Blood Past

chapter Nine

All in a Day

Oh crap, Cyrus and Val were going to kill her. Eden frantically scanned the crowds of pedestrians for October but there was still no sign of her.

Cyrus had decided to leave Eden in Val’s capable hands since he wasn’t really into the whole shopping thing. It had been determined that Eden would not go anywhere without one or the other as a precautionary measure, in case Arcos and her people somehow miraculously discovered Eden’s whereabouts. That morning Cyrus had headed out after Noah, who was apparently checking out the Neith training centre (built under that cool old art deco theatre they had passed), and Val and October had led Eden outside for the first time in days. It was a warmish day, and they had done quite a lot of walking from Morningside into Old Town, but Eden enjoyed it. She was surprised by how much she liked the hustle and bustle, the hissing of buses (they were everywhere!) stopping and taking off, the millions of accents that floated past her ears, the smells of coffee and exhaust fumes in the otherwise crisp air. She gazed wide-eyed as she passed people, no longer consumed by the urge to eat their souls. God, she’d forgotten how free she had once been before Noah had awoken her hunger.

They had just made it into Old Town when Val’s cell rang. She’d gone all serious when she answered and then covered the phone telling them she needed to take the call. They were standing outside The National Museum of Scotland. After deciding she didn’t really want to be stuck inside on a day with clear skies, Eden had shaken her head at Tobe’s suggestion they go in. Instead October had told Valeria to catch up with them on The Royal Mile outside of a place called The Filling Station. Val had nodded tightly and disappeared around the corner, leaving Eden watching after her with a tight knot in her chest. She hoped there wasn’t anything serious going on.

October had tugged on her sleeve and Eden had begun following her but they both drew to an abrupt halt at the sound of someone shouting October’s name. A tall, cute guy was heading towards them.

“Oh gawd,” October had mumbled. “This is a friend from school. Completely human. Be cool.” Eden had thrown her a look as if to say, ‘ Moi? How could I be anything but cool? ’

October had introduced the guy but Eden hadn’t really been listening, she was too busy worrying about Val’s telephone conversation. Anyway, the guy was going on about some book they were supposed to pick up for English class and how he couldn’t find it in store, so Tobe had offered to help out and Eden had followed along quietly as they crossed the street to a bookstore.

“I’ll wait out here,” she had said and October, kind of flustered, had merely nodded.

Tobe flustered? Eden had wondered if she had a crush on this guy or something.

Patiently waiting had never been Eden’s forte and everything had kind of gone downhill from there. Tobe and her friend seemed to be taking an awfully long time. It hadn’t been her fault. Really.

She was bored. Eden had begun to wander in kind of daze, heading north down the street. Cyrus had driven up this way and she was pretty sure they had passed a Forbidden Planet store. Finding it, Eden was stupidly excited, breathing in the smell of glossy comics as she headed inside. It was weird, but being here, in a foreign country, without her parents dragging her down, without this ‘thing’ inside of her, she felt a little on the side of normal for the first time. She wandered around looking for the latest Shonen Jump and eyeing kitschy dolls and backpacks and stuff. To her bemusement she could not find a single copy of Shonen. For a minute she was almost so distracted by the store assistant’s clear bell of an accent she had almost missed her advising her that they didn’t have it in stock. A little disheartened Eden had headed back outside and headed up towards the bookstore. After fifteen minutes of scouring the place from top to bottom, she realised she had lost October.

Crap, crap, crap. She bit her lip and glanced around. Nope. There was definitely no sign of her.

OK. Val was supposed to be meeting them at The Filling Station on The Royal Mile… sooo she’d just go there. Eden patted her jeans for her cell only to discover she had left it back at Tobe’s. Oh hell. She needed to get to The Filling Station before Val got there first and flipped out.

“Excuse me.” Eden stopped a couple walking nonchalantly up the street. “Could you tell me how to get to The Filling Station on The Royal Mile?” The guy grimaced apologetically. “Aw sorry am no’ fae aroond here, a dinnae ken whorr The Fillin’ Station is but ah kin tell ye whorr The Royal Mile is.” Eden stared at him blankly. “Was that a no?”

