“Firstly, where are we with Raphael?” he replied. “Last I remember, he wasn’t too happy with helping us.”
“He still isn’t, but I think I’m getting to him. I’m trying,” I said. “I think he wants to, but he needs a solid reason. A personal benefit. He’s too emotionally young to not be selfish about this stuff, especially since Ta’Zan programmed him to be a complete jerk.”
“It sounds like a lot of work,” Nevis groaned, shaking his head.
“I don’t think we have another choice. Douma’s memory chip is gone. We can have her working with us, but she doesn’t know the things that Raphael does. Together, they’re halves of a whole. Taken separately, they don’t help us as much as we need. The clock is still ticking, and we have to find a way to get to our people sooner rather than later.”
“So, what, shall I just stand by while you charm him into helping us?” Nevis retorted, his aura taking on a shade of red.
I felt my cheeks burning. A pang of guilt cut through my stomach. “Sort of,” I managed. “He’s extra nice to me. Maybe I can sway him. I think he’s interested, but I just need to find that dealmaker, that one thing we have to offer that will make him say yes.”
“That might be you, Elonora. And I admit, I am not comfortable with it.”
“Why is that?” I asked, my voice barely audible and my heart stuck in my throat.
An eternity seemed to go by in deafening silence. My pulse boomed in my ears, as Nevis’s gaze dropped from my eyes to my lips. I didn’t even notice him gradually closing the distance between us, barely a few inches of compressed air left. My body hummed.
“Secondly, you never mentioned you’re a princess, Elonora,” Nevis said, quite brutal in changing the subject.
It took me a minute to figure out what he’d just said. “Huh? What… Where’d you—” I paused, my eyes wide as I remembered seeing him talking to Dmitri. “Dammit, that loudmouth.”
“I coerced him. Do not blame the half-wolf,” Nevis replied. “Nevertheless, do tell. Why didn’t you mention your royal blood, particularly when we met?”
I rolled my eyes. “What difference does it make? My parents rule Nevertide. My brother will inherit the throne. I’m second in line, and it really doesn’t matter.”
“You should’ve told me,” Nevis replied, looking more serious than ever.
“Why? I don’t get it.”
“Because I would’ve addressed you by your royal title. I would’ve shown you more respect, Your Highness.”
I burst out laughing. “You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding me! Have you learned nothing from the Shade party, as far as royal titles go?”
“But you are a princess. There are protocols in place,” Nevis said, slightly confused.
“I don’t care about that. None of us do. Not even my mom and dad!” I replied, chuckling. “I get that you were educated in this royalty thing, but we weren’t. My parents took over Nevertide, after our people overthrew their evil king. I spent more time with normal people than I did in royal courts. It’s not me, and it’ll never be me. It’s literally just a title. What matters to me is the quality of a person, not the label.”
His gaze softened as he looked at me. All of a sudden, I felt naked, my breath faltering.
“And thirdly, you lied about Dmitri,” Nevis said, further baffling me.
Shame flooded me, and I was close to fainting.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
What the hell is he playing at?
I’d lied about me having a crush on Dmitri to get the attention off Nevis and me during the Shade party. I’d also forgotten to tell Dmitri that I’d implicated him. With everything happening on Strava afterward, I’d completely forgotten about it. And now, it had come back to bite me in the ass.
“What… um. What do you mean?” I asked, putting on an innocent expression.
He can’t read you like a sentry. Poker face, Lenny. Poker face!
“You lied about your feelings for him,” he said. “You’re merely friends.”
“You make it sound like I conspired against the state or something,” I mumbled, slowly moving backward.
Nevis didn’t yield, though. He inched forward, refusing to let the distance between us get any bigger. “You lied to me.”
“So what? Everybody was cornering me at that party!” I snapped. “I had to shut everyone up before they started singing about you and me, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
He blinked several times. “Is that a poem?”
“Oh, that is so irrelevant right now!”
