Savage Wings: Book Three of The Whitechapel Chronicles

Chapter 29

"Move out of the bloody way, Megan."

Charlie, the stocky, shaven-headed one from Edward's crew, stood in front of me, brandishing his blade as if it were my flesh he wanted to slice open and not the Feeder's, who sat bound in the room behind me. I took a step closer, feeling the deadly point of the knife push against my chest. From nearby, Harper hissed a warning, although right then I had no idea if that warning was directed at Charlie or directed at me.

Bringing the girl back here had been a risky move. Fenton had wanted to put a bullet in her head right then and there, but despite her attack upon me, I just couldn't let him do it. Standing near the car and watching in horror at her frenzied, maniacal efforts to reach me, I saw something in the girl's eyes that drew me in. There was something beyond the hunger. Something beyond the thirst. I saw a sadness there, a deep aching sadness that reminded me of a girl I once knew, left to fend for herself in a world where everyone had forgotten her. This one was too young to be on her own, too young to be lost in a city where she was an easy target for every Varúlfur beast that stalked the streets. As she'd hammered her fists against the window and pressed her forehead against the pane, smearing the blood on her skin, I'd silently cursed the one who had made her and left her to look after herself.

I knew right then that I couldn't do the same.

"You're not having her, Charlie," I said, jutting out my chin in stubborn defiance. "You want to try your luck with me, then go right ahead, but you'll have to slice open my chest and cut me in two before I'll let you kill her."

While I didn't believe Charlie really wanted to hurt me, I had a horrible feeling that he would feel compelled to cross the line in order to get to the Feeder. Then again, looking at many of the angry faces around the room, he probably wasn't the only one. My decision to bring her back hadn't exactly been met with much enthusiasm by any of the group and right then I felt the odds stacking against me by the second, the weight of their anger pressing in on all sides.

"Do you even have the faintest idea what you have in that room?"

"Yes," I spat back. "She's a vampire and what's more, she's just a kid. She deserves our help, not this."

"Killing her is the only way to help her."

I flinched as a hand touched my arm and I turned to see Edward standing there, his black eyes crinkled with concern. "The lad here has a point, lass. Feeders are no good. They'll turn on yer as soon as look at yer. Aye, I know she's just a young slip of a thing, but that doesn't make her any less dangerous and mark my words, she is dangerous. Even if she doesn't attack one of us here, which I'm sorry to say is highly likely, then the chances are that she will bring all sorts to our door. We can't have that, girl. Yer know we can't."

I stood my ground. "What I can't do, Edward, is sanction her murder."

Charlie laughed harshly. "Murder? Are you bloody kidding me?" His face twisted with scorn. "Didn't you get the memo or something? We kill people. That's what we do. You want to start calling it murder, then you might want to re-think how you access your food source."

"This is different," I insisted, dismayed to see Harper exhale, irritation deep and heavy in his eyes. "She at least deserves a chance."

"And how do you know she didn't get a chance, eh?" Charlie waved the knife towards the door. "How do you know that she didn't kill her maker and has been running rampant through the city ever since? Face it, Megan, you don't know anything about that girl and yet you think she deserves a second chance. You're bloody mad."

"Yeah I told her that," Fenton said, from where he was standing, casually leaning against the wall as he surveyed the chaos I had created. I shot him a dark glare which he returned with an irritating I-told-you-so shrug. I knew getting him on side would be a tall order, but I'd at least hoped for some back-up when facing the others. With Fenton now clearly against me and Harper uselessly mute on the subject, I realised that I was completely on my own with this one and maybe rightfully so. It was foolish and risky. Not that it didn't burn a little knowing that they didn't back me.