He laughed and turned around, pointing back down the street. “If ye go doon that way ye’ll find yersel own The Royal Mile. If ye ask somebody, they’ll be able tae tell ye whorr The Fillin’ Station is.”

She got the pointing and stuff but she still didn’t understand a word he had said so she just nodded gratefully and thanked him, before heading back the way she’d just come. As she walked down the street she passed a group of girls who were talking about classes, an American accent ringing out among them. Students! Surely, they’d know and she’d actually understand them.

“Excuse me.” She stopped the group and they turned to her expectantly. “Could you guys tell me how to get to The Filling Station on The Royal Mile?”

“Oh thank God!” A familiar Scottish accent made Eden’s shoulders sag with relief. She turned to see October running towards her. She smacked Eden across the arm before tugging her rudely away from the students. “Where the bloody hell did you go? I’ve been preparing myself for the Hara Kiri.

The Princeps would expect nothing less from the idiot who managed to lose his bloody daughter!”

“Jeez, chill Tobe.” Eden grunted, feeling much better now that she had her guide back. “You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”

“If it wouldn’t end in my death I would kill you for walking away. Where were you?!”

“Can you please stop screeching? I’m guessing having full use of my hearing is kind of crucial to my training to be a warrior.”

October continued to glare at her, not taking her eyes off her, bumping into people who threw comments over their shoulder at her rudeness.

Eden shrugged. “I was in Forbidden Planet. Do you know they don’t even stock Shonen Jump? I thought this place was supposed to be metropolitan.”

“I’m going to metropolitan your arse next time you pull a stunt like that.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means… it means… och, I don’t know. Just don’t do that again. I’m too young and pretty to die from heart failure.”

“OK, sorry. I was bored. What were you and that guy doing anyway? Making out in the English lit section?”

Tobe grimaced at the comment, her cerulean eyes narrowing. “Nooo. Colin is human. We don’t do humans?”

“What? Never? What if they’re hot?”

“Ugh, I didn’t mean do as in do. God, get your head out of the gutter, Cuz.” At that Eden’s footsteps picked up a little more cheerfully. Cuz. That was kind of nice. “So, are you dating one of the Neith then?”

October shook her head. “I used to date Cameron but we ended it about six months ago.”

“Cameron as in McLeish’s nephew?”

“Yup, the very one.”

“He’s cute.”

“Yeah, but we grew up together. We thought we’d give the whole dating thing a try but in the end it was like kissing a cousin or something you know.”

An image of Teagan popped into Eden’s head and her fists clenched. The s.o.b was still out there, roaming free. “Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

“OK, that sounds faintly ominous.”

Surprisingly, Eden found herself telling Tobe all about Teagan. Tobe was sufficiently disgusted and very vehement on her behalf. She noticed the angrier she got, the thicker her accent grew. It amused Eden, despite their subject matter.

They talked about a lot of different things and Eden was grateful to the girl for diplomatically sidestepping any mention of Stellan. Instead she moved on to discussing the training centre and how the Neith were intimidated by Cyrus, Val and Noah. They’d never had Ankh around in years so they were pretty much the hot topic at the moment. In between October’s gossiping, she pointed out different stores on The Royal Mile that she liked. Eden took it all in with appreciative eyes. She still couldn’t get over how surreal it was to be here. As they walked up The Mile, Eden’s sharp eyes caught sight of Val a few yards up ahead, waiting for them outside of the restaurant.

“So it’s pretty darn cool that Valeria of Corsica and Cyrus of Persepolis are your guardians.

They’re total legends around here,” October said with a wistful sigh. There was more than a little hero-worshipping in her eyes whenever she discussed Val.

“Yeah.” Eden nodded stoically. “They’ve been good to me so far.” Tobe frowned. “So far?”

“Well.” Eden shrugged. “I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop.” The Neith shook her head at her. “I thought turning Ankh would make you trust them. They’re your kin now, Eden.”

“Oh I do trust them. I just don’t know if I trust myself yet. I’m probably going to do something stupid that will disappoint them.”

