She took care to put down her goblet and plate on a solid surface and headed toward the door, hoping to get a lungful of fresh air. As she rounded a rather large and imposing Overseer doorman, her eyes locked with the largest and deepest blue orbs she'd ever seen on either world.
The Golden Boy... The gorgeous specimen I spotted on my first trip to this world. He stands out heads above the rest because he doesn't quite look Pure Blood, although he doesn't quite seem human. The radiant blond locks and his willowy stature make him a surfer god, but there's no ocean nearby I'm aware of. Where did he come from?
"Please don't go," the golden surfer god said in perfect English. "The festivities have only just started."
Olivia blinked once, twice and cleared her throat. "You speak English. How? I don't see a translator device on your wrist."
"Yes, some of us have mastered Earth's languages. We thought it best so we could communicate directly with our new mates."
In an instant, she felt weak in the knees. He's one of the vampire grooms? Oh my...I'd be so lucky to draw his name out of the hat. She stumbled as she tried to back up and free herself of his close presence, so overwhelming was his magnetism. He caught her by the elbow and guided her to a low bench near the entrance away from the main action.
"Thanks. I'm not sure what's gotten into me. I feel woozy."
"Woozy?" Golden Boy smiled. He was drop-dead sexy when he smiled and looked confused. "Oh, I see. You are feeling tired from your journey. The Portal does take much energy from the body. It is why we offer refreshing food and drink to our new guests, but a full sleep period is beneficial to recovery."
Olivia yawned and didn't attempt to hide her drowsiness. "You can say that again."
"I can?"
"Not literally."
They both laughed. Olivia had never felt so relaxed and less reserved around a handsome young man before...Well, not before she'd met Hernando.
Hernando. Remember why you're here. Keep focused on the mission. Stop flirting with this vampire hotty.
"What is your name?" he asked. "I am called Moreau."
"What a nice name. It's a character in one of my favorite H.G. Wells' books The Island of Dr. Moreau. It's a story about a mad scientist who creates half-human/half-animal creatures."
"Sounds like a noble profession." He leaned in closer. "What is your name?"
Olivia knew she was acting too chatty...too chatty for herself and way too chatty for the real Lauren. The fumes from the incense must be affecting her judgment. She straightened her back and smoothed down her skirt, turning her gaze away from her good-looking interrogator. "Um, my name is Lauren."
"Lauren. I like it. I like you, Lauren."
Before she could stop herself Olivia felt her head turn and her eyes focus upon Moreau's fathomless cobalt blue eyes. "I like you, too," she responded. "I like you a lot."
It wasn't her speaking. Another person had said the words, but she knew they had come from her mouth so they must be her thoughts, right? Would she be able to resist Moreau's hypnotic glance, his honeyed-words, his magnificent looks? The boy didn't need drugs or wine or intoxicants to trick a girl into falling into his arms. He just had to be himself.
Hernando. Think about Hernando and your spying mission. The other Portal, remember? Annara will be royally ticked off if you blow this, Ollie girl.
"You are to come with me," an Overseer announced breaking their tète-a-tète. Moreau turned and cast an evil look at the underling. "All humans are to report to their quarters for one rest period. The High Priestess' orders."
Olivia let a long sigh escape her lips. "Well, we can't go making enemies on day one." She slapped her hands on her thighs and stood up with a shaky motion. "Good night or good day or good whatever-it-is-here, Moreau."
He stood and took her hand for a moment in his. "A pleasant rest period, Lauren."
Like the good vampire mail-order bride she was pretending to be, she nodded and smiled, and then turned to follow the beefy Overseer as he led her and the others out of the hall, down a long corridor and into a large dormitory filled with cots, some already occupied by her fellow wannabe brides.
Saved by the goon, she thought as she lay upon the first empty cot she could find. Saved before she could spill her guts and give away her cover. If only she could ask Valori to mix up some sort of potion to overcome the mesmerism potential of Moreau and others like him. She needed a clear head—and a clean conscience afterward—to fulfill her mission.
