It took Shen and Elsa the better part of an hour to convince me to join them in their scheme to secure Tatyana’s safety and penetrate Nandru’s den. Since Elsa was no longer catching a flight back to San Diego in the morning and it was too late to return to Millie’s house, Shen rented a hotel room for her and we all settled down to catch some good, solid, sleep.
Both vampires and werewolves rested during the day and roamed at night. This meant that we’d have the daytime to replenish our strength. This was something Shen couldn’t have been more grateful for.
It was well into the afternoon before we surfaced and joined each other outside the hotel restaurant. The lunch shift had ended and the kitchen was closed until dinner. Since we needed to stretch our legs, we walked into Old Town Scottsdale and selected a sidewalk cafe’ for our dining and conferring.
“I sure am glad it isn’t the middle of the summer here,” Elsa said as she shielded her eyes from the sun. “I don’t know how a vampire could even survive in this type of environment. I don’t even know if the sun’s this brilliant in Africa.”
Unlike the old woman who’d already seen enough of the bright ball of fire that hovered almost too close wherever we went, I was loving it. Now that I’d experienced a good solid sleep as well as some brilliant sunshine, I was more amiable about the task at hand. Elsa was right. Her scheme had just eliminated countless days, or even weeks, of searching for the den and their leader was a good one.
“We need to make a good solid plan,” I said as I rotated my shoulders and neck. “I have no intention of meeting Dracula and I’m sure Bruce feels the same.”
“What about the child?” Shen asked Elsa. “I don’t recall you mentioning handing him over last night when discussing the trade.”
“I didn’t and I won’t,” she replied as she leaned forward and winked. “Those demon men have a way of reading your mind. You have to be able to keep your mind very still when you’re around them. That’s something most people just can’t do. I know you’re an expert in martial art fighting, so you’re very disciplined, but even so... it’s better to be safe than sorry. So, the less you know, the better. Let me just say that I agreed to give him the current location of where the babe is being hidden, but I have no intention of giving those animals that baby.”
“Good enough,” Shen said, as he nodded in approval.
“I don’t know if you realize what my friend has gone through in an effort to protect that baby,” I said.
Now that I was aware that Elsa not only knew Tatyana, but considered herself the girl’s protector, I felt she should understand that we were on the same team.
“Oh?” she said as she focused her attention on me. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“It is not necessary to tell this,” Shen interjected. “I do not desire to vocalize what I was through.”
Elsa studied Shen quietly.
“I think it’s necessary,” she said. “If we’re going to work together and trust each other, then it’s best that we have the whole story on both sides. You fill me in on how you know Tatyana and the baby and I’ll do the same. Deal?”
After a brief deliberation, Shen nodded his head in agreement and sat back with a glass of iced tea while he listened to me retell the story of how we met Tatyana and what had transpired since. True to her word, Elsa reciprocated and, after several hours of storytelling, we were all quite clear on where the other stood where Tatyana and the baby were concerned; and why.
Discovering the risks that Shen took to try to help Tatyana, and the ordeals he’d suffered as a result, put us in a new light with Elsa. She shook her head when she heard of the fight Tatyana put up and her mistrust of Shen. She hadn’t known the girl for very long, but psychics bonded more quickly than the average person and she knew enough about her to understand her tendency to mistrust. It was too bad, though. She felt we’d have probably done a wonderful job of keeping her safe and hiding her from the vampires, had she only trusted us.
Satisfied with knowing and understanding each other’s position, we put our heads together to formulate a plan. It would be dark soon and we’d have to face Nandru. It was imperative that we had it all worked out before then.
Much to my chagrin, it was decided that I should know only bits and pieces of our game plan. They’d let me know just enough to allow me to follow through with my responsibilities. They didn’t want to take the risk of my mind getting away from me, should I be captured and placed in the state of panic. I had to admit that this was probably a wise decision since I was proving to be far more emotional than Shen, but, even so, it made me feel a little less worthy.
Six o’clock rolled around and we were still sitting at the cafe’. The waiter brought us each a dinner menu and we ordered light. Although we needed nourishment, we didn’t need to be bogged down by heavy cuisine for what we had to do that night.
****
Nandru was in the foulest of moods. He’d spent the entire day searching the den for that problematic little snit of a girl, but she was nowhere to be found. How could this be? He rarely brought a human to the den, but, when he did, they never escaped. Never.
He closed his eyes and sensed the position of the sun. It would be dark soon and he’d be expected to meet with a voodoo priestess, a martial arts master, and a vampire slayer. He was curious to discover what we’d decided to do. He had no doubt in his mind that we’d co-operate with him if we thought we had a reason to. Without the girl he had no leverage to get Elsa to make Bruce human again. There’d be no reason for her to help and the whole plan would be lost. He needed to find that girl!
A loud growl emanated from deep within his throat as he vented his frustration with the situation by pounding a hole through the solid mahogany door of his wardrobe. Pulling on the bell rope, he called for his servants to search the den once again. They were to go over every inch and bring this girl to him or suffer the consequences. Since he was certain that she hadn’t left through the main entrance, and only he knew of his private passage, she had to be in the den somewhere. Find her.
In the meantime, he prepared himself for his evening of hunting for Bruce with some very perilous partners.