Dissension

by Adrienne Monson

  Ptah was staring at her, a strange expression on his face. It was a mixture of surprise and confusion. A black, oily tear appeared out of the corner of his left eye, slowly trekking its way down his cheek, leaving a noticeable trail on his bronze skin. He took a step toward Leisha before falling to his knees. The head fell to the floor first, then his body, dropping forward on its stomach. As soon as it hit the ground, dark blood as thick as molasses spurted forth to blacken the floor.

  The moment Samantha saw it, she realized with a jolt that the scene before her had been a part of her vision. When she came out of her paralyzed stupor, Leisha was bending over Ptah’s body with the intent to cut out his heart.

  Samantha immediately looked away and saw Victor. By the expression on his face, Samantha could see that he would not be exacting revenge on Leisha for killing his leader—the girl was still trying to put everything together.

  Leisha turned to Victor. “It is done,” she said.

  Victor nodded once in acknowledgment. “It was truly an amazing sight,” he commended. “I could only follow a blur of your image. Did you gain extra powers from drinking the blood of the immortal? That is definitely something to consider.”

  Leisha didn’t answer his question. “About our deal.”

  “Of course. You will make an excellent mate for me. Together we will take the vampires to the next level.” He grinned.

  Leisha shook her head. “I just want to be left alone. You take the vampires on your great adventure. My only request is that you leave me out of it.”

  Victor seemed taken aback by Leisha’s request, but recovered quickly, inclining his head. “I do want to respect your wishes. However, I must insist to be able to keep in touch with you. None of us can predict what the future will bring. After all, you are one of us.”

  “I belong to no one,” Leisha said, her personality once again shining through. “But I’ll contact you in a month’s time. Like you said, who knows what the future will bring.”

  He gave a fleeting smile and glanced at his watch. “I assume you will be staying to help us fight the immortals.”

  It was not a question, but Leisha answered just the same. “My first priority at the moment is to leave. If I must fight immortals to accomplish that, then so be it.”

  There was no time for Victor to respond to that as they heard sounds of people approaching the door. All of the vampires went into fighting stances, holding their weapons at the ready. Samantha ran over to where Tafari was lying on the ground. She had enough time to see that the wound at his neck had closed just before the door opened and light spilled into the room.

  As soon as the door burst open, Natsu rushed forward and decapitated the first council member to step into the room. Arthur was behind him and immediately backpedaled while pulling out a dagger from under his sleeve.

  Leisha was suddenly crouching next to them, blocking Samantha’s view of what was happening, although she could certainly hear metal against metal, the sound of steel slicing into flesh, followed by grunts of pain.

  Leisha pulled on Tafari’s limp arm and hoisted him over her shoulder. “Stay close to me,” she said, grabbing Samantha’s arm. Instead of leading them to the only exit where all the fighting was taking place, she took them to the opposite wall and set Tafari down.

  Leisha moved faster than Samantha could see, but she was able to discern that the vampire was repeatedly kicking the wall of the windowless room. In only a few seconds, a cloud of dust settled on piles of brick and drywall. Above that was a gaping hole, inviting them to freedom.

  It was only a few feet above the ground and Samantha ran through without any prompting. She turned back to see Leisha right behind her, shouldering Tafari once again. He must have passed out.

  “Is he going to be all right?” Samantha asked.

  Leisha grabbed her arm again, pulling her through bushes and trees. “He’ll be weak for quite a while, but he’ll survive. This was the best solution I could come up with at the time.”

  Samantha wanted to respond, but was panting too hard. She knew Leisha could move much faster than this, but Samantha was having a hard time with the pace regardless. She wanted to know what, if anything, Leisha planned next. She also wanted to know a great many other things, but decided to save her breath for the running. Her friend was back, and she smiled at the thought.

  Samantha could not describe how light her heart felt with the knowledge that her original faith in Leisha had not been misguided. She truly did know Leisha like a sister. It was a comforting thought and she tried to focus on that instead of the people whom she had come to know so recently being slaughtered at that very moment.