"That's it. Tomorrow I'll see if I can locate Valori," she muttered before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
*****
"You thieving hussy!"
The whiny voice pierced the perpetual darkness of BloodDark. Olivia sat up, groggy and feeling like a ton of bricks had landed on top of her while she slept. She blinked and tried to focus on where the raised voices came from and what they were going on about in such an unseemly manner. Across the row of cots and down toward the corner, two of her fellow mail-order brides stood face-to-face, hands on hips, staring each other down. A disagreement so soon?
"How was I to know the first vampire who caught my eye had been promised to you?" A plumpish, curly redhead with a surly grin defended her honor the best she could, but the statuesque woman with flowing brown hair and a brightly-colored sari would have none of it.
"They read our profiles and matched us with our perfect soul mates," sari woman began, "and you stole my match without a thought to how it would affect me."
"Again, how was I to know the guy who tried chatting me up wasn't my so-called match? Nobody was wearing name tags. We were all just socializing the best we could and getting to know each other."
The middle-aged woman in the cot next to Olivia's sat up. "I'm beginning to wonder if this has all been a mistake on my part," she said as she turned to Olivia. Her accent sounded British. "The terms of the contract were rather vague, and either party could back out if he/she didn't care for their arranged partner."
Lauren's application had been one of the last approved, and it had not specified any particular groom for her. The mixer upon arrival might have been set up for those couples who hadn't been matched prior to transport. Possibly it meant Moreau could ask for her...
Stop it. Stop fantasizing now. The mission. Remember you've got to find the other Portal.
"Do you know who your partner is?" Olivia asked her neighbor instead of watching the ugly row between the two angry women. "My application was approved at the last minute, so I don't know a thing."
"I was told a distinguished professor of the natural history of BloodDark was interested in me. I was flattered—not many men are interested in a forty-five year old woman with graying hair and little money in the bank." She blushed. "I guess my love of books and learning clinched the deal. He actually wrote me and said I was the most fascinating individual he had ever communicated with. From what I've heard, not many wrote back to their potential partners."
"I've heard that, too. Sounds like a good match for you. I wish you every happiness."
Olivia did her best to sound positive and light-hearted, but the venomous accusations ringing in the dormitory, along with the knowledge she had about how the Pure Bloods used their human mates, made it difficult. Her attention was drawn across the room when articles of clothing started flying. Why were these women arguing like a couple of toddlers? They both appeared to be in their thirties at least, and they dressed well. They could have had any man for a husband if they'd stayed on Earth and demonstrated better manners.
How had they known who their Pure Blood partners were? Did the other Pure Bloods speak English? Olivia wondered. She gulped hard. She didn't want to think perhaps the couples had traded photographs or other identifying objects.
"Duck!" shouted one of her dorm mates as a high heel came sailing toward the wall behind her. Olivia flopped on the floor and covered her head with her hands.
"This is ridiculous. I'm getting out of here." Her neighbor stood up and straight
ened her blue dress while slipping her feet into her flats besides her bunk. It appeared everyone fell fast asleep in the clothing they arrived in.
"I'm with you." Olivia stood and slid her feet into the loafer-styled shoes which coordinated well with her plaid skirt and black over-the-knee socks. She checked the buttons on her blouse, ran a finger through her rather stiff, bleached hair and followed her new friend out the door.
As they walked down the corridor Olivia noticed how still and quiet the clan house had become.
"I don't think we've introduced ourselves," her fellow escapee from the dormitory said with a polite smile. "I'm Kate. I'm originally from Dover, England."
"I'm Oliv—uh, Lauren." Whew. Close one. "I'm from a small college town in the middle of the U.S. I'm sure you've never heard of in a million years."
Kate chuckled. "What makes you say such a thing?"
"Nobody in my own state seems to know where it is, so it's understandable if the rest of the world doesn't know about us."
