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"I can't do it on a phone Anthony knows of." Louis said, with a slight shake of his head. "Oh," I whispered, realization hitting me at the mention of Anthony's name. |
"Yeah," Louis said, giving me a slight shrug. "You two are driving me crazy with your cryptic exchanges and I don't have the time or patience for it. I have to send my report to Ankhsis in two hours, and I can't keep this a secret," Anukh shouted, throwing his arms in the air. |
"He needs a safe network to check the tracker's signal. If Anthony or anyone in his group is involved, they might be monitoring Louis's moves and yours, and tracking your phones would be step one," I said. |
"Smart girl. You're not a programmer for nothing," Louis said, moving his hand from my shoulder to around my back and pulling me to him. I tried to ignore the shiver traveling down my spine. |
"We should go to the council's headquarters right away then," Anukh suggested. Louis shook his head. "No. They might have infiltrated that network as well." |
"Are they so advanced in this field?" Anukh asked, his voice cracking a little. Vampire hackers. That thought was scary. Little sleep required, all the time in the world to perfect their skills. If they took on hacking, they'd be unmatched. |
"They are not, but they know people who are. Anthony has made it his job to get acquainted to plenty of humans that might turn useful at some point or another. For a price or out of simple adoration of him, he always gets what he needs," Louis said, and I thought I heard a little admiration in his voice. |
I couldn't help raising an eyebrow. It felt surreal to imagine Anthony mesmerizing hackers and other types of techies. I still had my literary misconception of vampires and how out of tune with the world they were supposed to be. Anthony was nothing like that. He'd faked his way into a popular online magazine, he ran a... |
"He can achieve his goals when he wants to," Louis said when he saw my expression. In a way, I understood his reaction from the other night. I might have been smart, but if Anthony could get geniuses and influential people to worship him, why not me? Hence, the worrying and jealousy. Too bad it was not the time or plac... |
"What now?" Anukh asked, making me snap out of my train of thought. "We're going back to the club to see who's missing. If anyone is, Anthony will tell us. Involved or not, he's smart enough to try his best to ward off any suspicion. Then I am going to find a safe network and try to locate Hesrah." |
"Keep me posted?" Anukh said, placing a hand on his shoulder. It might have been phrased as a question, but there was no doubt about his expectations to be kept in the loop. |
"I will buy a new phone and text you the number. Go buy one yourself and we'll use those." Louis didn't wait for a confirmation. He turned and left, and I ran after him. I guessed he assumed I could read his mind or something. I really couldn't and I wished he'd share more of his plan with me. Or at least that the bloo... |
# Chapter XVII THE CLUB WAS FULL when we got there, dozens of people crammed together, whispering to each other. I had no idea there were so many vampires in and around Amsterdam. I always imagined them scattered around the world. They either had been travelling together, following Anthony around, or this had been thei... |
I heard the sparkly laugh of my would-be-foe, the Spanish girl, and figured they weren't all vampires. Usually, I had trouble telling humans and vampires apart. Not tonight though. At a closer inspection, I noticed the vampires weren't drinking, or laughing, or going out of their way to catch anyone's eye. They were no... |
Louis went straight to Anthony's table and stopped in front of him, standing tall over Armand, who was sitting across the table from his leader. I stood next to Louis, closer than usual. Being surrounded by such a large group of vicious predators was making me a little nervous. Terrified, really. Was that a form of rac... |
There was just something in the atmosphere of the club, something strong and extremely focused and deadly. It might have not been directed at me, but at those who had taken Hesrah, or at Louis, or the trueborn vampires. Still, it was hard not to pick up on it and shiver. Was that how a deer felt when surrounded by wolv... |
Anthony glared at Louis, tapping his fingers on the table. When Louis remained silent, Anthony sighed. "Everyone is accounted for, except for two fourth-generation and three of the fifth. They were dispatched to set up a club in Scotland and live there until it took off. I caught word of a third-generation who's been l... |
"What third-generation were you tracking?" Louis asked, narrowing his eyes and leaning a little on me. The small gesture distracted me from the tension rocking my body. |
"Philippe, a French vampire, if I am not mistaken. He was created centuries before me and, for some reason, he was not killed in Magnus the Mad's massacre." |