“Hey.” Tobe stopped her, her young eyes suddenly very serious and mature. “Look, my dad told me everything Cyrus told him. You didn’t kill anyone, Eden. You had some seriously creepy stuff inside you and you fought it. You’ve done well. I even heard you refused to kill Valois at your Awakening Ceremony.”

Eden curled her lip at the thought of her ex-best friend. “Yeah I’m a little disappointed in myself for that.”

October snorted. “What is going on between you two?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. He just won’t accept that yet.” Tobe grunted, looking at her like she was a crazy person. Eden smirked. “What?”

“Oh nothing. You just must have some serious willpower.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning every time Noah smiles at me I feel like grabbing his hand and finding the nearest bed.” For some reason Eden found herself flushing inwardly at the image Tobe had created, making the Neith laugh out loud.

“OK, if the Ankh could blush you’d be beetroot right now. Look at those eyes. I take it you haven’t traded in your v-card then?”

Having only known October for a few days, and really only had a proper conversation with her in the past few hours, Eden had naively assumed she was immune to her bluntness. But wow. She was BLUNT. Eden eyed Val, who started walking towards them impatiently. “Uh, can we not talk about this? Ancient warrior mother-figure heading towards us.”

“Sure. But if I can give you a bit of advice…”

“Just be quick about it.”

“My first time was with a guy from school who thinks Iraq is a brand of Mp3 player. If you’ve got someone like Noah Valois sniffing around your heels then I say kick them up and let him have his wicked way with you.”

Eden grunted. “What about trust and affection or God forbid love?”

“Blah, Eden, it’s sex not marriage.”

“If you take her advice Eden MacDouglas I will personally beat you over the head with it.” Val was suddenly before them, her eyes narrowed on October disapprovingly.

October gave a deferential nod but a cheeky tilt at the corner of her mouth suggested she was dying to laugh. “Just sharing my opinion, Valeria, that’s all.”

“Your opinion… what is that term you kids use today… ah yes… your opinion sucks. Eden has more important things to worry about than casual sex. She has learning, training and hunting to do.

And right now, a great big bloody castle to see and some colour to inject into her wardrobe.” Eden grinned at Val and began to follow October, who swerved around them to take the lead. She had a skip in her step that screamed ‘ you don’t scare me, Valeria of Corsica! ’

Val made a noise from the back of her throat and her hand shot out to cuff October around the back of the head.

“Ow, what was that for?!”

“That was on behalf of your parents. You’re too young to be dallying in casual sex. Children who play grown up games always get hurt.”

“Yeah well smacking me across the head wasn’t exactly painless.”

“See. My point exactly.”

Muffling her laughter, Eden followed her ‘cousin’ as she huffily led the way.



***

It was still light out as they wandered up the stone steps to the Douglas’ house. There were lights on inside so Eden guessed everyone was home. When Christopher wasn’t out hunting soul eaters, he was an investment banker for some big Scottish financial company, and Alison was an elementary school teacher - or a primary school teacher as they called it in Scotland. Since it was Saturday they had both decided to accompany Cyrus to the training centre. Eden couldn’t imagine how the Neith balanced both lives. With the Ankh it was a full time thing and Eden didn’t know where they got all their money from but she did know Cyrus had plenty of cash and shared it out to the fifty eight – oh wait, she made it fifty-nine now – members of the Ankh that were out all over the world, taking on the worst predators among the soul eaters.

Val and October were discussing the training centre as they stepped inside the house, making Eden even more impatient to get a look at the place. They wandered into the sitting room, discussing swords with foreign names that made Eden’s head spin, and found the Douglas’, Cyrus and Noah sitting around drinking coffee.

Cyrus nodded at her, his eyes smiling. “You had a nice time?” She lifted the bags in her hand and smiled wryly. “I injected colour into my wardrobe.”

“No pink?”

She shuddered. “God, no.”

“Did you take Eden to the castle, Tobe?” Mhairi asked as Alison got up off the sofa, excusing herself as she followed the smell of cooking into the kitchen.

“Yup.”

“Well.” Mhairi turned to Eden. “What did you think?”

