Sons of Destiny. Darren Shan

took me to new heights of pain. Pressure built at the back of my eyes, as though my brain was going to bulge out through my eye sockets. I dug the heels of my hands hard into my eyes, then into the sides of my head. I don’t know if I was roaring or wheezing — I could hear nothing.

      I vomited, then dry-heaved. I crashed into something hard — the TV. I rolled away from it and smashed into a wall. I dug my nails into the plaster and brick, trying to make the pain go away.

      Finally the pressure subsided. My limbs relaxed. I stopped dry-heaving. Sight and sound returned, though my fierce headache remained. I looked around, dazed. Vancha was crouching over me, wiping my face clean, smiling. “You’ve come through it,” he said. You’ll be OK — with the luck of the vampires.”

      “Darius?” I gasped.

      Vancha raised my head and pointed. Darius was lying on the couch, eyes closed, perfectly still, Annie and Alice kneeling beside him. Evanna sat in a corner, head bowed. For a horrifying moment I thought Darius was dead. Then I saw his chest lift softly and fall, and I knew he was just asleep.

      “He’ll be fine,” Vancha said. “We’ll have to keep a close eye on the two of you for a few nights. You’ll probably have further fits, less severe than this one. But most who attempt this die of the first seizure. Having survived that, the odds are good for both of you.”

      I sat up wearily. Vancha took my fingers and spat on them, rubbing his spit in to help close the wounds.

      “I feel awful,” I moaned.

      “You won’t improve any time soon,” Vancha said. “When I turned from vampanizm to vampirism it took my system a month to settle down, and almost a year to get back to normal. And you’ve got the purge to contend with too.” He chuckled wryly. “You’re in for some rough nights, Sire!”

      Vancha helped me back to my chair. Alice asked if I’d like water or milk to drink. Vancha said blood would be better for me. Without blinking, Alice used a knife to cut herself and let me feed directly from the wound. Vancha closed the cut with his spit when I was finished. He beamed up at Alice. “You’re some woman, Miss Burgess.”

      “The best,” Alice replied dryly.

      I leant back, eyes half closed. “I could sleep for a week,” I sighed.

      “Why don’t you?” Vancha said. “You’ve only recently recovered from a life-threatening wound. You’re in the middle of the purge. You’ve pulled off the most dangerous blood transfusion known to vampires. By the black blood of Harnon Oan, you’ve earned a rest!”

      “But Steve…” I muttered.

      “Leonard can wait,” Vancha grunted. “We’ll send Annie and Darius out of town – Alice will escort them – then get you settled in at the Cirque. A week in your hammock will do you the world of good.”

      “I guess,” I said unhappily. I was thinking about Evra and Merla, and what I could find to say to them. There was Mr Tall to consider too — everyone at the Cirque Du Freak had loved him. Like Shancus, he was dead because of his association with me. Would the people there hate me because of that?

      “Who do you think will take over from Mr Tall?” I asked.

      “I’ve no idea,” Vancha said. “I don’t think anybody ever expected him to die, certainly not in such sudden circumstances.”

      “Maybe they’ll break up,” I mused. “Go their own ways, back to whatever they did before they joined. Some might have left the stadium already. I hope–”

      “What was that about a stadium?” Annie interrupted. She was still tending to Darius – he was snoring lightly – but she’d overheard us talking.

      “The Cirque Du Freak’s camped in the old football stadium,” I explained. “We’re going back there when you leave, but I was saying to Vancha that–”

      “The news,” Annie interrupted again. “You didn’t see tonight’s news?”

      “No.”

      “I was watching it when you came in,” she said, eyes filling with fresh worry. “I didn’t know that’s where you were based, so I didn’t connect it with you.”

      “Connect what?” I asked edgily.

      “Police have surrounded the stadium,” Annie said. “They say the people who killed Tom Jones and the others at the football match are there. I should have put it together earlier, when you were telling me about Tommy, but…” She shook her head angrily, then continued. “They’re not letting anyone in or out. When I was watching the news, they hadn’t moved in yet. But they said that when they did, they’d go in with full, lethal force. One of the reporters–” She stopped.

      “Go on,” I said hoarsely.

      “He said he’d never seen so many armed police before. He…” She gulped and finished in a whisper. “He said they meant to go in as hard as they could. He said it looked like they planned to kill everyone inside.”

      CHAPTER FIVE

      First things first — make sure Annie and Darius got away safely. I couldn’t concentrate on helping my friends trapped inside the stadium if I was worrying about my sister and nephew. Once they were free of Steve’s influence, safe somewhere he couldn’t find them, I could focus on business entirely. Until that time I would only be a distracted liability.

      Annie didn’t want to go. This was her home and she wanted to fight to protect it. When, after telling her about some of the atrocities Steve had committed over the years, I convinced her they had to leave, she insisted I go with them. For years she’d believed I was dead. Now she knew otherwise, she didn’t want to lose me again so quickly.

      “I can’t come,” I sighed. “Not while my friends are in danger. Later, when it’s over, I’ll find you.”

      “Not if Steve kills you!” Annie cried. I had no answer for that one. “What about Darius?” she pressed. “You said he needs training. What will he do without you?”