The Vampires' Birthright (2 page)

Aside from Chanson’s lilac scent, there’s cinnamon for Garvan, ginger for Armando, roses for Raquel, and honeysuckle for Tyreen. The collective odors often remind me of a flower shop combined with some kind of weird spice boutique.

Not an easy combo for a new mom-to-be. Definitely not, considering the accelerated morning sickness I already endured. Hell, it was afternoon and evening sickness, too. The ‘all day’ bullshit made me worry this unpleasantness might last throughout my entire pregnancy.

I had nothing to compare this to. Not only was this my first pregnancy, but I couldn’t even ask my mother, or any other mother for that matter, since mine hadn’t been a normal human conception process. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, Peter Worley and I had agreed to have sex while Chanson drained my blood until I lost consciousness. Through a curiosity of my biology, this was the only way I could conceive, and it was as awkward and uncomfortable as it sounded. The only fertilized ovum I’ll likely ever produce had begun its transformation into my angel, Alaia.

“You look pale, Txema,” said Armando. “I believe a bottle of Perrier will restore your color, no?”

Before I could respond, he had already disappeared. I’d mentioned before how much I truly hated it when they did that sort of thing—here one instant and zip away the next.

“Really, a glass of wine would be a better choice!” I called after him, or at least to where I thought he disappeared.

“Uh-uh-uh.” Raquel stood behind Chanson, trying to steal a peek at what our vampire princess had just typed into her MacBook Air. “No alcohol fun for you, sweetie, until you’ve hatched your young!”

Well, at least this cynical wit I could relate to.

“Perhaps you’re right,” I said. “I guess I’ll settle for a diet Coke instead.”

Really, if I’m forgoing alcohol, then it doesn’t matter what they serve me, unless it’s blood. Armando soon returned, but with a glass of lightly sweetened iced tea instead.

“I believe we have a lot to talk about before the plane lands in the next half hour.” He chuckled sourly while studying my face. “There’s much to be aware of in light of Gustav’s most recent update.”

He reclaimed his seat after handing me my drink, ignoring a sharp glance from Chanson. It wasn’t the first time I noticed how he sometimes irritated her.

“Let me handle this,” she said coolly, before shifting her attention to me. Her emerald eyes seemed more luminescent than usual. Like Garvan, her long dark brown hair hung forward, although she brushed it away from her face so she could see me clearly. They all studied me, and I felt the blood rush to my face. I hated being the center of attention. “Since we all heard the report from Xuanxang, it’s only fair Txema learns the truth about what is happening in China.”

Chanson’s voice was almost musical, except when upset or worried. When that happened, her words come off fairly harsh. I doubted she’d remain in high regard among her vampire peers if this were perceived as a normal weakness. No doubt, some of her vulnerability was due to her overt fondness for me, her distant cousin.

Although we are distant cousins, people often mistake us for sisters. She was tall and, although she had an athletic build, her curves left no doubt whatsoever she was a woman. With dark hair and deep hazel eyes, she turned plenty of heads―both male and female.

“Are we still going to the Himalayas and the Palace of Xu Zheng you told me about earlier tonight?” I hoped I didn’t sound overly concerned one way or another.

“Yes, that’s our destination. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say, at least it is our original landing point,” said Chanson, her tone brighter. It was as if she stole a peek at my inner thoughts, and it pleased her by what she found.

Before undergoing the sacred ‘sex and blood’ ceremony—the Relance du sang is the official name for the ritual—my thoughts were completely open to any vampire. I believe many of my readers have experienced this unpleasant ‘thought nakedness’ with a vampire by now. Since I was brought back from the brink of death, I’d found that I inherited a lighter version of their telepathic abilities. Yes, it could be somewhat disconcerting, and even annoying. But I’d only been affected when around human beings like myself, which at the moment meant only the pilots and the flight staff.

Meanwhile, my thoughts had become a cloudy mess for my vampire companions to muddle through. Instead of the verbatim translations from my head they once freely enjoyed, they had to rely more on their intuitions and intelligence to define the bits and pieces they gathered from me. It provided my only shot at some sort of privacy, since Gustav had mandated I not be left alone or unprotected at any time. I admit that I enjoyed the privacy, however limited it might have been.

“Our original welcome to stay there indefinitely has now been limited to just a few months, and even that was only reluctantly agreed upon. Ralu’s presence in the lower plateaus of the Himalayas has greatly alarmed the Chinese emperor and those still loyal to him.”

“Keep in mind that Huangtian Dadi’s nation is much smaller than ours, where his one-hundred and twenty-four eternals are less than a third of our European group,” added Raquel, looking toward Chanson for permission to continue, who motioned for her to go on. “Xuanxang advised that the other forty-three vampires residing in the Chinese domain are either undecided in their loyalties, or have already given their support to Ralu’s cause.”

