink. Finally, swallowing my pride, I said, ‘Thank you.'

He didn't answer me, but I saw a glimmer of a smile touch his mouth. His knee bumped mine a few times beneath the table as we waited in silence for Florence. I just about chugged my drink and Felix kept his eyes on the club dancefloor. Finally, she arrived, towing Calum behind her. His cheeks were peppered with red lipstick which made me laugh.

Florence wore a tight emerald-green dress and black lipstick. Her unruly, tangled hair bounced around her head. She gestured for us to follow her in silence. Felix took me by the hand without a word and helped me stand. We all followed her to a secluded door at the back of the club. Florence brushed a guard aside and announced we were there to see Angel. She reached for the door handle but Felix stopped her. Florence turned back and frowned.

‘Are you sure about this?' he asked.

‘Not entirely, no.' Florence let her canine teeth slide out of her gums. ‘Angel's curious to meet a halfling.'

‘How curious?'

She glanced at me. ‘Maybe hold onto her hand.'

‘What?' I said, my voice alerting the guard who stared in our direction. ‘No!'

Felix wrapped a hand around my wrist and yanked me towards him. ‘Stop attracting attention,' he hissed.

He grabbed my hand and slid his fingers in between my own. His palm was rather clammy. I was about to complain but Florence cut me off by twisting the door handle and pushing inside the room. Calum followed her and Felix used his free hand to push against my hips for me to go first, keeping our hands intertwined. I felt the pinch of his rings against my skin.

The room was lavish but not large. A pentagram was drawn in crimson paint over the concrete floor. There was a bookshelf pushed into the far left corner, stacked with novels that seemed to purr and growl at our entrance. A woman sat on a throne made from glass atop a pedestal of gold. She had platinum-blonde hair and eyes so blue they looked like a fallen piece of sky. Her dress was made of rippling caramel tulle and the fabric of the sleeves dripped from her slender wrists.

‘Angel,' Florence said. ‘It is good to see you again.'

Angel wore a devious smirk and her eyes flicked over me immediately. Her nostrils flared as she breathed in my scent. Felix tightened his grip on my hand.

‘Night children,' Angel purred, her voice warm as hot cocoa. ‘Welcome.'

I pressed myself into Felix's chest, our intertwined hands resting on my hip. Felix took a deep breath. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, ‘Don't be frightened.'

‘What a sight,' Angel murmured, drawing our eyes to her. She tilted her head towards Felix, then glanced down at me. ‘My, what a pretty little halfling she is indeed.'

‘Are you the warlock we search for?' Felix asked her, his eyes locked on Angel's.

Angel shrugged. ‘I could be. It depends on what you seek.' She turned to me again and my gut twisted as her blue eyes pierced mine. ‘Have you ever seen magic before, halfling?'

‘N-never,' I said. ‘I grew up human.'

Angel waved a hand through the air. A kettle popped into the room in a cloud of gold dust and was suspended in mid-air. It rattled as a teacup and saucer also appeared beneath it. I watched in fascination as the kettle poured a fresh brew of tea into the teacup before floating into Angel's awaiting hands. Once the cup was delicately placed in her fingers, the kettle flashed bright gold and disappeared. Angel let out a peal of laughter at the sight of my expression.

She grinned at me, showing her pearly-white teeth. ‘How delicious to see her delight.'

Florence cut in. ‘We must ask something of you, Angel.'

‘All information will cost you,' Angel answered, sounding annoyed at the interruption.

‘The mark on Tabitha's finger.' Felix unwrapped our hands to show her the strange marking staining my skin. Angel's eyes grew soft. ‘Did you put it there?' he said.

‘No,' she answered curtly. ‘That is not something I would do. It is a youngblood's mark, not a warlock's.'

My spirits fell. Felix glowered at Florence. ‘You said she would know.'

Florence looked away. ‘I thought she would. But if the mark is not hers, maybe she knows other Rogues who might have marked Tabitha.'

‘Rogues,' Angel said with a laugh. ‘Such a wild title for those who don't conform. I don't apologise for not wanting to work for the council. My magic is my own and I dare not disrespect my abilities by being somebody's pet magician.'

‘This isn't worth it,' Felix said with a low growl. ‘Let's leave.'

‘Just a moment,' Angel said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She twisted in her seat and crossed her legs. ‘I may have not cast the youngblood mark on the girl, but perhaps I know who did mark her skin with a warlock's seal.'

