Immortality Stolen (The Mortal One Series Book 2) (4 page)

Chapter 4

THE SLEEPER TRAIN was the last thing it was actually designed for. It was one of the most interrupted night’s sleeps that I have ever had in my life. It shook constantly and whenever we went around a long turn, it groaned. Most of the night was spent wondering if the train was actually capable of making it from Florence to Paris.

After fading in and out of consciousness for the better part of ten hours, I arrived in Paris. It was different than it was when I was here the last time. For one, I had flown in last time. It was also the fall now and the leaves were turning beautiful shades of brown and orange. My luggage was sitting on the landing by the time I made it over to the claim area and most of the crowds were starting to thin out. Looking around, it seemed as though everyone had a similar night of sleep as I had.

I pulled a map out of my messenger bag to try and get my wits about me. From the train station, the hotel was only a block away. Taxis were everywhere, but I dismissed their calls and began dragging my luggage down the sidewalk.

Everyone was on their way to work and the roads were nasty. Shouting people and honking horns were blaring in every direction. I was pushed and shoved on more than one occasion because apparently I wasn’t walking fast enough for the crowds. Paris looked romantic, but it certainly didn’t feel romantic, at least not during this hour of the morning. Though the knowledge that zombies could be walking around certainly didn’t add to any love in the air.

I spotted the hotel with all of its flags waving proudly in the wind and picked up my pace a bit. I shoved through the glass door and into the large foyer. As soon as I had both feet in the door, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted through the air. It made me smile with a comforting feeling.

I dropped my two bags in the middle of the lobby and walked over to the counter. I didn’t even bother with French this time. “I have a reservation.”

The brown-haired man whose name pin read “Leuc” raised his eyebrows with an arrogance to show that he was shocked I couldn’t be bothered to even attempt to speak his language. He faked unintelligence for a moment.

I sighed and pushed over ID. “The room is paid for already.”

He typed a few things into the computer and suddenly he was willing to help. “Of course, Dylan. Welcome to our hotel. Can we send your bags to your room for you?”

Oh, well this was different. Did Olivier have some kind of pull at the hotel that I was not aware of? I wanted to ask, but didn’t want to ruin the good thing I had going. “Sure,” I said, nodding to where I had dropped them.

Leuc snapped at one of the bellhops at the door, pointed to the luggage, and yelled over a room number in French. Then he smiled in a charming way to me, though entirely too much teeth so I knew it was forced. “Is there anything else I may do for you?”

“That will be it,
merci
,” I said, grabbing the room key and walking towards the elevator.

As soon as I got into the room, I walked into the bathroom. Ah yes, I remember these showers well. Within seconds, I stripped and stepped into the steaming shower with the amazing massaging shower heads. It was absolute heaven. After spending ten gross hours on a rumbling train across Europe, this is exactly what my body needed.

I heard the door open and a quick announcement that my bags had arrived. I yelled a “
merci
” from the bathroom and listened for the door to close, which it did seconds later. Well, it wasn’t even ten in the morning and sunset wasn’t until about seven. Nico warned me that not all vampires rise at exactly sunset, though, so it could be several hours later than that.

There was no way I could simply sit around the hotel room for the entire day. I was exhausted, but sleeping didn’t really seem like a priority at the moment. As my stomach grumbled, I realized that food was.

My luggage was laid out nicely on a bench at the foot of the bed. I unzipped and pulled out jeans and a sweater. After getting dressed, it seemed like a good idea to get something to eat. If I remembered correctly, there was a bistro in the hotel, so I would start there.

As soon as I made it out into the lobby, Leuc greeted me. “Dylan, hello.”

“Hi,” I said, somewhat annoyed. Was he going to be up my ass the whole time I was here?

“Is there something I can get for you?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m just going to get something at the bistro.”

“Would you like us to send it up to your room?” He offered.

What the hell? “No, I’m going to eat it in the bistro. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course,
mon cheri
. We will bill it to your room.”

I nodded and walked into the bistro. The woman at the counter spoke broken English, but it was enough for me to get a croissant with chicken salad and some bagged chips. We did a lot of pointing and laughing. Quite refreshing and the sandwich wasn’t bad, either. I watched the people bustle past the large glass window and wondered how the hell I was going to keep myself busy over the next few hours. I’d done the Eifel Tower earlier in the year and the crowds were obnoxious. Then I remembered I hadn’t gotten a chance to go over to the Museum of Modern Art or whatever it was technically called. After pulling out my map, I found that it was over in the
Trocadero
area.