What she thought was that she had never seen anything so amazing in her life. “Edinburgh Castle rocks. No pun intended.” She snorted, thinking about the alien-like volcanic rock the castle was perched on. It was almost as if some ancient warlock had swept back in time, ripped the castle from its medieval seams, and planted it down in the modern city. As she’d walked down Princes Street towards it, she had felt as if she had wandered into some weird, surreal dream. It was a majestic, hypnotising sight and she’d bumped into a number of people because she was too busy staring up at it. Since she wasn’t much of a history buff being inside the castle was cool but not nearly as cool as the impression it made from the outside.

“Edinbur-uh,” October admonished for, like, the fiftieth time. “What is it with you Americans and your ‘Edinboro’s’? “Edinbur-uh. Not Edinboro. Edinbur-uh.”

“Say Edinbur-uh one more time and I’m gonna smack you upside the head in training tomorrow,” Eden warned, flopping down onto a stool beside Cyrus who sat with Noah on the sofa. She noticed Noah had barely looked at her at all. Like she cared.

“Training tomorrow?” Cyrus raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Valeria cleared her throat. “I may have promised her…”

The look he gave Val would have frightened a grown man but Eden guessed Val was used to it because she just stared back at him, expressionless. Eden wondered if she’d teach her how to do that.

“I do not think you are ready.” Cyrus shook his head, turning back to Eden.

“No, I’m totally ready. I barely broke a sweat climbing up to that castle. And have you seen the stairs inside that damn thing. Didn’t even wind me.”

“That’s true,” October added. “The steward guide guy was unnerved by her and Valeria. I at least pretended to be out of breath.”

Eden snorted. “Pretended. Riiight.”

Tobe glowered at her. “Hey, some of us have learned the art of blending.”

“Yeah, Eden’s never been too good at that,” Noah spoke up, an annoying little amused quirk tilting his lips up at the corner. She glared at him as he smirked at Tobe, who smiled back appreciatively.

“What does that mean?”

He flicked a look at her. “Oh come on. What about that time you ‘shoved’ Rick Caine?” He turned back to Tobe. “Caine was on the school’s wrestling team. He was standing flirting with some girl whose locker was next to Eden’s and when she asked him to move, he wouldn’t. So she shoved him and he skidded along the school hallway like a bowling ball.” Tobe burst out laughing, shaking her head at the imagery. Her smile turned coy as her bright eyes washed over Noah, and Eden found herself wanting to wring her new friend’s neck. “I can’t imagine you in high school, Noah. You must have been popular.”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I had to be friends with Eden so popularity was out of the question.” It was like he had shot her. Bitter hurt and anger gripped her as she stood up abruptly, knocking the stool over. Everyone turned to her, an uncomfortable hush falling over the room. Glaring at him, Eden watched as he blanched, his eyes turning apologetic. “Eden…” The tension grew thicker and heavier by the second as her eyes pinned him to the couch with wounded disdain. Finally, with one last disgusted look, Eden grabbed her shopping bags. “I’ve got stuff to put away.”

As she exited the room she head Cyrus sigh. “You can hardly expect me to smooth things over between you two when you insist on acting like a jackass.” Eden’s hands shook as she took out her new clothes and hung them up in the side of the closet that October had given her. Tobe had followed her out of the room and upstairs. She hadn’t said anything but Eden could tell she was worried she might have upset her new friend. To ease her concerns Eden began quietly talking to her and Tobe had set about making room for Eden’s stuff in her bedroom.

“You coming down for dinner?” Tobe asked quietly from her place on the bed.

“Of course,” Eden muttered. “I’m hungry.”

She wasn’t going to let Noah ruin what had been one of the best days of her life. At that thought she winced immediately thinking about Stellan. How could she possibly say that, only weeks after his death? Angry with herself she slammed the closet door shut and ran a trembling hand through her hair.

“Eden, you OK?”

The concern in October’s voice surprised her, her head jerking up to catch the girl’s anxious expression. The Neith’s eyes, always so honest, were sincere and sympathetic. It was such a soft, unexpected countenance from Tobe, one that Eden guessed not many people were privy too.

Suddenly Eden felt grateful. She’d never had a girl friend before. It was kind of nice. “Fine. Just…

memories, you know.”

