Witching Tree (Alice Gray Book 1)

50

In the downstairs hall of the priory we stalled.

Only Thomas's place was big enough. I looked at him expectantly. His face remained blank.

Shivering in the cold hallway, my thin dress and lack of shoes were really starting to piss me off.

"Don't worry vamp, we won't take advantage of your hospitality," Emily said, motioning for us all to get moving.

Stephen snorted, objecting to being included in the statement.

"They don't like to invite people into their sleeping places, unless it's to feed," Emily explained for my benefit while she rooted around in her bag.

She lobbed a pair of socks at me, taking me off guard. Predictably, they hit me square on the head.

Not that I was ungrateful, but who the hell carries spare socks in their handbag?

Thomas's gaze made me sweat as I fumbled putting on my borrowed socks. Internal heat battled with the external cold making for an unpleasant combination of sensations. My feet were like blocks of ice, and my teeth clattered violently together, jarring my jaw with each clench.

He sighed, and then he was gone. Reappearing at his door, he unlocked it in a motion that was so fast that I couldn't even see his hands move.

Thomas smiled at Emily with an unnecessary amount of tooth as he pushed the door wide with a sweeping gesture of welcome.

"Show off," I said as I walked past him into his apartment.

A brief twinkle of humour brightened his eyes. It vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.

Stephen entered last, making his way over to the loveseat that I had flopped into. A low growl made him pause. He cocked his head towards Thomas but stopped short at making eye-contact. The growl stopped, and Stephen passed me and sat on a single armchair instead.

Emily glanced at me and rolled her eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh.

I stifled a giggle. It shouldn't be funny, but it so was.

Thomas's living room was not what I expected from a vampire's lair.

The walls were painted white and the floor was stripped back to the original floorboards, which were varnished to a high shine. A large sandy coloured rug lay in the centre of the room. Floor to ceiling bay windows covered with thick bamboo blinds filled most of one wall.

The room was as light as it was possible to be without any actual daylight coming in.

A large oil painting hung where you'd expect a flat screen TV, overshadowing everything else. Snow-covered mountains with trees below, the brown and golden colours of autumn. There was a placid blue lake at the forefront with the reflection of the forest and mountain that towered above it. The magnificent contrast between the unforgiving snow covered mountain peaks and the warmth of the forest colours was otherworldly in its sublimity; almost too intense for real life.

My heart ached as I realised how much Thomas must miss the sun.

Emily sat next to me on the loveseat, and looked at Thomas expectantly, "you do have food for your donors don't you? You don't just drink and call them a cab, right?"

The look that Thomas fixed on Emily would have sent anybody else running. She held his gaze until he strode out of the door into an adjacent room.

"We can take you somewhere safe, out of Sheffield," Emily whispered, her voice so quiet that if I hadn't seen her lips move, I wouldn't have heard.

"What?"

"Sshh, vampire hearing remember. We have a safe house. Just say the word."

I looked between them, they were deadly serious.

"What the hell makes you think that I trust you?" I spat, my voice rising with incredulity.

"You need to rein it in with him," Emily said loudly, nodding to the door through which Thomas had left to indicate that this little speech was for his benefit. "There's no place for that macho bullshit here. Not with a vamp, anyway. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Stephen grunted a response, to fulfil his side for Thomas's ears.

"You'd rather take your chances with him?" she whispered to me, "I knew you were impulsive but I never took you for a fool."

Emily sat back, her disappointment stinging, even though I didn't want to care. Stephen sat forward, ready to add his argument.

"Don't," I hissed, "You have no right to expect my confidence. You think you know me, after spying on me for four years, but I don't know you. Either of you."

Stephen's face fell, my blow hitting home. But I couldn't afford to spare his feelings, they weren't my concern. Not anymore.

Thomas moved around in the other room, soft noises and delicious smells telling me he'd be on his way back any moment.

"No-one's making you guys stay. It's not me paying your wages. Don't pull that emotional blackmail shit with me. We're not friends and I don't owe you."

I timed it perfectly, finishing speaking just as he re-entered the room with a tray of hot drinks and a plate of cookies.

They'd have to keep their thoughts to themselves.

It was an oddly domesticated action. My mouth twisted into a grin as a picture of Thomas entertaining his friends with afternoon tea popped into my head pushing out my anger at Emily and Stephen. He placed the tray down on the coffee table that was located in front of the sofa where Emily and I sat, and gestured for us to help ourselves.

Launching myself at the food, I knocked the tray, jostling the drinks and cookies. Emily caught it before the mugs lost their contents. I snagged the cookie that had flipped onto the table and shoved it in my mouth.

Peeking up, I saw Thomas's eyes smiling down at me, catching me in the headlights of his beauty. The delicious aroma of the cookies and hot chocolate drew me out of it.

Thomas might be hot, but I was starving.

"Tell me what happened after I disappeared?" I asked around a mouthful of cookie.

Hey, thanks for reading. We've made it to chapter 50 but the story isn't over yet...
Will Alice face her father to save Evan? Should she even bother?
Keep reading to find out!
⭐️ if you like it.