Sarim's Scent

by Springs, Juliette

  “You dare keep my heir as your slut!” Sarim raged incredulously.

  “I have claimed her as my own. According to Taalib Duma laws, she is mine and under my protection until I indicate otherwise.”

  “You will regret this,” were Sarim’s final words as she covered her mouth in shock as he dematerialized away.

  Chapter 22

  Victoria sat in the car, her mind numb as Khafil drove her to a nearby hotel. She didn’t feel the soft comfortable leather seat. She had to get away from him and her father. This should have been one of her moments of triumph, a chance to put her plans into action to make the bastard father of hers pay for his actions against her mother and her. Instead she had become the pawn. She felt sick with disgust at herself when she thought of how she had fallen like a ripe plum into Khafil’s hands. He didn’t even have to work hard to seduce her. She probably dropped her panties quicker than he expected. He had lied to her from day one. She’d always thought of him as her best friend and closest confidant. She had told him all of her secrets. He knew her inside and out. She gave a bitter laugh. God, she was so pathetically easy. She was the biggest fool since her mother. In this case, the apple indeed hadn’t fallen far from the tree.

  She thought of the man named Sarim who had told her he was her father. She’d figured out beforehand he was an unfeeling bastard. He’d exceeded her expectations. He was royally pissed because Khafil had got to her first before he had a chance to use her for his own plans. She was no more to him than a means to an end. He didn’t even care about her or that he had finally met his unknown daughter, who had been looking for so long. However, the real cold-hearted bastard was in the car with her. He had methodically played a role for years, first as her childhood friend and now as her lover. What kind of people were they? What did they call themselves? Taalib Dumas? She wanted no part of them or their sick games. She closed her eyes and let the darkness take her.

  Chapter 23

  What a twisted mess. Waking up, Victoria stretched and looked over at the stranger driving the car. A fresh wave of anger made her cheeks hot. She could not believe Ivan had done this to her. Her eyes watered again. She shut her eyelids, forcing back the tears. She dared any drops to escape her eyes. She would not give him the satisfaction of thinking she was an emotional wreck right now. Which she was, but she would be damned if he knew it. What was she going to do? She had nowhere to go.

  “We need to talk.” Khafil interrupted her thoughts as he pulled the car to a stop in the parking lot of a ritzy-looking hotel.

  “Not now,” Victoria said, unlocking the door and placing her hand on the doorknob, intending to get out of the car and away from him.

  The door locked and she felt herself physically pushed back into her seat. Eyes wide, she stared at Khafil, who hadn’t moved and was staring ahead.

  “Yes, now.” He turned, sighing. “I know you hate me, and you have every right to hate me. But there are things you must know, must understand before you leave tonight.”

  She continued to watch the people enter and leave the swooshing doors of the hotel.

  “What things?”

  “You are a member of our world.”

  She bristled and replied hotly. “I don’t want to be a member of any world where people lie and deceive on a regular basis like it’s nothing.” Her eyes watered again, and she cursed hotly under her breath for displaying emotion in front of him.

  “How could you?” she asked in a pain-racked voice. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control over the hurt. “How could you look me in the eye day after day, make love to me, and lie the whole time?”

  “If you would please just let me explain,” he began.

  “No”, she interrupted. “I’ve been listening to you long enough.”

  She took a deep breath and pushed the pain and hurt away to a different part of her mind. She needed answers and she needed to be in control to focus and ask the right questions. She turned to look at Khafil, closing her eyes against the hurt looking at his perfect lying face brought. She opened her eyes again to find him staring at her. At first glance he looked cold and aloof, but she saw the tightening around his eyes. As she studied him, she also noticed he was tired. Could he really be sorry about his lies and deceit? Looking at him and remembering their history, it was hard to believe he felt nothing for her. The way they’d made love had to be based on some type of real feelings, didn’t it? Then she remembered the look on Khafil’s face when he laughed at Sarim and said “I won.” She was a pawn to him and nothing more. “I have questions and need answers,” she started. “You owe me answers. I need to know the truth.”

