The hotel ended up being about forty-five minutes from where we landed. Caroline told Riley and me to wait to the side of the front desk where she could see us. We obeyed. The hotel looked exquisite.
Riley and I stood staring around us. There were crystal chandeliers hanging throughout the entire lobby area. The front desk was a bright marbled color, and there was a winding staircase that led to a wood-framed bar overlooking the entrance. There were marble floors and plush rugs lining the center of a large sitting area with couches bigger than my bed.
"I've never seen a hotel that looked like this in person," I whispered to Riley.
"Me either. It’s pretty sweet." He grinned without taking his eyes off of the room in front of us.
"How are you doing with all of this?” I asked him, realizing we had taken him away from graduation, from his final week in college, his friends, and his family. Come to think of it, everything had been taken from Riley.
"I'm okay." He slung his arm around me. "I'm with my two best friends traveling around a foreign country in style. It's the best graduation gift I can think of."
His smile was contagious as he brought out the positives of the situation. I used to be able to do that, too. Audrey and her nightmares had taken that part of me and kept it there. If I continued to let my fears and anxiety in, she would win. I needed to snap out of it. There was too much to be thankful for to let a monster like her keep anything. My life was my own, and I needed to get back to living it.
"You're right. It’s not so bad,” I grinned at him. “I wonder if there’s a Jacuzzi in the room. I can take a bubble bath! Or watch movies and eat junk food. It'll be like the dorms freshman year, only cleaner, without the cockroaches scurrying around downstairs." We laughed out loud which caught Caroline’s attention.
I was sure she’d heard our conversation. Her eyes were warm as if she too wanted to bring our normal positive light to everything.
“Careful, Ariya. Mom is checking in and you’re distracting her,” Riley teased, knowing Caroline would hear.
She pretended to glare at us as she finished up. After we got our room keys, we headed up the elevator. The floor Care clicked didn’t have a number. It was a blank button, but it wasn’t quite the top floor penthouse. I couldn’t wait to walk in and see it.
The elevator dinged and Riley playfully shoved us out of the way. The giggling from downstairs hadn’t stopped, and I didn’t know if it was because we felt safe for the first time in a long time, or if it was because we were in a new place, on a new adventure.
We pushed through the double doors into our room and stood, slack-jawed, taking in the sight before us. There was a grand foyer with high-class furniture throughout the entire place. An electronic security screen was mounted to the right of the entryway that controlled everything, the lights, music, TV, the door locks, everything. The ornately decorated foyer led to a split where there were two hallways.
We turned to the right and saw one of the bedrooms. It looked bigger than a normal hotel room and had a canopied, dark wooden bed and cream colored drapes elegantly set over it.
"Mine!" Caroline shouted and jumped into the bed almost shoving it into the wall.
She hadn't been paying attention to how fast she was running up to it. It caused us to snort at her, which elicited a smile from her.
Next to Caroline's room was another small sitting area, and then around the corner was the master bedroom. The master bedroom was gigantic. There was a sitting area in that too, the largest size bed I’d ever seen, a huge vanity and dresser, a walk in closet, and a door leading to the best bathroom ever created. The walk in shower had faucets that sprayed out of five different nozzles. There was a Jacuzzi tub, much to my happiness, with a TV built into a glass enclosure, so you could enjoy a nice hot soak while watching TV.
Around the corner from the master bedroom was the opposite end of the split hallway where a final bedroom sat. This other room looked much like Caroline's except there was a PS3 system hooked up to a big screen TV. Judging by Riley’s grin, it was clearly a true gamer’s delight.
"Oh, this is so mine," Riley declared.
"I don't need the biggest bedroom!" I said, worried about having all that space to myself.
"Ariya, don't be silly. Clearly this is a dude's room. Are you going to play the Play Station? Caroline wanted her little cubbyhole so she could jump Nick when he arrives. You don't have a choice but the master suite." He smiled over at Caroline as he said it.
She winked at him in response. "You know me so well, Ry-Guy."
Caroline had bags for each of us, since this had all been planned in advance, and had them brought up from the car by a valet. I changed into more comfortable clothes, and we all decided to pile in the master bed for the first night.
