Tagan's Child (18 page)

He muttered
something to himself in Ramian and looked away. Even though I
didn’t understand what he’d said it was obvious that for some
unfathomable reason I affected him. On the one hand, it was
exhilarating, but on the other, it filled me with utter dismay. The
last few moments had just made this trip so much more dangerous and
I contemplated whether I should turn back and let him go on his own
after all.

We came to a
halt outside the airport.

“Come on, I
need to get something to eat.” His mood had chilled a few
degrees.

The air was hot
and dry when we got out of the car and I wished I’d worn something
cooler, my jeans were clinging uncomfortably to my legs.

“How long is
the flight?” I asked, feeling awkward after what had just happened
between us.

“About 5
hours,” he replied, slinging a bag over each shoulder.

“I can take my
bag.” If I wanted him to take me seriously I needed to show him I
was up to this. He hesitated and shrugged as he handed it to
me.

We made our way
into the huge airport terminal.

“I don’t have a
passport or anything,” I said struggling to keep up with his
pace.

His face was
expressionless. He had returned to being Mr Broody and it irritated
me.

“You don’t need
one. Halsan has cleared you to travel,” he said in a clipped
voice.

It was busy
inside the terminal. People were going about their business in the
usual way. The only difference I could see between Ramians and
humans, was that Ramians were taller, other than that I could have
been in any international airport on Earth. I was also relieved to
see that not every woman in Ramia was a goddess. I thanked the Lord
for small mercies.

The girl at the
check in desk fumbled her way through our bag check-in clearly
flustered by Ahran. I watched her sympathetically. I understood how
difficult it was to concentrate in his presence. When she had
checked in our bags and they had been sucked up a chute behind her,
she passed a scanner over the back of Ahran’s neck and handed the
paperwork back to him smiling shyly, her neck and cheeks flushed.
Poor girl. Can you imagine the effect his kiss has on you?

Ahran took the
papers and put them in his shirt pocket.

“Why did that
girl scan the back of your neck?” I asked as we walked away from
the desk.

“She was
scanning my chip, the paperwork is for you.”

I laughed.
“What? You’re chipped?!”

Ahran failed to
see what was so funny. “Yes, we are chipped at birth. We don’t have
passports here our ID information is in the chip that’s inserted
into the back of our necks just after we are born.”

“We only chip
our pets at home,” I laughed again at how ridiculous it
sounded.

“We have no
issues about identifying people here and it does away with the need
for passports or ID,” he said matter of factly.

I dwelled on
this for a moment, maybe it wasn’t as ridiculous as it sounded.

We went through
a full body scanner and then we were free to enter the main
concourse. I spied some clothes outlets on the far side. I really
needed something cooler to wear.

“Have we got
time for me to buy some lighter clothes,” I asked.

Ahran checked
his watch. “Yes, you can do that whilst I get us something to eat.
I’ll meet you under that screen,” he said, indicating towards an
information screen near one of the shops.

“Okay, I’ll see
you in a bit.” Suddenly I realised I had nothing to buy them
with.

“Ahran!” I
called after him and he turned around.

“I’ve got no
money.” I gave an apologetic shrug.

He raised an
eyebrow as he took a card out of his wallet.

“Just hand this
to the shop assistant.”

“Thanks, I’ll
pay you back,” I said sheepishly.

“Forget
it.”

I felt
uncomfortable being indebted to him but what choice did I have?

I made my way
to the first of the shops and started looking through the rails.
There were a couple of skirts and a pair of shorts that I thought
might do. I draped them over my arm and began to make my way to the
changing cubicles. For some reason, I felt like I was being
watched. I entered one of the cubicles and peered through the gap
at the edge of the curtain to see if my hunch was correct. I
noticed a man with close cropped hair and dark clothes hovering
near a waste bin. He glanced my way before slipping away and
joining the throng of travellers. This wouldn’t usually have been
an extraordinary sight in a busy airport but something about him
struck me as odd, he was kind of aloof and in my experience most
people in an airport had a purpose. I shook my head. Maybe I was
just imagining it.

