Ptah stopped her pain-filled thoughts with a tolerant smile. “I do understand that, Leisha. I know you better than anyone, including yourself.”
Leisha hesitated in confusion. He could not be buying her act, could he? A trap was being baited for her, and she was unsure if she should continue to go along with her deception. After a moment’s deliberation, she decided that the mess she had landed herself in couldn’t get much worse, and at best, Ptah might have actually believed her lies.
He leaned forward and lightly caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “You do need me. Would you deny it, my Leisha?”
She looked into his onyx eyes and shook her head.
“I have spoken with Annette,” he said, a pleasant smile pasted on his face. “She has agreed to share me with you. Was that not thoughtful of her?” His fingers made a light trail to her throat and then to the back of her neck.
Leisha was confused and equally repulsed. She could not fathom why Ptah would say such a thing knowing that the other vampires were clearly within hearing distance.
“How gracious of her,” she said absently, trying to figure out what he was doing.
“I knew you would be pleased.” With that, he grabbed a fistful of hair at her nape and pulled her in for a kiss before she had time to protest.
As soon as his cold lips touched hers, Leisha felt her body react the way it had all those years ago. She withdrew herself mentally as her body stilled—a survival mode she had used to keep her sanity whenever Ptah treated her as his prized possession—melancholy and despair now reaching out to her. She came to life and pulled away from him, suppressing a shiver of revulsion, and failing.
Ptah appeared to misinterpret her reaction. “Your passion is incredible, Leisha.” Resting his hand high on her thigh, he was rubbing it affectionately. “We must always keep our kisses leashed, is that not so? Otherwise we would embarrass those around us with our unquenchable desire.”
Leisha was wondering if Ptah had lost his mind. What in the world was he talking about? She had always acted like a lifeless doll when he had touched her. Whatever game he was playing, she did not buy it.
Ptah pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. “I have a gift for you, my sweet. To celebrate our reunion. I know you missed me as much as I have missed you while you were spying on the immortals for me.”
A feeling of foreboding snaked down her spine. Was he going to try and make Samantha a vampire? Leisha immediately discarded the idea. Samantha might have been a little naïve, but she would never succumb to the temptation of immortality so easily.
Ptah nodded to Natsu, his personal guard. Natsu disappeared through the trees and returned with another vampire. Between the two of them was Tafari, his hands chained behind him, his mouth gagged. Tafari’s beautiful silver-blue eyes were cold, staring hard at Leisha.
She felt her stomach drop as soon as she saw him. She didn’t miss the accusation and bitterness that shimmered through his stare. That was what Ptah’s performance was all about—he was undoing the small bit of trust she and Tafari had just started to build with each other.
Ptah had known everything. He knew that Leisha had absolutely no plans of helping the vampires defeat the immortals, and that she had no intentions of betraying Tafari. Ptah had come here to fix what he would consider her blunders, and in a scant few minutes, he had accomplished just that. Tafari would never believe her if she tried to explain it to him.
The hope that had been growing inside of her for the last few weeks was stomped and obliterated.
Samantha gasped when Tafari came through the trees, and he sent her a concerned look.
“Most clever, Ptah,” Leisha remarked in a cold voice. “I didn’t see it coming at all.”
Ptah chuckled. “That is because you were clouding your judgment with your feelings. They only serve to hinder you.”
He looked at Tafari. “So, I finally have you within my grasp. I must say that after all these years of us trying to kill each other, it is unfortunate that we arrive at such an abrupt ending. Quite anticlimactic, would you not agree?”
Tafari glared icy daggers at Ptah.
The master vampire only smiled in satisfaction. “Would you like to hear what we will do tonight? Obviously, we have disposed of your supposedly well-trained guards around the campus. I know where the council meets, and I am aware that they are having a meeting early in the morning, before sunrise, which is all too convenient for my plans. It is unfortunate that you will not be able to witness their downfall. I believe that we will be passing the time with torturing you to death.”
“No!” Samantha screamed. She moved to run to Tafari, but Victor grabbed her around the waist and held her back easily.
Ptah nodded to Natsu again, and he pulled Tafari out of the clearing to disappear behind the trees once more.
Leisha sat frozen, trying to think of what she could do to prevent Tafari’s death. She had to think of something, and quick. Her mind swirled with possibilities, but nothing seemed plausible enough.
Ptah’s chilling, thin lips on her neck brought her out of her considerations.
“It is true, you know,” he said in a confiding tone. “You truly do need me. You would not have survived without me all these years.”
“I seemed to have done just fine on my own for the last hundred years,” Leisha replied.
“There is something I have not told you about becoming a vampire,” Ptah said conversationally. “I made you feel coerced into agreeing to be turned by torturing your daughter, but did you know that there has to be an actual desire to become one? You cannot simply agree to become one of us, but you have to possess the want, the deep yearning.” He paused to give Leisha his full eye contact. “If you really had not wanted to become a vampire like you have been telling yourself all this time, then you simply would have died that night two thousand years ago.”