“Oh, before I forget, call your mom and let her know you got a surprise trip. We don’t want them worrying. You too, Riley, but no details please.” We nodded, both grabbing the phones she handed us, which I didn’t recognize.
It was morning back home so my mom answered on the second ring. “Hey, Mom!” I said.
“Hey, sweetie. We were just planning our big weekend. We are going to head up tomorrow. Does that work?” Oh man, graduation. I kept forgetting about that. It wasn’t like I studied my ass off for four years or anything. Talk about putting things into perspective.
“Actually, Caroline’s parents surprised us with a trip. We are heading to the airport now. No one is going to graduation. We’d be the only ones there–it’s lame to actually walk across the stage. Can we celebrate when I get home?” I felt strange lying to her, but I couldn’t tell her the truth, or she’d have me committed.
“Ariya! It’s your college graduation, it only happens once. You can’t miss it.” She was whining. My mom never whined.
After more profuse apologies and telling her I didn’t think it was important, she relented. At least enough so that I could hang up the phone without worrying she’d try to track me down at the Mineral Point airport to drag me back home.
“She’s pissed,” I said with a sigh, hopping back onto the bed.
“She’ll get over it,” Caroline smirked as she pulled up a list of Pay Per View movies.
When Riley returned from calling home, he told us his parents had been excited for him. I shook my head. Guys were so different. Riley let us pick a chick flick, and we all snuggled up under the covers.
"Who is paying for all of this?" I asked suddenly.
Who indeed? This was more than Riley or I could afford combined. I didn't want our vampires paying for everything and going broke doing it.
"That would be Erik Laysee," Caroline answered.
"Excuse me? Who is Erik Laysee?"
Caroline laughed. "That's the alias we're staying under. Don't worry about who is paying for this, Ariya. I told you, we are very well compensated. We have too much and don't know how to spend it all, so we figured since this was probably a one-time thing, why not go all out?”
I was shocked. "Where does all the money come from?"
"Imagine living for hundreds of years, working, and not having any normal bills to pay because technically you don't really exist. It adds up quickly." She shrugged.
It made sense. I wasn't going to argue over the five-star accommodations, especially if Caroline said they were fine. We stayed up talking for a bit after the movie, but soon, the jet lag and anxiety from being chased caught up to me, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.
***
I woke up to find Caroline looking out the window of the master bedroom. I was only awake a moment before she turned, dropping the curtain. Worry showed on her face for a second, and then it was gone. I hadn’t missed it though, and I realized that something must not actually be going according to plan.
“Should they be here by now?” I asked. Caroline dropped her gaze to the black phone she’d made me use earlier.
“I should have at least heard from them by now. I’m sure they are fine, though,” she added quickly, turning away from me and avoiding eye contact.
“Whose phone is that?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Mine and it’s blocked. Nick and James have new ones too. We are totally on our own. We didn’t want anyone knowing where we were. We couldn’t risk being followed, so we destroyed the old ones and got these.” She trailed off, looking at the phone as if willing it to ring.
For the first time since we left James and Nick on the runway, she sounded worried. This was how I could finally step up. I could bring some light into the darkness that I knew was creeping into her mind. She needed a distraction to take her mind off waiting for Nick. Riley and I could accomplish that, and in the process, distract ourselves as well. I pushed my own thoughts aside to do just that.
“Who needs to have some faith now?” I asked, trying to smile at her.
“For heaven’s sake, you crazies. How early is it?” Riley shouted at us, pulling a pillow over his face.
I shoved him as he lay next to me, pushing him off the bed. “Sorry, my bad!” Caroline laughed at the action.
“All right, I’m up!” Riley poked his head up over the side of the bed smiling.
“So, it sounds like we have some time to kill, Caroline. Let’s make the most of it! Where are we? Can we do some sightseeing?” I prompted as gently as I could.
Caroline responded hesitantly. “I don’t know if we should go too far in case the boys come.”
“We can leave them a note and hang the Do Not Disturb sign on the door so the maids don’t come in. Come on, where are we?” I asked again, hoping that would be a good enough plan to persuade her.
“We’re in Dresden. It’s about an hour and a half from Christiane’s old palace in Torgau,” Caroline informed me, still seemingly hesitant about any change in plan.