I hurriedly
tried the skirts and shorts on. They were fine. I grabbed a pair of
sandals as I made my way to the desk to pay. My eyes scanned the
people around to see if I could see the guy in the dark clothes
again.

Were we being
followed? The thought made my skin prickle. I glanced over to the
information board. There was no sign of Ahran. I handed the woman
the card he had given me and once my purchase was complete, I went
and stood by the screen as we had arranged. Suddenly, everyone in
the immediate vicinity began to look suspicious. The minutes ticked
by and still no sign of Ahran. I could feel the adrenaline starting
to pump. What if he’d decided to go on his own after all?

And then I
spotted him walking towards me with two baguettes in one hand and a
couple of drinks in the other, his long legs eating up the ground
as he approached me. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of
him.

“I was
beginning to wonder where you were,” I said. Why did I sound like I
had just walked up a flight of stairs? I chose not to tell him that
I thought he’d deserted me.

“It took a
while to be served. Shall we go over there and eat?” he said,
pointing towards a pleasant seating area where real trees grew up
through gaps in the marble floor.

We sat down and
when I was confident no one could eavesdrop I leant across the
table towards him. “I think we are being followed,” I
whispered.

“Hmm, I know,”
he replied taking a mouthful of his baguette.

“What do you
mean you know? Why didn’t you tell me?” I forgot to whisper and
Ahran shot me a warning look.

“Because I
didn’t want to frighten you,” he said quietly. “I noticed them both
when we were at the check-in desk.” I had to strain to hear what he
said. He seemed to forget that I had to rely on my inferior
hearing. “There are two of them?” I squeaked in horror.

He nodded,
seemingly unperturbed by this.

I thought back
to when the girl at the desk was checking our papers. I’d had no
idea anyone was watching us. “What should we do?”

“Nothing, just
carry on as normal.” Ahran took another bite of his baguette.

I had lost my
appetite. It was clear that acting normal was going to be a
challenge for me. I already felt the urge to keep checking over my
shoulder. “What do you think they are up to?” I asked, trying to
sound as nonchalant as he had.

“They are
tracking us and will be reporting back to Bazeera I expect,” he
said, after swallowing his mouthful.

“You don’t seem
too worried about this.”

He shook his
head slightly. “I’m not. We’ve just got to lose them.”

“And how do we
do that?”

“Not sure yet,
I’ll think of something.”

I felt like I
had inadvertently stepped into a Bond movie, the unhelpful voice in
my head reminded me that people frequently got killed in those
films. Now, I not only felt frightened for Toby, but also a good
deal more concerned for my own safety.

“Should we
still get on the plane?” I whispered, feeling completely unprepared
for all of this.

“Yes, of
course, it would take us forever to get to Zanzin any other way,”
he replied.

“But what if
those men get on the plane with us?” The thought of being stuck on
a plane knowing that there were two potential assassins watching
our every move was unnerving to say the least.

“You ask a lot
of questions don’t you?” he said.

I detected a
slight smile and shrugged. “It’s not every day I find myself being
followed.”

“Fair point,”
he conceded. “Suicide bombing is not Bazeera’s style, nor is public
murder, so it’s unlikely they will try anything.”

She’d had the
audacity to kidnap Toby in the cold light of day and from under
everyone’s noses, so I could be forgiven for not trusting his
reassurance that she was the cautious type.

“Go back to the
palace Sophie,” Ahran said, drawing his own conclusions from my
silence. “I can’t promise we are not in danger and I would
understand if you are having second thoughts.” His expression was
sympathetic and I almost weakened but the thought of what Toby was
going through strengthened my resolve. In some perverse way, being
involved in his search, even if it meant risking my own life,
seemed an appropriate penance for not taking the necessary
precautions that would have prevented all of this from happening in
the first place.

I raised my
chin stubbornly. “I’m not going to change my mind, I have to do
this.”

Ahran’s look
was doubtful. It galvanised my resolve even more.

