Running From the Night (21 page)

“Get the hell outta here!” Daniel said, waving his hand in disbelief. When he saw the impressed look on Saaya’s face when she turned around, he stopped and looked at his friend sincerely. “You’re not kidding, are you? How the heck did you manage that?”

“I wouldn’t mind knowing that, myself,” Saaya said, staring at him. Jelani felt heat rising to his face under the weight of that stare. Thinking fast, he pointed at Alisha.

“She actually saved me,” he said. “Through a bit of luck, the guy tried to attack me from the air, and I caught him before he landed. We fought, but he eventually got the drop on me. Alisha stabbed him with his sword and I was able to finish him. That’s more or less the abridged version, but you get it.”

“Perhaps you two should discuss the details over a candlelit dinner,” Alisha said, looking from Jelani to the still staring
dampeal
.

“I haven’t shared a candlelit dinner with someone in at least eighty or ninety years, I think,” Saaya said, smiling at Jelani.

Is she for real?
Jelani was still thinking fast, lest this woman put him in an even worse spot than he already was. “Well, I know a guy or two from work that would love to …” he trailed off when all three women laughed at him. Jelani frowned, utterly confused. He looked at his roommate and saw the same expression on his face. Daniel just rolled his eyes and gave him a look that seemed to say,
Just go with it.

Saaya cast a considering look over them, and it looked to Jelani that she was taking each of their measure. When she looked at Wen, it was as if she was weighing some information in her head. Was the connection between them only one-way, or did she get something from Daniel’s fiancée. Did she get something from Jelani during their kiss?

He saw the
dampeal
look at Alisha, and she seemed impressed.

Several awkward moments passed and then Saaya sat down on the couch. “We must talk.”

***

Chapter Twenty-Five

The four humans listened quietly as Saaya spoke. She explained in more detail the reason for the Hunter’s doggedness to eliminate them, and that every human that knew of the existence of vampires was a threat to their existence.

“But I can’t believe we are the only people in the entire world that know they exist,” Alisha said once she had finished.

“Of course not,” Saaya replied, “but the fewer who know, the better. I happen to agree with this frame of thought.” She saw four sets of eyes settle suspiciously on her. “I didn’t say I agreed with the methods employed to ensure our obscurity,” she said with a sigh. “But the thinking is correct. Humans would never, ever, accept us into their world.”

“It could be possible,” Wen said.

Saaya stared at her. “Don’t be simple. Up till now I have had no reason to question your intelligence. Do not give me one now. Humans fear that which is stronger than they. I have had over two hundred years to learn this lesson, and many before my time have learned the same. Humans feel most comfortable when they are the undisputed rulers of their world, however delusional that perception may be.”

“Okay, so we’re getting off track here,” Jelani said. “What do we do?”

“I warned the Hunter that if he should move against you again, I would destroy him.”

“You let him go?” Jelani said. Despite the fact that this woman could crush him, he was still furious. “Why in the world would you let that bastard go? You know as well as I do that he’ll be back, and most likely with more Hunters at his back!”

“My reasons are my own,” Saaya replied, giving him a level look.

“Okay, that’s great. Playing this game might be fun for you, but those of us that are at a disadvantage might not have minded if you’d eliminated one more of the players.”

“So you would be angry at me for not helping you to solve your own problem?” Saaya asked, her expression going cold.

“You’re already involved, Saaya! And yes, I understand this was by your own choice, but just try to see things from our perspective. You’ve intervened in this situation three times and let this guy go every time when you could have gotten rid of him. Can you see how this might look like you’re toying with us?”

“Perhaps then I could simply leave you to your fate.”

“Or continue to play games with our lives?” Jelani stood and walked over to her. She was instantly on her feet, and everyone froze. None of them had registered the movement, so fast was this woman. Jelani held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture.

“Hey, hey, now. I’m not coming at you like that. I’m just talking.” She stared into his eyes for a long and uncomfortable length of time before nodding. Jelani sighed and continued. “Look. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’ve done, but when you stop this guy from killing us, only to let him go to make another attempt, it gets a little frustrating.” He looked into her face, seeing the genuine lack of comprehension.

