The Vampires' Birthright (33 page)

he birds were what woke me the next morning. Three of them at on one of the marble railings, and they looked like small green parakeets with crimson rings around their necks. They chirped merrily to one another and flew away once I sat up in my bed.

Someone had visited my room after I fell asleep, as a pink blouse and white shorts draped on a chair across from my bed, and white sandals sat on the floor nearby. A matching pink and white onesie had been laid out for Alaia.

I must admit that receiving such attention has always calmed my uneasiness since my vampire adventures began last year. Especially since every time something’s been left, it has always been a perfect fit. Seeing the clothes helped me feel better about our situation, and it didn’t hurt when a cool breeze from the ocean swept aside the tropical heat in my room.

I felt exhilarated and ready to face the day.

Even Alaia seemed excited, giggling as I spent a few minutes playing peek-a-boo with her. After taking care of her needs and dressing her in her latest outfit, I laid my bedclothes on the floor and headed for the exposed shower right outside my bathroom. All the while, I wondered if any peeping toms were watching from some remote place. At least the water was incredible. It felt so warm and gentle that I would’ve loved to spend more time under the light spray if not for my paranoia and unease at being exposed. Still, I wondered about how peaceful it could be if I could ever get over the fact it was right out in the open. Once dressed, with only light makeup that morning, I picked up Alaia and carried her out, hoping to find other human beings for conversation and something to eat.

The sound of a harp drifted in from somewhere close. The harpist was quite skilled, although the hauntingly beautiful music was unfamiliar to me. I followed it, strolling past the reception area and through a small alcove. When I emerged from the alcove into a walled garden, I gasped.

A variety of large predatory felines lounged about upon marble pedestals scattered about an indoor lagoon fed by a pair of natural waterfalls. The largest cats perched between the falls, a male lion on the tallest platform, a lioness slightly below him. Two white tigers sat on either side of the lions, and further away past the waterfalls, two jaguars reclined. One was black, the other white—a cheetah, and two spotted leopards.

All lazed about as if in a zoo exhibit, but none of the animals seemed forced into this arrangement. They could easily jump down from their pedestals and race around the lagoon to reach me in a matter of seconds. A glint drew my gaze to the top of the harp a short distance below the lion, and I couldn’t imagine what kind of idiot would have a death wish to play music in such close proximity to one of mankind’s most feared predators.

I stood for a moment in awe. When none of the great cats reacted to me, the true grandeur of the place sank in. The room contained an enormous garden that, despite the palace’s lavishness, I never expected. A wide variety of exotic flowering trees and plants grew beneath a glass enclosure over the top of the immense room. Individual panes set in a sprawling white marble frame gave it the feel of a greenhouse. The sides were left open, much in the same way as my bedroom. Huge white marble pillars supported the ceiling and jutted up along the sides of the garden, each adorned with intricate gold designs. In the midst of this marvelous place sat a beautiful blue lagoon, with a fabulous golden fountain in the middle depicting a collage of sculptured Hindu deities.

Similar to the much smaller pool inside the palace, a pair of natural waterfalls fed the lagoon.

“They take turns playing it, since the harp itself is shaded from the sun,” said a familiar voice.

I whirled to find Racco less than twenty feet to my right, standing in the shade from a mangrove tree, wearing khaki shorts and a short sleeve safari shirt he fit the part of wealthy conservationist. His dimpled smile gave away that he’d observed my awed expression from the moment I entered. My heart beat faster as he walked over to me.

“Well, good morning to you, too!” I said, while I sought to protect my emotions from the sudden flurry of my hormones. “And, who are ‘they’ that you’re referring to?”

“Why, our hosts of course!” he said gleefully. “But you can’t really see much from here. Allow me to escort you to a table with a fine view of our breakfast entertainment.”

He held out his arm for me to take, as if he was an usher at an ancient airy cathedral, and I was a little old lady in need of support. I’m sure it was all in fun. I slid my fingers down the length of his muscular arm and grasped his hand instead. He paused to study my yearning expression, his smile widened a touch, and he proceeded to lead me along a marble path toward the lagoon.

A myriad of birds singing from the upper branches of immense coconut palms enhanced the exotic melody and the soft crash of the waterfalls. We soon arrived at a table under a tasseled umbrella, where Mercel waited by a wooden chair already pulled out for me. Attired similarly to Racco, he lacked the skittishness he had the last time he prepared a meal for me. He seemed perfectly at ease, despite the presence of dangerous big cats on the loose nearby.

“We had a little batter left over from yesterday, would you like a fresh crepe?” said Mercel, motioning to a small stand set up next to the table. “It will be the last one for a little while, until we get our first shipment of cooking supplies and other necessities from the mainland in a few days.”

“Sure, why the hell not!” I added a playful smile while I handed him the empty plate set before me. “I’m feeling really hungry this morning, so if you don’t mind I’ll take a couple. Oh, and can we get something for Alaia… is there any more formula?”

“Mademoiselle, you are in luck,” he said. “Racco made sure we brought extra formula and powdered milk.”

I completely missed whatever he said after that. Following a slight nudge from Racco, who had taken his seat next to me, my attention shifted to the harpist directly across from us on the other side of the narrowest section of the lagoon.

“No fucking way,” I whispered, as I watched him gracefully work the strings, relying on obvious supernatural dexterity. His fingers moved so swiftly across the strings it was impossible to define the pattern. It made better sense to focus on the face and not the blur―the face of one of the young male vampires from last night. “Shouldn’t he be exploding into flames at any moment?”