Tobe nodded silently.

A knock on the door had them turning in sync. Noah’s head popped inside, his eyes flicking between Tobe and her. “Hey, Tobe. Can I have a word with Eden in private?”

“Sure-”

“You don’t have to leave, it’s your room,” Eden cut off her acquiescence.

“Nah, it’s cool.” She dashed out of there faster than Eden had yet to see her move.

Noah stood aside, letting her go and then he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Here.” He held a gift bag out to her.

Frowning Eden reached for it without thinking. “What is it?” she asked warily.

“I bought it earlier just as a… ‘hope you’re OK’ kind of thing. Now it’s a ‘please forgive me for being a complete ass’ kind of thing. It’s been a long day.” Right then, Eden knew something bigger was bothering Noah than what had occurred downstairs.

He hadn’t looked at her when she’d arrived home. He’d seemed snarky and irritable before she’d even opened her mouth. Suddenly she recalled Val’s phone call. She’d gotten so caught up in her time with Tobe that she hadn’t remembered to ask.

“What happened today?” She sank onto the bed, bracing herself for bad news.

With a deep exhalation, Noah crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the door.

“Chris and Alison came over to the training centre with Cyrus today. I’d already been there for a while and… well… Ankh are a big draw. We don’t visit Scotland a lot because the Neith here are some of the best… they usually take care of any bigger problems that come up. I think the last time an Ankh was here was when McLeish made Councilman fifteen years ago.”

“Yeah, Tobe mentioned the Ankh are big news when they’re in town.”

“Mmmhmm. Well I drew a crowd. As soon as the Neith discovered I was training with them the phone calls started and the centre got pretty busy, fast. When Cyrus showed up I thought the walls would cave in with all the excitement.”

“I thought we were supposed to be keeping a low profile?”

“Don’t worry. Cyrus has it covered with McLeish. The Neith not in the immediate family just think you’re a regular old Ankh. A newbie. So expect lots of staring.” Yay, Eden thought miserably, just what I need. “That’s not what’s got you so worried.”

“No,” Noah agreed, raking a hand through his hair. “You know how Chris senses things?”

“Yeah?”

“Well in among the crowd he sensed something… he sensed betrayal.” Her heart began thudding in her chest as a wave of dread flooded over her. “About me?”

“He doesn’t know, but it’s got Cyrus and Val and I pretty paranoid.” An annoying prickle of impotence gnawed at her. “So what? Christopher can’t tell us who? Or what?”

“Nope. He’s going to keep alert though, keep digging.”

“Great,” Eden sighed. “I knew this couldn’t possibly go smoothly.” Noah smiled kindly. “Smooth isn’t exactly the Ankh way of life.” They grew silent, that comfortable, comforting silence they shared when they were friends. Eden glanced up at him from her place on the bed and their eyes met and held. She missed him. Part of her wished she had never found out who he really was just so she could go on living in ignorant bliss as his friend. Or more. A flush of heat took hold of her body at the thought and she pulled her gaze away. She still wasn’t used to being able to desire Noah for Noah and not just for his soul.

And she had to keep reminding herself that she was mad at him and had no right to want him.

“So what is this?” she grumbled, lifting the bag onto her lap.

“Uh, just some… stuff.”

Eden ripped open the top and reached in to the gift bag. What she pulled out made her heart triple beat. The latest copy of Shonen Jump and a Keri Arthur novel. She couldn’t look at him. “Where did you get Shonen?”

“They had it at this bookstore on Princes Street. I went down there after training.” All these stupid, stupid emotions got caught in her throat, burning and choking her and making her want to cry. She couldn’t look at him. She was afraid he’d see how he made her feel and jump on it as the weakness it was. “Thanks,” she replied gruffly. “Appreciate it.” Noah didn’t say anything for a moment and then he heaved a sigh. “Sure,” he said in a somewhat defeated tone. “No problem.” At the sound of him opening the door Eden finally drew up the courage to look at him. He smirked back at her unhappily. “I’m glad you didn’t cut your hair.” And with that he left; leaving Eden to feel as if he had cut a gaping hole out of her chest and taken it out the door with him.