A Shade of Vampire 26: A World of New (11 page)

Once it looked like he’d finished cleaning his body, I noticed that his hair looked a bit greasy. Although I was still hesitant to offer such personal help, I suggested casually, “Your hair looks like it might need a wash.”

He reached into his hair and felt it. “Yeah. You’re right.”

He sank down into the bathtub, submerging his head. I looked toward the cabinet beneath the sink, where the shampoo was kept. Leaving the bath side for a moment, I pulled out a bottle of two-in-one shampoo and conditioner before returning to my seat.

“Would you let me?” I asked, holding up the bottle. “I like messing with hair.”

He rolled his eyes. “All right.”

He sat up again and turned himself so that his back was facing me. I ran my fingers through his hair and soaked his scalp with shampoo. It was actually true that I liked messing with hair—since I was a kid, I’d always wanted to play around with my mom’s long hair, and I’d mess with Hazel’s and Victoria’s too whenever they came round for a sleepover. Perhaps if I hadn’t joined the League and I’d lived in a world that was far different from our own, I might have even trained to become a hairdresser…

I finished lathering his hair before instructing him to dip into the water again. I rinsed it off, giving his scalp a massage at the same time. When he sat up, although he still looked awfully pale, he appeared quite relaxed. Certainly less tense than when I’d first come in here.

As I examined him now, it looked like there was only one more thing to be done. His beard. It was still looking rather unkempt, and if we were to stay in a hotel, we needed to attract as little attention as possible. It was about time for him to have a shave, anyway. Feeling bolder now that he’d allowed me to wash his hair, I moved to the shelves and took down a new razor and a jar of shaving foam. I placed them on the edge of the bathtub.

To my surprise, he chuckled. “Okay,” he said, reaching for them. “I can take a hint. Drop the caveman look.”

I smirked. “I do think you’ll look better without it.”

As he started opening the jar of cream, I quickly fetched a handheld mirror and held it up to him. As he began to shave, I watched closely. His beard slowly came off. I marveled at the transformation, and once he was finished, I was practically gaping.

Wow. What a difference a shave can make.
He looked so much younger. His features were also more pronounced—his jawline was harder, stronger than I had thought beneath his hair, and his cheekbones were also sharper. I spotted a faint dimple at the end of his chin, which was actually kind of cute. His lips also looked different: wider, fuller.

I realized that I was looking at him more than he was looking at himself when he frowned at me and said, “What?”

“You look, um… awesome.”
Handsome
was the word that had almost slipped from my lips.

He looked back at himself in the mirror and widened his eyes. “You’re easily impressed, then.”

I wasn’t about to start arguing that he was better looking than he was willing to admit. Instead, I just smiled faintly and pursed my lips.

Now that he had finished shaving, I wasn’t sure what other business he had to do in the bath. He seemed to be ready to get out, too. I stood up, planting my left hand on the left side of the bath and my right on the right side, to gain a grip. Then I lowered myself—until my face was rather uncomfortably close to his—and gave him permission for the second time. “You can put your arms around me.”

His cool, damp arms reached around my neck. As I began slowly easing him up, my right hand slipped from the edge of the tub. I’d underestimated how slippery the water had made it. I found myself falling… he was falling too… I was falling on top of him. The next thing I knew, we were both in the bathtub. Our faces were squashed together, our noses touching. And his laughter was loud in my ear.

“Oh, my God!” I gasped, scrambling to raise myself off of him. “I’m so sorry! I’m so, so sorry!” Grabbing hold of the tub’s edges, I leapt out of the bath so fast one would have thought he had given me an electric shock.

But Josh didn’t seem to mind my mistake in the slightest. He was still shaking with laughter.

Well, at least somebody’s entertained…

He could laugh, but I was supposed to be a
professional
. How could I have made such a stupid, clumsy mistake with a patient?

“Are you okay?” I feared that I had hurt him. Although he didn’t look hurt, I could have damaged him somehow and he might not even feel it.

But he could barely answer me through his chortling.

At this, I couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Finished making fun of me yet?”

“Not quite,” he managed.

I glared down at him in mock admonition, until he calmed down.

“Dare I suggest we try that again?” he asked, a grin still splitting his face.

