Chapter 7

January 21st

The flight was long and dull. Almost as dull as the food Leisha had forced herself to eat for the past week, though processed sugars were starting to taste better to her muted palate. Samantha had brought Boston Cream Rolls and Frosted Fudge Cakes in her carry on, and Leisha was embarrassed to admit she had eaten more of them than Samantha.

“I’ll bet it’s probably comfort food. You know, since you and Tafari fought. Again.” Samantha rolled her eyes at the last word.

Grimacing, Leisha agreed. “This is the best I can do for now, comfort-food-wise.”

“And Tafari-wise?”

She shrugged and forced herself to appear nonchalant. This was something she wasn’t ready to discuss. “We don’t exactly hate each other anymore.”

“I should hope not,” the girl muttered.

Heat crept up Leisha’s cheeks, but she didn’t need memories of their bed play distracting her right now. “But we can’t seem to agree on the matter of the prophecy child.” She shook her head. “He’s almost fanatically loyal to the immortals, and it’s blinding him to what seems obvious to me.”

“What’s Rinwa’s take on it?”

Leisha raised her brows. “You would know better than me.” Though Leisha thought maybe Rinwa was warming up to her. As they said goodbye that morning, Rinwa had patted Leisha’s shoulder. It wasn’t a hug, but physical—and non-violent—contact from her daughter was new.

Her parting words, however, were typical Rinwa. “Try not to be such a bitch next time.” Still, they hadn’t seemed so cold. Leisha could almost convince herself it was said with affection. Almost.

Samantha chewed on her bottom lip. “I think that she’ll support Tafari, whatever he decides.”

“And since he doesn’t seem so keen on changing his mind, we know where they both stand.”

Looking disappointed, Samantha rummaged in her bag for another Boston Cream Roll. “It would be nice if we could work together on this point.”

Patting her knee, Leisha tried to console her. “Maybe we’ll stay human and won’t have to worry about this prophecy child anymore.”

Samantha’s blue eyes bored into hers. “Once I have a vision, it does happen. I’ll be a witness at his birth.”

“Have you had any other visions lately?”

She shook her head. “I had one about Spencer last month, but that’s it.”

That piqued Leisha’s interest. “You didn’t tell me. What was it about?”

Samantha waved a hand. “Nothing big. I saw him on the field at school, looking lost. It was like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, or maybe he was grieving. Then a man walked up to him, but I didn’t see what he looked like.” She shrugged. “It was after that vision I became closer to Spencer. I felt like I needed to give him some sort of comfort.”

“Are you sad that we’re leaving?”

Her brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. Being with Spencer was pretty confusing. Besides, we might go back.”

“That depends on what we learn anything about this human thing.”

Samantha smiled. “Well, don’t worry about me. With everyone human, I don’t really feel scared to go to the vampires. Plus, I kind of miss Nik. It will be nice to see him again.”

Leisha was about to respond when her stomach lurched a little. She frowned and covered her belly. It lurched again.

“Leisha? You okay? You’re looking pretty pale.”

“It’s my stomach.” She realized that she couldn’t bring herself to swallow. It was incredibly unpleasant. Suddenly, the plane’s recycled air felt stale and dry.

Concern on her face, Samantha touched her forehead. “It looks like you’re about to throw up.”

Eyes widening, Leisha knew the girl was right. There wasn’t enough time to get to the bathroom, so she searched through the pouch in front of her and retrieved one of the airline-provided barf bags. Holding it at her mouth, she waited. Her stomach was rolling again. Leaning forward, her body suddenly heaved, and a sonorous belch escaped her lips, but nothing else.

The taste in her mouth was a combination of bile and sugar. Leisha wished she actually had thrown up. But at least her stomach wasn’t hurting as much.

She glanced at her companion. “I’m never touching another Fudge Cake again.”

Samantha’s face was red from laughing so hard. “I think it’s just that you had too many. What did you think was going to happen?” Samantha squeezed her hand. “You’re going to have to get used to a human metabolism again.”

Leisha sighed. “Those were the only things that seemed to have flavor. Of course I went a little overboard.”

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Leisha couldn’t bring herself to eat anything else and hoped that the other vampires had figured out a way to make food tasty. By the time they landed in Spain , Leisha was dying to get off the plane, but they had to wait for half the passengers to shuffle out before they could exit.

Outside the airport, Darshan was waiting for them in the crisp evening air. Leisha didn’t know him well, though she was glad that he looked much improved from when she had seen him last. Eight months ago, he had been punished by Ptah over a triviality. Darshan had shown ambition in tracking an immortal, to the point that he disregarded an order from Ptah to kill the immortal. When Leisha had seen him, the vampire had been starved for a month, which makes a vampire decompose and rot. After that point, he’d been sentenced to beg the cruel vampires for sustenance for weeks.

His long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore a crisp Armani suit. He smiled when they approached. He looked fantastic compared to the starved and decaying vampire from before.

