Sampson leaned back. “How do we know you won’t just try to track her down as soon as you get your personal time? If we lose you to those disgusting creatures, all of our research would come to a standstill. It would take us several months to accomplish what you can do in just a few weeks.”
“I feel that you give me too much credit, sir,” Mason grimaced. “My team and I all work together to accomplish all that we have so far, and they will continue to do so in my absence.” He paused to look each one of them in the eye. “It wouldn’t be logical for me to track down the vampires myself. I have lost my daughter; there is no need for me to end my life as well. I only ask that I have time to recover from my loss.”
“She’d barely been living with you for a week,” Doyle pointed out. “Why should you be grieving for her so much? You didn’t need time to recover from losing half of the men in your sect when we were trying to recapture the female vampire.”
“Samantha is of my own flesh, and she was the last link to my ex-wife. Even if she and I were never close, she was going to continue my legacy. And now, that is lost.”
All three nodded slightly as if they understood. This grief was more about losing a part of one’s self. They could certainly relate to someone who was as self-absorbed as he. Mason knew it was the perfect thing to say.
They agreed to give him one week of personal time off. It wasn’t what he had planned, but it would have to do.
As soon as he was in his car, he flipped the switch to an encrypting machine, scrambling signals emitted by his cell; he didn’t want anyone listening in on his calls, or even knowing who he contacted.
He dialed a number and waited for three rings before someone answered. “We don’t have much time,” Mason said without preamble. “I will book a ticket to India and should be in the air by tonight.”
“You better change that. I have verified several reports of two women matching the descriptions you provided. According to the images captured by security cameras, they flew out early this morning on a direct flight to Batal, Brazil.”
“Matching descriptions of both the females?” His heart fluttered with newfound hope. Samantha could still be alive. “What was the percentage?”
“The one matching your daughter was seventy-five percent, and the other woman’s match was eighty-seven-point-nine percent.” The man paused to check his computer, the sound of keyboard clicking incessantly. “Wait, I see two other females on route to Chile. Their images yield a sixty percent match in our facial recognition program.”
“I’ll get a flight over to Batal right away. If they’re not the ones we want, we’ll track down the ones in Chile. Meet me there at the usual hotel.”
The voice chuckled. “You mean what used to be the usual? You have been out of the game for a while, old man. Things have changed.”
“You can never stop change. I’ll see you in a day or so.”
CHAPTER 16
The flight was long, but Samantha slept peacefully almost the entire way. Being surrounded by vampires had probably made sleep somewhat difficult for her. Maybe Nikita was right. Maybe Samantha knew the danger ahead—she was certainly brave to be able to keep her spirits up if that was the case.
If Samantha could go through all of that with a smile on her face, the least Leisha could do when they met with Tafari was to follow through with her plans. At this point, she was not even sure if Tafari would come.
All she could do was go to the location he was last seen by the vampire spies and ask around, seeing if anyone knew where to find him. She had no doubt someone would know, but she couldn’t trust anyone; Tafari’s men would just alert him, causing more problems. That was why Leisha would have to wait for him to seek her out.
She just hoped he didn’t send a patrol to kill her. Seeking him out like this made her vulnerable. She was a sitting duck. But it would be the fastest way to get in contact with him.
Even if Tafari did agree to take them in, Leisha was not exactly sure about her next step from there. Should she stay loyal to Ptah and the vampires, and spy on the immortals to give them an advantage in the upcoming war? Or should she just stay there for a while for the sake of pretense, and then return to report her failure? If she did that, Ptah would no doubt dole out a horrendous punishment—that would be worth it. But she could not leave Samantha to her own devices among the immortals. Once they discovered her gift of premonition, they would surely try to exploit her. No, she wouldn’t let that happen; she couldn’t. Leisha knew what she had to do.
She was a vampire, after all, and had accepted the consequences of becoming one long ago. Sometimes, she admitted to herself, it was hard to accept. Becoming a vampire had taken away her free will. For the last hundred years, she’d been fooling herself into believing she was free and independent.
The truth was, Leisha would never be free; Ptah forbade it. In that moment, Victor’s proposition seemed tempting to accept, even if Victor was never a good choice to lead the vampires. Of course, as Ptah’s second-in-command, everyone would turn to him if Ptah were to die.
Leisha sighed and looked out the window. She had no idea what she was going to do. She needed to stay focused on the task in front of her, and deal with everything else when the time came.
They landed in Batal, Brazil, after what seemed like over twenty hours. But Leisha knew it was less. Her nerves were messing with her internal clock, and she needed to get herself under control—the closer she got to finding Tafari, the more frayed her nerves became. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she murmured to herself as she unfastened her seatbelt and stood to get their luggage from the overheads.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Samantha said, her eyes still sleepy. “He will come and at least talk to you. You know he’ll be curious about why you’re seeking him out.”
“What makes you so sure? You’ve never met him.”
“I know a small part of him from what you’ve told me.” They stood to retrieve their luggage. “I guess I’m being so optimistic because I really want to meet him, and you know how they say you should send positive energy in your mind to get what you want.”
