The woman peered cynically through the glass. ‘Who’s the child?’
Cain looked puzzled for a moment. ‘I am.’
I peered sideways at Cain. He was sixteen and should be paying an adult fare. He’s a millionaire vampire Prince and he is seriously trying to save a couple of quid on the tube?
‘ID, please,’ she droned. I frowned; I didn’t know many sixteen-year-olds that carried ID around. But sure enough, Cain pulled his wallet from his jeans pocket, flipped it open and revealed some sort of ID with a fake date of birth in the top corner. She didn’t hang around: taking the note Cain was offering her and printing off the tickets.
‘Sucker,’ Cain chuckled, allowing the ticket barrier to swallow his ticket. Sidestepping a hurried business woman, I followed.
‘You have fake ID that makes you younger?’ I quizzed, slightly shocked as we descended the elevator, keeping to the right to allow rushed commuters to pass.
He smirked. ‘Not only that makes me younger.’ He flipped the card over and there, on the back, was another ID pro-claiming that he was eighteen.
I shook my head in wonderment at what money could buy as I felt a familiar gust of cold air. Sure enough, a second later a tube emerged from the dark tunnel. Almost elbowing a man out of the way, I pulled Cain through the open doors, trusting the others to get on themselves.
As more and more people got on we were both thrust against a bin. In just seconds every inch of space was occupied and the sound of the racket of wheels in motion took over, save for the thumping bass of some inconsiderate soul who refused to turn their music down.
‘Man, it’s like being surrounded by a hundred-course dinner.’ Cain’s face was twisted slightly and he bit down hard on his lip, just like Kaspar did when he tried to resist temptation. I frowned and took a fairy step closer towards him. By this time we were accelerating, and out of practice using the tube I teetered off balance, almost crashing into Cathy, Lyla’s friend.
‘It’s okay,’ I murmured. ‘Oxford Circus is only three stops along.’
‘Suppose,’ he replied, clearly trying to control himself. He didn’t say another word for two stops, until we were just pulling away with a jolt from Warren Street.
A minute or two later we came to a halt and, grabbing Cain by the wrist, I pulled him out onto the platform of Oxford Circus. Buffeted by hundreds of rushing commuters and tourists we headed towards the escalator, slipping up the left side this time. I tugged him through the ticket barrier behind me before he even had a chance to get his own ticket from his pocket, earning myself a disapproving look from one of the men supervising. Spotting an alcove, I headed for it.
‘You really need to hunt, don’t you?’ Spotting Fabian and the others dodging the crowd moving the other way, I suddenly had an idea.
He nodded weakly. ‘I’ve never been in a crowd like that.’
When Fabian arrived, I grabbed him. ‘Is there somewhere inconspicuous around here that you can go to, to you know?’ I jerked my head towards Cain. ‘Hunt,’ I finished in an undertone. Fabian nodded, refusing to meet my eyes. My heart seemed to fall a thousand feet: he could not even look at me now.
‘You boys go then and us girls will hit the shops.’ I grimaced. Talk about sacrifice.
Fabian agreed and started to walk away, but Cain hung back, pulling something from his wallet.
‘Here, you’ll need this.’
I looked down at the little rectangle of plastic in his palm. I raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that yours?’
He attempted a smile. ‘No. I borrowed it off a certain someone a while ago.’
Comprehension dawned. ‘Can I max that thing out?’ I asked, an understanding smirk broadening on my face.
‘You can try. But his account is pretty much bottomless,’ Cain explained. Taking a step forward he whispered the pin number into my ear. ‘Knock yourself out.’ He winked and set off in pursuit of the others.
I followed Lyla and Cathy out of the station, facing the prospect of a Kaspar-free day: a day free of his mind tricks and unavoidable attraction. It was liberating as I realized that now he was gone, my spirits had lifted. Whatever he was doing to me, whatever he was making me feel … I didn’t like it and it was frustratingly hard to resist.
Stepping out into the bustling streets of London, I inhaled the familiar stench of exhaust fumes and exotic food from every country imaginable. All around me people spoke in their own accents and native tongues and it was like music to my ears. I’d been surrounded by stiff-upper-lip posh accents for too long.
I beamed, feeling as though I was walking on air. I’m home.
Cain and Declan caught up with us outside Harrods, where Lyla and Cathy had spent endless hours. I had passed the time by donating to every single charity the department store supported, all using Kaspar’s debit card. At first it filled me with glee, but the thrill of revenge quickly waned and I started to feel bad – even if he had kissed me.
My stomach saved the two boys from having to view every one of Lyla’s purchases by growing loudly.
‘What the heck was that?’
I blushed. ‘That was my stomach. I’m hungry.’
Cain screwed up his face. ‘Human stomachs growl when they are hungry? Wow! They never taught us that one at Vampirs. So what do you want to eat? ’Cause we’re kind of full, if you catch my drift.’ He winked cheekily at me, and I thought for a moment.
I grinned. ‘I’d die for some chips.’
A few minutes later and I was opening up a greasy sheet of newspaper, the luscious smell of salt and vinegar filled my nostrils. Stepping out the takeaway I could still smell the stench of burning fat in the fryers and raw fish coated in batter. Waiting for the others, I took a single bite of one fat, crispy, piping-hot chip.
Now this was better than cheese sandwiches.
Trying not to burn my mouth I chewed the potato, swallowing and wincing as it burnt my throat instead. Cain stepped out into the fresh air closely followed by Fabian, both holding large portions.
‘Full, eh?’ I smiled, seeing the rest of the boys stepping out too with ridiculous amounts of food. It seemed as though Lyla and Cathy were boycotting the fat, each with a bottle of Diet Coke in hand and no food.
‘So, where do you want to go? Because I can’t eat standing up,’ I prompted.
Cain shrugged his shoulders. ‘Embankment?’
I nodded in agreement. Following Cain and not really focusing, I didn’t notice when Fabian fell in step beside me.