  Khafil nodded. “You’re right. I owe you.”

  She took another deep breath, ignoring the pain from hearing his soft velvet words. After this was over, she would move on. Khafil would become part of her past. It would take strength, but she would move on. She couldn’t continue to be around him knowing how he lied to her day after day. He had hurt her in ways she didn’t comprehend. It felt like she was in a state of mourning. There was no joy, no happiness inside her right now. She felt empty. But she would get through this conversation and hopefully never have to see his lying face again.

  “What are you really? You and the guy, my father, Sarim, kept saying Taalib Dumas. What does that mean?”

  Her questions were met with silence. Victoria thought he wasn’t going to answer her. Anger built inside her, and she was about to explode when he finally responded.

  “We are called Taalib Dumas.” Turning, she stared at him when he said the word we. Holding her gaze captive, he continued. “Taalib Dumas are vampires whose forefathers came from Africa.”

  “So you kill people and suck their blood?”

  “It’s against our laws to arbitrarily kill humans,” he answered.

  “So how do you get blood? I mean, you do need blood to survive, right?”

  “Yes, we do need blood, but we have vancanes,” he answered her silent question. “A vancane is an underground freezer where humans are kept in a semi-frozen state until we need to feed.”

  A vision of people standing frozen solid in rows in a walk-in freezer, blank empty expressions on their frozen faces, caused her still weak stomach to lurch with disgust. Ignoring the disturbing image, she continued questioning him.

  “How do you get the humans to place in these vacakanes?” Do I really want to know this? “Vacanes,” he corrected. “They are mainly homeless people and criminals.”

  “Where do you get off stealing people like that? Not only is it sick and cruel, those people don’t deserve that,” she said, appalled. “God, you’re sick!”

  “I can understand your disgust, but consider the alternative. It’s either take humans no one would notice or we hunt all of mankind. We have to stay under the radar.”

  She had no reply to the comment. “I’ve never had a taste for blood. Well, maybe rare and medium rare meat but not the urge to go and suck the life out of someone.”

  He gave a bitter laugh. “You wouldn’t have to since you are half human. You would have some of our traits, like excellent night vision and sensitivity to bright sunlight.” Victoria turned away from his intense stare. She didn’t want to acknowledge the accuracy of his assessment. “How did the Taalib Dumas get here in America?” She couldn’t believe she was asking such a question.

  He chuckled. “The same way every other Black person did. Our forefathers came over on the slave ships.”

  “But if they were vampires, how did they get caught?” None of this made any sense.

  “It’s a little complicated.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Okay.” Khafil rubbed his head. “The Soga, your father’s tribe, is the only vampire tribe of African descent not eliminated through assimilation or blood diseases. They are descendants of the Soganta tribe of Africa. The Soganta were one of the original vampiric tribes of Africa.”

  “What happened to the other vampire tribes?” Victoria interr
upted.

  “They were eliminated by the local human tribes. As legend has it, Sarim’s ancestor, Hanit, fled from Egypt as the last remaining Soganta member. The Sogantas were wiped out after slave capturers discovered they were responsible for the strange deaths of other captured slaves. His brothers were desperate for nourishment and fed off human slaves.”

  Khafil stopped and stared at her. Taking a deep breath, she nodded for him to continue.

  “As the story goes, Hanit watched eleven of his brothers get beheaded by the humans, and knew he was next. So, he spoke an ancient chant to summon the Darvan Gods.”

  “Who are they?” she asked.

  “They are our ruling council-our Gods. Think of them as a group of three Gods like Zeus and they rule, protect us, and punish us.”

  “Okay,” she murmured.

  “So Hanit performed the chant correctly and the Darvan Gods delivered him from his impending doom. This ensured our lineage wouldn’t die.”

  “What did they do to save him?” she asked, deciding to humor him by pretending interest in this vampire legend. If she was thinking about something else, she could forget about the hurt and lies this man had dealt her.