“Great! I’m sure there is plenty to do here. We can go out all day, and maybe this evening, when we come back, the boys will be here. Everything will be fine! Let’s get ready.” I hopped out of bed, desperately trying to act fast and not give Caroline a chance to change her mind.
We were all ready to go within the hour. “Do you know this area Caroline, or should we talk to someone downstairs about where to go?” I asked her. I wasn’t sure if Caroline had ever been to Germany before or not.
“I know some things we could see that you guys would like.” Her tentative smile had grown a bit warmer. Yay! I cheered internally. A point for me and positivity.
We went to the Elbe River Banks and walked around. It was a beautiful spring day, and we were able to take in everything. People watching proved to be entertaining, especially since Riley and I couldn’t understand anything being said around us. Riley took a swing at cheering Caroline up by acting out what he thought people were saying to each other. It was hilarious.
Next, we visited Zwinger Palace. It fascinated me because it was built in the time of when this whole gift business started. I wondered if Christiane ever came to this place. Maybe she met her lover here, and that’s when the whole mess began.
Europe is so much different than the U.S. While I love seeing our historical landmarks back home, they just don’t compare to the architecture and history of the palaces in Europe. The Zwinger Palace, for instance, was built in the early seventeen hundreds and is breathtakingly beautiful. Between the cobblestone streets that still exist around some corners of the roads, the buildings, and the culture, there was just so much to revel in. We ran around with jaws dropped most of the day. I’d never been on such a wonderful trip. Heck, I’d never been out of the U.S. period. I knew Riley hadn’t either and so it really did feel like an escape from our lives.
We were on a roll and decided it wouldn’t hurt to stay out for the evening, too, since we had already made a day out of touring. We ended up going to the Semper Opera House. Caroline told us it had been destroyed in World War II, but was rebuilt and reopened later on.
The history lesson from Care made me think of James and how he had been around so much war. I knew he couldn’t have fought in them because he would have been protecting who ever in my family had been around at the time, but he still lived through it. There was so much more I wanted to learn from him and talk to him about. I wondered if I would ever be able to.
I said a prayer that he was safe and tried to focus on the present time with my friends. Caroline’s faith that everything would work out seemed to return, which made me feel better.
We got back to the hotel fairly late that evening from the opera house. All the way up the elevator we were holding our breaths. The tension had grown, and we were silent in anticipation. Caroline’s phone didn’t ring all day, but we thought that might mean the boys read our note and were waiting for us in the room. There wasn’t much to say to each other as we watched the buttons flash past each floor. I wanted so badly to open the hotel room doors and see James and Nick there.
Caroline rushed out when the doors dinged open faster than I think she meant to, and then pushed the key card into the door before Riley and I had even stepped out of the elevator. The hotel room doors were flung wide open by the time we came around the corner.
No one was there. The room was empty.
The note was still in the sitting area, untouched, and everything was just as we had left it. My heart sank, but I turned to Caroline and tried to hide my own fear.
“I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” Caroline just nodded and put on a fake smile that I know Riley saw through as well.
Riley and I let her be because we hadn’t ever seen her like this before. I didn’t want to be alone though, so I followed Riley into his room. Nick and Caroline had been together for a very long time. As much as I craved James’s safety, I couldn’t imagine what Caroline must be feeling.
Riley distracted me by trying to teach me how to play video games in his room. Eventually, Caroline joined us. She was trying to act normally, but it was coming across as forced. I handed her the remote. Riley seized the opportunity to joke around with her, trying to lighten her spirits.
Eventually, Riley shouted at the screen and then threw his controller on the bed. “Cheater! You waited until the end to actually play.”
“What can I say, I’m really great at everything I do.” She laughed which was a beautiful sound to hear given her state of mind earlier.
I was exhausted and Riley was yawning. Caroline didn’t need sleep though, and I didn’t want her to have to be awake by herself. “Want to stay with me tonight, Care?” I asked and she nodded enthusiastically.
I got ready for bed, putting on the plaid pj shorts and camisole that Caroline had packed for me. I slid into bed under the amazingly soft comforter, and Caroline climbed in right next to me.