“Is that what they’re saying these days?” Leisha chuckled. “I can hardly keep up with anything in the world anymore. It seems to be changing every day.”
They left the plane, maneuvering their way through the terminal to find the car rental kiosk where they had made their reservation. Samantha stayed alert on the crowd as she continued their conversation. “I thought the world has always been like that. From what I see of vampires, you adapt to change pretty well.”
Leisha smirked. “It’s sort of a survival skill if you intend to live a long life. When you can’t blend into a crowd, immortals can find you pretty easily. But it feels like everything is so much more fast-paced now than it used to be.”
“It’s because of technology today,” Samantha said. “I’ll bet that even though you guys have Internet and stuff, you probably don’t even know what an iPhone is, huh?”
Leisha rolled her eyes. “We are not that bad. We’re always perusing online to stay up to date with technology. It helps us just as much as anyone else.”
It took them a while to get their car since Samantha really wanted to upgrade to a nicer car, like the convertible Mustang she saw, but Leisha said it would attract too much attention.
“We may be seeking out the immortals, but there is still wisdom in keeping a low profile.”
Samantha reluctantly agreed when Leisha promised to get a Porsche when they were safe enough to drive around.
Samantha seemed to have all kinds of surprises up her sleeve, Leisha thought. From their short time together, she already knew Samantha was a serious ballet dancer and loved her mother very much. The girl had also been brave for the past couple of weeks. Samantha might be many unexpected things, but Leisha never would have guessed her to be a car fan.
Leisha suddenly realized how nice it was to be able to have a companion and . . . a friend. She had been alo
ne for so long, and now that she had Samantha—a teenager so full of life and free of judgment—Leisha marveled at the very idea. Samantha was the sister she never had.
Samantha pulled on her new swimsuit in anticipation. They had been in Batal for four days doing nothing but work. They went from place to place in the area, questioning people if they had seen a man with Tafari’s description. Leisha did the asking, while Samantha studied their faces carefully. Leisha had taught Samantha a thing or two about reading people’s faces to see if they were hiding things. Simple idiosyncrasies and unconscious gestures like the scratching of the face, or a sudden shift of the body could all be used to decide if the person was telling the truth.
She couldn’t believe how much people gave away once she knew what to look for. Even the man who owned the café had given himself away. He had kept his face carefully blank, and his body too still, when Leisha asked if he had seen Tafari, but it was too obvious he was hiding what he knew. Samantha felt like a detective from television, and she enjoyed it.
Of course, no one would admit it even if they knew Tafari, but Leisha was convinced he was in the area in the last year. They exhausted all the places they could think of, and now they could only wait. Leisha suggested a day at the beach, and Samantha jumped at the opportunity. Earlier, she spotted several beaches that looked inviting with their crystal blue water and white sand.
They didn’t pack swimsuits, so they spent the morning shopping. Samantha found a cute light blue bikini that helped her bust look a little larger. Leisha bought a dark red one-piece swimsuit cut low over her cleavage, which made her look like she belonged in a Victoria’s Secret catalogue.
Samantha stared at her own pale skin and wished it had Leisha’s golden glow. Though she lived in Florida for the majority of her life, she could never tan. Whenever she tried, she just got freckles, so now she put on lots of sun block and tried to accept her porcelain complexion.
The drive to the beach was not very long. They found a decent spot amidst the many sunbathers and swimmers to lay out the new beach towels. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the sun was high in the sky, bearing down waves of heat.
“So, do you burn at all?” Samantha was curious.
“Only if I haven’t fed for a long time,” Leisha responded. “So I had better use some sunscreen as well, since it’s been almost a week.”
“I thought you said you could go for a whole month.”
“I can as long as I’m . . . snacking in the meantime. I haven’t had anything besides regular food for six days, so it makes a bit of a difference.”
Samantha didn’t realize Leisha had been sacrificing so much. “How do you snack, then? Is it something you can do here?”
Leisha explained how she picked up on men and made out with them in dance clubs.
“So, why don’t we go out dancing tonight?”
“No, I won’t be able to watch you the whole time, and this city can be dangerous. Besides, you’re underage.”
“You may be right. But that shouldn’t stop you from going. I can just stay in the hotel while you’re out.”
Leisha did not take much time to decide. “I’ll go after you have fallen asleep.”
Samantha closed her eyes and reveled under the warm rays of the Brazilian sun. She sensed someone standing over them. “Hi,” a deep masculine voice greeted.
When she opened her eyes, she jolted into an upright position. The first thing she noticed were these rich, deep blue eyes that shined with a silvery iridescence accentuated by the sun. The man’s ebony skin barely contained the hard set of muscles across his torso and arms. Something about him oozed a fierce presence.
Samantha felt another jolt as she remembered this man in her vision. He was the man Leisha had been arguing with. Samantha tried to remember that portion of her vision, but couldn’t quite do it. She only remembered that it was a very heated argument, and that they were in an ordinary looking house. She must tell Leisha about this later.
“Tafari,” Leisha breathed, taken completely off guard. Neither of them was expecting him to show up so soon, and Samantha certainly never envisioned their meeting to take place on a sunny beach with hundreds of people around.