“You think I’m
weak and pathetic, but I will prove to you that I am not,” I said
defiantly. Having got the distinct impression that Ahran didn’t
hold Sapiens in particularly high regard, I felt it was a good
opportunity to champion my race. I may not have superhuman
abilities but I would do my upmost to show him I had other
strengths. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure what these were
yet.

Ahran went to
say something but shrugged his shoulders. “Well, don’t say I didn’t
warn you. He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “We need to go.”

He pointed to
my untouched baguette. “You haven’t eaten anything,” he said,
expressing his disapproval.

“I’m not
hungry,” I said, wrapping the baguette in a napkin and putting it
in my bag. “I’ll eat it on the plane.” If I was going to show him I
was up to what was ahead of us I couldn’t afford to give him any
reason to think I might be a burden to him.

We arrived at
our gate in silence. As casually as I could I scanned the queue for
the guy in the dark clothes. He didn’t appear to be here.

After a minute
or two we were called to board. I took one last look behind me as
we went through the boarding gate, everyone looked like legitimate
passengers to me and I relaxed a fraction. We walked along the
elevated walkway and boarded the plane.

I began to
follow the rest of the passengers towards the main bulk of seats
but Ahran grabbed my arm. “Our seats are this way,” he said,
pointing towards the front of the aircraft.

“Oh, okay,” I
said and followed him. Our seats were in first class. I felt a
frisson of excitement. I’d never been in first class before.

‘Clarin’ a
female flight attendant standing at the doorway led us into the
area that was reserved for the more affluent traveller. Her eyes
raked over Ahran appreciatively and she gave him a million watt
smile. I would have to get used to the female attention he
attracted. It hadn’t taken me long to realise that even in Ramia he
was exceptionally attractive.

She showed us
to our seats.

“Do you want to
sit by the window?” Ahran asked.

“Yes, thank
you.” The seats were as large as armchairs and I sunk into
mine.

“Well, this is
a new experience,” I said, unable to hide my excitement. “I’ve
never been in first class before.” I grinned.

He smiled at
me. “Enjoy it while it lasts, it’s unlikely that all our travel
will be as comfortable as this.” He sat down next to me and I tried
not to let his words dampen my first experience of luxury air
travel.

I settled back
into my seat and Ahran showed me how to operate the T.V. glasses so
I could watch the safety video. When it had finished, I took the
glasses off and leant towards Ahran. “I don’t think anyone followed
us on board,” I whispered.

“You’re right,”
he said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Although they have probably
already reported back that we are heading to Zanzin.” He seemed
unruffled by this, but it caused my uneasiness to return.

Without warning
he reached around my waist and clipped my seatbelt together. I
froze, taken back by his sudden invasion of my personal space. I
tried not to inhale his smell but it was too late. It was citrus,
sun, and Ahran. It made me feel light headed.

“You need that
on. The take-off is fast,” he said unapologetically.

I didn’t reply.
I wasn’t confident I could manage any more than a whimper, so I
just nodded instead. What was wrong with me? I’d turned into a
quivering heap of hormones the moment he was in my air space. I’d
never reacted like that to a man.

My attention
was momentarily distracted from the Ahran effect when the plane
started to taxi down the run way and began to pick up speed
alarmingly. My eyes couldn’t focus on anything outside and I
clutched Ahran’s arm before I was aware of what I was doing. The
speed of the plane forced me back into my seat. I glanced up at him
nervously and he took my hand in his. He began to trace circles
with his thumb in the palm of my hand in an attempt to soothe me.
My heart rate doubled.

The blurry
landscape outside was now the least of my problems as the
shockwaves of his touch chased up my arm. I swallowed, my mouth
suddenly going dry. I was dimly aware that we were quickly gaining
altitude and I leant back and closed my eyes. The trouble was, this
seemed to intensify the effect his touch was having on me. God, he
was only touching my hand and I reacted like this, imagine the
effect of his touch on other parts of my body? My breath began to
match my heartbeat. He had certainly succeeded in taking my mind
off the speed. I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. His eyes
were hooded and his pupils dilated. I withdrew my hand. Hand
holding was another thing I had to add to the ‘Ahran and Sophie
List of Things to Avoid’.