A Soldier of Shadows
Page 3
“You won’t be gone long,” Ben said. “You could leave me some more of your blood, then I would go and wait in the submarine, along with perhaps four or five other vampires in case things get really bad.”
He seemed to be confident in his words, so that put me at ease a little. “Okay,” I said.
Ben addressed his father. “Can we spare a witch for a couple of hours? Just to transport River to New York. The plan is for her to bring her family back here to visit, if her mother agrees.”
Derek nodded. “She can go with Shayla.”
Ben lowered his head and pressed his lips against the side of my neck in a tender kiss. His caress sent tingles running down my spine.
“I’ll manage for a couple of hours, River,” he said softly. “Now, finally, go back to your family.”
Chapter 3: River
Derek left the room and reappeared about ten minutes later accompanied by a witch, Shayla. She was holding a map in her hands and, after glancing in my direction, she sat down on a chair, placed the map on her knee and asked me to show her the exact location of our apartment in Manhattan.
Once she had studied it, she manifested a cup. She raised a brow at me. “Ready for me to draw some blood?”
I held out my wrist, wondering how she was going to do it. Extending a forefinger, she ran it over my skin, leaving behind a thin cut. That was certainly less painful than the times I’d cut myself or Ben had dug his fangs into me. She gathered my blood into the cup.
“Shayla,” Derek said, once she’d finished drawing blood, “take Ben, River and Sofia to the submarine. Sofia, you will stay with Ben there and I will find four or five other vampires to join you. You’ll all wait there while River is gone.”
“And you?” Sofia asked.
“I’ll be gathering our army and making other preparations for leaving for The Oasis.”
And so it was done. Shayla transported us to the submarine, and after I kissed Ben goodbye, he disappeared beneath the hatch with his mother. I still felt nervous about leaving him, but I repeated to myself Ben’s reasoning—I wouldn’t be gone long, he had a cup of my blood, and soon there would be five vampires waiting with him down there. It’s going to be okay.
When my thoughts turned to my family, I lit up with anticipation at the prospect of seeing them again. I could already picture the relief that would spread across my mother’s face and the tears that would form in her eyes. I could hardly contain my excitement when Shayla closed her hand around my arm and our surroundings disappeared.
The ground beneath me gave way, and it felt like I was hurtling at lightning speed through an endless expanse of air. Wind whipped around me, and by the time my feet hit solid ground again, I felt dizzy.
My vision coming into focus, I found myself staring around the dark living room of our small two-bedroom apartment.
It felt so strange to be back here. Breathing in the familiar smell, feeling the carpet beneath my feet… to be home after so long, and after so many times when I’d believed that I might never see this place again.
It was early in the morning, so my family would be in their bedrooms sleeping.
Leaving the living room, I made my way through the kitchen and stopped outside my mother and Jamil’s room. Pressing my ear against the door, I held my breath and listened. I could hear nothing but silence. Not even the slightest intake of breath.
When I pushed the door open, the room was empty. I hurried to the second bedroom—my, Dafne, and Lalia’s room. Also empty. The bathroom door was wide open, clearly nobody inside.
Panic threatened to overtake me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
It’s okay. They must all be staying with my grandfather in Cairo. I shouldn’t have been surprised that after hearing of my disappearance, my mother had flown straight there. It’d make no sense that she would stay here in New York when I had been last seen near Cairo.
Still trying to fight the sick feeling in my stomach, I turned to Shayla. “I need you to transport me to Cairo,” I said. “My grandfather lives there, and I know that’s where my family must be.”
Shayla’s map only covered New York, so I started up our old computer, connected to the Internet, and pulled up a map of Cairo on the screen. After I had located the address of my grandfather, Shayla studied the map, then nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
She touched my arm, and once again, my surroundings vanished as we traveled at lightning speed.
When we reappeared again, it was in my grandfather’s backyard. We were standing by the pool. Looking toward the house, I was relieved to see that the back door was open. I wanted to rush in and start shouting out the names of my family, but I caught myself. If the hunters were still after me, this would be the logical place to keep watch. I remained holding onto Shayla’s hand, just in case we had to make a speedy escape, as we entered the house.
We looked first in the small breakfast room that looked out onto the pool, then moved to the kitchen, the library, the living room, then upstairs in all the bedrooms and bathrooms. All were empty. Not even Bashira was anywhere to be found.
Now the knot in my stomach was too tight for me to even attempt to loosen.
Noticing my anguish, Shayla approached me. “What if they’re just out?”
“Why would they leave the back door open?”