Smirking, I reached for a towel. Before gripping the edges of the tub this time, I made sure they were thoroughly dried. And then for good measure, I handed the towel to Josh so that he could dry his arms and hands.

Then we tried again. This time, thankfully more successfully.

I placed down towels on his seat before I raised him out of the tub and lowered him back into it. I handed him two more towels so that he could dry himself completely. Eyeing me in amusement, he handed one of the towels back to me. “Looks like you could use this just as well as me.”

I could. I was soaking wet. I removed my cardigan, about to dab down my shirt a bit, before realizing how…
ahem
… clingy my t-shirt had become. I quickly replaced my cardigan and handed the towel back to him.

“I’ll, uh, sort myself out downstairs.”

“Okay,” he said. “I can manage things from here, I think.” He nodded toward the door.

“Okay. If you need anything, just call for Tom. I’ll be back soon.” I cast him one last sheepish grin before exiting the bathroom.

As I hurried down to the ladies’ room, I reached up to touch my cheeks. They felt on fire. I could only imagine how close their shade was to a tomato’s.

I
ended
up hurrying back home to change, realizing the stupidity of thinking I could change in the ladies’ room. I would have nothing to change into down there. While I was in my apartment, I also packed up some clothes in a suitcase for the journey. Not just for myself, but also for Josh. I ended up rummaging through my father’s wardrobe, since I figured that they were roughly the same size, and I knew my father wouldn’t mind.

If we were going to be staying at a hotel, Josh needed to look presentable. He shouldn’t be rolling around in hospital pajamas. Looking through my father’s collection of clothing, I wondered what would suit Josh. I ended up picking mostly plain, safe, and easy clothes—jeans, T-shirts, as well as a number of sweaters and two coats. But as I spotted one of my father’s tuxedos, I decided to pack that, too. If we would be staying in a hotel, there might be an occasion to wear it. I also was sure to bring my notebook, of course, along with my toothbrush and a few other travel items.

By the time I’d finished packing, ironically I realized that I’d gathered way more clothes for Josh than I had for myself. But that was okay. I doubted I would run out of clothes.

Then I stopped by my grandmother and aunts’ treehouse. I’d wanted to tell them where I was going and say goodbye, but they weren’t home, so instead I left a note before returning to Meadow Hospital. When I arrived at Josh’s room, Shayla was already in there with him. He just couldn’t help but crack another grin at me as I entered, and despite myself, my cheeks flushed yet again.
Ugh
.

Shayla looked from me to him, a smile forming on her lips. “All right?” she said. She was standing by her own suitcase, planted at the end of Josh’s bed.

“Yeah,” I said.

It seemed that she had already brought more suitable clothes for Josh—at least for traveling there. He was wearing black pants and a thick puffer coat with woolen gloves. His hair was dry already… and still, he looked too pale.

“Do you think we should try to give Josh something to eat before we go?” I asked Shayla.

“Already tried,” she said. “We can try again this evening.”

The three of us exchanged glances. “So are we completely ready to leave?” I asked.

“I am, if you two are,” Shayla replied.

I moved to Shayla with my suitcase while she seated Josh in his wheelchair. Then she caught my wrist while placing a hand on Josh’s shoulder, and the hospital room surrounding us disappeared.

* * *

L
ondon
—or at least Central London—was one of the few places in the world that had managed to remain unscathed by supernaturals. This was thanks to the wealth of the city, and the extremely high security measures the IBSI had put in place at its borders.

As Shayla, Josh and I hit solid ground, we found ourselves standing in a narrow street, enclosed by high brick walls. The temperature was icy, and it was raining buckets. Shayla quickly led us to the end of the street, where we emerged into a broad avenue, lined with old-fashioned brick buildings. She pointed to one of them on the opposite side of the road—a tall, swanky-looking hotel with an exterior of white brick. I realized that this would actually be the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel before—at least within my memory.

I gripped the handles of Josh’s wheelchair and we crossed the road—not without getting splashed by a double-decker bus zooming past. Arriving at the bottom of the steps leading up to the hotel, I was about to suggest that Shayla magic Josh’s chair to the top when she pointed to a winding ramp. “My magic needs to go into hibernation for now,” she said beneath her breath. “Remember, we don’t want to attract unnecessary attention.”

