Her eyes were alight with colour, deep amber laced with cocoa and a hint of copper flecks. They were heavily made up, with shades of copper and cinnamon elongating the roundness of their shape. She looked stunning, there were no two ways about it, she was a queen.
As soon as she spotted Michel, her face broke into the most hypnotic smile, there was no power there, just sheer natural brilliance, lighting up her face and eyes even further, she glided towards us with her hand extended. Michel took a step away from me and bent at the waist in a bow similar to Nero's, all grace and practised movements, he took her hand in his. Bent his head and placed a lingering kiss on her smooth skin.
Part of me wondered if his actions were in response to Nero's at the airport, giving as good as he got, but all hopes of that were dashed when Nafrini spoke in a low and sultry voice thick with eastern African accent, against his ear, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“It has been a long time, my love, you should not hide yourself away so. You have been missed.”
What the...? They knew each other? For some reason I hadn't seen this coming. Despite knowing how old Michel is and how old Nafrini is and how vampires didn't just stay in one place, but moved around the globe. Despite knowing Michel would have a history I wasn't privy to, that he'd had a life before even coming to New Zealand, before me. I had never once stopped to think he would know Nafrini. Stupid. Stupid. Me.
And then came the anger. Why had Michel chosen not to mention this? Once again he had omitted something that might just have prepared me for this moment. Was it intentional? Did he hope to get a response from me? To what avail? I realised I'd just been standing there staring at the exchange between them, stock still, like a statue, my hands fisted at my sides. Michel would have felt the emotions rolling over me, Nafrini would have sensed my hitched breath, my increased heart rate and Nero, well Nero was just watching me with steady eyes. No sympathy, no sadness for the position I now found myself in, just a steady gaze of interest. Did everyone want to see me throw a fit?
Well, they obviously don't know Kiwi girls then. We're hard and tough and have a bloody great sense of pride. There was no way I was letting them see me crumble. I don't know what protocol called for in situations such as these. Do you wait to be introduced? Curtsey? Grovel at her feet? I really didn't care, so I took a step forward and put on my most dazzling smile, stuck my hand out and said, “Hi, Nafrini. I'm Luce. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nero smile, just a brief touch to his lips. Nafrini removed her hand from Michel's and turned her gaze on me. I'm not sure I was receiving exactly the same startling amber and cocoa look as Michel had, this time they seemed a little daunting, a little scary around the edges, rather than beautiful, but she smiled and shook my hand anyway. Whew!
When she had removed her hand from mine here eyes lingered in a appraising slide over my body, without looking away she said, “She is intriguing, Michel. I understand now why you chose New Zealand. Why you sacrificed your lifestyle in Paris. I had always wondered what would cause you to give up such a position.”
Michel stiffened slightly next to me, it wasn't anything overtly obvious, just a slight twitch to his arms. I don't think Nafrini would have noticed, but I'm getting good at sensing these little pauses in his shields, these moments that he simply can no longer hide from me. He didn't like where this conversation was heading, there was something here he didn't want me to know. I didn't turn to look at him, just kept my pleasant face and steady gaze on the Amazon woman to my front, but in my mind I sent out the thought, Paris?
He ignored me, I hadn't expected him to answer, but I knew he had heard me. This was something we would have to cover later. Instead he decided to take control of the conversation himself, a typical Michel tactic.
“You have found yourself a lovely home, Nafrini, at such short notice, it is commendable.”
She laughed openly at that, acknowledging his rebuff. Her laugh was musical, like the tinkle of a wind chime, it didn't sound right with her low and sultry voice, but somehow it still suited her. I wondered if it was practised.
“I have friends in the President's Cabinet, this home is on loan, a small unused section of the Heliopolis Palace. We have of course, made improvements.” She was referring to the wards, they weren't normal, I just wondered what she had done to create such protection, how much of Nero's power was she using?
