* * *
"You will take us," René laid compulsion and the cab driver could only nod mutely as René loaded the bloodied man into the back seat of the cab. They would be driving to René's home in the French countryside; it was less than two hours away. "You will be well-paid for your time and efforts, and reimbursed for the damage to your vehicle. You will tell everyone that you took one of the injured to the hospital after the explosion." The cab driver was still nodding as he placed his car in gear and drove away, heading toward the countryside outside Paris. René held his youngest child's head in his lap. Anthony Hancock had stopped breathing the moment René pulled his wrist away, forcing Tony to stop drinking. That was a very good sign. Very good indeed. René lifted his cell phone to make a call. Wlodek answered.
"Honored One, I have just made my sixth turn. We will see if he survives," René informed the Head of the Vampire Council.
"Very well," Wlodek replied and René could hear the scratching of a pen over paper. "Please provide me with the details so I may begin the registration process."
"This one was a victim of the hotel bombing in Paris this evening," René began. "The femoral artery was severed and death was imminent. I managed to get him away without being seen; the rest of the site was in chaos and there were none to pay attention to us. All has gone well so far, Honored One. He will replace my dear, sweet Aubrey."
"Very well," Wlodek was still writing. "Do you have a name?"
"Anthony Hancock," René replied. Wlodek dropped his pen. René smiled.
* * *
"The poison has been neutralized," Pheligar declared. He'd still been working over Lissa's body while Dragon folded all of them away from Refizan. Karzac was satisfied; Lissa and Dragon had managed, with the help of the local vampires, to take down the five Ra'Ak and their demon force. Griffin was now there, as was Belen, who was shining brightly, half corporeal, half light.
"Do it now, then," Belen instructed. Griffin nodded and peeled back the sleeve of his shirt. With the giving of Griffin's blood, Belen was ensuring that Lissa could walk both sides of the realms—light and dark. She would not be confined solely to the Dark Realm if Kifirin transported her there. Griffin was smiling as he made his preparations.
"Dragon, will you help me?" Griffin asked. Dragon nodded and lifted Lissa's limp body into a sitting position. It was daylight where they were and Lissa would normally be asleep anyway, although Karzac had not removed the healing sleep. At the moment, the shield disc that Pheligar had installed was protecting her from sunlight.
"Karzac, will you wake her, please? She'll be sluggish but this is the best time for me to do this; she won't resist." Griffin drew a line on his left wrist with a finger of his right hand, leaving an opened vein in its wake. Blood was already welling up.
"Lissa, wake," Karzac commanded. It took a few seconds before Lissa sleepily opened her eyes, blinking in a confused manner at all the blurry images around her. She hadn't been awake in daylight in a very long time and the light hurt her eyes.
"Hold still, little one," Pheligar soothed. The Larentii nodded at Griffin.
"My blood is a gift to you, Lissa," Griffin said, reciting an ancient vow in the Neaborian language. "You will take no harm from it. There are no bindings or conditions, it is freely given." He held his bleeding wrist under her nose.
"Drink, Lissa." Dragon's command was better than any vampire compulsion. Lissa was tired and needed the blood; Pheligar had purposely not fed her after her healing. This blood would do. Lissa drank from Griffin's wrist until she'd gotten enough. Griffin drew his arm back and healed up the gash himself, vanishing the extra blood with merely a thought.
"Go back to sleep, Lissa," Karzac crooned to her. She dropped off immediately.
* * *
I woke the moment the sun slipped below the horizon, my eyes just popping open. My waking was never that quick. Ever. I was blinking up at a pale aqua ceiling and wondering where in the universe I actually was. This wasn't a ceiling I'd ever seen before.
"Nothing to worry over, little vampire," Karzac was at my bedside. I turned my head to look at him.
"Where are we?" I asked. He smiled.
"You're in Dragon's aerie," he replied. "We often stay here; there are no other humanoids here and Dragon can go flying through the mountains as much as he likes without fear of detection." The walls behind Karzac were mostly bare and there was no furniture, except for the bed. "Dragon was on campaign most of his life as Warlord on Falchan, and the less you have, the easier it is to get yourself from one battle to the next," Karzac was reading my thoughts.
"I don't feel terrible," I said, attempting to sit up in bed.
"You shouldn't. With the Larentii helping with your recovery, you should feel quite fine."
"Then I owe him a big thanks," I said.
"He wants you to stay here for three days and rest before we take you back," Karzac informed me. "We have blood for you in the kitchen, if you are thirsty." I found that I was dressed in pajamas; something I would actually pick out for myself, if I were able. A stretchy, sleeveless top in a pale pink, with pink and white striped bottoms. Experimentally, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I wasn't stiff or anything, which was remarkable. Karzac led me down a flight of polished wood steps to the kitchen and living area below and I stared in amazement at an open wall.
"The glass windows slide back, allowing us a full, unhindered view of the mountains and the valley," Karzac said, coming to stand next to me. He was right; the mountains were so close I could almost reach out and touch them, and the valley below was shining in the moonlight.
This must be incredible in sunlight," I whispered reverently.
"It is. Blood first, or tea?"
"We'll do blood and then tea," I said, following Karzac into the kitchen. They had solar powered everything, I learned, as Karzac handed over a bag of blood from the fridge and then put the kettle on the stove to heat water for tea. I took my blood back to the open view and stared out at the scenery while I drank my dinner.
Dragon flapped up in dragon form a few minutes later, changing to his normal shape as he landed on the balcony outside the house. Karzac handed him a cup of tea as he came in and he grinned at me before sipping his tea. "I see why you like it here," I said, sitting on one of the cushions scattered about the room. There was no carpet here, just a nice rug in the center. Everything else was covered in wood flooring. I figured it was bamboo—the pale, natural color blending well with the cushion colors and the few sculptures and paintings.