Dissension

by Adrienne Monson

  Leisha’s lips thinned slightly.

  With anger bubbling up through her chest, Samantha was on her feet before she knew it and got right in Tafari’s face. “You know nothing, you self-righteous jerk! This woman was once your wife. How dare you treat her that way! I can’t believe she is so quick to forgive you of everything even after how you treated her.” Samantha breathed hard. “I know Leisha better than you ever will, and you want to know why? It’s because you’re blind! You see only in black and white, while there are shades of all different colors staring you in the face.” She turned to Leisha. “We don’t need his help, Leisha.” She started gathering their stuff. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll figure out a way to get out of this mess without begging these heartless immortals.”

  Leisha appeared stunned by Samantha’s outburst, saying nothing, and proceeded to walk away with Samantha, leaving Tafari speechless, his mouth hanging open.

  CHAPTER 17

  Leisha had a strange sense of satisfaction brimming within her as they entered their hotel room. In all her many years, no one had ever stood up for her like that. And this little wonder named Samantha did just that, burrowing her way even deeper into Leisha’s heart.

  Samantha went into the bathroom to change and came out wearing a tank top and pajama bottoms. She was looking rather glum when she sat next to Leisha on the bed. “I’m sorry I lost my temper like that, Leisha,” she said. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m just a little nobody, but there I was, yelling at a two thousand-year-old immortal who is probably connected to all kinds of power.” She chuckled.

  Leisha grinned. “I have to admit, it was quite the sight. The look on Tafari’s face was priceless. He looked like he’d just been dropped into the Twilight Zone or something!”

  They laughed together for some time, but when it died down Samantha took on an apologetic look. “I wish I had thought more clearly, though. I killed any chances of us going to the immortals. That means Ptah will punish you.” Samantha paused. “Is it going to be worse than what my dad did to you?” she asked softly, her eyes wide.

  “Well, it will probably be more painful,” Leisha admitted. “But it won’t be as bad, because unlike your dad, I know Ptah’s purpose.” She shuddered. “That was why it was so frightening when I was strapped down in the compound,” she whispered. “I had no idea why your dad was hurting me, or how long it was going to last. I only knew the pain.”

  “I’m so sorry, Leisha,” Samantha’s voice trembled.

  Leisha shook off the memory and gave her a side hug. “It was not your fault, and it’s over now. There is nothing to be sorry about.” She pulled Samantha’s chin up to meet her gaze. “Don’t let any of it trouble you, all right. It’s in the past now.”

  “That may be in the past, but whenever I think about what my dad may be doing this very moment, or what he will do to someone else . . . I get nightmares knowing that I’m related to someone as frightening as him.” She paused. “I need to tell you something. When we were with the vampires . . . I spoke to Ptah about—”

  A knock at the door interrupted Samantha. Leisha instantly stood as she sensed the heartbeat of an immortal.

  “It’s an immortal,” she alerted Samantha. “I can feel his heartbeat.”

  “How do you know it’s an immortal’s heartbeat?” Samantha whispered curiously.

  “They have a slower heartbeat, a steadier rhythm. Human heartbeats tend to go up and down more frequently.” Leisha explained, approaching the door. She looked through the peephole and saw Tafari looking very grim.

  Leisha wished she had changed into something more sophisticated; she was still in her swimsuit with her loose beach pants on. Stifling a sigh, she opened the door. He always saw her at her worst, it seemed.

  Leisha didn’t say anything, but just looked at him, waiting for him to explain why he had followed them home.

  Tafari cleared his throat. “While I am sure that there are things you are hiding from me, I am positive that Samantha was not acting back at the beach.”

  “Why thank you so much,” Samantha called sarcastically from the bed. “Your trust in your fellow beings is overwhelming.”

  Hiding a smile, Leisha held the door wide. “Come in, Tafari,” she said coolly. “We can continue the conversation if you like.”

  He nodded and entered the room. There were two chairs and a table next to the window. He pulled one of the chairs to the wall and sat. Leisha rejoined Samantha on the edge of the bed.

  It was awkwardly silent for a minute, until Tafari finally broke the reticence. “I apologize for allowing my anger to overrule my logic on the beach. I must admit I do not entirely understand what it is you want of me, Leisha. Just to take Samantha to my home indefinitely?”

  Leisha sighed and shook her head. “Not exactly. She needs to be protected, and I do believe that you are best suited for the duty, but I don’t want her to stay for too long.” She paused, trying to find a way to explain without being offensive. “Samantha is quite unique as she is, and I want it to stay that way.” She held his gaze. “I don’t want her to become an immortal any more than I want her to be a vampire. Do you understand?”

  He smiled ruefully. “I cannot promise that my people will not try to convince her to join them. If she truly is as special as you say, then they will want her for themselves.” He glanced at Samantha, who was looking mildly irritated. “Just what is so special about her anyway?” he mused.

  “I don’t think you’d understand even if I tried to explain it to you.” She hesitated. “So, what do you say, Tafari? Will you take care of Samantha until I can be sure that I have an even safer place for her to stay?”

  “You expect me to answer you now? You have not explained very much to me about this situation. What about the government looking for you? Are you going to explain that to me?”