  CHAPTER 27

  Leisha tried to be patient with Samantha, knowing that the girl must be exerting herself as much as she could, but it was still difficult. She knew that Tafari’s blood would make her faster and stronger, and it was the only way to kill Ptah without any kind of a fight. Now, she wondered how long this intensity would last. It took all of her concentration to move at a slow pace for Samantha’s sake when her body was screaming to roam free with so much power and energy.

  She was tempted to hoist Samantha on her other shoulder and run faster than the speed of sound, but that would likely injure the girl. So instead, she headed toward the car Tafari had driven that night. It was not too far away and she knew how to hotwire most Audis. After they were well away from the immortals and the vampires, they would head to Germany. There, Leisha had secured a safety deposit box with money and identities she could use. After that, they would just have to see.

  Leisha was almost feeling giddy—it was more than just Tafari’s blood. She actually felt independent now that Ptah was gone. No longer could he manipulate her or Samantha to bend to his ways.

  Her contemplation on inner peace was interrupted when she heard footsteps headed in their direction. She halted and pulled Samantha with her into the shadows at the side of the building. It wasn’t much cover, but she hoped the immortals rushing by would be in too much of a hurry to notice them.

  Her theory proved true. There were ten of them with their swords and machetes held at the ready, but their focus was on the building she and Samantha had just fled. She waited until they were inside their destination before gently prodding Samantha out of the shadows and toward the parking lot.

  Leisha was completely caught off guard when a solid mass crashed into her. She had not noticed any of the stealthy movements of the immortal who was waiting for them to make their move. She immediately dropped Tafari to fight off her opponent. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tafari was coming to, and that Samantha was trying to drag him out of the way. But Leisha’s main attention was on the woman before her.

  She knew it had to be Rinwa from the way Samantha had described her. Rinwa was wearing sunglasses in the early morning darkness, clad in Goth attire. Her long blond hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Her face was full of disdain as she rushed toward Leisha with her machete raised for a striking blow.

  Leisha waited until the last moment and then stepped to the side, using Rinwa’s momentum to take her to the ground. She deftly knocked the immortal’s hand to the pavement in a blow that released her weapon.

  Leisha straddled her and held her sword to the immortal’s neck. “You are allowing your emotions to rule your fighting techniques,” she said casually. “It makes you very sloppy.” She was more than happy to draw out the fight, since her body was humming with energy screaming to be unleashed.

  Rinwa spit in her face while simultaneously kicking her feet up and around Leisha’s neck, pulling her backwards. Rinwa sprawled on top of Leisha, pinning her down with her body while she tried to pull the weapon out of the vampire’s grip.

  Leisha was able to maintain her grip as she brought her knee up and pushed against the ground with her foot, causing her to roll over with Rinwa. She sprang to her feet, crouching in a fighting position, waiting for the immortal to come at her again. She was just beginning to enjoy their
little sparring and wanted it to last a little longer.

  Rinwa was up and ready at once. She looked for her machete but decided it was too far. “I’m going to kill you, and you will not torment us any longer,” she vowed in soft voice.

  Leisha quirked a brow. “You seem awfully confident considering I am the only one with a weapon at the moment.”

  “I can twist your head off your neck with my bare hands.”

  Tafari was sitting up against Samantha and was trying to yell something to Rinwa, but his voice was too weak for either of them to interpret what he was saying.

  Rinwa rushed at Leisha again, but this time she managed to surprise the vampire when she dipped down and swung out her leg to trip her. Leisha went flying and Rinwa took no time to knock the sword out of her hand with a swift kick while Leisha was still in the air.

  Once again falling on Leisha, Rinwa used both of her hands to squeeze the vampire’s windpipe, crushing it with deadly efficiency. Leisha countered by using the heel of her hand as she punched in and then up Rinwa’s nose. The sound of bone crunching left her feeling momentarily satisfied. Pushing the immortal off her, Leisha sent another blow to Rinwa’s temple.