“Don’t you think you’d feel it if something bad happened to Nick?” I questioned, trying to bring her some comfort.
“I don’t know, Ariya. Something isn’t right. I can feel that.” She looked me dead in the eye as she whispered her response.
Caroline wasn’t going to lie to me. The only things she ever lied to me about weren’t really lies, she’d just omitted a few facts, and even then, she’d done it to protect me. When it came to her emotions, we were always open, so I knew she was going to be honest with her fears.
I took her hand in mine and we lay there quietly, both trying hard not to give into the fear that threatened to take us over.
***
I didn’t remember falling asleep. My eyes were closed, though, when I felt a hand run through my hair. I took a deep breath and I smelled him. That woodsy, Christmas scent I knew so well surrounded my senses. My eyes flew open, wondering if it was a dream or if it was real.
He was there. James. He had his hand on my head, and I was so happy that I could barely speak.
“James,” I managed to get out.
He was sitting on the bed and smiled, but only for a minute. I threw my arms around him. Tears slipped out, and I tried to bury my face in his neck to stifle a sob. He was here and he was safe. He gave in and wrapped his arms around me. I took another deep breath and choked down a cry. The fear that I pushed down for Caroline’s sake welled up and then was crushed a little more each moment I stayed in his arms.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re okay,” he spoke softly in my ear and ran his hand down my back.
I pulled back to get a better look at him. He looked awful, worn down and defeated somehow.
“Ariya, Nick needs you.” he said, clearly shaken.
I sprang into action and got out of bed. “Where?” I asked.
“Living room.” The look on his face frightened me.
As the words came out of his mouth, I turned to head there. I managed to get out of the room faster than seemed possible for me. Running into the sitting area, I came to a halt. Nick wasn’t moving. Caroline was holding his hand as he lay on the sofa, tears in her eyes. I felt James take my arm behind me. He looked at me and started bringing my wrist to his mouth. I pulled away and he looked shocked.
“I need something that will make a bigger cut. It seemed to work better when there was a larger amount of blood.”
He frowned, but nodded at my explanation.
“Is there a knife, letter opener, anything?” I asked. They looked around, but it was wasting so much time. I turned to James. “Can you put a gash in my hand with your teeth?”
“Yes,” he said, although he didn’t look like he liked the idea of putting a gash anywhere on me. I lifted my right hand but noticed a faint scar lining it. I brushed my fingers over it briefly and frowned. Audrey and the wolves would pay for all of this.
I held my left hand out to James instead. He was watching me, a pained expression on his face. He brought my palm up to his mouth, and I winced as his teeth cut a line across it. The blood pooled instantly, and I ran the rest of the distance to Nick. Caroline had already pushed his cheeks together to open his lips.
The blood poured in. More and more flowed into Nick’s mouth as I clenched my fist to keep the blood flowing, but he still wasn’t moving. The blood flow eventually slowed to a trickle. My breathing picked up, and I was nervous I had done something wrong. I looked at Caroline, but her face was like stone.
“Nick?” I called frantically.
Nothing. He wasn’t moving. James must have felt my panic because he came up behind me and took my hand away from Nick’s mouth. He stayed close to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, holding me up because my knees were not doing the job.
“Is there a time limit to what I can do?” I asked. The alarm in my voice was clear. I slid out of James’s grasp and went to give Nick more blood. Still nothing.
“How long has it been?” I questioned James.
“He was staked shortly after you all left. It’s been over two days.”
Two days? I didn’t dare share my doubts about saving him because Caroline was sitting right there, and I worried about her as it was. I turned back around to try yet again to give Nick more, but it was Caroline who stopped me.
“Ariya, give it a minute. I don’t think he needs more. Just wait.” The confidence in her voice was in stark contrast with the grave expression clouding her face.
I nodded and knelt on the floor beside her, watching Nick and holding her hand. Minutes passed and nothing happened.
I’d failed them. I wanted to hold it together since Caroline was here. I looked up at the ceiling trying to get the tears that were forming to drain back into my tear ducts somehow.
Suddenly, there was movement, and Nick shot straight up with a sharp gasp. I know they don’t need to breathe technically, but Caroline gasped, too, and I wondered if it was just a natural reaction from the shock.