"Living in a small town didn't stop you from finding out more about the Pure Bloods of BloodDark, did it? Once they heard about you... Obviously, you made a good impression."
"Must have." Olivia shrugged.
They paused and gasped. They had come to the grand entrance hall—or at least what Olivia assumed was the entrance hall. It had been emptied of candles, food, tables and seating. No wine spills, no crumbs or wadded up napkins in the corners. Spotless. Only the large tapestries on the walls remained, their vivid colors now muted and worn, aged overnight. Were they even the same ones?
"Wow, they sure can clean up fast after a party." Olivia sauntered into the large room and scanned for any signs of life. None.
"It's been twelve hours since we arrived according to my watch, if it's to be trusted." Kate looked at her wristwatch again and frowned. "Oh, dear. I thought it was still running, but it seems to have stopped. We could've been asleep for a week for all we know."
I hope not. I told Annara I'd solve this mystery and be out of here within an Earth week. Which reminds me, I need to check in with her once she's back on BloodDark tomorrow... or is it today?
"I don't think we've been asleep too, too long." Olivia tried to sound confident, but she was feeling anything but.
Kate scowled. "How do you know? The sky is always dark here."
"I get a massive crick in my neck whenever I sleep more than twelve hours is how I know. My neck feels fine."
Olivia absentmindedly touched her neck, and it did feel okay, even better than usual. Odd, how did her first night undercover fix her chronic stiff neck courtesy of a whiplash injury which she received a few years ago in a fender bender?
Kate strolled about the chamber and gazed up at the walls, examining the scenes either woven or embroidered into the large hanging tapestries. Olivia joined her. She couldn't decide how the tapestries were created, but the intricate artwork hinted at how the Pure Bloods weren't always the stuck-in-the-muds on the lookout for fresh blood as they were perceived to be in current times.
There were hunting scenes reminiscent of medieval Europe with pageantry and happy serfs serving their lords and masters at great outdoor tables. Scenes of carnivals and festivals with entertainments similar to jugglers and acrobats, musicians serenading the elite, hinted at a people who enjoyed a good time.
Stranger still, Olivia observed scenes of blossoming gardens and verdant arbors. Tall trees grew in almost jungle-like settings, beckoning her to explore the artwork closer yet. The architecture of the buildings depicted on various tapestries displayed a wide variety of influences, some European in form, some Middle Eastern-looking, some very much like the Pueblo Indians' adobe homes of the American Southwest, and some similar to oriental pagodas.
Olivia paused in front of one tapestry and almost laughed. Pure Bloods paddling gondola-styled boats on an above-ground river or lake? Their long, thin physiques made them almost blend in with the poles they used to propel their watercraft. Funny, she'd traveled halfway across the planet and had observed mostly a semi-dry and desolate terrain with very little water or lush vegetation. Had such an Eden ever existed on BloodDark or were these scenes from an idealized existence on the vampires' long-lost home world?
Or were they scenes of vacations spent on Earth throughout the centuries... throughout the times they came and raided humanity for new slaves and fresh blood for their own D.N.A. experiments?
"You can tell a lot about a people from their artwork, can't you?" Kate said, breaking the silence. "They appear quite happy and contented in these tapestries, don't they?"
"They do, they do." Olivia nodded.
Her neck didn't ache at all, and yet somehow she sensed they'd both been asleep for much longer than twelve hours now. Had the punch been spiked? Had they been drugged? Had their hosts wanted them out of their hair for a longer period than normal to do some checking on their new guests?
Had they discovered she wasn't the real Lauren who had submitted the application?
Before Olivia could bolt toward the front door, a group of Pure Bloods entered from the back hallway.
"They're awake from their slumbers at last!" cried an elven-like Pure Blood with a wisp of a white beard on his pointed chin. He clapped his hands together as he approached. "Kate, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm Kate Hemsworth." Kate smiled and blushed. "We chatted at the welcoming party. This is Lauren."
He made a gallant bow to Olivia. "Nice to meet you, Lauren. You two are enjoying our lovely tapestry?"
