The Gates

6

SCARLET FEVER

“So Gabe is yours?” Scarlet giggled, took a sip from her chalice. “Yummy. J’adore!”

“Yeah. J’adore, too, mon amie,” Audrey replied, a fake smile plastered on her face.

“And you changed for him, just to come here with him? Pardon moi, but that seems awfully rash.”

“You’re pardoned.”

I shoved my elbow into Audrey’s side. “Be civil,” I hissed through my teeth. The three of us huddled around the kitchen’s warm fire as the sky grew black, its eerie blush-hued crescent now present through the window. The strange shadow over the moon still threw me off; the Amaranthian moon was so striking compared to earth’s.

“Excusez-moi, darling,” Scarlet said to Audrey. “I just can’t fathom giving up so much for one of us, let alone only to be turned human again. Seems rather silly.” She giggled innocently.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Audrey said through clenched teeth, “but I have a family history with the frozen souls. Looking for an old family member of mine while I’m here, in fact.”

“Audrey,” I nudged her again, rolled my eyes.

“It’s okay, Camille,” Scarlet said, finishing her drink. “I didn’t mean to pry. Just curious.” She shrugged, returning her attention to Audrey’s less-than-amused face. “If you wouldn’t mind sharing which family member you’re looking for, perhaps I can help you find them. I have a long history with the Amaranthians.”

Her tone was matter-of-fact. She has a long history with a lot of things, I’m sure.

Blithe, she added, “Why, I used to work for Samira’s servants.”

She did? What was she, the entertainment? I reigned in my temper again and quietly scolded myself.

“Really?” Audrey piped up, caught off guard. “Uh, I mean … thanks. Her name is Cecile, actually. I learned she came to Amaranth years ago, worked as a seamstress I believe? I’ve been searching for her, asking around. No one seems to know what happened to her.”

“Cecile, Cecile, Cecile …” Scarlet chewed over the name, ran her finger across her lip. “I’ll ask around, do some digging. If you haven’t run into her by now, it’s unlikely she’s within the city walls.”

“Yeah, I haven’t had any luck so far, but I’ve been looking for her since I arrived. Thanks for the offer …”

“Of course, honey.” She winked. “Well, I suppose I’ll let you ladies chat. I must find out the name of this tune Gavin’s playing. It’s simply divine. Enchantée!” She flitted her fingers in the air and slithered away from us.

“Bitch,” Audrey snapped underneath her breath.

“Audrey, she just offered to help you.”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re just going to let her go sit next to Gavin like that? Would you look at those hips? My God Camille, who is this chick?”

I sighed, turned and poured myself more rum. She was so right. “Ready for this one?” I took a delicious swig. She shook her head emphatically. “That chick? She’s his ex.”

“Cam. You need to get over there. Now. She’s lethal.”

“Thanks, Aud. Nice to have you back. Damn.”

“Do it while you’re brave, Cam,” her eyes rolled to my rum. “Tell her to take a hike while you still can.”

“It’s nice to know you have so much confidence in Gavin.”

“Camille,” she grabbed the chalice from my hand and poured me another shot. “Would you just look at the girl? It’s hard for even the noblest man to say no to that. It’s not him I don’t trust. There’s something about her …”

Discreetly, I pulled the chalice to my face to take a drink, leveling my eyes where Gavin sat as he strummed his guitar. Scarlet oozed all over him, playfully shoving him and tugging at his shirt while she made jokes. I began to feel tipsy, and my bravery was definitely escalated. Now or never. “Fine,” I shoved the chalice into Audrey’s hand and took off.

“Go get ’em, girl,” she cheered behind me. As brave as I was, I still felt like a fool. I hated being this jealous. It was infuriating. But Audrey was right. She confirmed what I’d already known. There was something about this long-legged sex kitten that positively rubbed me the wrong way.

“Mind if I sit?” I asked, stepping in front of her.

“He’s all yours.” She rose from her chair. “For now.” She winked and brushed by.

What the … Did she really just …?

Her words were deadpan, but I knew better. Holy hell. She just declared war.

“Come here, love.” Gavin set down his guitar and pulled me onto his lap, planted a kiss on my cheek. “Did you and Audrey get to catch up?”

He brushed his fingers through my hair and gave me a crooked smile. One look at him and I lost my bearings. “Um, yeah. Yeah, we did.”

“You okay?” He nuzzled my neck. “Babe, how much have you been drinking? You smell like a rum distillery.” He kissed underneath my ear, and I could feel him grinning against my skin. “Do I need to put you to bed again?”

“Gavin, I need to talk to you about Scarlet.”