“You really don’t see anything wrong with this, do you?”

The exotic woman merely shrugged and looked at them each in turn. “You would have me understand your perspective, now understand mine. In my short two hundred thirty years of life I have watched this fragile species toil and fight and die, over and over again. With every age comes the same mistakes and triumphs but with a different face to the people or circumstances. Your lives, your very existences have been the same story retold through the ages. To the immortals, you resemble the ants that you would watch in the little glass colonies you trap them in.” She frowned. “But that is not a good analogy, since ants are not inherently self-destructive.”

“We have watched you destroy yourselves slowly and quickly, with little regard. And when there was a time, in the old ages, when we might have coexisted with your species, we were met with fear and violence.”

She held up a hand to forestall the coming rebuttal. “Yes, of course, you would be averse to coexisting with a species that might prey upon you, but is this any different than your relationship with animals? You would make pets of birds and four-legged animals, yet you eat them?”

“That’s different,” Daniel said.

“Is it?” Saaya asked genuinely. “What is the difference? Is it because they cannot talk to you in a language you understand? Is it because they do not think as you do.”

She smirked at him, and the tip of a fang showed. Daniel went pale. “You should know that while vampires speak your language, they have one of their own that you cannot understand. They also do not think in the same context as you. And as you prey on animals that cannot defend against you, so too are vampires capable of the same in regards to you. So I ask again, what is the difference?”

No one had an answer.

“I will be honest,” Saaya continued, “my interest in you began as you would express interest in a rabbit being hunted by a fox. I thought it would be a shame for such a cute rabbit to be killed and eaten by the fox, so I intervened. There are those in the vampire world that would say I interfered in the natural way of things, much as humans behave in your nature documentaries when the lion hunts the gazelle.”

“I have to admit,” Jelani said. “I find your way of thinking a bit cold-blooded.”

“Only because it is your life that is at stake.” She sighed. “For my part, I do not wholly think this way because I am half human. My mother was mortal before her re-creation.”

“Re-creation?” Alisha asked.

“Turned from the light, as some might say, though that is not exactly true. She is a vampire now, but she can walk in the sun.”

“I thought vampires would burn if they walked in the sun,” Wen said, perplexed.

“My father is an Ancestor,” Saaya replied, “A count, as you would call him. One who is turned by a vampire as powerful as he would inherit some of his traits, such as the ability to endure the sun, though to a lesser degree. My mother can walk in the sun, but only for half the day. My father is unaffected by the sun, and the same is true for me, though it is as much because of my human ancestry as well as my vampiric one.”

“This is all giving me a headache,” Wen said.

“Then let us return to the topic from which we’ve strayed.” Saaya was silent for a moment as she collected her thoughts. “The one who hunts you has failed three times. One of those failures included three others, one of which is now dead.” She favored Jelani and Alisha with approving nods. “Since the High Council of Elders is involved, he will have to return and report to them. He will face either punishment, or one last chance to eliminate you.”

“What do you think the chances are that he will be punished?” Alisha asked.

“Not good enough for you to gamble your lives with,” Saaya answered. “Likely he will return and answer to the High Council and they will charge him with returning here to kill you all. The next time you meet, it will be the last, one way or another, for if he should fail again, he will face uncreation as punishment.”

She watched Jelani and Daniel share a look. “So basically, the next time this guy shows up, either he or we will die,” the beautiful Chinese man said.

She glanced at the two of them and thought about the lovely possibilities. “That is so,” she said.

“And what of your threat to him?” Daniel said. “You just told us that if he should make another attempt at us, you will kill him. Do you plan to follow through with that?”

Saaya looked at each of them. Four humans, grasping for a thread of hope in an almost certainly fatal situation. She thought about her first encounter with Jelani and a thought occurred to her. Though it had seemed a whim when she had asked her brother to intervene against the Hunter and save the human, was there more to this? As soon as the question entered her mind, she knew the answer. She had lived too long, experienced far too much to negate such a possibility. For whatever reason, fate had brought this man across her path that day, and she had felt compelled to help him for whatever reason.

“I believe so,” she replied. “And I suspect the Hunter will return with at least the remaining two in order to deal with my brother and me. And I did not speak of the threat without intending to follow through. So, yes, I will help you with your enemies, who now are mine.”