I got to my feet, relieved and thankful. I don’t know what Caroline would have done if Nick had been lost. I backed away, letting them have their space. Nick saw me before I got very far.
“Thank you, Ariya,” he said reverently.
I don’t know why they always thanked me. It was just a little blood, and I wouldn’t let them die. It was my biggest strength–this power in my blood. It was really the only thing I had to keep my friends safe.
My knees buckled again. It had been awhile since I’d lost that much blood, or had a gash like that on my hand. I remembered bringing the ten wolves back at Audrey’s, and how after a couple, Riley had to carry me. I don’t think I gave any of those wolves the same amount of blood I just gave Nick, and my hand was starting to bleed again.
I looked around the room to see if there was something I could wrap it in, but before I could make any sort of movement anywhere James was in front of me. His shirt was pulled off and wrapped up already so that I could use it for my hand. He tied it up and my breath caught at his shirtless body in front of me. He looked worn out. It wasn’t as bad as he looked when I first saw him after being at Audrey’s, but it wasn’t good, either. As strong as he was, he didn’t take losing people well. Nick was his best friend, and I knew what my reaction had been when I’d thought I’d lost Caroline.
“Thank you,” I told him and met his gaze.
His eyes were full of pride and something else. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I loved the way he looked at me. He pulled me into him, and I was glad I didn’t have to be the one to make that move. I wanted to tell him everything and come clean about how much I needed him, about how much I loved him. Instead, I settled for just enjoying that he was here, holding me close to him. I huddled into his chest as his strong arms wrapped around me tighter.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” It seemed silly to say, and it didn’t even begin to cover what I was truly feeling, but it was all I could manage at the moment.
“You’re safe now, too. I’m back.” He held me tighter, as if trying to bring me closer than I already was.
I leaned back and smiled at him, noticing that Nick and Caroline were no longer in the room. They must have gone back to Caroline’s room. That only left the one bed, which I hadn’t actually thought about when we picked rooms. Now that both James and Nick were back, did that mean one person had to take the couch? James looked exhausted, and so I volunteered to sleep on the couch for a few hours so he could have the bed and just relax.
“How about if I promise to stay clothed and sleep on top of the covers, we share it?” he asked. Of course I couldn’t say no to the offer.
“I need to get a first aid kit for you. I’ll call downstairs. You don’t want another scar,” he said tightly.
He lifted the phone in the living room, speaking quickly, and then stepped outside the door. Moments later he returned, and together, we walked back into the master bedroom. I felt the tiniest bit of discomfort looking at the bed we’d sleep in. It wasn’t because I didn’t want James in the room with me; it was because of how much I did want him there.
I hadn’t had time to think about everything Caroline had said to me about breaking up with James. Since I hadn’t decided how to broach the subject with him, for now I’d continue to act as if we were broken up, and that I was just happy he was here and safe.
We both got into bed, me under the covers and James on top of them. He took my uninjured hand first and looked at the light scar.
“It’s probably just because it was never cleaned right and I cut it twice. It’s no big deal,” I said pulling away.
“You shouldn’t have any marks on you.” He shook his head, grabbing my freshly cut hand. He went to work using ointment and bandages in the kit he’d obtained.
“What happened? Why did you take so long to come back?” I asked, curious about what could have delayed him from bringing Nick to me.
“We were surrounded,” he answered, not looking up from my hand yet. “Tristan had several wolves attack us all at once to try and overpower us. I noticed that most of them were leaving Nick alone unless he was fighting them directly. It was me they were after. At one point, Tristan could have easily dealt me a killing blow, but he didn’t. I knew then they wanted me alive, or at least not completely dead. Tristan had a stake with him. He took it out once I was restrained. Nick was still fighting some of the other wolves, and I thought he was too far away. There were six of them holding me at once, and Tristan went to sink the stake into me. Nick jumped in the way, and it got him instead. Tristan went for his head to end him, but I was able to fight and throw Nick’s body out of the way.”
Instinctively, I reached out to touch his arm, thinking it would comfort him. The minute I touched him though, my pulse quickened, turning the gesture from comfort to something else quickly.