  Rinwa’s glasses flew off in a wide arc. The blow to her head dazed her for a minute, giving Leisha plenty of opportunity to retrieve her sword from the ground. When she turned to finish the fight, she felt weak as she looked into Rinwa’s silvery blue eyes. Leisha dropped her weapon. Those were Tafari’s eyes. They were also her daughter’s.

  “No,” she choked out through her crushed windpipe.

  Rinwa gave a grisly smile. Her teeth appeared stark white against the blood that poured down from her nose. “What’s the matter, Leisha? Didn’t think I was still around?” She stood and walked over to pick up her machete. “I assure you that nothing was ever going to keep me from living out this moment. I have dreamed my revenge every night since I was twelve and I will finally have it.”

  Leisha crumpled to her knees, tears pooling in her eyes. She tried to speak, but it came out as nonsense against her broken throat.

  Rinwa stalked slowly back over toward Leisha. “Now,” she growled out. “You will finally pay for what you did to Tafari and me all those years ago. You’ll finally meet justice after all this time!”

  Leisha made no move to defend herself as Rinwa raised the blade for a killing blow. She could not deny her own daughter what she deserved, wishing she could tell her the truth, but it was no use. Even if she could speak, her daughter would not believe her.

  So, instead, she stayed on her knees and watched Rinwa with a convoluted sense of pride. She was so beautiful, and she moved with such lethal grace, reminding Leisha of what a fallen angel might have looked—flawless beauty mixed with unleashed deadliness. She met Rinwa’s fierce gaze and tried to convey all the love she felt for her in her eyes. Leisha was going to die, and she didn’t care anymore. She only wished she could say, “I love you,” before Rinwa executed her.

  A low, baritone roar came from her left. Leisha and Rinwa looked in unison as Tafari slowly came forward, leaning on Samantha for support. He was shaking and terribly weak. Leisha could see that he was using all of his energy to keep himself upright.

  “You will leave her be, Rinwa,” he whispered hoarsely. “For your own sake as well as hers, drop the machete.”

  Rinwa sent a frustrated glare to her father. “She deserves to die. She betrayed you just as much as she did me, even more so.”

  Samantha shook her head vehemently, but it was Tafari who replied. “If not for her, I would have died tonight.” He looked at Leisha with intense emotions she could never read. “You will let her go, Rinwa. I will not have your argument on this.”

  Rinwa glanced back and forth between her parents, uncertain. “Are you sure it wasn’t some kind of ploy? That has been her game this whole time, hasn’t it? To trick you into trusting her?”

  “I am not so certain anymore.” He looked back at Rinwa. “You and I can analyze all of the facts later. But now is not the time to be rash.”

  Opening and closing her mouth a few times, Rinwa’s lips thinned when she finally came to her decision. “You’re wounded, Tafari. I’ll get you out of here.”

  Rinwa sent a heated glare to Leisha over her shoulder as she walked over to Tafari. Her father gently pushed her hand away. “Go get the car ready. I would like to speak to Leisha for a moment.”

  Rinwa looked as if to protest, but Samantha grabbed her hand and prodded her toward the cars.

  Rushing forward, Leisha supported Tafari’s teetering weight.

  Her throat was healing nicely, but she was still not at a point where she could speak well, so she just stared at Tafari. The sky was starting to lighten with the coming dawn, and his skin looked like it had a little more color.

  He smiled ruefully. “I honestly do not know what to think of you. I have sworn to hunt you down and kill off your kind.” He shook his head. “But you did save my life tonight, and you did kill Ptah. That is something we have been trying to do for two thousand years. You accomplished it in fewer than two seconds.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I owe you for saving me.”

  Leisha shook her head. “We’re even now,” she croaked painfully. “You saved my life a few minutes ago.” She managed to swallow and looked up at Tafari, pleading him with her eyes to tell her the truth. “Rinwa?”

  “The immortals were reluctant to turn a woman into an immortal. When Adanne showed that she was worthy of being turned, they started calling her Baderinwa; Rinwa is her nickname.”