That was too far of a hike at five kilometers, so it looked like I would need one of those taxis after all. As I gazed out into the lobby from the bistro, it occurred to me that I would probably have to talk to Leuc again, which made me slightly nauseous. I was pretty sure Olivier asked him to look after me, but doubted that this was what he had in mind.

“
Merci
,” I called to the woman behind the counter as I got up. She waved and I walked back into the lobby. I went right over to one of the bellhops and asked him to call me a taxi. Before he could make it out to the front of the hotel, Leuc was by my side.

“Going somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask where?”

I sighed. “You may ask, but I’m not going to say. It is really none of your business.” I looked over at the bellhop who was trying to figure out what he should be doing. “The taxi,” I said, reminding him.

He nodded and hailed a taxi. As one pulled up, I looked over at Leuc.

“Gotta go.” I stepped outside and into the taxi. I waved to Leuc as the taxi took off down the road.

I asked the taxi driver if he spoke English. He did. After telling him where I wanted to go on the avenue de President Wilson, I kindly asked him to tell the hotel that I went somewhere on the other side of town if he was asked. When I gave him a few extra euros when we got to the museum, he agreed with a smile.

Where I was going was no secret, but I didn’t like the idea of everyone knowing where I was at. It was unsettling because I was in the city alone. Olivier told me I had to come alone and it wasn’t even nightfall yet. That meant even he was not at my side, though I had doubts as to whether that would actually be better.

The museum was actually really interesting. I grabbed a map in English and made my way through all of the different halls. With time to kill, I stopped by multiple exhibits and stood in front of art much longer than I would have ordinarily done so. It was refreshing. A few tour groups showed up, loud with kids and crying babies. That was my cue to move into the next room.

After I was sure that I had seen and done everything that the museum had to offer, I walked out in the crisp autumn air. There was a bench by the entrance and I sat down to have a moment to think. It was just after four, so there was still time until Olivier would be making his appearance. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I took a walk around some of the neighborhoods and then hailed a taxi.

No more than ten seconds after walking through the door, Leuc was walking in my direction. “Did you enjoy yourself in our fine city this afternoon, Dylan?”

I sighed and nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

“Is there anything I can do to be of service?”

“Nope.”

He nodded. “Very well. Should you need anything, we will have a team at the desk that can assist you.”

“Thank you,” I said and reached for the elevator door that opened to let an older couple out. I leaned against the wall of the elevator and waited patiently while it took me up a few floors. The doors opened and I walked down the hall to my room.

Sunset would be in about an hour. After that, Olivier could appear at any time. I wished he had left a note or something to tell me when I could expect him.

I thought about the phone in my messenger bag and how I should reach out to Nico to let him know I had arrived. The call probably should have been made when I checked in earlier. Oh well, it’s not like he would be up yet, anyways. I grabbed the phone and dialed. Voicemail.

“Hey Nico. I arrived in Paris this morning. Checked in and everything is good and made it to a museum, too. Now I’m just waiting around for Olivier. I’ll call again when I know more. Love you.”

I hung up and thought about whether I should have told him about the museum. He wouldn’t like me walking around the city knowing that zombies could get me, but then again, he didn’t say not to do anything when I got to the hotel. The message was already left, so it wasn’t something I could change. Besides, nothing happened on the way over there, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Chapter 5

I MUST HAVE dozed after placing the call to Nico because I was awoken to the sound of someone pounding on my hotel room door. The sound was enough to hold me down as though I had swallowed a dead weight. Olivier. I knew who it was before opening the door.

“Hello,” I greeted, opening the door.

Olivier stood in the hallway, looking taller than ever. His hair looked darker, he looked more muscular than he had a few months ago, and he smelled incredible. I steadied myself with a hand on the door frame and prayed that he didn’t notice that I found him more than slightly intoxicating.

“I thought something was the matter, you didn’t answer right away,” he said without even greeting me.

My hand went instinctively to my head and through my hair. “Yeah, I must have dozed off.”

“Oh, well I am sorry to have woken you. You look good, Dylan. Thank you for coming.”

I moved my hand to allow him in.

“Did I have a choice?”

He chuckled softly. “You always have a choice.”

