Havermouth, Three Weeks Before“You heard him, Rhett,” Cameron murmured, holding onto Rhett’s wrist.“Why was it f-ked up? Why do you think that what we had was so f-ked up that you didn’t come back afterwards? That it has taken your dad dying for you to come home?” Rhett wasn’t prepared to just let it go. He rounded on Aislen, determined to make her see what she had done to them, what she was continuing to do to them.“Rhett, Heath said to leave it,” Cameron pleaded.Aislen sighed, looking away before returning her eyes to Rhett’s. “Rhett… How can you look at what happened between the four of us and not think that it was wrong? Just look at what happened at the river house that night… That was rape. That was… It was an assault. I went into that bedroom with you…”“We are the Triquetra. We do everything together,” he was bewildered by the subject. Why, after so long, after everything that had happened between them, had she gone back to that first time, that first, special night of the
Havermouth, Present Time“What are you doing here?” Heath exclaimed in shock. “And how did you get into the town?”Greg’s eyes travelled over Talen, Leighton, and lingered on Aislen, the expression on his handsome face blanking before he dragged his eyes back to Heath and recovered his focus. Aislen frowned, trying to discern the reason behind the strange look.“On foot, avoiding roads. Havermouth appears to be the apex of the infection, and it became evident that we needed to investigate just what was going on here,” Greg answered Heath’s question.“Have you been into the hospital?” Talen asked him with quiet authority.Greg’s eyes travelled over the vampire with open assessment before deciding to answer. “No,” he replied with a slight shake of his head. “We were approaching a side door for that purpose when the helicopter landing drove us into a tent for cover. We saw you hiding between the tents as we took cover.“We have explored the tents surrounding the hospital, however,” he co
Havermouth, Present TimeIn the stairwell, Tom and Dan headed upwards, trotting effortlessly up at a pace that left Aislen breathless in empathy.“Is Scott okay?” Helena whispered. “I haven’t seen him since the storm hit. I’ve lost track of days. Things got so chaotic everyone was called in. We have been taking turns to sleep in the break rooms and rotating the shifts between us. At first it was storm related injuries – cuts from windows breaking, near drownings, that sort of thing. Then the usual DV cases – there’s nothing like being shut into a house together that brings out the bully in some people…”One of the Triquetra leaned over the staircase and gestured with two fingers for them to begin climbing.“Then things started to change. Mostly this water virus, but also the bites…” She shook her head grimly. “The bites are… terrifying. We don’t know what it is precisely, but the theory is a type of rabies, but one which doesn’t show on the normal screening tests or respond to normal
Havermouth, Present TimeThe activity in the rear of the ambulance was frantic, with Greg shedding his helmet and shoving it under the stretcher in order to help Helena more efficiently in the cramped quarters. Aislen forwent her seatbelt to kneel on the seat and watch. She could not see much of Abigail from her angle, but she had the impression of blood and bare skin.She turned back, feeling intrusive, just in time - as they approached the barricade. Talen and Heath were tense, intently watching the 4WD ahead of them as Leighton rolled down his window and spoke with the guards.“His charm is obviously still working,” Talen observed as the spike-strip was withdrawn and they were waved through. He ambled the ambulance past the guards.“Just not on me, apparently,” Heath replied.“Put pressure on here,” Helena instructed Greg. “Alright, I have it in. Hook this to the IV… Yes, like that, perfect. You’re quite a good nurse,” she added. “Who are you again? You’re not from our pack.”“Poin
Havermouth, Present TimeAt the top of the stairs, she saw Mercy standing in the open door to Rhett’s room. The dark haired woman looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide, and stepped back, edging along the wall to the doorway to the next room and disappearing within.Aislen and Heath exchanged a look of alarm and moved forward to the doorway. Cameron looked up from where he knelt beside the bed over Rhett, his face pale and strained, his cheeks flushed. There was a bowl and a cloth next to him. Rhett lay on the mattress, strands of his hair plastered wetly to his face. He gripped Cameron’s forearm, his eyes tightly closed, and a muscle worked in his jaw, obviously in pain.“He’s sick,” Cameron whispered the word to Heath and Aislen.Rhett’s eyes opened the pupils blown, seeking out Heath and Aislen and he smiled weakly. “Better sick than hungry, eh?” He said, his voice braking.“Talen!” Aislen’s cry was out of her mouth before the thought formed. She fell forward onto her knees, crawl
The Human Enemy’s Land, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeThaelen woke slowly, his eyelids heavy under the effects of the spell, dragging him out of a deep sleep, his body grudging to wake. Gera slept curled at his side, his body warm under the covers but that he was not snoring was a dead giveaway that the human was awake. Thaelen tensed, alerted by the human’s wakefulness. It was still night, and the dungeons were quieter during the night-time hours, as the guards would leave off torturing their prisoners.A burst of male laughter had him gritting his teeth, however it was distant, and faded away – the night-guards at the entrance of the dungeons playing dice as they passed the time.No, it wasn’t the guards that had Gera sleepless in the night. It was the murmuring of a female voice, repeating the same phrases over and over, her voice barely above a whisper but the words delivered with such fervency that it carried, humming through Thaelen’s bones, standing the hair across the back of hi
The Human Enemy’s Land, Eleven Hundred Years Before“Bath time, vampire,” the guards rattled the bars in warning before beginning to crank the pulley that tightened the chains, allowing Thaelen the dignity to rise to his feet and walk to the wall rather than be pulled there. He went docilely, continuing his efforts to lull the soldiers that guarded the dungeons into a sense of confident complacency.Gera moved with him, dragging the chair with him so that as Thaelen was held prone to the wall, the human man could sit and continue his efforts to teach Thaelen the human’s written language. Thaelen didn’t feel that it was necessary to let either his human blood slave or the guards know that he knew the human’s written language better than Gera did. He had asked Lady Beupraxia for the books and writing supplies under the ploy of alleviating the boredom of the cells, and she had granted his request as a reward for his good behavior.Under the guise of learning the language, Thaelen had com
The Human Enemy’s Land, Eleven Hundred Years BeforeGera’s hands slipped under Thaelen’s shirt as Thaelen fed from him, his fingertips tickling along the waistband of Thaelen’s trousers. The price of Thaelen’s meal was well established. Thaelen would feed, and Gera would get f-ked. Thaelen could only blame himself for the situation that he was caught in – he had never told the human no, and never explained that he simply did not want to have sex with him – but he was also unable to have the conversation without causing animosity between them and with his dependence on the human he could not risk that.Therefore, as he fed and the human groped him, Thaelen closed his eyes tightly and pictured other lovers and promised himself that once he was free, he would never again f-k someone he was not attracted to.The approach of the guards was a welcome reprieve for all the associated danger. The scent of expensive perfume drifting on the air alerted him to the Lady Beupraxia’s presence. He re