As if he was reading her thoughts, he said, “I figured this would be a safe and neutral place. No vampires can ambush me with the sun so bright right now.”
“But I’m sure there are plenty of immortals around just waiting to ambush me,” Leisha reflected.
“It would be foolish of me not to bring backup, no?”
“Be honest, Tafari, are any of them within hearing range?”
“You should be able to attune yourself to them if they were.”
Standing, she sent him a competitive glare. “Not if they were using long range devices.”
The corners of Tafari’s mouth quirked. He continued to stare at her for what felt like infinity, touching his ear with his right hand at intervals as if giving out a signal. “Now no one will hear what you have to say. Satisfied?”
Leisha did not appear too pleased; she could only trust Tafari’s word that no one was listening and gestured for him to sit with them on the towels.
“I assumed that since you were searching for me so obviously, you must want my attention. What is it that you wish to discuss?” This man was completely cold and closed off.
Samantha wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, according to Leisha, Tafari considered Leisha a monster now, although he might still hold some kind of softness towards her.
Leisha remained composed, mirroring Tafari’s diplomacy. “I have a request. Quite a large request. If you do this for me, then I would be in your debt, Tafari.”
The man sat and waited for her to continue.
“I ask for . . . for your protection.”
Tafari scoffed and then started to laugh, his face lit up—borderline playful—in a way that made him appear incredibly warm.
Before he could get his chuckling under control, Leisha continued. “Not for me, you idiot! You should know that I can take care of myself. I am asking you to promise your protection over Samantha.”
Tafari stopped laughing at that, turning his sober attention to Samantha, who blushed at being the subject of their conversation and under his prodding scrutiny.
“What does the child need protection from?” he asked.
Leisha sighed. “I must have your oath not to tell a soul what I am about to say. No one can know. Will you promise me that?”
“I can only promise if what you tell me does not compromise my cause with the immortals.”
Leisha mulled that over in her head for a brief moment. “Samantha got mixed up with me and the vampires. She’d helped me escape from this compound, one thing led to another . . . and she sort of got dragged to our lair.”
Tafari interrupted before she could continue. “She helped you escape? Not the other way around?” He glanced back and forth between the two women. “What kind of a compound would you need escaping with the help of a little girl?”
Leisha clenched her jaw. “I would rather not go into details. All you need to know is that a division of the U.S. government is looking for both of us at the moment.”
Tafari’s lips twisted. “U.S. government, huh?” He didn’t bother to hide his skepticism.
“Anyway, she got pulled into my world. I had to lie and say she is to become my human servant so she could stay under my protection while we were there. Ptah has since taken a special interest in her.” Determination shone in her eyes. “She has to go into hiding so she isn’t forced to either be my human servant or be killed.”
Tafari searched her face as she met his stare with a defiant set to her jaw. Samantha could feel the tension coming from them like the spraying mist of the ocean—there was more than just animosity. Samantha could see their attraction to each other, as if a magnet was trying to pull them together. Tafari’s gaze traveled down Leisha’s bare shoulders to her cleavage and then down her long legs. Leisha quivered as if he we
re caressing her. Glancing away, Samantha suddenly felt like a third wheel.
Just as she was about to make some excuse to go in the water, Tafari turned to Samantha. “Is what she is saying true?”
Samantha swallowed. “Yes, it is. But she is leaving a few things out.”
Eyes narrowing on her, Leisha shook her head in warning.
“I think it’s all right for him to know, Leisha,” Samantha said. Leisha was as still as a stone, waiting to see what she had to say. “Leisha will be severely punished if I disappear. I know she’s too proud to show her vulnerability to you, but she also needs your protection.”
Leisha’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head, and her face was so red it was nearing purple.
Tafari was watching Leisha, his lips twitching.
“I told you I would handle it,” Leisha said, her lips tight. Her color was returning to normal, and she was now staring at Samantha as if she was going to strangle her.
Samantha knew Leisha did not like her telling Tafari about it, but it was also the only way for Tafari to agree to take them both in for a short time.
“I wonder, what kind of punishment is in store for you should you lose Samantha?” Tafari asked.
Leisha raised her chin. “Nothing I haven’t already lived through. Samantha just doesn’t understand our ways, and she feels protective over me like a sister. Actually, I think she is overprotective of me.”
“I think that’s hypocritical, Leisha. You treat me the same.”
Tafari glanced between them again and shook his head. “What are you trying to pull here, Leisha? Some bloody con to make me believe you have feelings? It does not work, you know. I know what you are.” He turned to Samantha and took her hand in his. “Whatever web she has woven around you, it is dangerous. I do not know how you got mixed up with her and her kind, but I warn you to get out of it. Now.”
“You are making a mistake, Tafari,” Leisha said. “Samantha is completely innocent.”
“I know she is, I can see it in her eyes. But I also know you are far from innocent. You have the ability to wrap just about anyone around your dainty little finger. I will admit you had almost convinced me there, but I think Samantha overplayed your little ‘sisterly bond.’” He paused. “You and I both know you do not have a humane, nurturing bone in your body.”
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