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.He cast a glance at Catch, and the raised eyebrows told him Catch was as surprised as him.When Matty tried to pull them toward the field and the heavy beat of fairground music, Turner and Catch tugged her the other way.“Hi there,” a voice called.Turner cringed.Diana Rolfe came hurrying up, the vicar a little way behind.“You’re going the wrong way,” she panted then smiled at Catch.“Hi, I’m a friend of Turner’s.”“I don’t want her in this dream,” Matty whispered.“Good evening,” said Reverend Lazonby.Diana turned on a megawatt smile.“I didn’t see your cake in the marquee.I do hope you haven’t let us down.”“Could you delay the judging until I get back? Eleven? Midnight?” Turner asked.She frowned.“That’s rather—““We have to go and see a friend in hospital,” Catch said.Turner tightened his hold on Matty’s arm as she tried to pull free.“Oh well, what about your cake?” Diana asked.“We need it for the auction.We already have a bid of fifty pounds.”Catch laughed.“A thousand percent prof—” Matty stamped on his toe.Turner took his house keys from his pocket and handed them to the vicar.“The cake’s in the kitchen.Please lock up again.”“You promised me a dance,” Diana shouted as they hurried off.“I don’t want to go to the hospital,” Matty said.“Yes, you do,” Catch said.* * * * *Gabriel closed his eyes and turned his head toward the window of the car.Dava was giving him a headache.Again.“A motor home.” She made no attempt to keep the disgust out of her voice.“I don’t want to sleep in a motor home.”Gabriel wasn’t ecstatic about it either, but it was the best that could be managed on short notice.And at least they weren’t traveling in it.The motor home following them, driven by Pete, was a precaution, a means of providing secure daytime accommodation should nothing else become available.“The vehicle is perfectly adequate,” Gabriel said.“I’m grateful to Victor for finding it.” He opened his eyes and smiled.Victor, the broad-shouldered shifter driving the black Lexus, nodded.“Thank you for all you’ve done,” Gabriel said to him.“And you too, Nick.”The vampire in the passenger seat turned and smiled.“It’s an honor.”Whereas for Victor it was purely a matter of money, but no matter.Gabriel needed the help of those who could walk in the sun and they were hardly likely to offer support because the idea of helping vampires appealed to their altruistic nature.But support was gathering momentum.In a pyramid-style transmission of information, one told two who told four and so on.If not all wanted to believe, that was fine.Gabriel only needed sufficient numbers to fund the lifestyle he deserved.“A motor home,” Dava muttered.Gabriel glared at her.“Small steps.Early days.I’m grateful for the loyalty of the Purelight Calling.”“Fellowship,” Dava said.“Remember we were going to call it the Purelight Fellowship now.”Gabriel imagined wrapping his hands around her throat.Why was it such a recurrent fantasy? One swift twist and her neck would be broken.If he kept twisting, he could wrench her head off.It would be messy though, and it wasn’t his car.“We’re the Purelight Calling,” Gabriel said.“Why change the name? One day, let it be soon, praise be the light, we will all stand together in the sun.”Nick turned and gazed at him with adoration undimmed after twenty years.A young vampire who still regretted his decision to turn, he was exactly the kind of believer Gabriel liked along with the older ones who’d grown bored with a dark existence.Well, Gabriel liked them all, provided they had money.What he didn’t need from them was intelligence.That made him think again of Logan, who twenty years ago had slipped away as things unraveled.Where was he now?Gabriel rolled his shoulders.“How long before we reach Milford Hall?”“Not long,” Victor said.“What if Turner no longer believes?” Dava asked.What if he never had? “He’ll see the light,” Gabriel said.“Or we’ll send him to eternal darkness.”Chapter Twenty“How are you guys going to get in?” Matty asked.She stared up at the hospital building, lights blazing on every floor, and wondered which window she lay behind.Strange how real this felt, the firm clasp they each had of her hands.Because you’re not making it up, you twit.Matty pushed the thought away, though her pulse still pounded as her inner voice yelled, Open your eyes and accept this.“We walk in,” Turner said.“I could go on my own.You won’t be allowed onto the ward.It’s after visiting hours.Anyway, you don’t know where I am,” she pointed out.Turner gripped her hand more firmly as if he expected her to bolt.Damn.“We’re doing this together,” Catch said.It was easier than Matty expected.A question at reception revealed she was on a high-dependency unit on the seventh floor.Ward DG7.Her nerves sizzled even harder.High dependency? Not hard to figure out that was serious.Already anxious about being away from Milford Hall, fear of what she’d see in a few minutes made her tremble.“You okay?” Catch asked as they entered the elevator.“Yes.”“No you’re not.” He pulled her into his arms.“We won’t let anything happen to you,” Turner said.“But it already has,” she whispered.Maybe the moment she saw herself lying in bed, this part of her would vanish.Maybe she’d never see Turner or Catch again.Maybe they’d never existed.Maybe she’d die.Maybe, maybe, maybe.She wanted to say goodbye but worried that might make it happen.Her steps grew slower and shorter as they walked down the corridor.If Matty believed she could get away, she’d have run.Catch pressed the intercom at the locked door of DG7.“My friend and I would like to see Matty Hobsbawn, please.”“Visiting is over for tonight,” said a woman.“We’ve driven straight from Heathrow,” Catch said.“Just flown in after a long stretch of military service in the Middle East.We didn’t know she was in the hospital until this morning.We rang her parents
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