“I just want to know why?” It was the girl named Alisha who’d asked the question. “From everything you’ve told us, you didn’t even have to help Jelani in the first place.” She glanced at him and there was a hint of affection there. Saaya saw a shade of anger but also forgiveness in her face. “Not that we’re not happy you plan to help us, but it would have been easier for you to have just gone on your way.”

“Why indeed?” Saaya replied, and she turned back to the window. “And I think it is time for me to leave you.”

They all stood and followed her gaze out the window to see the imposing figure of her brother standing on the boardwalk below, facing the ocean and the mountains beyond. Everyone who passed by gave him a wide berth.

“Waiting for you?” Daniel asked. Saaya nodded as they turned and crossed the living room, heading for the door.

“When will we see you again?” Jelani asked.

Saaya slipped into her shoes and looked over her shoulder at them. “I don’t expect the Hunter to return for at least two days.” And with that, she opened the door and stepped out. Without hesitating, she turned and strode toward the elevators. As a reflection of her mood, the tiny bells of her paayal began tinkling cheerfully with her every step.

***

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Well that was just weird,” Wen said in a quiet voice once Daniel closed the door.

“Weird isn’t the word I’d put to it,” Alisha responded. She looked at Jelani. “I don’t know how you can hang out with that girl.”

“Hang out?” Jelani said, laughing. “When did I ever say I hang out with her?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “So you mean the way Ms. Hungry Eyes was looking at you was something new?”

“Hungry eyes?” Jelani looked at Daniel for help, but he just turned away, trying to swallow his laughter. “Look. I’ve met up with her a few times, but I can assure you none of those meetings could be considered ‘desirable.’ Trust me. She gives me the creeps as much as you.” It wasn’t a lie at all. Though he had enjoyed the kisses he’d shared with Saaya, she still made him very uncomfortable.

Across the room, Daniel sat on the couch, looking out the window. “You alright over there?” Jelani asked.

“Just hoping I did the right thing,” his friend answered.

“You did, man. You heard what Saaya said. There was a possibility they might have gone after her anyway.”

“You two talk like I had no choice in this,” Wen said, growing irritated.

“Trust me, girl,” Alisha said. “If there was any way you could have safely remained ignorant of all this, I would have argued against you knowing, too. You didn’t see what came after us out there. It was terrifying.”

“How could I not know, anyway?” Wen asked, looking at each of them. Alisha shrugged, but Daniel and Jelani shared knowing looks.

“Trust me, babe,” Daniel finally said, “if she’d wanted you to, she could have made you forget your own name.”

Wen’s mouth hung open. “My mind wants me to pass what you’re saying off as ridiculous, but I know it’s true. The things I saw in that woman’s eyes …” She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “It was like they were my experiences and not hers. I saw and felt everything as if I were living it myself.”

“Messes with your head, doesn’t it?” Jelani said.

“She did the same thing to you?” Wen asked.

“Not the same thing, but similar.”
Definitely not the same thing.

“I wonder how similar,” Alisha remarked, and Jelani knew he might have said more than he should.

“I think we need to figure out what we’re going to do from this point,” Daniel said, and Jelani mentally thanked his friend for the save.

“If what she said was true,” Daniel continued, “we’ve got maybe a couple of days to figure out what to do before he comes back again.”

“What can we do?” Alisha asked. “I saw how fast they move and how strong they are, and I know you have, too. The one we killed was luck mixed with a little skill by Casanova over there.”

The glare she threw at Jelani made him wish he could use that disappearing trick that Saaya was so good at.”

Daniel cleared his throat to hide the laugh. “Well, I think it’s safe to say we can forget about trying to get them out in the sun. Besides, knowing Vancouver, we may not get any for a week or two.”

“Fire and garlic is our best option,” Jelani said. “As ridiculous as this is going to sound, we need to wear some form of garlic, so that if they get close enough, it will have an effect.”

Daniel looked as if he would laugh, but there was no mirth in his tone. “And how would you suggest we do that? You plan on walking around wearing a garlic necklace?”