  Leisha had no desire to tell Tafari about that. Instead, she kept herself composed. “I don’t believe it is anything you will have to deal with. What happened last week is on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t fall into that category.”

  Samantha piped up, “I don’t think it needs to be all that confidential, Leisha. Besides, you don’t know my dad.” She grimaced. “Well, I don’t know him either, really. But from what my mom told me—and from the look in his eyes when I left him—I’d bet there is a possibility of him trying to find me. If that is the case, then Tafari needs to know anyway.”

  Leisha did not like Samantha’s upfront honesty at the moment, and communicated that with a hard look and a shake of her head.

  Samantha returned the stare, before turning to Tafari and explained everything that had happened at the compound. Leisha felt completely mortified under Tafari’s scrutiny when Samantha explained how they had tortured her to test her pain threshold.

  “So, you knew where Leisha was because your father told you about all this?” Tafari asked.

  Samantha dropped her head. “No, my dad would never divulge something about his work like that.” She looked up and squared her shoulders as if she had come to some kind of decision. “I knew Leisha was there because I had a vision about it.”

  “No!” Leisha’s shout came out too late. She did not think to warn Samantha against telling people about her ability, because she thought Samantha needed reassurance that she was still normal and could be accepted for what she was. Now, she sat horrified, staring at Tafari’s stunned expression.

  Leisha stood, closing the gap between her and Tafari. “Tafari, if you tell anyone else, so help me, I will hunt you down and anyone else who knows, do you hear me? I will not have the immortals use Samantha as a tool!”

  Samantha gasped behind her. Tafari stood and pierced Leisha’s eyes with a cold stare.

  “Has she seen anything about the child?” he whispered.

  “Get out,” Leisha said through clenched teeth. “You will not touch one hair on her head.”

  He studied her for a long while, searching for something—what it was, Leisha did
not know. Then his thumb brushed across her lips, leaving a tingling sensation. Leisha sucked in a breath of air, but did not move.

  “You are very protective of this girl,” he murmured. “I wonder if your motives are entirely pure.” He cocked his head to the side. “Does Ptah know about her?”

  Leisha shook her head, still taken aback by his soft touch. What was he doing to her?

  “Interesting,” he said as he stepped back and sat down again. “You can relax, Leisha. Her secret is safe with me.”

  Leisha exhaled and sagged her shoulders.

  “I have seen the prophecy child,” Samantha said, unexpectedly.

  “Samantha!”

  Samantha looked at her and shrugged. “I don’t see the harm in telling him since he promised not to tell anyone else.”

  Leisha put a hand to her temple. “You are too trusting.”

  Samantha shrugged again.

  “What did you see?” Tafari asked, excitement laced in his tone.

  Samantha explained the vision to him, omitting the part of him and Leisha arguing. When she was finished, he looked at her in awe.

  “You are going to be present at his birth? Extraordinary! No one else has seen any visions like that. You are indeed special, Samantha.”

  The girl blushed slightly at his praise. Leisha just sat there.

  “I don’t know about that,” Samantha said. “It’s probably just by pure luck that I’ll be there to witness it.”

  Tafari did not comment but still looked at her with a newfound respect. Then he turned to Leisha. “So, it seems you do not have much of a plan at the moment. You just want me to watch over her, and that is it?”

  Leisha opened her mouth with the intent to convince him to take her along as well, but seeing his eyes alight in wonder like that caused her heart to beat a little faster. She saw so much life and passion in him that she simply could not bring herself to lie to him. In that one moment, she didn’t care about the consequences if she decided not to spy for Ptah.

  She closed her mouth and then opened it again. “I just need to know that she is well cared for while I figure things out. If you can just give me a way to contact you, that will be fine. You can buy a prepaid cellular for me to call.” She paused. “But you must give me your word that you will take good care of her, and that nothing will happen to her while I’m away.”

  “Wait,” Samantha said before Tafari could respond, confused and almost panicky. “You have to come, too, Leisha. It won’t be safe if you don’t come.” She turned to Tafari. “I won’t go with you if she doesn’t come along. There will be absolutely no negotiating around that.”

  Tafari looked puzzled. He seemed torn, sitting there arguing with himself. Leisha wished she could read his mind.

  Before Tafari could respond, Leisha became distracted by someone’s heartbeat out in the hall. It was beating quickly in either nervousness or anticipation, she was not certain. The person paused in front of her door before continuing on again.

  She went to open the door to see if he had put something there. She looked down and saw an object—a stainless steel cylinder—slipped under the door. The top suddenly opened and white gas poured into the room.

  Leisha cursed and rushed to Samantha. She pulled the pillowcase off a pillow and put it over the girl’s nose.

  “Window,” called Tafari. He picked up Samantha and went to open it. Leisha had been holding her breath the entire time and thought it odd when she started seeing doubles of everything. Shaking her head to clear it, she hurried to the window. Tafari was already on the ledge with Samantha in his arms. She could see two of him narrowly gazing on her with eyes that seemed to question if she was all right.

  She moved in slow motion to pull herself up to the ledge, but could not seem to find the strength for it. She tried again but toppled forward, falling toward the ground six stories below.