"Haven't heard of him." Louis shrugged, tucking a strand of golden hair behind his ear. "Well, maybe you should go to Scotland and try to find him. He might be the one behind this, and he might be keeping Hesrah there. The Highlands are not the friendliest of terrains, but I am sure you can handle it." |
Anthony got up and turned to leave. He stopped a few steps from us, then turned around, a deadly smirk twisting his mouth. "It would be too rough on Alexa. Leave her here. I am sure I can find the time to entertain her!" |
Dread coursed through me at the idea of being trapped here, with Anthony and all these vampires who were loyal to him. "No," I said, the word a little more than a whisper. |
Louis stepped in front of me, shielding me with his body. Thankful for the show of support, I leaned against him. I couldn't breathe easy despite knowing Louis would protect me, as I had a feeling Anthony could still make me stay with him. I cringed at the thought and felt a little nauseated. I shivered and rested my h... |
"No?" Anthony shouted, his face twisted in a scowl, his eyes on fire. I stared at him, waiting for the moment his dark eyes would turn bright green, his fangs catching the faint light of the club. If this would escalate into a physical conflict between them, Anthony sure had the strength and numbers to win the argument... |
"No. Was I not clear in any way? The council tasked us with finding Hesrah." Louis asked in a steady voice. "They expect a report from us, delivered in person. I'll ask what they know of this Philippe you say your men were tracking." |
"Why waste time with the council? I'm sure Philippe has Hesrah. Don't you trust me on this?" Anthony said, his fists clenched tight at his sides. |
"Because if he has been off the grid for so long, I am sure he wasn't dumb enough to take Hesrah where your friends were already looking for him. Don't you think?" |
"Or maybe that's exactly where he'd take her, especially if everyone thinks like you," Anthony said, tilting his head to the side. |
"That is certainly a possibility, yet I still need more information and the council might have it. They required Alexa's presence. Do you think with the daughter of the Inner Sanctum Commander gone they'll put up with much more disobedience from us?" |
"Fine, then. Go and take her with you. But Alexa, my dear, you should know, I would have been a lot more fun than chasing dangerous vampires." Anthony licked his lips, then gave a little wave. He still had that grin that spoke of nothing good plastered on his stupid face. |
"Yeah, well," I said, angry at how badly my voice was shaking. "I'll take a rain check on that. I'll let you know when I'm free. Probably never?" |
"Still upset with me, then? And we had such a blast last night. Shame, really." He leaned in, close enough I could feel his breath on the shell of my ear. "I like a challenge," he whispered, then kissed my cheek. It felt like ice biting my skin and I flinched. Anthony stepped away, chuckling. |
A subtle move from Louis drew my attention to my hands. I was squeezing his arm, hard enough to hurt, I imagined. Or maybe not, he was a vampire. Louis smiled reassuringly when our eyes met. He motioned to the door with a quick jerk of his head and we left. |
We got on the bike and I hugged him tightly, getting as close as I possibly could, finally allowing myself to shake and tremble. He leaned back into my embrace before putting his helmet on, his free hand squeezing my knee. "We're fine. You did great," he said, then started the engine. |
We drove in circles around the city center until he spotted a small café with a "Free Wi-Fi" sign in the window. We found a parking lot nearby and, before going in, he led me to a small electronics shop where he got a cheap laptop and a disposable phone. |
The café Louis had chosen was small, cozy, and nearly empty. Soothing music played in the background and I felt its slow rhythm seeping in, calming and freeing me of the fear I was still reeling from. This warm, comfortable café was a welcome change after the club experience earlier. |
Louis turned on the laptop and ordered warm drinks for us while waiting for the Windows installation to complete. Thank god new laptops no longer took forever to install an operating system. It was still annoying, and I found it hard to not fidget while we waited. |
Louis asked the waitress for the wi-fi password and she wrote it on a piece of paper, handing it to him with the brightest of smiles. She made sure to bend over the table and give him a good look at her cleavage. Great, I had to add beating women off Louis with a stick to how bad the day had been! To my relief, he comp... |
"Oh, my god," I shrieked and quickly used both my hands to cover my mouth. "She's under Charles Bridge? In the water..." I mumbled. |