“Or just eat a bunch of it and stank up your breath,” Alisha added. This time, everyone did laugh. The brief moment eased a bit of the tension they were all feeling, and everyone visibly relaxed.

“Look,” Jelani said. “All I’m saying is we need to figure something out with what we know will work. Unless anyone knows where they sleep during the day, dragging them into the sun is off the table. Fire would be good, but I have no idea how we would be able to set one of them on fire.”

“Gasoline?” Wen suggested.

“You get close enough and try it,” Jelani said sarcastically.

“What about crosses and holy water?” Wen persisted. “In all the stories that works.”

“Not all the stories,” Daniel said. “And Saaya was pretty clear that the religious weapons don’t apply, and not all of them suffer from the same weaknesses anyway.”

“And you trust her?” Wen said, folding her arms. “She’s one of them, is she not?”

“She’s only half, Wen.”

“And that makes her more trustworthy?”

Daniel frowned at her. “That and the fact that she could have slaughtered all of us very easily, and her brother is a full-blooded vampire who we’ve seen walking around in daylight.”

Alisha placed a gentle hand on Wen’s shoulder. “And they did save our lives. I’m not going to say I want to be her best friend, because the woman creeps me out, but we do at least owe her a measure of trust.”

Wen sighed and fell back into the couch. She seemed to deflate, sinking deeper into the cushions. “I know. And I know what I said didn’t make sense, but I don’t know what to make of any of this.”

“Well, we’ve got Saaya and her brother on our side, so that makes our chances much better.” Jelani looked at Daniel. “We’ve got a silver blade each, though I don’t know how much good it will do.”

Daniel’s face lit. He looked up at Jelani, his eyes practically shining. “What?” Jelani asked.

“I think I’ve got an idea that’ll help.”

O O O

Saaya stood atop the Shangri-La wrapped within her brother’s cloak so that only her head was visible above the blackness. She understood why he always chose this building. It was a beautiful vantage point to view such a unique city. Her thoughts went to the four humans she had left over an hour ago. Their survival was practically impossible without her help.

She glanced up at Kafeel. She could feel his thoughts. He, too, wondered why she had involved herself with them. “I wish I knew, brother,” she said aloud. “Not even we can know why fate has intertwined our lives with theirs.”

“You are bored.”

Saaya looked up at him sharply. “It’s more than that,” she replied, looking back at the city below. “There is something about that one. I do not know yet.” She knew Kafeel would know of whom she spoke. There was something about that human, Jelani, that was unusual beyond the obvious. Surely the one who stalked him could see as well as she could that Jelani would make an excellent Hunter, should he be turned, but that was unlikely to happen, given the most recent events. No, there was something else about him.

Whenever she was near him, it was like his blood called to her own. He would, of course, be oblivious to this on a conscious level, but she wondered if he knew it on a deeper level. A blood-level. “Hmm.” There was so much she hadn’t told them. She had been careful about the memories she allowed Jelani and the woman bonded to Daniel to experience.

Undoubtedly they would trust her even less than they already did if they knew the truth about some of the things she’d done in her past to survive. Her first few decades of life had left more than a few dead humans in her wake before her father had managed to effectively teach her to deal with the thirst, and feed properly. Things were somewhat easier in this age of technology. Vampire scientists had long discovered a way to clone blood on a cellular level, enabling their kind to more easily coexist with humans. Though the cloned blood was not nearly as satisfying as that which was drawn from a warm neck, it was nonetheless a valuable aid.

As a child, before this modern age, Saaya’s father had taught her that she could feed from a human without killing them. It would require drinking from more than one victim, but they would survive, suffering only weakness for a time before recovery. Not every vampire could do this, however, as it required a form of mind compulsion to block out the quarry’s memory of the experience. Most who had that ability didn’t bother, seeing it as more trouble than just simply draining them completely.

She smiled sadly. How might they have reacted if they’d known that she’d fed upon humans? “It hardly matters,” Kafeel’s deep voice rumbled against her back. Just as she could sense his thoughts, he could feel hers.

“I suppose you are right,” she replied.

“The Hunter will return in force against us.”

Saaya’s eyes narrowed. “And we will kill them.”

***