  “The Gods answered. It’s said a burst of light went off in Hanit’s face. The next thing he knew, he was on a slave ship headed toward the thirteen colonies. While he was on the ship, your father’s ancestor found his mate and they established the Sogantas here in the United States.”

  “Are the Sogantas the only vampire tribe in this country?”

  “No, but Hanit and his mate’s descendants started other tribes. Like the one I belong to, the Imvuras.”

  Victoria nodded. “So your tribe and my father’s are at war with each other?”

  “Not war exactly. I’ll admit there is no love lost between us. Your father and my father have a long, tumultuous history. Your father’s tribe, The Sogantas, don’t particularly care for us either because our ancestors were rumored to be the Anglo-vaxens, a white vampire sect, who raped slaves.” He paused. “Pure African ancestry is revered among our kind.”

  Deciding she had enough of the history lessons, Victoria asked a question that had been plaguing her. “Is it true my father wants control of the Taalib Dumas?”

  Khafil gave a stiff nod.

  “And how would he get control?” Victoria asked, already sensing his answer, but needing Khafil to confirm it.

  He stared ahead for a moment before answering her. “Since Sarim had no known descendants, he was in danger of losing his position. Since he knows about you, he can continue leading the Taalib Dumas. If he died, the chair would not rule the council until you either ...”

  “Either what?” She had a bad feeling about the answer.

  “Until you married a Taalib Duma or had a Taalib Duma child.”

  “Which is what my father had planned for me, correct?”

  “Yes,” Khafil admitted. “He had a Soganta picked up to marry you and get you pregnant.”

  “How disgusting!” Victoria actually thought she was going to throw up again. “I can’t believe he actually thought I would marry someone I didn’t know and let him get me pregnant.”

  “Your cooperation was really not required,” Khafil quietly added.

  Victoria laughed bitterly. “You are absolutely right. All his handpicked groom had to do was lie to me about his identity, seduce me, and have unprotected sex with me.” She turned, facing him, letting him see her disgust. “Just like you did, right?”

  “I admit I didn’t handle the situation well.”

  “You’re damn right you didn’t handle the situation well. You could have told me the truth at any time but you didn’t.” She fumed, ignoring the wave of fresh pain and anger. “You chose to lie and continue your charade. I don’t know who makes me sicker. My father for what he planned, or you for what you actually did.”

  Anger streamed unchecked though her. She had the violent urge to hit something.

  “I’m the prize brood mare in a sick, twisted vampire nation.” She turned her hurt-filled gaze on him.

  “How could you?” she repeated the earlier question.

  She watched as the cold mask fell back on his face.

  “I had no choice.”

  Victoria reached over and slapped him. Hard. Satisfaction filled her when his head snapped back and a red handprint appeared on his cheek.

  “I do have a choice, you bastard. I choose not to have anything to do with you or my father.”

  Khafil muttered through a clenched jaw, “That’s not possible at this point.”

  “What do you mean that’s not possible?” She was fumbling with the door lock again trying to get out. Jumping and causing a scene was preferable to dealing with this craziness. She had had enough of this conversation and enough of Khafil.

  Unable to open the door, she unfastened her seat belt and began wildly beating on the window. “Let me out of this fucking car,” she raged.

  “I can’t do that until I finish telling you everything.”

  “What else could there be?” she asked angrily.

  Looking at him, she noticed his nostrils were flared. Her handprint on his cheek added to the wild, untamed vibe in the air. Victoria could actually feel the fury pulsing through him. She was unprepared for the words that came out of his mouth.

  “You’re my mate.”

  Shock filled her.

  “I’m your what?” she asked in disbelief.

  “My mate,” he repeated.

  “Your mate. Are you crazy? If this is your idea of a joke, you can ...”

  “It’s not.” He gave a weary sigh. “I know right now I’m not your idea of Prince Charming, but truthfully, I am your mate.”

  Victoria heard the seriousness in his tone and saw it etched on his face. “You’re not joking, are you?”