"Yes, she is," Louis said, his eyes glued to the flickering dot. "Do you think she's okay?" I whispered, afraid of his answer. "Don't worry. They wouldn't have drowned her. If they wanted her dead, they wouldn't have abducted her. There either is a glitch and she's somewhere nearby, or there is something under that bri... |
Louis sounded confident, and that should have helped. It failed. "You mean other than the Vltava River?" I asked, not sure if his serene face and steady voice were anything more than acting. "That's the only thing under that bridge." |
"Alexa, old European cities have even older secrets. Or new developments." "I hope you're right." I let my head fall back onto the oversized chair. |
"Don't worry. We'll find her and she'll be okay." Louis reached out to me and slowly caressed my cheek. It felt warm and settled me. I would much rather trust him than worry. My fretting over Hesrah's safety wasn't helping anyway. |
Louis turned the new cell phone on and sent a text to Anukh with the number. "Do you think this Philippe guy is involved?" I asked while we were waiting for Anukh to call. |
"He might be, but even if he is, he's not where Anthony said they were looking for him." "You know him?" "I've briefly met him." Louis shrugged and took a quick look around the café. "He's not as old as Anthony has hinted. And he's not French. He's Moroccan. He hates the cold and the rain so the Highlands of Scotland w... |
"Yeah, maybe so, but how did he escape? How come he's alive?" I asked, deciding my natural curiosity was so much better than going crazy over Hesrah's well-being. |
"Philippe has a habit of going into long voyages into the heart of some wilderness or another. And, by voyages, I mean years spent in the middle of nowhere. That's how he survived. Anger fueled Magnus when he wiped out his progenies. He ran amok and killed everyone in his path. The ones that were hard to reach or those... |
"So he stopped being an immediate threat to them?" "Yes, but many still fear a repeat of the massacre. Not from Magnus, but from the council. The trueborns are far stronger than us, especially on baseborn blood. A first- or second-generation vampire can handle them, one at a time and with great effort, but third-genera... |
Louis seemed calm, where I'd be shitting my pants at the thought. I could, on some level, understand Anthony's and the other baseborns' hate for the vampires from Ankhsis. Then I remembered my time with Louis and Hesrah, and the way I always challenged Anthony when I shouldn't have. If I had already gotten used with th... |
"If they are so scared of trueborns, then why attack and provoke them like this? Why abduct them?" I asked. "It's not impossible to fight trueborns. There is strength in numbers. Plus, they are easier to handle with no blood at all or on a human blood diet. But I can't tell you why anyone would want to do something so ... |
"To start a war maybe?" "If the Inner Sanctum comes storming to Earth, they will wipe this planet clean of our kind. No, there must be a different reason. I just can't think of anything," he said, releasing a deep sigh. |
"We'll figure it out." When Anukh called, Louis updated him on Hesrah's location. He then convinced Anukh not to send trueborn vampires to investigate because they could be under heavy watch and would tip off whoever had taken her. He asked about Philippe, but the council had no knowledge of his whereabouts, hadn't had... |
"Okay, so there's a chance Philippe is not involved. That's good news," Louis said, his shoulders relaxing. "What's so special about Philippe? Why are you afraid of him?" |
"He has... special powers." "Special powers? Like you with the healing?" Louis nodded. "Something like that. He can... he can put a special hold on other vampires." |
"A special hold? Like mind control?" "Something like that. For a brief period, he can make vampires bend to his will, to some extent. That's the best way to explain it." |
"To what extent?" I asked, annoyed at how hard I had to work for the answers. This was not the time to keep me in the fucking dark. |
"I don't know for sure," he said, frowning. "I heard he once kept a vampire from blurting out information for close to half an hour. He kept talking about something else to the council member asking the questions. Philippe managed to protect himself from the council's reach at that time, but no one knows what else he c... |
An ominous feeling came over me, reawakening my fear. Not only were vampires super humans, strong, fast, and deadly. Now Louis was telling me some of them also exhibited non-physical powers. Hopefully, very few of them, but it was still enough to keep weaker minds awake at night. Oh, yeah, and the powers just kept gett... |
"I don't think he can. But it's of no consequence. Once Anthony believes we're headed to Scotland, I am taking you to a safe house. I am going alone. It will make it harder for anyone to detect me." |
"Not on your life you're not!" I stood up, pointing a hopefully threatening finger in his direction. "Alexa, I made up my mind. There will be no debate over this," he said and closed his eyes. |