I didn’t like the way this sounded, so bleak and a touch ominous. It was as if my fate, and more importantly, the fate of my unborn child were of tenuous concern in the bigger vampire picture. My world is no longer the human global community to which all of you belong. I’d already witnessed first-hand on several occasions how a ripple of unpopularity in the realm of the undead can have drastic consequences for mortals such as myself. I worried about the personal danger of traveling into a land where some of my hosts might hold the same contempt for me that Ralu did—regardless of any uniqueness from my heritage and bloodline.

At present, I assumed the world’s vampire population contained roughly eight thousand souls—the vast majority condemned to serve Ralu in his personal and ruthless army numbering at least six thousand. From what I had been able to gather, both spoken and unspoken, the European vampire nation had shrunk to a touch over three hundred and seventy dark souls the night before, after Ralu’s attack upon
‘‘le Chateau de Douleur,’
Racco’s once-glorious castle in the French Pyrenees near Perpignan. Apparently, most vampire groups were extremely shy and avoided contact with human societies at all costs… save those unwary, and thus
unfortunate, stragglers with whom they cross paths. The greatest strength of my own allies is their ability to mingle with, and manipulate, humans with such skill. I’m sure the mind-reading helps out a bit at the negotiating table.

“So, I guess what I went through last night turned out to be for nothing. Ralu is still just as aggressive as he was before the ceremony—he still intends to subdue the world. Maybe we should continue on until we find a place that’s safer,” I said, pausing to look into everyone’s faces. Frozen expressions looked back at me, some mirthful while others serious… but all intense. “Somewhere in America would probably be better.”

“Which America are you referring to?” Garvan sounded irritated and a tad worried, as if I had any real say in where we’d end up. “It’s true that Ralu has stepped up his attacks, and either continent will soon be overrun by his mercenaries. Unless you long for an existence languishing at the very tip of either the north or south poles, you should patiently await Gustav’s direction. He has a plan to deal with this, Txema, and some of it was laid out for us this evening.”

“Then, why not speak clearly, instead of—”

The coolness of Chanson’s index finger pressed upon my upper lip. Surprised, I shut up.

“I think it’s best if we get settled in our new accommodations first, and then we can continue this discussion in a more meaningful way.” She cast another sharp glance, this time at Garvan. Armando snickered while looking on. For the moment, she ignored him, focused instead on the rest of her message to me. “The plan will make much more sense from within the environment where it will be carried out.”

I nodded, both out of respect for my cousin—my strongest vampire ally—as well as the simple truth behind her words. She was right; there wasn’t a damned thing that could be done about our destination at this point. We would reach the Palace of Xu Zheng before long. Aside from having to refuel the jet to get us across either the Pacific or Atlantic, we’d need to secure a place free from vampire attacks—not to mention the far-reaching telepathy of Ralu Izcacus.

“I’m hungry,” said Tyreen, after an awkward silence followed Chanson’s admonishment to me. “My stomach’s churning again!”

“You sound like a baby in need of milk and a good slap on the back, no?” asked Armando, drawing chuckles from everyone but Chanson, me, and Tyreen.

“How easy it was to forget what it’s like to be a new vampire!” Chanson glared at the rest of them, her gaze lingering longest on Armando, since his chuckle sounded the most amused. “We could place her under your personal care… perhaps permanently. How does that sound?”

That got him. A sullen scowl and a pleading look replaced his haughty smile. I worried Tyreen’s feelings might be hurt by his reaction. But her expression told me that she missed it, perhaps focused on Raquel’s enraptured look instead. No doubt, our diminutive imp looked forward to an opportunity to school the newbie on how to procure lasting nourishment.

“I guess I could round up some RH negative from the kitchen compartment.” Garvan seemed anxious to escape the sudden tension between Chanson and Armando. “I’ll be right back!”

“No, stay right where you are!” Chanson blocked him with her leg, not letting him leave the aisle. “It is best for Tyreen to feed on the real thing for the first few days. She can borrow from one of the flight attendants.”

Despite her slender fangs and glowing green eyes, I couldn’t picture Tyreen feeding on anything, whether a jackrabbit, rat, or any other small creature—much less another human being. I still pictured my dear friend as when she was my sweet and vivacious college roommate in Tennessee. Tyreen couldn’t hurt a fly. She’d always wait for Johnny Ayers, her boyfriend, or me to come to her rescue whenever she found a bug bigger than her pinky nail. This was the way things were only two weeks earlier.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Tyreen asked a little too quickly. My stomach dropped as a hopeful look began to spread across her face.

As soon as Chanson confirmed with a nod, Tyreen disappeared. Only a slight visible blur announced her movement to the rear of our seating area. A shrill scream soon erupted from the hallway beyond, from the area where I had seen the stewardess spending her time when she wasn’t serving our needs.

I whispered a quiet prayer for the stewardess’s safety and turned my attention toward the dimly lit landscape below. At least the fading moonlight was available for a few more minutes—long enough for me to discern the enormous sprawling palace complex spread out across three hills before the plane began its final descent.

e touched down on a narrow landing strip that took us up to Xu Zheng’s grand entrance. By then, Chanson had organized us to hustle inside the palace, as a further precaution against the ever-encroaching threat of Ralu’s minions.