“Sorry,” I said pulling back. “Go on.”
“It’s okay,” he said, smiling out of the side of his mouth, his signature move.
He finished taking care of my hand but didn’t let go. I didn’t want to pull away either because it was comforting sitting like this.
“I was able to get them away and get back to the car, Nick’s body and all. I had to shake them off our trail, and that took longer than I thought it would. Eventually, I lost them and was able to get a private plane scheduled, so that we could come out here. It was interesting trying to get around with a limp body in my hands. I came as soon as I could.”
He brought his hand up to my face. I leaned into his touch before remembering myself. I shook it off a moment later, trying to smile.
His statement confirmed my worst fears. Tristan hadn’t been trying to destroy James. They were trying to take him alive. Audrey was going to hold on to him until I came back to her.
“I was right,” I said, rubbing my eyes in frustration, knowing he could see the wheels in my head turning.
“About?” he asked curiously.
“Audrey taking you in order to get to me,” I whispered. James looked at me, comprehension dawning on his face.
“Ariya, she’s not going to take me,” he said softly, locking his eyes to mine. “Look at what Nick and I came out of. There’s nothing we can’t accomplish together. We’re a great team. All of us.”
“Barely,” I said. “You barely made it out.”
“But we did.” There was no doubt showing on his face. He believed they’d always make it out. “Ariya, she will never take me. I won’t allow her to. Please don’t worry about me…I mean about us,” he said correcting himself.
“I really am glad you’re safe, James.” I looked at him and was overwhelmed by the amount of love my heart had let in for this man.
How could he do this to me? This perfect vampire who put his own safety before mine was laying here with me, and even just talking to me, he could make me feel loved and safe.
“What’s the plan now?” I asked trying to distract myself from the feelings that were becoming impossible to keep from creeping up in me.
“We’ll go to Torgau and see what we can find. We’ll make a trip during the day to get a feel for the layout of the place, see what we can gather, and then we’ll have to go back at night for the real searching. It’s touristy and it’s open to the public. There is only so much we’ll be able to see during the day, but at night we can get away with more exploring. It may take a couple of trips, especially since we don’t know what we’re looking for,” he explained thoughtfully.
“Ingrid made it sound like we’d know it when we found it,” I replied mid-yawn.
I was tired. The day’s activities and the emotions from having James back and saving Nick, mixed with blood loss was catching up to me. Thankfully, they were all normal emotions now that I wasn’t as overwhelmed by the gift.
“You should sleep now, Ariya. Everything is okay,” he said. “We’ll see how everyone feels in the morning, and then we can head over to the palace to start looking for what we need.”
“James,” I started, not really knowing what it was I wanted to say. Before I could finish, he pulled me into his lap.
I pushed myself against his body, not wanting there to be room for even the air around us to get in. What if he hadn’t made it back? I wouldn’t have ever had this again. The thought was sobering. His hand came up and pushed my hair back so he could kiss my forehead.
“You’re safe,” he exhaled. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Enough, Ariya, I thought to myself. I didn’t want to say or do anything else incriminating regarding my feelings until I got some sleep. Although, given everything tonight, how could he not know how I felt about him? I pulled away, too sleepy to stay awake much longer. I needed the rest if we were to begin the search tomorrow.
I wanted nothing more than for this nightmare to end. I wanted my friends safe. I didn’t want her ruining anything else in our lives. Everything could be fixed according to Ingrid, and the next few days were going to be critical. We had to focus in order to find whatever tool I needed to destroy Audrey. We’d start tomorrow on the journey to end this.
I crawled back under the covers and snuggled down in the bed, laying my head on the pillow and trying to close my eyes. I felt James shift and got scared for a moment that he would go to the couch and I’d be alone.
“Please don't leave me.” The quiet plea surprised even me.
It really wasn’t fair, but I needed him so much, and after having to think about where he was the past two days, I didn’t want to have to wonder when I woke up if I had been dreaming. I’d been through that before. Plus, I still felt safer when he was with me.
I wasn’t certain because I was fading into sleep quickly, but I thought I felt his lips on my head one last time, and I could have sworn I heard him say, “Never.”