“Jason?”

  “Yeah, he’s our new temp.” Should she be mentioning him? He was actually Asher after all, but then again, if she didn’t would that also look suspicious? Asher had said play dumb, so play dumb she shall.

  “Do you know where he is now?”

  Again she shook her head, “I saw one of the other men attacking him as they broke out into the car park,” Harper widened her eyes dramatically as she felt tears beginning to brim in them, “Oh god, I hope he’s alright.”

  “We will find him, Harper,” PC Jenkins said comfortingly, giving her another sympathetic smile. This all felt so much better dealing with Carol. Carol was the officer that had been there for her questioning when her mother had died. She knew her very well and there was also no reason for her to suspect Harper.

  “Unfortunately we found the bodies of Detective Gelder and Detective Barnes at the scene,” Carol ‘informed’ her, “We’re investigating those two currently anyway. Both you and your boss Richard raised the alarm about those two on two separate occasions. The Coroner’s Office is also investigating from their end.”

  “I still don’t understand why they wanted that body so badly,” Harper swiped at her eyes, trying to keep terrible thoughts in her head to keep the tears flowing.

  “That’s what we want to know too, they did manage to make off with the body.”

  “That poor man,” Harper shook her head with a sniffle, “We never got to find out who he was, or find his family -” she choked up a little.

  Was she selling this? She felt like she was selling it. Carol’s concerned look was also convincing her that she was selling it. PC Fletcher looked sympathetic but not entirely convinced.

  “Did you manage to get a look at the two other men?”

  “Not a good one.”

  “Would you be comfortable coming down the station to give a statement? I know this is very upsetting for you after everything that’s happened tonight, but it would be a great help to the case if you could.”

  No, not really. She didn’t feel comfortable leaving the house, not right now. Not when she didn’t know where Kaleb and Asher were hiding. Not when -

  “Would you mind if we do a quick search of the property? Just for the record,” PC Fletcher asked. Harper’s breath caught. If she let them look she could risk exposing Kaleb and Asher if they were still trapped in the house, but if she didn’t it was going to look suspicious as hell. She knew she had every right to refuse as they clearly didn’t have a warrant, but she didn’t want to cast that shadow of doubt over herself.

  She sniffled again and gave a weak nod.

  “It won’t take long,” Carol said comfortingly as PC Fletcher stepped outside to grab some other officers for the search. Harper just gave another weak nod before sinking back into the chair as anxiety gripped her again.

  ‘Please, oh please, have gotten out of the house,’ she silently willed the brothers. It was in their hands now. It seemed the police were on her side for now, but if they found the missing ‘body’ in her house and possibly still alive then she didn’t know what the hell would happen to her. Losing her job would be the least of her worries.

  It was agonizing sitting downstairs with PC Jenkins while she could hear heavy boots upstairs, searching through all of her personal belongings. Through all of it, she had to keep face, not letting on that she was nervous about it.

  “I’ll give you a lift down to the station if you’d prefer,” Carol finally spoke again, breaking the tense silence that had fallen upon them.

  “That would be nice,” Harper responded with a half-smile.

  No way in hell did she want to be driving again tonight.

  Chapter 32

  The trip to the station was lacklustre, to say the least. She kept up with her story just fine and as it turned out there was no real suspicion placed on her anyway. It was daunting to watch back the small bits of footage taken from the terrible hallway CCTV, but thankfully it gave nothing away, other than that she was assaulted by the detectives. The search of her house had turned up nothing, which was a relief and finally they had street camera footage of her in the car with two men, but it was grainy at best. She used this to say it was the two other men who had taken her hostage.

  Overall she felt ten times better when she walked back through her front door. She’d also been booked in for some counselling for her ordeal and had been told by HR that she couldn’t come back to work until she had been assessed by a doctor. All pretty standard procedure, for a not so standard situation.

  Kaleb and Asher were both sitting in the living room waiting for her. Kaleb rushed to her side as soon as she entered the room, wrapping comforting arms around her.

  “Are you alright? What happened?”

  “I’m off the hook,” she smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, “They don’t believe that I was at all involved in this. I have to see a doctor and a therapist for the trauma, and possibly answer some more questions if necessary but they can’t see them needing it.”

  “Just as long as you’re okay.”

  “She’s fine,” Asher scoffed, “The police are off our backs, for the time being, the only thing we’ve got to worry about is the douchebag that survived. He’s going to run and tell.”

  “Not necessarily,” Kaleb shook his head as he led her over to sit on the couch, “They’re a proud family and they won’t accept failure. If he’s been sent to do a job, I doubt he’d return without completing it.”

  “Hmm, true,” Asher pondered, “We can hope. One is easier to deal with than the whole family.”

  Kaleb suddenly stiffened at the side of her, drawing in a sharp breath. She looked up at him only to see his eyes wide with horror as he looked to his brother.

  “The vial.”

  “Vial? What vial?” Harper finally questioned, feeling completely out of the loop.

  “Don’t panic, brother,” Asher waved him off, “You think I would have left without it.”

  “You went through my things?”