“So, you lied to conceal the fact that you are, indeed, attracted to me,” Nevis replied, narrowing his eyes.
This was escalating to heights I’d never experienced before, and I had no idea how to retaliate. The awkwardness made me break into a cold sweat, and I felt like I was a criminal, suddenly stuck in an interrogation. Somehow, I was the bad guy, and it wasn’t like me. It wasn’t in my nature, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.
So, I did the only thing I knew how to do best. I got up.
In a split second, Nevis was standing in front of me, his breath tickling my face.
“No. I just didn’t like the attention. We’d only just met. How could someone possibly like a person at first sight? It’s… It doesn’t work like that. I mean, we could be talking about attraction and whatever, but still. I just… I just didn’t like how all eyes were on me. And you,” I croaked, then stepped back.
“Frankly, there is nothing to feel bad about,” he said.
“I don’t!”
He chuckled softly. “Good. Personally, I found it endearing. The lengths you’ll go to, in order to conceal your vulnerabilities. Because that’s what you think feelings are, right? Weak points?”
“I’ve been on the receiving end of a whole world of hurt because I followed my feelings, and not my head,” I said softly. “So, yes. Where I’m from, emotions can be a problem.”
Nevis raised a hand, ever so slowly, and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. The touch of his fingertips sent tiny electric shocks through my entire body, making my skin vibrate.
“I suggest you try to look at things from my point of view,” he whispered. “I will not think you’re weak, if you tell me how you feel. I will actually find it refreshing. Dhaxanians don’t make a habit of wearing their hearts on their sleeves.”
I was speechless as I tried to understand what he was telling me. I still had scars on my broken heart, and they had a tendency to rear their ugly heads whenever Nevis got close. It wasn’t his fault. I wanted to explore everything that he made me feel, but the ghosts of my past were determined not to make it easy.
“I will not insist, Elonora. But, should you decide to be honest with me about how you truly feel, I will be happy to listen,” he said, his voice low and raspy. “In the meantime, however, I would appreciate it if you didn’t let things get too far with Raphael. I understand the mission comes first, but I don’t think I could bear to see you in a Perfect’s arms, if that’s what it would take for him to help us. I strongly recommend you find something else to entice him with.”
Again, I was speechless.
He gave me a half-smile, then headed for the doorway.
“You should rest some more,” he said as he walked out. “You need your strength.”
My heart was singing.
I pressed a hand to my chest. I could feel it thumping, trying to get out of my ribcage. As I watched Nevis disappear into the next room, the truth I’d been refusing to acknowledge came to light, as bright and as clear as ever.
I wasn’t just crushing on Nevis.
I was falling in love. So hard that my brain had trouble coping and adjusting to this new condition. Most importantly, Nevis had made a significant statement. He didn’t like the attention that Raphael was giving me. He didn’t want me to get too close to the Perfect, no matter what the mission entailed.
That basically translated into, “I’m falling for you
, too, Elonora, and I don’t know how else to say it.”
Dmitri
As morning settled over the jungle above us, I spent the better part of an hour picking fresh fruit. This place was a cornucopia of natural wonders—delicious berries and peach-like fruits, with sweet flesh, easily picked from the green bushes and thick trees around us.
I went back downstairs with a loaded bag, a smile settling on my face as I entered Douma’s recovery room. She was still sleeping, but she was fully recovered—not just from the decapitation, but from the surgery, as well. Her chest rose gently with every breath. Kallisto had fallen asleep in the bed next to hers. She, too, was exhausted, having spent half of the previous night watching over Douma while I got some rest.
I heard Rose and the others in the room next door talking about Douma’s condition, and ways of preventing the memory download. Raphael promised to go out and find us ten pounds’ worth of serium crystals, and Vesta agreed to go with him. As expected, Zeriel refused to let her go alone with Raphael, and I couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
Douma exhaled deeply, and I froze in the doorway, bag in my arms, as she opened her eyes for the first time. My heart stopped when she blinked once, then twice, as confusion set in. I slowly placed the bag on a nearby table, careful not to make any sudden moves.
