If only phobias could be vanquished through rational thinking. I nodded. ‘I’m fine. We’ve got this.’
He took my hand. ‘We definitely do.’
I stared at the gaping hole in front of us. Hugo had been right about the lights: they lined the roof of the tunnel, illuminating it from one end to the other. The sight of them made me feel considerably better.
‘It’s not too late to back out,’ Hester said.
A smile curved my mouth. This was for Rose, wherever she was. ‘Yes, it is,’ I said.
I released Hugo’s hand and unsheathed Gladys; we didn’t know what else might be lurking in the tunnel and I had to be ready for anything. From the expressions on Hugo and Otis’s face, and the sudden, determined tilt to Hester’s chin, we were all ready.
‘At least I’ll die a hero,’ she said.
‘Nobody’s dying,’ I told her firmly. Then we plunged inside.
Although the engineering and the history of the Innocent Railway Tunnel was impressive, in 1994 it wasn’t a particularly pleasant place. Graffiti, none of which was artistically impressive, lined the walls; a stale stench of urine combined with damp earthiness tickled my nostrils.
And there were rats. Not hundreds – this wasn’t an infestation of plague proportions – but enough to make Otis squeal aloud several times. The sound echoed down the long tunnel. Even Hugo looked queasy at the sight of the sleek, furry bodies darting along the edges of the tunnel. I couldn’t recall spotting any rats here in the future, so Edinburgh Council must have conducted a thorough clean-up at some point, probably around the time Tracey’s vamp spray took off and people were no longer afraid to walk around at night. Still, I was thankful that the rats were the only other creatures inside the tunnel besides us.
About fifty metres in, I turned and checked on the bloodsuckers who were following us. What I saw gave me further hope: not a single one of them had entered the tunnel. Their shifting, twitching silhouettes were clustered at the entrance, hungrily watching us, but they weren’t taking a step inside. They were waiting, and we all knew who they were waiting for.
I smiled coldly, then I turned and kept walking.
The tunnel led to Holyrood Park, which we already knew wouldn’t contain many lurking vampires. It was a calculated risk on our part that any would appear at the other end because if the bloodsuckers were acting on their own impulses, it wouldn’t occur to them to block both ends of the tunnel. Undead creatures weren’t capable of thinking strategically. However, we needed to give every indication that we weretrapped, so Hester and Otis zipped ahead. When they returned, they were bobbing their heads in fearful unison.
Less than a minute later, I saw several of the fanged fuckers hovering outside. Now there were vampires to the left of us and vampires to the right. Everything was in place, and the sooner Athair also showed up the better. The wait had begun.
An hour passed, then two. Although it was early summer and I was wrapped in warm clothes and a good coat, I still felt cold. It didn’t help that every minute ticked by with an inexorable lack of speed: every second felt like a minute, and every minute felt like an hour.
I huddled next to Hugo, trying to ignore my deep craving for more spider’s silk, while Hester and Otis dozed on my shoulders. The vampires stayed where they were.
‘It’s gone midnight,’ Hugo eventually whispered. ‘No sign of him yet.’
I glanced up and nodded. Time for a little nudge.
I pulled out my mobile phone; there was very little battery life left but it had been turned off for almost the entire time I’d spent in 1994 so there was enough charge to serve our purposes.
I pressed the button to bring it to life and shielded the screen so that its glare wasn’t obvious. The recording was ready and waiting to go; without ceremony, I pressed play and made sure it was on repeat.
Within seconds the sound of a baby crying filled the tunnel, amplified by the low ceiling and curved walls. It wasn’t Baby Daisy because the plan hadn’t occurred to us until after we’d left her at Freemark Hospital, but we reckoned that one baby’s cry sounded much like another’s. It hadn’t taken long to find another baby to record so that our bait was well and truly on the hook.
I put my phone on top of the one-armed plastic doll andtucked it into the blankets. Then I crossed my fingers very tightly.
Less than ten minutes later, all my fiendish wishes came true.
Chapter
Thirty
We heard Athair before we saw him and, even though I’d been praying for it, the sound of his booming, harsh voice still made me jump. ‘Where the fuck is my daughter?’
The recorded cries of the anonymous baby continued to echo out from my dying phone. It would shut down for good in the next few minutes but that no longer mattered because the twenty-first century technology had already served its purpose.
I recovered from my jolt and cricked my neck, watching as the crowd of vampires at the far end of the tunnel parted. It was impossible to make out Athair’s features from this distance but it was unmistakably him. His broad shoulders, combined with the way he held himself, were instantly recognisable, and when he walked into the tunnel the dim electric lights bounced off his golden skin.
At least,I thought darkly,he’s not bothered to conceal his true self again. I preferred it when he was honest about what he was – and this would be much easier if we were the only ones playing games.
‘Get back, you fucking fiend!’Hugo roared.