“Cam, I thought we talked about this. Your jealously is endearing, but it’s really not necessary. Come on, let’s get you to bed. Big day tomorrow.” He stood up and cradled me in his arms. We made our way to a small room in the corner of the house, music still filling the room as Gabe and Josh entertained the others.

Music that didn’t soothe my jealousy. “It’s not just jealousy, Gavin. I have a strange feeling about her. I really think she wants you.”

“Baby,” he set me down on a straw bed and placed himself next to me. “Even if that were the case, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. She likes to push buttons, and she’s just very … flirtatious.” He tossed a quilt over me. “Don’t let it bother you. We have other things to worry about, important things. Tomorrow we have to begin earning the peoples’ trust, have to convince everyone to work together.”

Much as I hated to admit it, he was right. We had a war to begin, and apparently our work was cut out for us in getting a village full of people already so kowtowed to help fight it. Still … “I know, Gav, but steer clear of her. I mean it.”

“You have my word. Now stop worrying about her. We can’t afford to be distracted.”

“I guess …” I yawned, suddenly exhausted. The day really drained me, and I could feel myself fading, finally processing everything I’d experienced since we arrived.

“Sleep now, beautiful. You’ll need your strength in the morning.” He placed one chaste kiss on my lips and I gave into my nagging need for sleep, visions of Miss Hotsy-Totsy dancing in my head.

* * *

The following weeks were spent gathering the Amaranthians into small groups, meeting with them in our little home to explain our motives and convince them to join or at least support our plan. Guards were sparse in the streets since our arrival, only permitted to force the villagers to work and keep up with their daily tasks. Gavin stayed around the house to hold the covert meetings, while Gabe, Josh, and the others spent time in the city, helping calm the weak uprisings and feeble riots that broke out in spurts across the villages. Audrey and I were often stuck cooking for and cleaning up after the meeting attendees. The work was hard, and I sometimes found myself wishing that the villagers were vampires too—drinking blood seemed a lot easier than cooking on a wood stove. My feminist streak started rearing up early. To make matters worse, Scarlet often joined us to “help.”

“I mean, really. Why aren’t we out in the streets helping?” I said one day. I huffed and puffed, threw my rolling pin down. “If I have to bake any more bread, I’m going to puke.”

“Cam, if you want to get out there and be all rough and tough with the boys, go for it,” Audrey said. “I’m kind of digging this pioneer woman thing, personally.” She rubbed her hands on her apron and lifted her hair to tie it back.

Of course she is. She’s Ms. Super Chef. It was a relief to spend so much time with Audrey, an even bigger relief to see her human again. It felt as if no time had passed at all, with us once again finishing each other’s thoughts.

“Fine,” I mumbled, rolled up the bread dough just as she’d shown me, placed the entire roll into a loaf pan and left it to rise, covered, next to the stove’s warmth. “Any word on your great-aunt Cecile?”

“Not yet. Scarlet’s been trying to help me, but I think she’s right. If we haven’t found her by now, chances are she’s not alive.” She secured her hair tie, shrugged. “I thought if I got anything out of this mess, aside from being able to stay with Gabe, I’d at least find out about my history with the frozen souls.”

“I’m really sorry, Aud. Something still might turn up.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” She gave me a warm smile and prepared to beat some eggs. “Hey, you know, I never really had the chance to apologize to you … properly.”

“Huh? For what?” I lied, knowing well what she meant. Sure, I was mad at Audrey for a while after she’d made the decision to become immortal without telling me, for keeping me in the dark about all that was unfolding around us. But I didn’t see a point in arguing with her about it anymore. I really did forgive her, and I knew she had her reasons, as crazy as they were. All that mattered now was she was back, and she was my Audrey again. That seemed a miracle, after what Gavin and I had done.

“Aud, you don’t have to do this,” I said. “We’re best friends, and best friends don’t need to apolog—”

“Yes, I do. Scarlet was right. Changing was a rash decision. And not telling you? Not explaining? That was awful. I’m really sorry, Cam. All I can say is, I felt compelled to come here with him, to see if there was any truth to my history with the vampires. And the idea of losing Gabe was … inconceivable. I never believed in soul mates until I met him that day on your driveway. One look, and it was all over. It began to consume me.”

She stopped beating the eggs, fixating on something in the distance. “And that was a huge reason I kept it all from you. Because you knew me so well. Too well. Something this big, this surreal, this … terrifying … I didn’t know how to even begin telling you.”

