Blood Politics - Helen Harper Page 0,1

mouth was open in a silent shriek, but his eyes were covered with an unmistakeable caul. Thomas. The agony in my shoulder increased and the cloud of red across my eyes deepened to a vivid scarlet, and I screamed.

*

I woke, my whole body covered in a sheen of cold sweat, and a sheet wrapped constrictingly round my legs and torso. Lying there for a moment, heart thudding painfully in my chest, I blinked away the hot tears and swallowed hard. Then I pulled myself together and extricated my limbs from the damp cotton, getting out of bed to yank an over-sized t-shirt over my head and pad to the bathroom. I flicked on the light, wincing at its brightness, turned on the tap and scooped up cold water to splash over my face.

I reached over for a towel, patting my skin dry, then stared into the small mirror. I looked pale, with heavy dark rings under my eyes that appeared in stark contrast to the rest of my skin. Sighing, I ran my fingers through my now almost shoulder-length hair, and tried not to think any more about Thomas. Instead, I curled my nails into my palms and gritted my teeth, and stalked into the kitchen.

My mouth was almost painfully dry so I yanked open the fridge door and pulled out a carton of orange juice, then drank deeply from it, without bothering to get myself a glass. I had virtually drained the entire thing when there was a sudden sharp knock at the door that caused me to swallow the wrong way and start choking and spluttering, juice flying out of my mouth in all directions. I wiped the back of my hand across my face, trying to get the worst of the citrus smears off, then cursed irritably to myself and reached out for a cloth to wipe down the juice spattered fridge. The knocking continued, more insistent now. I ignored it.

Come on, kitten, open up. I know you’re in there and you’re awake.

I continued dabbing at the dribbles of the juice that had managed to somehow cover half of my small kitchen, and didn’t bother to answer the annoying Voice in my head.

Corrigan’s fist against my door increased in both tempo and volume, a drumbeat to some silent tune of annoyance that only he knew how to create. I wanted him to go away so I go crawl back to bed and try to get some real sleep.

Mackenzie…

There was a warning note in his Voice now that did nothing more than irritate me. Who did he think he was coming round here in the middle of the night? Surely the bloody Lord Alpha of all the sodding stupid shifters had better things to do with his time?

I heard a door bang in the flat above me. Great, now he’d woken up the neighbours. I’d only moved in four days ago, it was hardly time to start pissing them off just yet.

Fuck off, Corrigan. I am trying to sleep.

No, you’re not.

He gave up on knocking and began thumping on the door instead. Jeez. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone called the freaking police at this rate. Rolling my eyes in exhausted exasperation, I put down the cloth and walked out the kitchen and towards the front door. I was just reaching for the handle to open it, when there was a loud splintering noise and I jumped backwards while the whole door burst open with a crash. On the doorstep in front, leg only just lowering, stood Corrigan, looking terribly pleased.

I stared at him aghast. “You kicked open my fucking door?”

He grinned at me ferally. “I had to make sure you were alright, kitten. You were screaming in my head.” He licked his lips. “It was…disturbing.”

Screaming in his head? Oh shit. That meant that I’d reached out and called for him in the throes of my nightmare. Then I thought for a second. “Hold on a minute. I only woke up five minutes ago and you live on the other side of the city.” I put my hands on my hips and cocked my head at him. “You might be fast, my Lord, but you’re not Superman. What were you doing hanging around this part of town?”

Corrigan had the grace to look at least slightly abashed, but he was saved from answering as there was the unmistakable sound of a door upstairs opening and heavy footsteps walking down the narrow staircase towards us. A moment later a heavy-set