Her eyes found mine, and my brain stopped functioning altogether.
She opened her mouth, shocked and confused, clearly unable to make much sense of me and her surroundings. She sat up, then gasped at the sight of Kallisto sleeping next to her.
I was looking at a pristine version of Douma. Her long black hair was the same, cascading down her shoulders like an ink waterfall. Her eyes were the intense Prussian blue that had first taken my breath away. Her skin, her lips, her soft cheekbones—it was all there, perfect and superb. Only, this wasn’t the Douma I knew. Not anymore. And it felt equal parts exciting and weird.
“Amane!” I called out. “She’s awake.”
I heard the rustling and shuffling of footsteps in the other room.
“Stay here,” Amane told the others, then came out to find me in the doorway, frozen and unable to do or say anything else.
She gave Douma a warm smile. Kallisto woke up, as well, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly as she remembered where she was. “Oh,” Kallisto whispered, her gaze fixed on Douma.
“Relax, take it easy,” Amane said, keeping her voice mellow and soft. She gave me a quick sideways glance. “Don’t talk too loudly, and mind your tone,” she added. “She can’t speak right now, since she doesn’t know any words, but she does respond to softer tones.”
I nodded. “Okay. What… What do I do? What do you need me to do?”
“See that leather bag there?” she asked, staring at another metallic table to my right.
“Uh-huh.”
“There’s a glass tablet in there, along with several blue memory sticks,” she replied. “I want you to take them all out and bring them over. I smuggled those out of Ta’Zan’s stronghold before I left. It’s an edited selection of learning tools to help Douma speak and understand this world. I edited the nasty stuff out, hoping I’d get a chance to test it on a clean Perfect.”
“Well, then, aren’t you glad you got one now?” Raphael chimed in from behind, startling the both of us.
Douma watched us, breathing heavily. Her eyes were wide, and I could almost feel her panic taking over. Waking up in a room filled with strangers and knowing absolutely nothing kind of had that effect on people, and it was up to us to ease her into it.
“Stay there,” Amane said to Raphael, then walked over to Douma’s bedside, wearing that same warm smile. “It’s okay, Douma. It’s okay. You’re safe here.”
“I thought you said she couldn’t understand anything,” Ridan said.
“Jeez, when did you show up?!” I croaked, noticing him next to Raphael. The doorway was fully blocked now, with the rest of our crew waiting in the narrow corridor behind him. “Amane told you all to stay there!” I hissed.
“We’re not coming in,” Zeriel replied.
“That doesn’t make it any better,” I said, slightly annoyed. “It’ll overwhelm her if she sees everybody!” I then looked at Raphael. “Dude, don’t you have some serium crystals to mine?”
He gave me a careless shrug. “Not really. I just need to point the fae in the right direction. She’ll do the work for me,” he replied.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Kallisto retorted, glowering at him.
Raphael chuckled. “I shouldn’t have been so nice to you. You’ve clearly let that go to your head, Fishy!”
Kallisto let a low growl escape her throat, prompting Raphael to grin, then move back and take Vesta and Zeriel out with him. The others stayed back, quietly watching from an adjacent doorway as Amane checked Douma’s vitals and reflexes.
“It’ll be okay,” Amane told her. “I know you don’t understand a single word I’m saying, but I also know you’re responsive to the sound of my voice, so I’ll keep that soft and mellow, okay?”
Douma didn’t say anything. I fetched the tablet and memory sticks from the leather bag, then handed them over to Amane. I found myself staring at Douma once again, unable to utter another coherent sentence.
She seemed curious, so I smiled. Slowly, but surely, her lips stretched to mirror my expression, and my heart went on a rollercoaster ride.