  She vaguely remembered Tafari swearing some illicit profanities, and realized that she was no longer moving toward the ground. She looked up to see the immortal holding her ankle in a firm grip. She tried to shake her head again, but stopped when it made her dizziness worse. Her mind felt clear, but her body had failed to function.

  Before she could reach up to the ledge, Tafari swung her effortlessly up to the ledge where she landed in a heap. Her brain and mouth coordination was lamed as she tried to muster a word of thanks. Nothing came out except for a slur of inaudible sounds. It took her an entire ten seconds to look up at Tafari and Samantha. They seemed fine. Samantha was looking down at her with worry lines creasing her brow, while Tafari was glancing back through the window into their room.

  “No one has tried to enter yet,” he said. He surveyed the building, looking first down and then up. “The ledge below us is at too steep of an angle. We should climb up to the next level. From there, we will take the elevator to my car.”

  Samantha nodded and gestured to Leisha. “Why is she like this? What was in that gas?”

  Tafari seemed puzzled. “I am not sure. I can only assume it was something that absorbs into the skin. I assume only Leisha was affected because she was closest. I do not think the gas had time to reach us before we were out the window.”

  Looking down at Leisha, Tafari said impassively, “She appears to be incapacitated. I will have to carry her. Will you be able to climb up on your own, or do you need help?”

  Samantha looked down and swallowed. “I think can manage,” she said breathlessly.

  Tafari picked Leisha up and cradled her with his left arm. “I will go first and let her rest on the ledge. Then, I will climb back down and make sure you do not fall.”

  Leisha moved her hands to grip Tafari so he did not need to hold her, but they moved too slowly. He was able to work his way up from one ledge to the other using only his right hand. Once he was on the higher ledge, he laid her down, a gentle tenderness in his expression.

  She rested her eyes as Tafari went back down to help Samantha. When they were both up on the ledge, Tafari picked Leisha up again, walking along the ledge until they found a window to an unoccupied room and went inside.

  Tafari set Leisha on her feet. She was able to keep standing on her own. The drugs were starting the wear off, but she was still moving slowly. At least, her vision was normal again.

  “Can you speak yet?” Tafari asked.

  Leisha opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  “That would be a no,” he said. He walked to the door and opened it slightly. “I do not see anyone in the hall. We will go to the parking garage at once.”

  Samantha put her arm through Leisha’s and guided her behind Tafari. Leisha felt frustration burning through her.

  They walked warily to the elevator. Leisha knew it would have been safer to take the stairs, but she also knew Tafari had chosen the elevator because of her weakened condition. She pointed to the door that led to the stairs and Tafari shook his head slightly.

  The elevator doors opened and they walked into the empty awning. Leisha was feeling better by the minute and smiled reassuringly at Samantha.

  Tafari turned his back on the door to face Leisha and Samantha as the elevator began its descent. “Would anyone like to explain what all of that was about?”

  “I’m not sure,” Samantha said timidly. “It could have been . . . maybe . . . my dad?”

  At that exact moment, the doors opened to reveal Mason with another taller brown-skinned man, waiting impatiently for the elevator. They looked surprised to see them.

  Leisha immediately pulled Samantha behind her and crouched in a defensive position.

  Tafari, who was a little behind since he did not recognize them, was pushing the button to close the elevator doors when Mason and his partner pulled out their guns. Leisha recognized them as tranquilizer guns they had previously used on her.

  The men stood there with their guns pointed, but did not shoot, uncertain of what to do.

  Before Mason was able to come to a decision, the doors closed on their dumbfoun
ded expressions and the elevator continued its course.

  “I imagine they will not be far behind,” Tafari observed.

  “No,” Leisha said hoarsely, her throat as dry as parchment. She needed to feed very soon, especially after the stress her body had to go through from the drugs, but she pushed the thought away. First, they needed to rid themselves of Mason and any other agents around.

  Leisha glanced back at Samantha as they waited to get to the garage. The girl was trembling. She caught Leisha looking at her and forced a small smile. “I won’t let him take you again,” she said in a shaky voice.

  Huffing, Leisha smirked.

  The elevator doors opened and Tafari quickly checked their surroundings before turning to the women. “As far as I can tell, it is clear, but there are too many cars to be sure.”

  Leisha strained her ears. “I can hear three different heartbeats, but they are all beating normally. I’d assume if someone was waiting for us already, their heartbeat would increase at least a little.”

  Nodding, Tafari proceeded to lead them to his car. They tried to hurry, crouching between cars, hoping to remain unseen. The garage appeared empty, and they made it to his vehicle without incident.

  The drugs now wearing off, besides the lingering thirst, Leisha felt like herself once again.

  They pulled out of the garage, their tires screeched as they turned a corner. For about five minutes, everyone remained quiet in the car, staying alert to make sure they did not encounter any more unpleasant surprises.

  “We have a tail,” Tafari said, looking at the rearview mirror. “The black Lincoln four cars back.”

  Leisha looked back and recognized the passengers in the Lincoln. They were Mason and his friend.

  “Now what should we do?” asked Samantha.