"Very much so." Kate's face glowed with excitement. Olivia sensed the older woman was quite the bookworm and not used to the attention she was receiving from the scholarly-looking Pure Blood. His intense eyes probed her every expression with eagerness as they paired-off and began conversing about the tapestries, leaving Olivia with the two young adolescent males and one female of indeterminate age who appeared to be their mother.
"You must be hungry after your rest period." The female Pure Blood arched a sharp black eyebrow. Olivia nodded. "I will go tell our chefs to begin the pairing meal at once."
"Pairing meal?"
The female frowned and tapped the translator device on her wrist. "Engagement party?" she ventured, glaring at the device.
Whoa. We are moving awfully fast. Olivia tried not to feel panicked, but she thought it would take more than a day or so for the Pure Bloods to make their final picks and settle the deal as it were. She smiled and gestured she was fine being left with the attention of the two young males in the grand hall as the matron wandered off to organize the meal.
It was then Olivia noticed neither of her hosts wore a translator device. This could be interesting.
"I don't suppose you guys could tell me where the closest telephone is, could you? I told my folks I'd call home as soon as I arrived."
Their blank stares only confirmed the fact they didn't have a clue as to what she was saying. She grinned and rocked back and forth on her heels at a loss on how to ditch her escorts and look for her luggage where she had stashed a communication device disguised as a make-up compact to alert Annara she was safe and sound and on the job. She was about to turn and head back toward the dormitory when a hearty chuckle followed by tinkling laughter interrupted her musings.
The wispy-bearded Pure Blood and Kate had hit it off. Olivia sighed. Maybe the pairing of Pure Bloods and humans wasn't always a bad thing? Kate and her professor had a lot in common if their animated conversation, smiles and mutual laughter were any indication. He only had eyes for her, and she appeared equally smitten with him. Too bad the vampires of BloodDark enjoyed feeding upon their mates' blood as well as their affections...
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you awoke, Lauren."
Olivia spun around. The voice, the intensity of feeling, the golden hair boy...
"Oh, hello there. I'd say good morning, but I have no idea if it is morning or not."
Damn! She was blubbering on like a girl with a crush on a movie star she happened to run
into at the corner convenience store. Olivia bit her lip and looked down at her shoes, forcing herself to stop staring into those striking cobalt blue eyes of his.
The guy wasn't just handsome—he was dangerously handsome.
"You could say good afternoon," he said with studied emphasis. "I believe it is now closer to the time period after the midpoint of your sun’s rise on Earth in your time zone."
Moreau reached out and cupped her chin in his slender hand, turning her gaze up to meet his. He smiled at her and then broadcast a sharp look to the two young men without translators. They both frowned their disapproval, but turned to her and nodded their leave.
"Alone at last." Moreau's words were heavy with meaning. Olivia felt a tingle from where his hand touched her skin zinging along every nerve in her body, a sensation of delicious anticipation. "I must ask you a question," he continued. "Would you be willing to become my partner?"
"Partner?" Olivia tried to sound calm, but the word had squeaked out. "You mean as a dinner companion at the pairing dinner?"
"Yes. Also for life. I want you for my own, Lauren. I must have you. No one else will do."
Chapter Thirteen
Olivia blinked and then blinked again. Did he say what she thought he just said? Did Moreau actually propose to her?
Did she have control over her own thoughts?
She tried not to gaze too deeply into his big, midnight-blue eyes, but she couldn't help it. He had removed his hand from her chin, and yet she did not move...could not move. She had lost control of her voluntary muscles. Was he still touching her? They were somehow connected. She couldn't be sure where Moreau ended and where she began.
Are you reading my thoughts? If so, give me a signal please. If not, I guess you won't say or do anything, right?
"Will you be my partner?" he asked again. His tone sounded pleading, wistful. Olivia didn't know whether to feel complimented or terrified. Would they send her back to Earth without hesitation if she said no?
Olivia's Return Page 14
