Free The Four Realms by Adrian Faulkner Page B

surprised, her eyes widening.   "Really?"
    Darwin nodded, hoping she'd be proud.
    "I thought they tried to kill you?" Cassidy asked.
    "Well yeah," said Darwin.
    "So they're going to welcome you back with open arms?"
    "It's been a while," said Darwin.   "I'm hoping they will have forgotten."
    Cassidy shrugged.   "Your funeral, I guess."
    "I thought you wanted me to go there?"
    "Not if they're gonna try and kill you."
    "That was when I was fourteen, I'm older now."
    "Oh, that makes it all better then," she said sarcastically.   "They only tried to kill you whilst you were a child."
    Darwin snatched the notebook out of Cassidy's coat pocket.
    "Hey," she said.
    Darwin waved the notebook at her, just out of reach of her outstretched hands.   "You want to find out what this thing says don't you?"
    "Well yeah but...”
    "Then we need to go to the Vampire Council."
    "I liked you better when you were starving," she quipped.   Darwin wondered, however if there was some truth in that statement.
    He handed her back the notebook and carried on walking.   But Cassidy had awakened that fear in him.   He tried to tell himself, it would be different, he was an adult now, and all that was behind him.   He felt good, felt like he could take on the whole world this morning, but could he handle himself if the vampires did turn on him?   Of that he wasn't so sure.  
    Still, he had to face this, he told himself.   He'd never be treated as a vampire if he didn't start acting like one.   He needed to get over his childhood trauma and take his rightful place in the community, and if that meant asserting himself, or the odd scuffle, so be it.   He'd faced worse.
    "And afterwards?" Cassidy asked walking beside him.
    Darwin snapped out of his thoughts.
    "Sorry?" he said.
    "Where do we go afterwards?"
    "I hadn't given it much thought," he said truthfully.   "Where do you want to go?"
    "I've always wanted to go to Manchester," she said.   "Do you think we have enough money to get both of us there?"
    Darwin shrugged.   "How much are tickets to Manchester nowadays?"
    Cassidy sighed.   "Probably more than we have."
    "We can get more," Darwin said.
    "Preferably without leaving a trail of bloody destruction behind us?"
    Darwin shrugged.   "I never promised that," he said with a smile.
    Cassidy smiled weakly back.   Cassidy wasn't likely to forgive, but whatever had needed to be said, had now been said.   Just as well, as Darwin was resolved that he was never going back to rats.
    #
    It took twice as long to get to the Vampire Council than Darwin had anticipated.   The ice and snow had slowed them down more than Darwin thought it would, and he was concerned that even with his hood up, he might have been out in the sun too long.
    "Here we are," Darwin said, stopping in front of a dowdy office building, all glass and faded blue panels.   The ground floor was comprised of shops save for a revolving door that lead into a small wooden panel entranceway with lifts and more importantly, a door marked private that went down into the Council lobby.  
    "That's it?" Cassidy asked, clearly not impressed.
    "What did you expect, a sign saying 'welcome to the Vampire Council'?"
    "I dunno," said Cassidy examining the dull building.   "Architecture maybe?"
    "Clever," he mocked, spinning her around so he could reach into her pocket and remove the notebook.   "You wait here, whilst I go in.   If I'm not back out in an hour, go get help?"
    "Who from? 'Excuse me sir, could you help my friend, he appears to be being beaten up by fellow vampires'?"
    "I dunno," said Darwin disappearing into the revolving door of the entrance.   "Go get lots of garlic or something."
    'Does that even work?" Cassidy called out after him.   "Really?"
    Once inside the entranceway, Darwin pulled back his hood and took a deep breath.   He tried not to dwell on his fears, instead making his way through the door and down the stairs that lay beyond.   Something felt wrong.   At