“Good to see you, Leisha. I trust your flight was smooth.” He took their luggage and put it in the trunk, then opened the back door for them to slide in. The leather seats were comfortable and the car smelled new.

Once he was behind the wheel and they were on their way, Leisha spoke up. “How have things been lately?”

She could see the corners of his dark eyes tighten in the rear view mirror. “They have calmed down. A lot of them wanted to desert when we became human. They said that Victor wasn’t a ruler over them anymore and that their oaths were void. He didn’t waste any time in punishing them and putting the fear of God into the rest of us.”

“How many were killed?”

He shrugged. “Fifty or so.”

Samantha’s eyes widened, but Leisha wasn’t surprised. Human or not, Victor had a cruel streak.

“The strange thing is that we still can’t be in the sun for too long. We can venture out for maybe an hour before we start to burn. And the burns take a long time to heal.” He glanced at Leisha in the mirror. “You have always been able to withstand the sunlight, haven’t you?”

She nodded in the affirmative.

“Wonder why that is,” he muttered.

“I stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago.”

The atmosphere in the car went into a comfortable silence. Samantha was looking out the window, as if trying to see as much of the Spanish countryside as she could in the dark.

The drive from the airport took a while, and Leisha was stiff by the time they climbed out of the vehicle. Sore muscles were one thing she’d never get used to. She’d had them when she worked in her village in Africa but two thousand years made it easy to forget things like that.

“Why are we staying at a hotel? I thought we would be meeting the other vamps right away,” asked Samantha, surveying the large building before them.

Leisha shook her head, and Darshan answered, “This hotel is your destination. Victor and his people reside here.”

Samantha looked impressed but didn’t say anything. Leisha supposed that after seeing their last vampire lair—beneath a tiny old Catholic church in India where parishioners continued to worship while vampires did unspeakable things directly below—nothing would surprise her anymore.
Memories of the last time Leisha was here made her fingers feel cold. It had been over four hundred years ago and she’d been grabbing victims in the daylight to bring to Ptah and Ellery, Ptah’s mate. Thinking of all the wrongs she’d committed made her want to vomit. I’m not that person anymore. Victor can try, but I won’t let him push me around.

She and Samantha walked into the hotel’s spacious lobby while Darshan and a bellboy carried their luggage in for them. The ceilings stretched high overhead and had beautiful paintings lining them. Samantha stared at the large chandelier hanging over their heads with wide eyes. It was plated in gold and held hundreds of light-refracting crystals. Beneath their feet, a marble floor led the way toward the reception area. At the front desk, Leisha recognized a human servant who belonged to a vampire named Ruth.

The woman looked up and smiled as they approached. “Hello, Samantha. I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

Samantha smiled in return. “Well, I’m glad I got to see you Vanessa. You were my favorite fellow servant.”

Vanessa waved a hand. “Only because you didn’t stay long enough to meet the others.” She handed them an envelope. “Here are your key cards. Victor gave you a suite to share on the fifteenth floor. Danny and Darshan should have already put your luggage there.”

Leisha took the envelope and expressed her thanks. As she turned to leave, Vanessa stopped them.

“Since you’re arriving so late, Victor is giving you the day to rest. There will be a banquet tomorrow at midnight in the ballroom.”

“He’s keeping everyone on night hours?”

She nodded. “He says you’re still vampires and that you should all act as such.”

“Even the blood drinking part?” Samantha quipped.

Vanessa smiled. “It seems as long as everyone gets enough iron, they’re fine on that score.”

They exchanged nervous chuckles. Nodding goodbye, Leisha and Samantha went to the elevators. As they entered the first car available, Leisha wondered why she hadn’t needed extra iron in her diet.

“What floor do you think Nik is staying on?” Samantha asked.

Leisha shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Do you know how many floors there are total?”

“Twenty. We’re being honored by getting a suite, by the way. But I’m not sure if Victor is trying to show me respect or if he wants something.”

Samantha tossed her a look, as if to say, “What can you do?”

Once on the fifteenth floor, they only had to walk a short distance before they found their suite. It was pretty standard for a vampire’s taste. Kitchenette, front room, and two bedrooms. Each room with its own gas fireplace and flat screen televisions.

“Is this what first class is like?” Samantha asked, walking around and staring at the architecture around her.

Leisha nodded. “It’s pretty nice, though I’ll bet the penthouse suites are much better.”

Samantha walked into each bedroom on either side of the front room. “I’ll take this one,” she said from the bedroom on the right.

Leisha picked up her luggage and headed to the bedroom on the left. She wanted to unpack, shower, and then sleep. She hadn’t realized how hard traveling was on a human body.

She closed her door on Samantha, who was picking through chocolate covered nuts from the kitchen counter. The chocolate tempted her for a minute, but then she remembered nearly throwing up all the sugar she’d eaten on the plane.

Putting her suitcase down, Leisha sat down on the bed. She’d intended to unpack and take a shower, but fatigue overwhelmed her. She decided to lie down for a minute, and before she realized it, she fell into a deep sleep.