“Didn’t I tell you these vampires are different?” said Racco, turning impish once I shot him a warning look. “They can stand some daylight, but only in small amounts before they have to switch places with another.”

“How can they do that if only one of them is out here in the sunshine?”

“Shush! They are already preparing to make a change. Abhaya is getting ready to relieve Aadi,” he said, while taking his traditional half crepe from Mercel. I could almost hear him go ‘oink-oink’ when he looked at the two hefty crepes laden with crème and mango slices on my plate.

“Where is Abhaya? I only see the lone vampire,” I said, taking a small bite from my crepe. As if that would somehow make me seem daintier. Meanwhile, Mercel left to prepare a baby bottle. I was about to say something smart-ass about Racco’s middle-aged eyesight when I noticed Aadi had started to look uncomfortable. Light steam rose from his body as if he was being cooked at a hotter temperature than our French pancakes.
“What the fu-”

I couldn’t even finish my ‘unladylike’ comment. Nor could I say anything else, at least until the transformations I witnessed had fully registered in my brain.

Before Aadi could begin to combust, the white jaguar climbed down from its perch and trotted over to the harp. By the time the feline reached it, the jaguar had disappeared, and Abhaya took its place. The shift occurred so fast my human eyes couldn’t discern the change. One second a white jaguar, the next a
quite
naked young stud. I turned my attention to the sky, which was also quite naked (albeit of clouds), and not nearly as uncomfortable for me to look at.

Meanwhile, Aadi had disappeared. But I was pretty damned sure he had shifted into an albino cheetah that climbed atop the marble pedestal Abhaya had vacated moments earlier.

“Are they magicians then, like Kazikli? Is that how they change?”

“No, this is simply what they are.”

“That’s unbelievable,” I said to Racco, who smiled proudly in response. Abhaya began to play a new song, and looked at us knowingly as he worked his musical magic. This time I did recognize the piece, one of Mozart’s piano concertos. “It’s all so incredibly un-
fucking
unbelievable!”

“To my knowledge, this is the only bloodline who are afflicted this way,” he said, after nodding thoughtfully to my ruffian observation. “Nearly thirteen hundred years ago, Koimala searched the entire world for others like himself. Most of the vampires are locally grown, so to speak.” He laughed. “The warriors and his lover, Mohini, came from an island in the Pacific that has long since been underwater, and was once the capital province for the lost continent of Mu.”

Mercel arrived with a bottle, which curtailed this discussion for a few minutes. After Alaia was content and I had a chance to make a bigger dent in my breakfast, I asked the foremost questions I’d been thinking about.

“So, I assume the rest of the felines across the way are Koimala and everyone else, correct?”

“Yes, of course,” he said.

“Can you tell me who’s who?”

“Well, let’s see… the lions of course, are Koimala and his queen, Mohini. The tigers are Bhima and Chatur, and the black jaguar is Ravana. The rest often interchange with one another, but they are the girls and boys in the group.”

The male lion, who had been staring at us for the past few minutes, jumped down from his pedestal. He let out a muted roar while shaking its mane, and rubbed noses with the lioness. I turned to Racco to comment on the apparent love between Koimala and Mohini, when Koimala appeared out of thin air before us under the umbrella.

“Txema, how wonderful to see you.” he said. “I see that Racco is bringing you up to speed on how things work around here.”

I just happened to notice he was entirely naked, as Abyaha was.

“If you’re out here all day, how do you sleep?” I desperately needed something to keep my gaze from falling below his waistline.

“We don’t often rest,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the other cats who all had their heads pointed at our table. “Racco doesn’t need much rest either, and I’m sure he has at least told you some of why that is. But my kind often go months without resting. Speaking of which, it’s almost time to see who’s getting thrown into the lagoon today.”

He winked, which made me worry that he meant me.

“He’s teasing you, Txema,” said Racco, who shared a knowing smile with Koimala. “At least about throwing you in the water. As far as going for months without stopping, that’s definitely true. The cell regeneration for his bloodline far exceeds mine, and is also vastly superior to any other vampire group upon this planet. At least if Ralu or Huangtian Dadi ever did find our hideout, you would still have twenty-four hour protection with Koimala’s vampires.”

“You’ve got the best protection in the world right here, Txema.” said Koimala, and he smiled wide enough to reveal his fangs again, before disappearing.

“He’s right,
ma chérie amour
,” said Racco. “You should stay right here for as long as you can. If you’ll do that, you won’t ever have to worry about something unfortunate happening to Alaia or to you, Txema. That will hold true even if you decide there is no place for me in your heart or life.”

He seemed both sad and at peace with his words as he said this. Racco might have his faults like any other man, eternal or mortal; at least he was trying to do the right thing by me and Alaia.

After we finished our meal, he invited me to walk with him along the beach. I didn’t realize at the time that I had slept late again, and it was already past noon. I worried that it might turn into a romantic situation where I’d be overmatched against centuries of experience versus nineteen years on Earth―the number one thing I always fret about when dealing with Racco. Instead, it was a very enjoyable stroll around the island, never staying on the beach or in the shady jungle areas for too long. We talked about so many things, including the island’s history, his plans for rebuilding his beloved castle in France, and my eventual dreams of finishing my college degree that I had barely started. We also discussed me eventually spending quality time with my family―if we could ever meet somewhere safe, far away from Richmond.

Even though we talked for hours, neither one of us broached the painful subject of Peter, or even the ongoing costly war between our vampire friends and Ralu. And, as much as I wanted to ask Racco about his daughters, I never mentioned them that afternoon. I decided to hold off until that night, when I could get a woman’s perspective.

I could hardly wait to speak with Chanson.