  Baderinwa. It meant “worthy of respect.” Pride for her daughter swelled up within her. “So, she’s why you sought me out and asked me to stay out of the war.”

  He nodded.

  “I didn’t see her in the last war.”

  “I convinced her to stay out of that one,” he said. “I could not keep her from staying out of this next one. It is somewhat complicated and I do not think we have the time to discuss it now.”

  Leisha continued to support his weight while she looked at him with her hurt showing in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me she was still alive?”

  “You know why,” he whispered.

  Leisha nodded solemnly. Because he had thought the worst of her. Not only had Tafari believed she had so easily given in to becoming a vampire, he had somehow believed she had participated in tormenting their daughter. He had felt the need to keep Adanne’s existence secret to protect her from her own mother. Leisha turned her face away and moved to help Tafari to the car where Rinwa was waiting. She was overwhelmed with emotions, speechless.

  Tafari stopped her and hooked his finger under her chin. “I am sorry,” he said softly. He bent down and placed a tender kiss on her lips. He pulled back for a moment, hovering for what seemed like an eternity before he was once again meeting her lips, this time more passionately.

  Leisha gave in, permitting her own passion and jumbled emotions to rule her response to him. It was just as electrifying and outrageous as it had been between them thousands of years ago. They gave themselves up to the power of their chemistry and explored each other’s mouths with mad fury. In that moment, no one else existed. There were no wars to be fought, no politics to play, and no manipulation games. It was just Tafari and Leisha giving their love to each other as if the last two thousand years had never happened.

  Leisha was not sure what would have happened if it had not been for Rinwa pulling the car around and honking loudly. The world full of hopes and dreams was jolted from Leisha and she was plunged back into reality.

  They reluctantly pulled apart and Leisha helped Tafari into the passenger seat of the car.

  Rinwa leaned forward to give Leisha an icy stare. “I don’t care if you did save his life tonight. You stay the hell away from Tafari!” With that, she gunned the engine and made Leisha jump out of the way as the car peeled out of the parking lot.

  Standing next to her, Samantha squeezed her hand. “Are you okay?” she asked. />
  “I have no idea.” Her voice was scratchy and broken, but she forced the words past the ache in her throat.

  “We’ll reflect later. We still need to get out of here.” They could hear the screams of fighting and fury. It sounded like the small battle was still going strong.

  Samantha nodded. “Rinwa gave me the keys to her car since she took Tafari’s. It’s just over here. Do you want me to drive?”

  Not bothering to answer that question, Leisha simply took the keys. They got into the car and bolted out of the parking lot, leaving hot rubber in their tracks.

  CHAPTER 28

  Samantha was on hold, her stomach churning nervously as she waited for someone to transfer her call to Mason’s cell phone. She wondered with some trepidation if it was taking so long because someone was tracing the call. Could they even track her location on a prepaid phone?

  She pushed aside her anxieties when she heard her father’s voice in her ear. “Samantha? Is it really you?”

  “Yes,” she answered in a breathless voice. She cleared her throat. “Yes, it’s me, Mason. I thought I should check in with you and let you know that I’m fine.”

  “You’re really okay? How did you get away from that bloodsucker? Where are you? I’ll come personally to pick you up. I was able to track you as far as England. I just arrived today.” He continued to ramble on about where he was and how glad he’d been to learn that she had gotten away from that vampire. The relief and exhaustion in his tone was almost Samantha’s undoing, but she straightened with resolve and interrupted him mid-sentence.

  “I’m going to be on my own for a while.” Her tone did not sound too sure, but she plowed on. “I don’t want you to worry about me. I have everything I need to take care of myself. I’m safe and I’m learning how to be happy without Mom. That’s all you need to know, Mason. I just wanted to tell you so that you wouldn’t worry about me anymore. You can now go back to your old life.” Her voice raised an octave as she spoke, but it couldn’t be helped. She had said what she wanted to say to him, at least for now.