Pushing Josh up the ramp and entering the revolving doors, we emerged in a posh, circular lobby. Before approaching the reception desk, Shayla pulled out three US passports.

“You are Jane Simpkins,” Shayla informed me, “and you, Josh, are Joshua Madison. I am Beatrice Dare… In case anyone asks, we are Josh’s caregivers, and have brought him to London on a sightseeing trip—not that it’s anybody’s business what we’re doing here.”

We moved to the desk, where Shayla asked if they were any rooms available—a single room and a double twin room, to be exact. The receptionist confirmed that there were. Shayla planted the IDs on the desk and requested a booking of two nights. My jaw dropped at the price, but Shayla barely batted an eyelid. She pulled out a wad of notes and handed them over to the receptionist. She really had come prepared, even with the right currency.

One of the hotel staff led us to an elevator. He took us to the fifth floor before leading us to two rooms, numbers fifty-four and fifty-six, side by side.

Shayla dismissed the man and watched him leave down the corridor before turning to us.

“Well,” she said, eyeing me. “Where would you like to sleep, Grace? The twin bedroom, of course, is for Josh and one of us, so that we can keep an eye on him. I don’t mind either way.”

I didn’t have to think for even a moment. “Uh, I’ll stay with Josh.” I figured it would be fun for the two of us to share a room. Like a sleepover.

“Okay then.” Shayla handed me the keycard to our room, while she entered the single one. Swiping the card against the reading device by Josh’s and my door, it clicked open. I wheeled Josh inside before closing the door behind us.

My breath hitched as I took in the room.
Wow.
This was more like a full-blown suite than just a twin bedroom. And the view through the old-fashioned windowpanes was stunning. It afforded a view of some kind of park, complete with lush green lawns and a lake in the middle, surrounded by wispy willow trees. Even beneath the gray rainy sky, it looked beautiful.

The room was serene, tranquil. So quiet, I could distinctly hear both of us breathing.

We averted our eyes from the window and looked again around the bedroom.

“Well,” Josh said, clearing his throat. “Ladies first. Which side of the room do you prefer?”

Of course, my preference was the bed closest to the window, but I thought that would be nicer for Josh to have.

I pushed him to the window bed. “I’ll take the other one,” I said, before leaving him and laying my suitcase on my own mattress to begin unpacking.

As I started laying out all the clothes on the bed, intending to hang them up in the cupboard before they could get too crinkly, Josh remarked, “Did you seriously bring all those for me?”

He was eyeing the large heap of male clothing I’d taken from my father’s closet. I grinned sheepishly. “Yes,” I said. “I didn’t—and still don’t—know exactly how long we’ll be staying. We might need to extend the trip more than two nights.”

I fished out the tuxedo from the pile and held it up to show him. I quirked a brow. “What do you think of this?” I asked him.

He wrinkled his nose. “Bit posh.”

I chuckled. “Then what
is
your style?”

He rolled over to the bed and began sifting through the clothes himself. He picked out a casual pair of jeans and a loose T-shirt. “These are more my thing, I think,” he said.

“You’re easy to please,” I commented.

He wheeled himself back to his side of the room and watched as I finished unpacking. As I was hanging up the last three garments, there came a knock at the door. I hurried to answer it. Shayla stood in the doorway, holding a book—a tourist guide to London. She stepped inside and moved over to the table near the window. She drew up a chair and began paging through the guide.

“I don’t know London,” she said. “I’m only aware of the location of the IBSI’s base here. But I’ve been reading this book and it looks like the most logical thing to do would be to go on one of these bus tours. It seems a good way to see the main sites in London and, if Josh is really from here, maybe something will trigger… something.”

Josh and I agreed. After bundling Josh with some more layers—including a hat and scarf, as well as pulling on a thick coat myself—we grabbed three umbrellas courtesy of the hotel and headed downstairs to get directions to the nearest tour bus stop. The rain was still beating down when the open-topped double-decker pulled up. It was a shame that we couldn’t sit at the top because of Josh’s chair. Instead we ended up taking a seat toward the back, away from as many people as possible. Which wasn’t difficult. The bus was practically empty.