  “It’s a good thing I did. Look what happened, we had to make a fast escape, I couldn’t be messing around looking for a vial in the midst of a fight.”

  “Did you bring my phone, or anything else?” Kaleb frowned.

  Asher just cocked an eyebrow at him before shaking his head and turning his attention back to the television. Kaleb’s hands balled into fists, but he took a deep breath the calm himself.

  “What’s in the vial?” Harper put a hand on Kaleb’s shoulder, offering him a comforting smile.

  “The last of their bloodline,” Asher answered without looking over.

  Harper frowned over at him, but he offered no further explanation.

  “Their family were cursed a long time ago,” Kaleb sighed, reluctantly giving in to her curiosity, “They got on the wrong side of a powerful warlock and it didn’t work out well for them.”

  “I’ll say,” Asher huffed out a laugh, his gaze still not leaving the TV.

  “He took from them their ability to reproduce, both through birth and through turning. Their family were to lay barren and the bloodline was to end with them. The only one who wasn’t cursed was a young illegitimate daughter of one of the sons. Upon hearing this the family scrambled to protect her but unfortunately, the warlock got there before them and took her life. In a desperate last-ditch attempt, the family managed to salvage four vials of the young woman’s un-cursed blood.”

  “Why her blood?”

  “In order for a vampire to turn a human, there must be a blood exchange. Just a couple of untainted drops into one of the family members’ system and they would be able to turn a human for a short period of time. They used this to continue their family through turning. Last we heard there was only one vial left and that is precisely what I took from them.”

  “The last of their lineage. No more turns,” Asher added.

  Well, that was a lot better than what she had assumed Asher had meant by ‘taken away their future,’ but still…

  “That’s awful,” Harper felt her throat tighten, “Why would they leave that somewhere where it could be stolen?”

  Kaleb’s face dropped and Asher burst out laughing, a cynical sound.

  “This vial,” Asher finally held up a long gold chain, at the end of it hung a heart-shaped glass pendant, delicate gold tendrils wrapped around it, embracing it and a thick scarlet liquid sloshed inside of the glass. It - it was a necklace. A necklace she felt like she had seen before and not just when Kaleb had grabbed it out of his locker the first time. No, now that she was actually seeing it for the first time, she was positive she’d seen it before. It was pretty distinct. Where had she seen it? “This never left the matriarch’s neck, until Kaleb -”

  “Alright, Asher, that’s enough,” Kaleb snapped.

  Harper’s eyes widened as she stared at Kaleb. Had he -?

  “I didn’t kill her,” he clarified seeing the horror in her eyes, “If anything I just gave her a nasty headache and took the vial.”

  Was that better? She supposed, not killing was good but still. He’d robbed the woman. But then again, her family had robbed him of his mother. This was so complicated. She was so conflicted and didn’t know exactly how to feel. Before she could respond she felt cool metal sliding around her neck.

  “And I think the safest place for this is somewhere they would never expect,” she felt Asher grinning behind her as he fastened the clasp.

  “Asher, no,” Kaleb started to protest but Harper stopped him.

  “It’s alright,” she said even though her insides were twisting in knots, “I think he’s right.”

  As much as it scared the hell out of her to now have the pendant dangling between her breasts and acting as a huge target to some unsavoury creatures, it intrigued her greatly. She was convinced that she had seen this thing before and now that it was in her possession she could properly examine it when she was alone. The cool glass resting against her skin sent shivers running through her. This could very well be a death sentence if it were discovered, but the curiosity was too great.

  Kaleb looked her over, concern marring his features but he didn’t argue with her. Instead, his arm snaked its way around her pulling her closer to him and away from Asher. Not that Asher seemed all too bothered by the move, or if he was he didn’t let on.

  “You worry too much brother,” he just laughed, before sauntering away towards the kitchen, “Anybody want a beer?” his voice drifted through.

  “Beer?” Harper frowned, “I don’t have any beer.”

  “Ash picked some up on our way back,” Kaleb rolled his eyes before calling through, “I will.”

  “Harper?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Her body was starting to feel achy as the adrenaline had long faded, and in its place left exhaustion that seemed to sink deep into her bones. Not to mention it was almost five in the morning.

  “I think I might head to bed,” she said sheepishly as she rose from the couch. There was a flicker of something in Kaleb’s eyes, but she wasn’t quick enough to catch it. He offered her a small smile.

  “Sure,” he took her hand and rubbed his thumb across the back of it, “Asher and I will be down here if you need us.”

  “Thanks,” she smiled back at him before letting her hand slide out of his as she made her way upstairs. There was something so comforting about getting into her pyjamas that she could have just collapsed on the bed at that very moment and slept for a week. With great reluctance, she dragged her butt through to the bathroom to brush her teeth. It was only as she was scrubbing away that she really took the chance to look at herself in the mirror. Huge black rings had settled under her eyes, a mix of stress and exhaustion. Her face looked pale and drawn and her hair had turned into some sort of monster nest through all the struggles of the day. She grimaced as she looked over herself. Then the twinkle caught her eye. The delicate chain hung around her neck.

  The necklace.