“I think you two are on to a good start.” Amane giggled, then connected two small buttons on Douma’s temples. “Sit still, honey. This won’t hurt a bit.”
“How are we doing this?” I asked, trying to understand the whole learning process. “How do you teach someone to be… someone?”
Amane pointed at the buttons. “These connect directly to her frontal lobe. From there, the electrical signals travel through the rest of her brain, transmitting everything she sees and hears from the tablet into stored data. Basically, as she looks and listens to what’s on that thing,” she said, pointing at the tablet, “her brain simply downloads the information encoded into it, then interprets and memorizes it. Consider it a shortcut to cognitive development that takes hours, instead of years.”
“How do you get her to stay put in order to learn all this?” I replied.
Amane placed the tablet in Douma’s hands, then caressed her cheek. She extended her index finger, prompting Douma to look at it as she moved it toward the tablet screen and touched it. An image came to life. It was enough to capture Douma’s attention completely.
The rest of us vanished from her immediate environment, as she was immediately immersed in the flurry of images and sounds from the tablet. Amane connected one of the memory sticks, then handed the rest to Kallisto.
“Change these every hour,” Amane said to her, “to keep the information flow steady. She’s now entered learning mode, and it’s best if we don’t interrupt her.”
Kallisto nodded and held on to the memory sticks. I was impressed by how quickly she’d turned from the doubtful rebel with an unhealthy obsession for Ta’Zan, into one of our most valued allies. Kallisto had a good heart; I could feel it in my bones. But she’d lacked the proper environment and the nurturing required to bring out the best in her.
I was pretty sure that we’d been a good influence on her—she’d said so herself, after all. Most importantly, as I watched Douma get sucked into that learning program, I couldn’t ignore the glimmer of hope blossoming in my chest. Maybe she could become our most powerful ally yet.
“We’ll have to take it easy on her,” Amane muttered, keeping her eyes fixed on Douma. “You’re free to stick around, but don’t talk to her, don’t make any sudden movements, and don’t make any noise. The first thing she learns from that program is how to talk, then what she is. That part is edited. I kept the genetic supremacy out. Then, a history of Strava will follow, after which she’ll get a crash course in everything else, from physics and biology to philosophy and art, all of it drawn from the old Draenir culture. We�
�ve got fifty years’ worth of studies compressed into those memory sticks and the learning program, so we need to give her the room she needs to process everything.”
“Okay. Then what?” I asked.
Amane squeezed my shoulder. “Then, you come into the scene, Dmitri. See what she’s learned, get a feel for what she’s like and how she’s taking it all in. We keep her neutral and ask her challenging questions. We’ll need to understand her reasoning and ability to discern right from wrong, natural from unnatural, and so on.”
Kallisto chuckled, lying on her side. “Amane wants you to be around Douma more than the rest of us,” she said. “She’s hoping that Douma will establish an emotional connection with you and listen to you, if anything goes sideways in this… experiment.”
“I have to,” Amane replied, then let a deep sigh roll out of her chest. “Ta’Zan usually handles the Perfects’ indoctrination. This is the first time I’m getting involved, and I don’t know how to do it like him. But I can definitely see there’s an emotional connection between Dmitri and Douma, and I’m banking on it in order for us to succeed.”
Kallisto shook her head slowly. “You’re just like Father. Your machinations may seem different, but you, too, will resort to questionable methods of getting what you want.”
“What we want. You seem to forget, Kallisto, but we’re all in this together. Whatever issues you and I have, they need to stay out. We can work on them after we get Douma on our side. If we can do this with her, we’ll have a better shot at defeating Ta’Zan.”
My grandparents and my brother were out there. The rest of my Shadian family and friends, too. As much as I liked Douma, I knew that Amane was right. I was ready to do whatever it took to get our people back and stop Dr. Evil from spilling out into the In-Between.
If I could help Douma in the process, too, then even better.
A Shade of Vampire 64: A Camp of Savages Page 16