“Now come and sit down, friends, we have much to discuss.” Nafrini indicated an area to the side with low cushions, she sat herself down in a fluid motion, all grace and sleek movements, settling into the cushions like the queen that she is. Nero was next and looked just as graceful, well practised at slipping onto the floor with style. Michel didn't falter, but followed suit, equally as elegant, ending up looking stunning against the backdrop of the colourful cushions. That just left me. I haven't sat on the floor on cushions since I was at Kindergarten, my style hasn't improved much since then. I just thanked my lucky stars I wasn't wearing a short skirt after all.
Nero produced a map of Cairo. Heliopolis was actually a suburb, just east of the city centre where they had been when I Dream Walked to them last night. This was not a usual area for vampires, they tend to entrench themselves in the middle of a place, so they hoped that it would be overlooked, but with the level of wards on the place, any stray vampire would have difficulty breaching the security as well. Of course, the level of power needed to maintain that protection could also attract unwanted interest. It was a catch 22. They had hedged their bets with the location, but solidified with wards. I hoped it paid off.
The Cadre had ensconced themselves near the city centre, a suburb called Coptic Cairo, part of Old Cairo itself and Nero had managed to do a quick reconnaissance of the building and sketched up what he had found out. There were some 80 of the vampires left and he proceeded to show us where they were located around the complex, including where he thought Amisi was being held. The plan was to head out immediately, leaving a small contingent of Nafrini's vampires to guard the rest of the Nosferatin community. We made quick plans of attack and our intended approach to the Cadre's stronghold and then rose to head to the vehicles that had been assembled in the courtyard.
Nero pulled me aside while Nafrini and Michel were discussing further features of the plan. “There is time for you to meet the others, if we hurry. It will only be a short visit, but I thought you would like the opportunity to meet some of your kind.”
Somehow Nero always knew what to say to me, what was important and what was not. Not that I'm saying rescuing the stolen Nosferatin and destroying the Cadre were not important, it's just the thought of more of my kind being so close by, so near and if things did go against us tonight, I would not have had the chance to see them, to greet them, to be with them. This was a piece of me that I had felt missing since learning of my kind, where I came from, who we are. It felt like a huge hole in the centre of my chest, gaping and gnawing at my insides. I managed to cover it with my feelings for Michel, dim it slightly with my contact with Nero, but never really fill it, it was always still there.
I forced myself not to let it show, but I wasn't fooling him. He gently brushed my cheek and nodded to Nafrini, having obviously sent a silent communication to his kindred and led me by the hand from the room. I'm not sure if Michel noticed, or if he was too busy with his old friend, but he didn't stop me, he didn't come after me, he didn't even send me a thought.
We ran down a corridor, then another and another, somehow ending up well inside the building, away from the courtyard and the cars, somewhere to the rear and off to the right hand side. We burst through double doors into a light and airy room, the smell of fruit in the air, from the Hookahs in use to one side. All the eyes of the people gathered there turned to look at us as we entered.
Men were off to one side, smoking the Hookahs, the women and children on the other, talking and laughing and preening their young. They looked happy and content, however there was an und
ercurrent of anxiety, hidden behind the friendly faces that greeted me. I had seen it when we banged through the door. Once they spotted Nero and his hand in mine, his face smiling, they had relaxed only then.
“This is my Kiwi. I have told you of her, family. She has come to help.” He turned to me then with the most gorgeous smile painted on his face, the full lips curved deliciously, his eyes shining brightly, cinnamon and coffee swirling in their midsts. You could not have been affected by Nero's smile. Besides, I've always loved coffee.
The people began to gather, to hug me, kiss my cheeks, to hold my hands and in the case of the children, to pull on my pants and shirt. It was a little overwhelming. They were speaking mainly in Arabic, a beautifully musical sound, words I couldn't understand, a lot of Ls. But some of them were speaking English and I heard the odd word or two, “Prophesy”, “She lives”, “Seeker”. It didn't make sense and I was about to ask Nero what they were saying when we felt a large shift in the tiled floor and heard a rumble come towards us from the front of the palace like an earthquake rolling out from its source.