‘A warlock's seal?' I asked.

Angel's smile was as cold as the winter weather. ‘A warlock's seal covers what cannot be seen by the naked eye, little halfling. You are coated in something which is not your own.'

‘I don't understand,' I said to her.

Angel merely raised her shoulders. ‘You will understand as time passes.'

‘Tell us where it is,' Felix snapped.

‘To find the warlock who spelled Tabitha, you will need "the sight" to see their mark. I can give it to you for a pretty little price.'

Felix smothered his mouth for a second and gripped my hip tighter. Florence didn't look pleased. ‘We have to trade for it,' he told me.

‘Trade?' I asked him as Angel giggled.

‘Memories, emotions, thoughts, dreams,' he said. ‘All of them are like dessert to a warlock. We give them something in exchange for "the sight".'

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand. ‘Felix, no,' I whispered to him.

He ignored me. ‘Give it to me,' he told Angel.

‘For what in return?' she asked, sipping her tea.

‘What do you wish for?'

Angel licked her lips, devilish glee in her eyes. ‘Oh, I quite like memories, if I'm honest. They taste good with an English breakfast.'

Felix straightened up. ‘What kind of memory?'

‘Something painful. A memory that hurts when you touch it. I relish in the angst of it all.'

‘Why a memory?' I asked as I grabbed the hem of his shirt, trying to prevent him from moving towards her.

‘Demons feed off pain; memories are full of it,' Felix said keeping his eyes on Angel.

‘You shouldn't have to. Not for me.'

The silver to his eyes flashed in the shadows. ‘It's alright.' He peeled my hands off his shirt and flicked his head at Calum who moved beside me.

I bristled. Felix walked towards Angel and stopped when she raised a hand. ‘Choose a memory,' he said.

Angel cleared her throat. ‘I want the memory of your first broken bone.' She smiled, relishing in his discomfort. ‘Hand it over and "the sight" is yours.'

‘Take it,' he replied. He pressed his temples into her awaiting hands.

For a few moments, nothing happened. And then white strands, like wisps of smoke, floated out from Felix's temples. They turned into bands of light as they swam into Angel's hands. She grasped the ends firmly before wrapping them in a coil around her wrist, where they then vanished. Her cheeks were warm with glee.

Felix stumbled back, shaking his head. I started to move towards him but Calum gripped my shoulder too tightly for me to shake him off. We watched Felix fix his hair before he asked Angel, ‘Did you get what you were wanting?'

Angel's gaze was innocent. ‘And what did I want, child of death?'

‘A painful memory, but I can't think what it was.'

‘Perfect.'

I scowled at her. ‘And "the sight"?'

Angel huffed at me. ‘Yes, of course. I do stick to my word, you know.' She flicked her fingers towards Felix. Gold shot from her fingertips and hit him square in the chest. He stumbled back, letting out a strangled moan as he pressed his hands to his eyes. He then turned back to us, blinking.

Angel asked, ‘Can you see?'

Calum jumped out of the way as Felix moved towards me. Felix examined me, frowned and said, ‘I cannot see anything.'

‘Look,' she murmured. Her dress fluttered around her sweeping hands. ‘Behind the curve of her right knee, just where the skin is softest. There you will find the marking.'

Felix knelt down and pushed my leg forward. His fingers traced my skin behind my knee as he peered at the spot Angel had indicated. I bit down hard on my lip. My heart began to race at the feel of his rough fingertips. ‘I see it. There's an indentation in the skin, shaped like a deer's antler.'

‘Yes,' Angel said. ‘You see it. A warlock's signature marking.'

‘Who does it belong to?' Felix asked her, standing and turning to face her. ‘Help us.'

Angel let out a peal of laughter. ‘Child of the night, I care little about aiding your quest.'

‘We'll leave now,' Florence said. She and Calum moved to the door.

Angel relaxed back in her chair. ‘The girl will find herself when the time is right,' she told us. ‘And when she does, find me again.'

‘Let's go,' Calum whispered from behind us, shaking Felix's shoulder a little.

Felix grabbed for my hand, intertwining our fingers again as we moved to the door. I let him lead through the doorway but unable to help myself, I glanced back at Angel. Her gold magic kissed the air around her, shrouding her body in dust. She batted her eyelashes at me. ‘See you again, halfling,' she cooed back at me but her words felt like a threat. A shiver raced down my back.

Demons were never done with you.