I was now focused on stirring the batter for what I hoped would be a delicious pumpkin spice cake by lunchtime. “I understand that. Really. I know you didn’t want Gabe to come here alone. And I knew you were a goner the second you met him. I know what he means to you, Aud.” I stopped stirring and looked at her. “Besides, I’ve done nothing but make rash decisions since I met Gavin. Who am I to judge?”

“I only wished I would’ve talked to you first,” she said, not meeting my eyes. “But everything happened so fast, and I knew you’d talk me out of it—”

“Aud.” I reached out and grabbed her hand. “It’s already forgotten. What matters now is making things right—for everyone involved.”

“I missed you, Camille Hart.”

“Missed you, too.” I nudged her and smiled, pointing to the bowl. “Let’s just never speak again about those temporary lapses in sanity, huh? Now finish the eggs or else the cavemen will be starved. I’ll take the bread and butter out—”

Scarlet flew through the door and grabbed up the tray I was reaching for. “Ugh. I forgot how boring humans can be. No offense.” She crinkled her nose as she lifted the tray, which held the empty plates. I managed to turn my back in time. She didn’t see me roll my eyes.

“None taken,” Audrey mumbled. “Speaking of boring humans, why is it you want to be one again?”

“Audrey, don’t start.” I whispered, handing Scarlet a loaf of bread from the ones I’d made the day before. I didn’t look at her.

Scarlet snatched the bread from my hand. “Oh, I’m just as tired of Samira’s rule as everyone else is, thank you very much. Mostly I just go where the action is, though.”

Since our exchange the night we arrived, I avoided conversation with Scarlet as much as possible, but when she and Audrey got into their little scuffles, it was hard to resist jumping in.

This time, it was easy. “So you joined the resistance and jumped into the middle of a war because you were bored?”

“Camille, don’t start,” Audrey chimed, giving me a smartass grin. I picked up the butter crock and threatened her with it before placing it on the tray.

“As far as I’m concerned, Samira needs to be tossed out with the garbage,” Scarlet continued, intentionally bumping into me as she reached for more plates. “But I have other motives, of course.”

“Oh, I bet you do.” Audrey placed the platter of scrambled eggs on another tray, glanced at me, and picked up the tray. “Hey, Scarlet. Need the rolling pin? I have somewhere you can shove it.” She bumped into her, knocking the plates from her hand before slipping out of the kitchen to head toward the living area, leaving me alone with the hussy. Great.

Scarlet scoffed and bent down to pick up the plates, staring Audrey down as she watched her stroll from the room. “Is there a reason I threaten you, Camille?” She turned her attention to me now. “Are you sincerely that unsure of your relationship with Gavin?” She placed the plates on the counter and suddenly cornered me, dipping her finger in the bowl clutched in my hand, licking the batter. I shoved the bowl forward and moved around her. I’d had it with her little underhanded comments, and now she was starting to be downright vicious.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” I shot back. “Are you so unsure of yourself that you feel the need to constantly try to intimidate me?”

“Oh, I don’t have to try, sweetie. You’re an easy target. That’s probably why Gavin feels for you. You appeal to his sympathetic streak. It must be the humanitarian in him.” Hissing, she shoved me into the corner again, one hand to my throat, her fangs bared. “He won’t even sleep with you, will he?” She studied my face. “You poor thing, unable to meet his needs.”

“What do you want, Scarlet? You want him? Go ahead and try. Be my guest. But for the record, there’s nothing appealing about sloppy seconds.”

“Careful, Camille,” she hissed, cocked her head to the side. “I’ll have him again soon enough. Weak little mortals aren’t his thing. He might be shy, but he’s deliciously rough.” She smiled down at me, licking her lips. “He needs someone who can keep up with his appetite. Something you can’t do, I assure you.”

“Scarlet.” Audrey. Her voice cold. “Gavin’s taken. Get over it. Go find another shiny new toy. I’m sure there are plenty of eager new contenders you can sink your teeth into. Now piss off.”

Scarlet let go of me and swung around to face her. “On second thought, maybe I’ll have both Gavin and Gabe. Old conquests are always fun to revisit.” She shoved Audrey away and hitched up her skirt before she headed toward the crowd in the living area, and instinct told me her sights were set on Gabe.

“Did I or did I not tell you she was trouble?” Audrey slammed her apron down, her temper flaring. “She’s been with Gabe, too? That’s it!”

“Oh, yeah. I think it’s time we have a chat with those boys. Right now.” I tossed my apron down, too. We headed toward the living area but shouts and screams startled us midstride, followed by the sounds of chairs breaking and punches being thrown. We stopped, glanced at one another, then catapulted ourselves toward the commotion, but went wide-eyed and helpless when we spotted the eruption taking place.