I stumbled, along with the mass of people about me and only just managed to not tip over on top of them. Nero had stilled, cocking his head to the side. “It is Nafrini. The Cadre have found us, they have come.”
“They can't breach the wards. They can't get in.” I said, but not quite managing to hide my alarm and concern.
I was already running after him, he had shouted in Arabic to a few of the men in the room, who were blockading the door behind us as we sailed through. “They already have,” came his reply.
We started heading back the way we had come, but the corridor had fallen in on itself, so we backtracked and took another hall off to the side. This one led further towards the right hand rear of the building, away from the Nosferatin community and not towards the fight, where Nafrini and Michel were no doubt battling.
“We're going to have to go outside and come back around the front of the building, there is no other way through,” Nero shouted above the noise of cracking concrete and shattering walls. We slipped out of the side of the building, Nero moving his hand over the door and muttering a few low words in Arabic, or maybe Latin, I couldn't be sure. I felt the ward give way and then he paused on the other side and resealed it. I knew we had powers to place protection wards on buildings, but I had absolutely no idea how this was carried out. Watching Nero now, it looked like some sort of spell or charm. I realised I had so much more to learn about who I was and what I was capable of doing. I only hoped I lived long enough to find out.
We slunk along in the shadows made by the palace walls, hugging the side of the building to stay out of sight. By the time we made it to the front of the palace it was obvious the fight had been taken inside. Dust hung in the air like an early morning fog on the farm, unmoving in the still of the night. I was about to take a step towards the entrance, intending on attacking the Cadre from the back, similar to what I had done last night, when Nero grabbed my arm.
He looked torn, when I turned to glance at him, anguished and slightly pale. “What is it? What's wrong?” It could be anything, Nafrini is hurt, Michel?
“This is not our battle tonight, Kiwi. We must fight elsewhere.”
“What do you mean, Nero? Of course this is our battle. Michel is in there. Nafrini. The others.”
He shook his head. “Amisi is not with the Cadre, she is still at their base, we need to act now, before it is too late. Nafrini has asked us to rescue her. There is not much time.”
He saw the dawning look of horrible comprehension on my face, his only looked sadder.
“She doesn't think they'll make it, does she? She wants us to free Amisi before it all ends.”
Nero reached up and touched my face softly, wiping away some dust and stonewall grime.
“Our lives are not such a bad exchange for a young innocent, are they?
I don't know, I kinda liked mine.
But, I just took a deep breath and nodded, the last thing I did before we tore through the nearby streets and away from the battle at Heliopolis was to send a thought out on the wind....
Michel! I love you!
I didn't get a reply.
Chapter 35
The Coptic
We had run down several streets before Nero stopped by a sleek black Alfa Romeo car parked next to the curb. I thought it must have been one of theirs, parked away from the palace as a back up, but when he ran his hand over the car's lock and muttered a few words in that other language, I realised I was wrong.
“You're stealing this?”
He flashed me a smile as the door clicked opened and simply slid into the driver's seat, reaching over and unlocking my door. “Get in, there is not much time.”
I guess Nero wasn't opposed to Grand Theft Auto then.
The car was fast, but Nero seemed to make it fly through the streets away from Heliopolis. We swerved past pedestrians, still out socialising as the night wore on, bumped over uneven roads and screamed around corners barely on all four wheels. The engine sounded rich and throaty as Nero put it through its paces. I silently reached for my seatbelt and secured it in place.
The colours all around us seemed to be flying past in a blur. At one stage I couldn't tell if it was people or late night market stalls that were making the rush of colour streak past my window, I had to close my eyes and force my uneasy stomach to settle.
“I am sorry if my driving is upsetting you, Kiwi, but the Coptic is a fair distance away, we must proceed with all haste.”