“Hmmph.” I sat on the bed and he followed me in, closing the door behind him. “So…”

Olivier pulled the chair out from the desk and sat opposite me. I was thankful he didn’t take a seat on the bed beside me. “Right to business then, yes?” He smiled and his brown eyes twinkled.

“We might as well,” I said.

“First, I do want to thank you for coming. I know that we got off on the wrong foot before. I took the wrong approach and that was a mistake. We do have a lot in common, more than you know, and it would be very easy for us to work together. There are things that you know that others do not and that is why I wanted to talk to you instead of any of the others in Florence.”

“Okay,” I said. “Apology accepted.” It seemed weird to accept such an apology considering the attack at my apartment and the fact that he used mind control to almost mark me. There was no sense holding a grudge, though. We had business to get down to. “But what could I know that others don’t? I’m the only mortal one in the mix.”

“But you have been a truth seeker almost your entire life, have you not?”

There was that term again. He had used it once or twice before and I really didn’t have a concept of the meaning. He saw that I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“You believed in vampires before you came to Paris last year, right?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “I’ve always felt that they existed. It seemed like there was too much in literature and movies for them not to exist. Fiction is usually centered around some kind of truth.”

“And you did research. And you looked. And you went to a Transylvanian Society conference to learn the truth.”

“Yeah….,” I trailed off. I didn’t even want to know how he knew about all of those things, but was intrigued to see where he was going with all of this.

“That makes you a truth seeker. And I know all of these things because I was one – and I am still one. That’s what makes us understand vampires better than anyone. I was where you were at. It’s why I became a vampire. I wanted to know the truth and becoming one was the easiest and most effective way.”

Whoa. There was so much truth and revelation to this statement that I didn’t know where to begin. He had been a truth seeker? He chose to become a vampire? How did he manage that? The questions were flooding my brain and I didn’t have the slightest clue as to where to begin.

“You have questions,” he said it as a statement.

“Oh yeah.”

He laughed. “We will get to all of them in a minute. Have you eaten yet this evening?”

I shook my head.

“Then that seems like a natural start.” He stood up from the bed and headed to the door and stopped abruptly. “Did you need to…,” he made a motion with his hand towards me and my hair.

“Yeah, give me two minutes.” I walked into the bathroom, ran a brush through my hair and put some lipstick on. I walked back out, put my boots on and grabbed my messenger bag. “Let’s go.”

“Were you treated okay? At the hotel?”

I choked back a laugh. “Mind control? Is that what you did? He was annoying.”

Olivier nodded. “I’ll have a talk with Leuc tonight. I told him to keep an eye on you, not to harass you, I apologize.”

My phone rang, startling me. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to fish my phone out from my messenger bag. The screen told me it was Nico, which didn’t surprise me.

“Hey,” I said.

“Well? What’s going on? How are things?” Nico bombarded me with a dozen questions before I could get a word in.

I cleared my throat and he stopped. “I’m with him now, we haven’t had much time to talk. He showed up at my hotel room about 10 minutes ago and he has apologized for his last approach. I’m going to get a bite to eat and then he’s going to start explaining everything.” I glanced over at Olivier who was leaning against the glass of a perfume store that was closed for the night.

“How can you eat when there’s so much information to get?”

“Because I’m human,” I snapped. The nerve, seriously.

“Of course, my apologies. You will call again when you know some information that can help us?”

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me. “Yes. I will call before I go to sleep tonight to give you an update.”

We said our pleasantries and hung up the phone.

“Master making you check in?” Olivier chuckled.

“Funny.”

“Yeah, I try.” We headed across to the Metro Station and down a flight of stairs. He reached into his pocket, scanned a ticket, and we stood around.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Hard Rock. Figured you would rather have American food and it’s loud enough in there that we can have a conversation at the table without anyone overhearing us.”

Wow, that was actually thoughtful of him
.

“I can be thoughtful, you know. I did apologize.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I forget that you can read minds, too.”

He smiled. “There’s a lot that I can do.”

He kept a poker face, but I was pretty sure he was flirting. He could also be talking about some of that electrical shock stuff he did with Costin that night he had attacked us. That definitely needed to be something that was addressed tonight.

The Metro showed up and we got on. It was crowded and everyone was packed in there. I hung onto one of the poles and he stood behind me, one hand holding onto the pole above my head. We didn’t talk because it would have required us to be too close for comfort. A few stops later, we got off.