  She pulled up the pendant out of her top and looked it over. It was a lot heavier than she had first thought. It was such a pretty piece of jewellery, despite the blood. The pretty golden tendrils that secured the heart were so much more detailed up close. They were like vines with small engraved leaves shooting off from them as they wrapped around it. At the top of the heart was a small gold plate that had a small symbol etched onto it.

  That symbol.

  Also so very familiar, but she just couldn’t remember where from.

  Chapter 33

  “Here you go, guys,” Harper mumbled as she handed Asher and Kaleb a blanket and a pillow each in turn, “It isn’t much, but it’s what I got.”

  “Thanks, Harper, you didn’t have to,” Kaleb smiled at her.

  “I did,” she shook her head, “I wouldn’t sleep knowing that I’d left you guys down here without at least blankets.”

  “Well, thank you.”

  “Yeah - uh, thanks,” Asher stumbled a little on his words, his gaze fixed on the blanket in his hands with a furrowed brow. It was almost like such an act of kindness was alien to him and he wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.

  “No problem,” she didn’t make a big deal of it, “Goodnight.”

  “Night,” each of the boys responded in turn, Asher still trapped in his own thoughts and Kaleb was beginning to notice, but Harper was honestly too tired to stay and work through it with them. With a great yawn and a stretch, she took herself back up to bed, her fingertips still gravitating to the glass pendant on her neck the whole time. It was like she just couldn’t leave it alone.

  It wasn’t until she’d snuggled down under her duvet with the lights off that she finally let herself switch off and her hand dropped away from the necklace. All the questions were still going to be there when she woke up, right now she just needed to sleep.

  When her eyes fluttered open again it was like she’d just run a marathon. Every part of her body ached down to the bone. She’d slept long and heavy, and just ended up still feeling tired at the end of it. Harper groaned as she rolled over grabbing her pillow tightly as she slammed her eyes shut, trying to get the rest that she needed but by now it was no use. Once she’d opened her eyes, that was it, she was awake for the rest of the day whether she was still tired or not. With yet another pouty groan, Harper forced herself out of bed, heading over to the curtains and throwing them open.

  Big mistake. Harper gasped and recoiled as the evening sun blasted her straight in the face. She even felt the need to hiss like the vampires in movies.

  Wait - evening sun? The sky was a pretty orange with pink hues and the sun was edging its way towards the horizon. A quick glance at the clock told her all she needed to know. It was already six in the evening. She had slept the entire day. No wonder she felt like total crap.

  She grabbed some clothes from her drawers before heading to the bathroom for a shower. Hopefully washing away some of the heavy sleep grime would help her feel better. Once she was done she dressed quickly, tying her damp hair up into a messy bun before heading downstairs.

  The two boys were fast asleep. Kaleb was laying across the couch with the blanket draped over him. There was something almost angelic about his peaceful features and Harper found herself lost just looking at him. A vampire of all things, not something she would have ever believed was real, and here she was falling hard for one. There was just something so pure about Kaleb, something that she related to. There was a connection there that she had been trying to deny, but it was clear to her that it wasn’t going away any time soon.

  Then there was Asher. The joker, the bad boy. Despite some strange feelings that were lingering on the edge of her mind that she couldn’t quite explain, Harper couldn’t say she was overly keen on Asher, he was obnoxious if not a little frightening at times, but he had saved both her and Kaleb and for that she did owe him. Right now, however, sat upright in the chair with his arms folded across his chest and his head gently leaning to the side while he snoozed, he didn’t look that intimidating. In fact, he looked quite vulnerable. A small smile touched Harper’s lips as she picked up the discarded blanket off of the floor and gently laid it across Asher’s sleeping form. Even if he was an ass when awake he still deserved kindness. It didn’t seem like he got it often.

  Once in the kitchen she grabbed a pan out of the drawer and set to work whisking up some eggs. Through all the pain and tiredness she was absolutely ravenous. Her mouth was already watering at the thought of the cheesy omelette she was about to cook up. Hell, she might even make two. The first sizzle from the pan was enough to make her stomach rip out an impatient growl. While she was waiting on the omelette she whipped out the pack of bacon and shoved some under the grill before finishing it off by pouring herself a glass of orange juice. This was going to be the first proper meal she had eaten in… she couldn’t quite remember how long.

  “Good evening,” Harper almost jumped out of her skin as she swung around on Asher who was standing smirking behind her, holding a fresh cup of coffee.

  “Why are you awake?” she hissed, composing herself and turning back to finish cooking her food.

  “You’re a little late for breakfast,” he commented, ignoring her question.

  It was too early… late…

  Harper wasn’t awake enough to deal with Asher’s sassy attitude just yet. She just made an unimpressed grunt and tried to fully focus on her cooking. She was already starting to debate whether he did deserve the kindness after all, but she just couldn’t stop that little voice inside of her.

  “Do you want some?” she found herself asking through gritted teeth. As much as he was being an ass, again, she couldn’t eat in front of him without at least offering him something.

  “Hmm?”

  God, he couldn’t even just give a straight answer. Yes or no. It was an easy enough question.

  “Do you want some food?” she clarified even though she knew that he knew full well what she was talking about.

 

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