I just nodded, not trusting myself to comment. He reached over and squeezed my hand to reassure me, just as we came to a surprisingly tight stretch of road. The side of the car screeched against a parked vehicle, swiping our wing mirror off right by my side, sending sparks into the air and finger-nails-on-chalkboard sounds down my spine. Suddenly, I found I could talk after all. “Two hands on the wheel! Two hands on the wheel!”
Nero's attention returned to the road with a look of grim determination. We made it through that impossibly narrow road only to come out into an over-crowded square of some description. People were not only milling around the sides in large groups, but crossing the divide casually. When they heard our car horn frantically beeping, they began to jump and dive out of the way, but part of me knew there was no way we were going to make it across the square without connecting with someone. Nero slammed on the brakes and the car fishtailed wildly, nose down and tyres screaming and we finally came to a stop right in the middle of the square.
No loud thumps. Thank God.
And then I felt the bruise, the seatbelt had already started making, blossom across my shoulder, chest and lower abdomen. Oh God it hurt, I sucked in a breath, but that only made it worse.
Nero was trying to get the car started, but we had gone over some part of a market stall as we entered the square and obviously done some damage, smoke was starting to filter out around the bonnet in front, small at first and then thickening as I watched transfixed by it.
The people in the square were shouting and raising their fists at us, rocking the car from side to side, banging on the roof and doors. I didn't blame them, we had almost killed someone here tonight. Finally Nero shouted, “We will have to go on foot from here, it is not much farther.”
He began to get out of the car and I grabbed his arm. “What about the crowd?” But he had already gone and was pushing through the people on his side of the car to get to me. My door suddenly got wrenched open, I hadn't unlocked it, but when Nero opened his driver's door, mine had automatically unlocked. Damn central locking. I was pulled out of the vehicle by large rough hands, a dark-skinned man started shouting in Arabic at me while shaking me like a leaf.
I couldn't focus properly on the people around me, my head felt like it was going to be snapped off my neck by the force of this man's arms, the world was just a crazy cacophony of noises; loud, jarring, booming noises. Then I realised I could fight. This might be a human, but I know how to fi
ght and right now, this man was threatening me.
I brought my arms up in front of me and then roughly curved them out to either side, snapping the man's grip on my upper arms and threw his arms wide. He didn't stumble, but he was in shock. I don't think he realised a woman would fight back. He recovered himself quickly then and with a look of anger on his face he came at me, fists bunched, ready to strike. By this time Nero had arrived and he clamped a hand on the man's shoulder, saying something harshly in Arabic.
The man's head swivelled towards the new threat, but he stopped. He shouted something back at Nero, which I had no way of understanding, looked at me long and hard, then back to Nero, who nodded and then the man simply left. The group around us also dispersed with muttered grumbles and sideways glances, not all of them friendly, but some I noticed were in surprise, and could that be? Awe?
Nero grabbed my arm, right where it was sore from beefy feature's grasp and tugged me into a run away from the now somewhat silent crowd. I gasped at his hold over that tender spot and he moved his hand down to hold mine, still tugging me forward. I finally found my feet and pace and fell into rhythm beside him.
“What was all that about? What did you say to stop him?”
Nero looked at me quickly, just a glance, then back towards the street we were running down, his face was hidden, a mask of concentration. I didn't think he would answer me, but he said, “I told them you were a Child of Nut.”
I skipped around a group of people and rejoined him in the middle of the road, keeping pace with his long strides. “What does that mean?”
“My people have a legend, that Thoth, the God of Wisdom and Knowledge, once prophesied a child would be born to Nut who would become Pharaoh after Ra.” He stopped talking to negotiate another group of people, then rejoined me and ran silently for a few paces. I was about to ask, what the hell does that mean? When he continued. “It is told that she had five children, Osiris was the first born and it was proclaimed to the heavens on his birth, 'The Lord of All comes forth into the Light!' We are the children of the Light, Kiwi. We force out evil and banish the Dark. To my people we are the Children of Nut.”
Kindred (Kindred, Book 1) Page 36
