Uprising

Chapter Fifty-Six

The Private Members’ Library, Houses of Parliament, London 9.03 p.m.

Jeremy Lonsdale was so completely absorbed in the speech notes he was putting the finishing touches to that he hadn’t realised until now that he was the only one left working late in the library that night. He’d nearly finished his amendments; it would soon be time to go back to the luxury Kensington townhouse where he spent the two days a week that he wasn’t in Italy or at his country pile in Surrey.

He didn’t entirely relish the prospect of going home to an empty house. His work was now all that allowed him to take his mind off his troubles, and since his return from Tuscany he’d thrown himself back into it with renewed vigour. Home was where the terrifying reality of his predicament was never far enough from his thoughts.

He picked up his pencil and made another small annotation to the wording on one of the printed sheets under the light of the banker’s desk lamp. He reread it, and nodded with approval; it sounded much more sincere that way. Satisfied, he pushed the sheet of paper away from him, out of the glow of the lamp, and picked up another.

Then an afterthought occurred to him, and he reached again for the first sheet.

His fingers groped on the bare desktop. The sheet was gone. He angled the lamp, but all he saw was an empty expanse of dull green leather. Maybe it had fluttered down the other side and was lying on the floor? He scraped back his chair and began to rise to his feet.

The voice in the empty room stopped him short.

‘Fine speech, Jeremy.’

It was Stone. He was standing just beyond the light of the desk lamp, perfectly still and merged into the darkness. As he stepped towards the desk, his cape-like black leather coat glistened. In his hands was the missing sheet of paper.

‘I am sure this piece of masterly hypocrisy will earn you the faith of the gullible,’

Stone said.

Lonsdale glanced nervously around him. ‘How the hell did you get past security?’

he blustered.

Stone chuckled. ‘Do you not know me yet, Jeremy?’

‘What do you want?’

‘Simply to speak to you, Jeremy. And to charge you with a task.’

‘A task?’

‘One of vital importance to all of us. Two of my enemies are on their way to Venice, on a mission to find and bring back a certain historic artefact. One of these enemies is a member of your own lowly species; the other, to my shame, belongs to my own kind. Once they find the artefact, I want you to take possession of it. The vampire is to be slain — I will supply you with the necessary.’ Gabriel paused. ‘As for the human, my wish is that he be taken alive. I’ll deal with him in my own way. A personal matter.’

Lonsdale glared indignantly. ‘I’m a politician, not an assassin and a kidnapper.

You’re not going to send me here, there and everywhere to commit crimes for you.’

‘You make me laugh, Jeremy. Please, spare me this display of moral indignation.

You and your kind have been ordering the death and incarceration of your fellow men since time began. In any case, whether you carry out this task with your own hand is of no concern to me. Such services can be bought. I’m sure you have the appropriate contacts — if not, now is the time to make some.’

‘What is this historic artefact that’s so important to you?’ Lonsdale asked.

‘A simple cross, of Celtic design.’

‘But you told me your people had no fear of crosses—’

‘This is a cross like no other. I couldn’t possibly expect a human to understand, nor do I have the patience to share my knowledge with you. Suffice to say that it’s highly dangerous to us — though not, as fate would have it, to your despicable race.

That’s why you shall act as my courier. You will deliver the cross to an agreed destination, where I may witness its destruction from a safe distance.’

‘Then this cross really is a threat to you,’ Lonsdale said.

Stone arched an eyebrow. ‘I know precisely what’s in your mind, Jeremy. You’re thinking that an object of such power offers a most convenient way to rid yourself of my presence in your life. You would use it to destroy me.’

Lonsdale held up his hands. ‘No, no. I swear, the thought never—’

‘Quiet. Don’t insult me with lies.’ Gabriel smiled. ‘If you weren’t a devious and treacherous little vermin, I wouldn’t have enlisted you in the first place. But you would do well to remember my superior intelligence. You can’t outwit me, and you will certainly never destroy me.’ He paused. ‘Have you paid a visit to your son recently?’ he said nonchalantly.

Lonsdale looked blank. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Your son Toby. A fine boy. Doing well at that expensive boarding school you sent him to.’ Gabriel slipped a photo from the breast pocket of his long leather coat and dropped it onto the desk. It had been taken with a long lens, and showed a boy of about ten, frozen in mid-stride, his face lit up with innocent joy as he dashed across a muddy field clutching a rugby ball.

Lonsdale stared at it aghast. ‘How did you find out about Toby?’

‘Another little secret your potential voters can’t know about. The bastard spawn of your fling with your former secretary.’

‘I love that boy,’ Lonsdale said. ‘More than anything. He’s just an innocent child.

You can do what you want with me — but please, don’t harm him.’

‘I’m fully aware of your affection for the child,’ Stone replied. ‘And, were I to share your frail human tendency towards emotional attachments, I’m sure I might even find it quite touching. Rest assured that nothing untoward will befall young Toby, as long as you do as I ask. But the merest transgression, and what happened to the hapless female at your initiation ceremony will seem like a kindness in comparison to what your son will suffer.’

Lonsdale screwed his eyes shut. ‘I’ll take care of it. I won’t fail you.’

When he looked again, the vampire had slipped away into the dark.