We made sure that Josh had a window seat, of course, and Shayla instructed him to keep his eyes out the window at all times to take in as many details as possible. As the vehicle moved forward, it truly was a strange sight to see a place outside The Shade that remained so… unaffected. I wasn’t sure what the suburbs of London were like—but in central London, I didn’t get the impression that much had changed since the supernatural invasion.

That said, one thing that struck me as weird was the lack of people around. For that matter, the hotel itself had seemed quite empty. We hadn’t noticed any other guests on the way down or up the elevators.

Now, outside it was raining, which would explain a certain amount of emptiness on the streets, but the cafés and shops that we passed by also appeared to be three-quarters empty.

“Why do you think that is?” I asked Shayla, breaking out of my own thoughts.

“What?” she asked, keeping her eyes fixed out of the window.

“There are so few people around.”

Shayla frowned. “Well, it’s expensive. You heard how much those rooms cost us—even for a luxury hotel, it’s extortionate. Even the cost of these bus passes was ridiculous. I’ve a feeling that only the very wealthiest people can afford to live in Central London these days. Perhaps the rest just got thrust out to the less secure suburbs. Though they’d be more secure than US suburbs, for example. Europe and the UK haven’t been hit as hard by Bloodless as our part of the world, though of course, there are gates for other supernaturals to pass through worldwide.”

“I wonder how many other cities in the world also operate like this,” I said.

Shayla shrugged. “Probably quite a few of the major ones.”

I turned my focus on Josh. His brown eyes were wide and shining as he gazed out of the window. We had been traveling for about ten minutes now, and hadn’t hit even a single patch of traffic.

Over the next few hours, we passed all the sites that London was famous for—landmarks that even I’d heard about or seen pictures of. The Tower of London. The Houses of Parliament. The London Eye. Frankly, I wasn’t that interested in any of it. I kept looking back at Josh, hoping that at any moment, he might have a reaction. That something might spark in his eyes and he would suddenly proclaim he remembered something. Anything. But he remained quiet, simply observing our surroundings, without any sign of recognition whatsoever.

When the tour ended, we piled off the bus, back onto the sidewalk. Shayla and I both stared down at him. “Well?” Shayla asked. “Anything at all?”

“Not really,” he muttered. “I mean, most of the sites were vaguely familiar—I’m sure I’ve seen them before, but that’s not saying much, is it, for a major city? I remembered nothing in relation to me or my past.”

Great.

I felt as glum as the weather as we returned to the hotel. I’d really been hoping to avoid going near IBSI’s headquarters. Even with Shayla here, it felt like tempting fate. Still, it looked like we might have no choice now.

As we neared the elevators, Shayla said, “I’m starving. Let’s go get dinner. Josh can try to eat something again, too.”

“How are you feeling, by the way?” I asked Josh, as we made our way toward the restaurant at the back of the hotel.

“Still have stomach twinges,” he mumbled.

As we took a seat and ordered, I didn’t have much of an appetite. I just picked at some pasta and salad. Josh was able to down half a small bowl of asparagus soup without retching, which was at least some comfort. But it still worried me he’d lost his appetite compared to just a day ago.

Shayla tucked into a full-blown meal. “I
hate
this cold,” she grumbled after she’d finished, pushing away her plate. “Makes me put on weight.”

Returning to the elevators and making our way back upstairs, I asked the witch the inevitable question. “So now what? Tomorrow we need to approach the IBSI to see if that area could be more stimulating to Josh?”

“Yeah,” she replied grimly. “I suggest we leave around 8 AM. I’ll magic us to the outskirts.”

I glanced at Josh, who looked just as unenthusiastic about the idea.

“I’m going to do some reading now,” Shayla said, opening the door to her room. “As for you two… it’s better if you stay in your room but, since it’s still early, if you want to wander around the hotel a bit, I guess that’s okay. Just don’t leave it, obviously, and try not to bump into anyone.”

With that, she entered her room and shut the door.

I walked around Josh’s chair to face him. “Well? What do you want to do? We could go exploring a bit, or I guess return to the room and watch TV or something…”

He still looked weighed down with the disappointment of the day, the same disappointment that I felt. He shrugged. “Don’t mind.”