Outrage and indignation were Leisha’s initial reaction, but the idea of what he said made her ponder. Had she truly wanted to become a vampire? She would have never wanted to leave her family behind, and that would have obviously driven her to deny having the smallest desire. But if she really did hate what she was, why did she not let the immortals kill her? Why did she continue to fight for survival? Why did her body make the transformation if she sincerely detested the idea of becoming a monster? That realization, mixed with what she should do in the present circumstance, only filled her with more confusion and despair.
“Do you not see, my Leisha? You really do belong with us, otherwise you would have died that night,” he repeated. “You are a vampire, and we vampires have always amalgamated. It is time for you to stop wallowing in this convenient self-pity and embrace your true fate. Unite with your family of vampires as we have so willingly embraced you.”
Ptah turned her face to his. “There is much that I have kept hidden from you, but no longer. When you come back home with me, I will reveal to you everything about the other world I am from and how that may relate to the prophecy child.”
Leisha’s curiosity about Ptah’s demon world deepened since he first mentioned it in his quarters, but that was not enough for her to return to him.
As if reading her thoughts, Ptah whispered, “I know your father.”
She shook her head in puzzlement. “Of course, you do.”
“No, not your foster father. I speak not of the shaman. I know your true, biological father.”
She hadn’t considered who her true parents were since before she’d become a vampire. “How could you know him?”
Ptah’s smile was full of arrogance. “As I stated, there is much ignorance in you. You have no concept of your true parentage; of how special you are.” He stroked the side of her stomach to her ribcage. “You have powers and abilities that I could awaken for you. I could give you so much more, Leisha.” His voice grew husky. “I could make us unstoppable; more powerful than anything you could ever imagine!”
The idea of discovering her true ide
ntity was enticing. She needed to know what Ptah meant about her special abilities and wondered if she could even become more powerful than the master vampire himself.
“Leisha,” Samantha pleaded from a few feet away. She was crying and her expression was filled with torment.
In that moment, Leisha knew what she had to do. The sense of purpose filled her, bringing peace to the storm that was waging within her. It was a shame that she would not be able to please Samantha in her actions, but it was what she had to do. She was a survivor, after all, and the grim situation that they were in did not leave her with many options. Samantha’s feelings would have to be sacrificed in this.
Leisha closed herself off from the compassionate side she tried to keep alive all these years, and opened her darker side. She allowed that part of herself that enjoyed the killing to come out in full force. She would need it in order to survive the night.
Looking at Ptah, she swallowed. “You’re right. I did have some desire to become a vampire all those years ago, and I do take pleasure in my powers even now.” She took a deep breath. “I have judged my own brethren unfairly because I didn’t want to admit that I could be like them. Thank you, Ptah. You’ve helped me this night to see what it is I must do.”
Ptah studied her with intense scrutiny, his vacuum eyes swallowing her within their depths. “I do believe you are actually being sincere. I almost cannot believe my eyes.” He gave a genuine smile. “What is it that you have decided you must do?”
“Help you defeat the immortals, of course,” she said with complete resolve. “Though I do have one request.”
“And what is that?”
“I ask that you not torture Tafari, as a personal favor to me. In return, I promise to kill him myself.”
“Leisha, no! You can’t!” Samantha was hysterical now. The girl struggled in vain against Victor’s grip before finally slumping against him in broken defeat.
Ptah continued to observe Leisha, trying to decide if she was using a ploy to save Tafari.
“I promise to kill him in front of your very eyes, and I will do it tonight,” she said.
After an entire minute of contemplation, he finally agreed. “I will allow you to give him a painless death, as a personal favor. In return, I expect you to give me at least one night of unparalleled passion.” The thought of actually giving herself to Ptah with enthused passion made her want to peel off her own skin. But regardless, she agreed.
“Most excellent. This night is turning out even better than I had planned.” Ptah gestured to the right, and a young man of Eastern descent stepped out. “I do not believe you are acquainted with Annette’s human servant, Timur. He happens to be a genius with anything relating to electronics. For instance, he has been able to disable any security system he has ever encountered.” Ptah turned to Samantha. “Since you first told me of your location, Timur has been on campus posing as a student. He has been able to deceive the immortals into thinking that their security hasn’t been infiltrated.” He looked at Timur with affection. “What a useful asset to us.”
The bargain was set and Ptah’s plans were in action. Leisha, Ptah, Victor, Natsu, and eight other vampires snuck their way into the room where the immortal council would meet in just a couple of hours. They brought the bound Tafari with them so Leisha would be able to kill him in front of witnesses. Samantha also came along because Ptah wanted to keep an eye on her.
“Besides,” he said in a menacing voice, “I would like to see this girl’s reaction to the victorious bloodbath that is about to take place.”
CHAPTER 26
Samantha felt as if she were about to be smothered by the endless torment of emotions that racked her. She was bewildered that Leisha gave in to Ptah’s demands without so much as a protest. She grieved for the horrid change that had come over the vampire within a matter of minutes, and to think that Tafari would be slaughtered in front of her was excruciating. Mostly, she was consumed by guilt. She knew that if she had not given in to Ptah, none of this would be happening right now. If only she had told Leisha or Tafari about that night with Ptah and Annette.