“It could’ve just been a mistake.” Heading back down the stairs, the witch pointed toward the main entrance. “Looks like they remembered to lock the front door,” she said.
He seemed to be confident in his words, so that put me at ease a little. “Okay,” I said.
Ben addressed his father. “Can we spare a witch for a couple of hours? Just to transport River to New York. The plan is for her to bring her family back here to visit, if her mother agrees.”
Derek nodded. “She can go with Shayla.”
Ben lowered his head and pressed his lips against the side of my neck in a tender kiss. His caress sent tingles running down my spine.
“I’ll manage for a couple of hours, River,” he said softly. “Now, finally, go back to your family.”
Chapter 3: River
Derek left the room and reappeared about ten minutes later accompanied by a witch, Shayla. She was holding a map in her hands and, after glancing in my direction, she sat down on a chair, placed the map on her knee and asked me to show her the exact location of our apartment in Manhattan.
Once she had studied it, she manifested a cup. She raised a brow at me. “Ready for me to draw some blood?”
I held out my wrist, wondering how she was going to do it. Extending a forefinger, she ran it over my skin, leaving behind a thin cut. That was certainly less painful than the times I’d cut myself or Ben had dug his fangs into me. She gathered my blood into the cup.
“Shayla,” Derek said, once she’d finished drawing blood, “take Ben, River and Sofia to the submarine. Sofia, you will stay with Ben there and I will find four or five other vampires to join you. You’ll all wait there while River is gone.”
“And you?” Sofia asked.
“I’ll be gathering our army and making other preparations for leaving for The Oasis.”
And so it was done. Shayla transported us to the submarine, and after I kissed Ben goodbye, he disappeared beneath the hatch with his mother. I still felt nervous about leaving him, but I repeated to myself Ben’s reasoning—I wouldn’t be gone long, he had a cup of my blood, and soon there would be five vampires waiting with him down there. It’s going to be okay.
When my thoughts turned to my family, I lit up with anticipation at the prospect of seeing them again. I could already picture the relief that would spread across my mother’s face and the tears that would form in her eyes. I could hardly contain my excitement when Shayla closed her hand around my arm and our surroundings disappeared.
The ground beneath me gave way, and it felt like I was hurtling at lightning speed through an endless expanse of air. Wind whipped around me, and by the time my feet hit solid ground again, I felt dizzy.
My vision coming into focus, I found myself staring around the dark living room of our small two-bedroom apartment.
It felt so strange to be back here. Breathing in the familiar smell, feeling the carpet beneath my feet… to be home after so long, and after so many times when I’d believed that I might never see this place again.
It was early in the morning, so my family would be in their bedrooms sleeping.
Leaving the living room, I made my way through the kitchen and stopped outside my mother and Jamil’s room. Pressing my ear against the door, I held my breath and listened. I could hear nothing but silence. Not even the slightest intake of breath.
When I pushed the door open, the room was empty. I hurried to the second bedroom—my, Dafne, and Lalia’s room. Also empty. The bathroom door was wide open, clearly nobody inside.
Panic threatened to overtake me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
It’s okay. They must all be staying with my grandfather in Cairo. I shouldn’t have been surprised that after hearing of my disappearance, my mother had flown straight there. It’d make no sense that she would stay here in New York when I had been last seen near Cairo.
Still trying to fight the sick feeling in my stomach, I turned to Shayla. “I need you to transport me to Cairo,” I said. “My grandfather lives there, and I know that’s where my family must be.”
Shayla’s map only covered New York, so I started up our old computer, connected to the Internet, and pulled up a map of Cairo on the screen. After I had located the address of my grandfather, Shayla studied the map, then nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
She touched my arm, and once again, my surroundings vanished as we traveled at lightning speed.
When we reappeared again, it was in my grandfather’s backyard. We were standing by the pool. Looking toward the house, I was relieved to see that the back door was open. I wanted to rush in and start shouting out the names of my family, but I caught myself. If the hunters were still after me, this would be the logical place to keep watch. I remained holding onto Shayla’s hand, just in case we had to make a speedy escape, as we entered the house.
We looked first in the small breakfast room that looked out onto the pool, then moved to the kitchen, the library, the living room, then upstairs in all the bedrooms and bathrooms. All were empty. Not even Bashira was anywhere to be found.
Now the knot in my stomach was too tight for me to even attempt to loosen.
Noticing my anguish, Shayla approached me. “What if they’re just out?”
“Why would they leave the back door open?”
“It could’ve just been a mistake.” Heading back down the stairs, the witch pointed toward the main entrance. “Looks like they remembered to lock the front door,” she said.