After we got up the stairs, the Hard Rock was in view. We walked into the restaurant that was already packed and were able to get a great table. I figured Olivier was responsible for that.

“So,” I said, ready to launch into questions.

“Wait for the waitress to come by, order, and then we will start.”

I let out a sigh and sunk into the booth a little.

“Moody little thing, aren’t you?”

I glared at him instead of pleasing him with a response.

On cue, a tattooed brunette showed up at the table, asking to take our order. After asking for a Blue Devil and chicken fajitas, she walked away.

“Now?”

Olivier nodded. “But first, what the hell is a Blue Devil?”

“Wait and see. So, I’m just going to start asking questions and you’re going to answer them?”

He held up three fingers. “Scouts honor.”

“How long have you been a vampire?”

“Just over a year.”

Holy shit. Only a year? With the powers that he had, Costin had assumed at least a few years. “How did you become one?”

He tapped his index finger across his lips a few times. “Can we come back to that one?”

“You promised to answer all my questions.”

“And I will, but this one is complicated, so there are some other things that you need to know first.”

“Fine. How were you able to electric shock Costin with your fingers? He said he’s never seen a vampire do that before.”

“Ahh, right. Well, he’s never seen a vampire from that bloodline before then. Some vampires can do it, but it’s not common.”

I nodded and was about to launch into more questions, but the waitress showed up with my drink and a water for Olivier.

I took a sip and closed my eyes to savor the taste, particularly the raspberry syrup.

“That looks hideous.”

“Well, it’s delicious. I’d let you take a sip, but you only drink blood.”

He shook his head at me. “Play nice.”

“You first.”

The restaurant was packed and there wasn’t an empty table in the place. The music was pounding around us and a TV screen was showing the Michael Jackson Thriller video from all angles of the place. Olivier was right taking us here. No one would be able to hear a thing that we were saying at the table. Good.

“Why did you kill Henri?” I asked.

“I didn’t. It’s another one of those issues that are complicated, so I guess I should just start explaining some more.”

“Good idea.”

He tapped his fingers on his lips another moment before speaking. “I worked with a necromancer to gain some assistance. Are you familiar with that term?”

I nodded. Someone who could raise the dead. I got chills thinking about it.

“Well, the necromancer helped me to raise an army so that I could get a few things that I needed, including vampire blood. It was a small army, nothing out of hand. About a dozen bodies altogether. There were some complications, however. The zombies have gone rogue.”

“Explain.”

“Zombies are raised from the dead by a necromancer. They listen to the necromancer and when they have served their purpose, they go back into the ground. Henri learned that I was working with a necromancer and killed her before he had a chance to learn about everything. The zombies hadn’t been laid to rest and they killed Henri as a result of killing the necromancer.”

“Shit.”

“The problem is that the zombies have been out for months now and they are gaining a considerable amount of awareness.”

“People aren’t noticing?” I asked.

He shook his head. “They were raised with human sacrifice, so their features were brought back to life in their entirety. Unless you knew what to look for, you wouldn’t know if you were standing right next to a zombie, which is why there hasn’t been a news break in Paris and that’s the way we want to keep it.”

Goosebumps shot up my arms at the idea of a human dying just so that he could go on some kind of power trip across the city.

“Why did you raise the zombies?” I asked.

“I needed vampire blood from the other line that I was able to find in Paris.”

“Wait, I know that Nico said that there were five vampire blood lines, but he also said that most of them are very rare.”

“And they are, that’s why I wanted it.”

I leaned my head into my hands and massaged my temples.

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” he said. “But I promise it’s going to start making sense as I explain some more.

“Wait, but why couldn’t you just get another necromancer to put the zombies down?”

“It was hard enough finding one. They are not very common. Plus they are gaining awareness, so it requires even more work.”

This was getting complicated. “So how do you kill a zombie?”

“Gunshot to the brain, decapitation, fire -.”

“Got it. So just take care of it.”

He laughed. “Dylan, if it was that easy, I wouldn’t have called you out here and we wouldn’t have any zombies walking around Paris. You can’t just kill them without the authorities seeing. It has to be done very discreetly.”

“So what? Now they’re just walking around, eating brains?”

“Um, no. That’s a myth. That’s really cute that you think that, but no. They don’t eat anything. They don’t know what they need. They’ve all been dead so long that their brain is not functional enough to form intelligible thoughts. They can walk, they can act when threatened, but they cannot speak and they cannot formulate ideas.”