"No fucking way. You need someone there. I won't join in any of the fighting. I am too weak for it anyway. But I can certainly call for help if I need to." |
"Alexa, no," Louis insisted, raising his voice. "You're not going alone. I will come there even if you don't take me. I am not standing around hoping you don't get yourself killed." I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot on the wooden floor of the cafe. |
"Alexa..." He rubbed his forehead, head bowed in what I hoped was defeat. "You can't ditch me. I either go with you, or I go on my own. Either way, I _am_ coming to Prague to scuba dive under that bridge till I find the both of you." I sat back in my seat and glared at him. |
My determination surprised me. I should be relieved at the thought of staying put. Why would I run toward imminent danger like that? I closed my eyes, trying to slow down my body and my mind. I had lost so many people I loved. Sure, they were alive, but still out of my life. I couldn't stand by and let harm come to tho... |
Louis gave up and agreed to take me with him to Prague. I knew he could have found a way to restrain me if he wanted to. Maybe he knew I'd follow anyway and he'd wanted one less thing to worry about. Or maybe he took some comfort in the knowledge he wouldn't be throwing himself into a deadly situation all on his own. |
# Chapter XVIII WE WENT BY THE house to pack for our trip to Prague. I changed and packed some clothes, feeling a little silly when I saw what Louis had put in his bag: an arsenal of swords and knives. I had no idea when and how he'd gotten the weapons into the house, but they gave me this feeling we stood a chance. We... |
When we buckled up, Louis set the GPS to lead us to London and off we were. After a couple of hours that had barely taken us a few miles from Amsterdam, we stopped at a gas station. To my surprise, Anukh was there, filling the tank of a similar car to Louis's. Louis fueled up as well and we went inside to pay. When we ... |
"No, this way," he said, grabbing my hand and directing me to Anukh's car. I blinked a few times, my jaw dropping. When had they exchanged keys? Damned supernatural speed! We headed back the way we came, going around Amsterdam, our GPS guiding us toward Germany. |
Despite knowing I wasn't in any danger, Louis's fast driving made me anxious. I tried to focus on something other than our current speed, so I laid back in my seat and tried to think. This situation seemed so crazy and pointless. Why try so hard to abduct members of a species that could end your entire kind? Why risk d... |
Unfortunately, Magnus had created a precedent. Nothing had truly threatened baseborns in a long time, but it could always happen again, no matter what the council promised. Another trueborn might lose their mind to rage, disappointed with the creations of his brethren, and travel through the portal to kill all baseborn... |
Of course, trying to find a way to beat trueborns was easier than trying to diffuse all potential conflicts and dismiss all fears. On some level, I could get it. I would have loved my very own magical weapon to keep me safe from vampires. True, I wouldn't have kidnapped a few to get it, but there were people who defini... |
As my thoughts raced, I didn't even notice I was about to fall asleep. My mind drifted off, giving up on the idea of figuring out this fanger mess. |
I woke up at dawn, sore and confused, to see Louis driving as fast as before. Judging by the signs on the road, we were somewhere in Germany. |
"Morning," I mumbled when I realized I couldn't fall asleep again. I stretched as best I could and moaned at the stiffness in my muscles. |
"Someone was exhausted." Given the seriousness of the situation we were in and the ungodly hour, Louis was a bit too chirpy for my taste. He sported a broad smile that seemed kind of annoying this early in the morning. "Yeah. I guess it was all the worrying." |
"I'd say it's because all the partying with Hesrah you've done lately. Weekends in Paris, nights out dancing, movie marathons." He kept his smile firmly on, but his eyes grew cold. |
"Louis, it's really too early to be condescending. Just pull over at a gas station. I need to drink my weight in coffee." "Okay, I'll pull over at the next one. But maybe you should cut down on the partying a little in the future." |
"Why the hell would I?" I asked and turned to face him. "Well, if something like this happens, I'd like to not be bored to death all the way to the destination." |
To my utter shock, Louis was actually pouting. It looked strange on him. The only weirder thing was my suspicion he was jealous of Hesrah. |
"Oooh, I see! So I should give up the most fun I've had in...well, years just to prevent you from getting bored?" "Something like that," Louis said, nodding enthusiastically. |