  Khafil shook his head.

  “My mate?” she asked, shaking her head, puzzled.

  “Yes. Call me your present from the Darvan Gods.” He gave a short, humorless laugh. Putting a fist in her mouth, Victoria attempted to stifle her sob. A wounded animal sound trickled out, followed by several more before great racking sobs poured from her. Silent tremors shook her body. Minutes passed. It took several deep breaths before she was able to calm down. Her sobs grew softer and softer until they stopped.

  “Victoria.”

  Ignoring him, she wiped the tears from her face.

  Thinking she could ignore it all and hold a conversation with this lying dog was a mistake. She couldn’t do this right now. I have to get away from him. Exhaustion hit her as a yawn escaped her. She was mentally and emotionally tired.

  What had started as a gorgeous day full of promise had turned into a nightmare of gigantic proportions. Instead of ending the day with the man she knew as Ivan, she found her whole relationship with him had been a lie. Her father wanted to use her as a breeding machine and he wasn’t really human at all, just as she had always suspected. He was part of some African-descended vampire race. Hell, she was too, for that matter.

  She wanted this day to be over. She needed to be by herself to rest, think, and grieve. Grieve for what could have been, should have been with the man she thought was the one, her soul mate.

  Starting at the sound of the doors unlocking, she came back to the present.

  “Let’s get you a room,” Khafil said quietly.

  Opening the door quickly, she grabbed her bag and attempted to go inside the hotel before he could stop her. She jumped when he appeared in front of the doors just as she reached them. Angrily she stepped back away from his extended hand.

  “Can you please just leave me alone?”

  He dropped his hand. “At least let me pay for your room.”

  “No” she screamed, uncaring about the concerned looks from several hotel patrons who were entering the building. “Why don’t you just go to Hell? I don’t want anything from you.” She knew she was sounding like a raving lunatic but she couldn’t stop herself. The emotional
anger bottled inside was trying to find a release.

  Khafil stepped back, not wanting to draw the continued attention of the humans. He would allow her to check-in alone. He would come back later.

  Chapter 24

  Relieved at Khafil’s departure, Victoria entered the hotel lobby and checked in. Using her almost-maxed-out credit card, she paid for a two night’s stay. After receiving her key and ignoring the concerned look of the desk clerk, she knew she looked a mess, she got on the elevator and went to her room on the fifth floor. She didn’t turn the on light as she walked into the cool, dark room. Locking the door, she dropped her bag and laid her weary body on the bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, hot tears streamed from her eyes. Sobbing uncontrollably, she let the pain out. Eventually her sobs became snuffles and she quietly fell into an exhausted sleep. Her final thought being that she was once again truly alone in a cruel world.

  She didn’t hear the door quietly open later. Or see Khafil, who had waited in his car across the street at the gas station for her to go to sleep, enter the room. He stood over her and watched her even breathing as she slept. He tasted her pain and misery in the hotel room. It cut him deeply because he knew it was his fault his mate had cried herself to sleep, believing she had absolutely no one she could trust or turn to. Bending over her, he gently wiped the tears off her cheeks and swiftly removed her shoes, pants, and jacket. He ignored the spark of desire that flared instantly at seeing her smooth, supple legs. He placed her under the bed’s cover and kissed her forehand gently.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her sleeping form. Sitting in the recliner by her bed, he watched his mate sleep.

  Chapter 25

  Victoria woke up feeling extremely nauseated. She sat up and felt the room spin. She grabbed her head and waited for it to stop swirling. After a few moments, she sat up and walked slowly to the bathroom. Her stomach wobbled as she lifted the toilet seat up. She wretched for what seemed like forever before being able to stand up without feeling her world tilt. Holding her sore stomach, she sat down on the bed. She looked at the bedside clock. 6:45 a.m. Nausea had wakened her from a heavy, dreamless sleep. She only knew of one condition causing extreme vomiting like she’d just experienced first thing in the morning. What in the world was she going to do now?