She did it to protect Leisha, but she realized now that she didn’t have enough faith in Leisha to protect her. Because of Samantha’s fears, everything was ruined. Tafari would die, the immortal council would be slaughtered, and it was all her fault.
Victor had prodded her along the campus as they snuck their way into the building toward the room in which the immortal council met. At that very moment, Samantha was walking toward the damnation of the world. There was no escaping the horrors she would witness this night, but what made her even more terrified were the atrocities she would experience in the near future. She knew Ptah would not let her go, but she had no idea if he meant to simply kill her or make her a human servant. If it was the latter, she feared who she would be servant to.
She was pulled out of her gloomy thoughts when Ptah handed Leisha a sword. Leisha wore absolutely no expression. Samantha couldn’t tell what the vampire was thinking.
Leisha took the sword from Ptah and weighed it in her hand. “It will do very nicely against the immortals,” she said with no inflection.
Ptah looked at her hard. “My intention in giving you this is that you may be able to fulfill the bargain we had agreed upon just moments ago.”
“I’ll come get it from you when I’m ready.”
“I want him killed now,” growled Ptah.
Leisha gave him a chilling smile. “Don’t worry. I simply plan to drink his blood first. Believe me when I tell you he will take great insult to being weakened in such a manner. Then, I’ll finish him.”
Cold tendrils of panic seized Samantha as Ptah chuckled in approval. She didn’t know this woman who stood before her. This was not the Leisha that she had felt so close to over the last couple of months. It was as if her decision had closed the door on Leisha’s personality and produced this bone-chilling, merciless monster instead.
She could not help but think of the irony. Leisha told her so many times that she was a monster, and Samantha denied it every time. Now Leisha was allowing herself to become the thing she never wanted to be.
Victor spoke up. “The council will be coming in less than an hour.”
Ptah nodded in acknowledgment and turned back to Leisha. “It is time.”
Leisha slowly walked toward Tafari. He was on his knees with a vampire on each side of him, pointing the tips of their machetes into his back. Even when bound and gagged, he looked fierce.
He didn’t whimper or struggle, but kept his back straight with his shoulders back, his chin jutting proudly. He looked Leisha directly in the eyes with disdain. If he had not been gagged, Samantha would have expected him to spit on Leisha when she reached him. But he did nothing.
Leisha knelt beside Tafari. “You knew it would come to something like this,” she said softly.
She grabbed his head between her hands and tilted it to the side so she would have better access to his neck. Samantha wanted to turn away when Leisha leaned her bared teeth toward Tafari, but she could not move, paralyzed, unable to do anything for the immortal, unable to close her eyes to his humiliation.
She felt a pang of hope when Leisha paused and whispered something in Tafari’s ear, but it instantly died at the fiery look in his eyes. Whatever she said did not inspire any hope in Tafari. Leisha moved her right hand to the back of his head and clutched his short hairs in a fist as she moved her left arm around his waist. Without any more delays, she sunk her teeth deep into his flesh.
Samantha could hear the tearing of skin and thought she might throw up. She kept her gaze on Tafari. He had closed his eyes and clenched his teeth into the gag, his body rigid and proud for as long as he could.
Samantha was not sure how long it took for Tafari to begin slumping forward, but when she saw his face begin to pale, she felt the tears flowing freely. She was witnessing the murder of someone she had come to love and respect, and she could do nothing but stand there and wat
ch.
She barely managed to contain a sob when Leisha pulled back to let Tafari slide to the floor. She stood and looked at Ptah, her eyes feral, deadly.
“He is ready for his demise now,” Ptah said casually.
Leisha’s smile chilled Samantha’s blood. She looked like she was high. There was an energy resonating from her, and her eyes were a deeper green than Samantha had ever seen. When she answered Ptah, her voice seemed to fill the room with small vibrations of power. “Yes. Now I will use your sword.”
Looking truly pleased, Ptah held out his hand for Leisha to join him. She moved with even more deadly grace than she usually did. When she reached Ptah’s side, he pulled her in for an urgent kiss. His kiss was long and deep, and Samantha shuddered to see Leisha returning the embrace with enthusiasm.
Tears returned to Samantha’s eyes. Her friend was truly gone. She felt as though she were witnessing two deaths instead of one.
She looked down at Tafari on the floor. He was obviously weak, groaning softly. Unadulterated rage tore its way out of her despair, filling her head until she saw red. Samantha didn’t think it would be possible to kill Leisha, but if she got the chance, Samantha was going to cut off her head and spit down her throat. With that thought, her weeping trickled to a stop. Bitterness now replaced the despair she had experienced just moments ago.
Leisha was pulling away from Ptah with the most complacent, victorious smile on her face. Samantha could see the blood on her lips, smudged from her kiss. Ptah handed her the sword with deliberate slowness and Leisha took it in kind.
Samantha would never be able to describe what happened in the next instant. She played it over and over in her mind afterward, and her memory could only register so much—that Leisha had been smiling up at Ptah one moment, and in the next, she was standing just a few inches away with a grim, yet triumphant demeanor. Samantha glanced down and saw that her sword had a very thin layer of dark liquid on it. It reminded her of reddish colored motor oil.
Dissension Page 23