"Right, that's a 'no' to the less partying proposal but tell you what. When we find her, after we kick the asses of whoever took her, you could come party with us." |
"Okay, that could work. But it should be a wild night out to compensate for this boring drive and any following ones." "I'm sure it will be awesome. It will blow your mind, I promise." I thought I managed to sound confident enough, but I had a hard time believing it was easy to have enough fun in one night to blow the ... |
We stopped at the next gas station which, to my delight, showed up soon enough. I headed straight to the restroom. I desperately needed it after drinking way too much coffee and water the night before. Plus, I wanted to clean myself up a little. We weren't all vampires and couldn't look fresh, rested, and all-around br... |
We stuffed a bag with sandwiches and energy drinks, then got a sufficiently satisfactory supply of hot coffee and kept on driving. I could barely see the cars we drove past. It was too fast, and I kept expecting the police to stop us at some point. When I finally voiced my concerns to Louis, he smirked. "You did not se... |
"No. What's so special about the plates?" "Anukh called in a few favors and we're driving an embassy car. No one will stop us. Diplomatic immunity is all the rage, I hear." He winked at me and smiled. |
Yeah, that made sense. They had it all covered. Nothing left for me to do, except lay back and relax. I felt a little useless, wondering why exactly I'd insisted Louis needed me on this trip. |
A couple of hours later, we were on the outskirts of Prague. We drove as close to the city center as we could, left the car in a private parking lot, and set out to search the city on foot. |
"Are we going to the bridge now?" It seemed like a bad idea to go there in the middle of the day, but Louis might know better. "Not exactly. We're going to check in at a hotel I once stayed in. It's right next to the bridge," he said. |
I imagined it wouldn't be a cheap hotel, but I didn't think he'd take a luxury suite in the Mamaison Suite Hotel Pachtuv Palace. The name was as grand as the hotel, albeit hard to pronounce or remember, and I thought, under different circumstances, it would have been wonderful to share that suite with Louis. |
We dropped our luggage in the room and then went to stroll around Old Prague. We couldn't stand still anyway, and the views were exquisite. Not that I could truly enjoy myself with all this worry gnawing at me. |
As we walked along the ancient streets, I remembered the last time I'd been in Prague. I was thirteen at the time and was travelling with my mom and step-dad. I was so sick on my first day in Prague, it was all a giant blur. My head hurt so badly, I thought it would explode. The sun and warmth were making it worse and ... |
While we were wandering aimlessly with no map and no clear direction, Louis took my hand in his, as if it was nothing, and kept walking and telling me stories of his many trips to Prague. The gesture had been so casual and genuine, as if he had been doing it for ages. It felt safe, except for the part where my whole le... |
I let Louis lead me through this beautiful city, listening to his stories and sharing some of mine, while casually holding hands. We apparently did that now. I raked my mind to remember his last few rejections in a failing effort to not turn this minor gesture into something bigger. Something meaningful. |
We ate lunch, huge portions just like the Czechs loved them, in what seemed like a chain restaurant and, as we were leaving, Louis took my hand hurriedly, walking a little faster and saying he really needed to take me somewhere. He seemed excited and could barely contain his need to make a run for it, so I laughed at h... |
When I could hardly breathe anymore, we entered this sophisticated-looking place, Café Louvre. He took me to a table near the window and ordered two strong coffees. |
"What's so special about this place?" I asked when his _I know something you don't know_ smile got the better of me. "Can't you picture it?" he asked in a soft voice, smiling warmly and playing with a strand of my hair. |
"Picture what?" "Well, you, of course. You here, every morning, with your laptop, writing your novel." I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. I opened my mouth, hoping I could articulate words, but I seemed to have lost that particular ability. "My novel?" I eventually mumbled. |
"Yes. I know you've stopped writing these past months, but I saw you typing one morning, a few days after that night with Anthony. You went to take a bath and left the document open." |
"You read it?" I asked, squinting at him and squeezing my hands into painful fists as my nails cut into my palms. "Yes, I did. I know it was wrong, but I couldn't help it." He looked away and shrugged. |
I wanted to stay mad, be upset with him for not even bothering to ask for my permission, but I was too terrified by his reaction. What if he hated it? |
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