“Alex, this isn’t working,” I murmured as I leaned against the alley wall and pretended to check my phone, the bright screen lighting up my face and advertising my whereabouts to any evildoer that might be skulking in the shadows.
“Don’t talk, you’ll put them off.”
“Seriously, this is like the seventh dark alley I’ve walked down. I’m cold and tired. I just want to go back to the hotel and sleep. If no one has attacked me yet, then I think we need a new plan.”
“Just a few more minutes.” His voice came through my wireless headphones, making it seem as though he was right next to me. In reality, though, he and Euriel were up on a rooftop somewhere watching my every move.
I sighed and looked up at the stars that glimmered down between the rooftops, then I pushed off from the wall and started to wander down the alley again. Not far from the entrance, I could see one of the main streets of the city. When we had first begun this little charade, it had still been fairly busy with people milling about, meeting friends, heading home from work, and eating in restaurants. Now it was getting pretty late, and the crowds had thinned considerably.
I turned into another alleyway and ambled slowly up it, phone in hand, making it look as though I was playing on some app. In reality, all my senses were straining for the sounds of footsteps. I had been amused by Alex’s idea of using me as bait, but when it actually came to walking alone down a dark alley, it was proving to be slightly more nerve-racking than I had thought it was going to be—even with a vampire and my very own guardian angel watching from above.
“It’s not like it’s going to work anyway. I mean, what are the odds that a vampire will jump out at me and be part of the Order of Lizpha?” I muttered.
“Extremely low, and funnily enough, they get lower when you keep talking,” Alex chided sharply.
“Fine, fine. I’ll shut up.”
“Thank you.”
“Grumpy.”
“Faith!”
“Yeah, yeah.” I turned a corner, wondering how these alleyways could get any narrower. My claustrophobia was starting to kick in. As hot as it had been during the day, it was starting to get chilly now, so I pulled my leather jacket tighter around me.
“Don’t do that,” Alex murmured.
“Why not? I’m cold.”
“You need to lure them in. In fact, take the jacket off.”
“Are you kidding me?” I hissed.
“Come on, show a little flesh.”
I wished I knew where he was so I could glare at him, but all I saw were bare rooftops. I shrugged my jacket off, trying not to shiver, and put it over my arm instead, tossing my hair over one shoulder to leave one side of my neck completely bare.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? She’s practically naked!”
I smiled as I heard Euriel’s voice.
“Is that better?” I asked.
“Well, it’s a little obvious,” Alex replied, and I could hear the grin in his voice. I shook my head, refusing to rise to the bait.
“Shh!” I said. “I’m supposed to—” I stopped as I caught the sound of something behind me. Footsteps.
I didn’t want to seem like a complete nutter who was talking to herself, so I carried on walking, hoping Alex and Euriel had noticed I was no longer alone.
The footsteps sped up. Even though they were very quiet, my hearing had gotten keener in the last few weeks, so I could make out small sounds that I normally wouldn’t have been able to hear. Six months ago, I wouldn’t have heard these footsteps.
I slowed, not wanting to get too far from Alex and Euriel in case they attacked suddenly. The footsteps went silent.
I paused, pulled my phone out, and tapped as if I’d received a message as an excuse for stopping.
A rush of wind came from my side, and I was slammed up against the wall with a hand across my mouth, wrenching my head to the side. I felt the sharp graze of teeth against my throat, and for a moment, I had the strangest inclination to submit to him. Then my will kicked back in, and with it, the instinct to fight back. I pushed against him, trying to shove him off. He was strong, but I was a fairly good match, and we struggled for a few moments before I suddenly felt him being ripped away.
This time, it was my attacker that was thrust up against the stone wall, his head slamming back against the brick. He muttered something in Arabic, and Alex replied in what sounded like the same language. The man stared at him but shook his head slowly. Euriel leaned in, and I saw the man recoil at the sight of him. I suppose his eyes were pretty unnerving for someone who wasn’t used to them.
Euriel spoke in another language, though to my ears they sounded the same. The man’s eyes widened and he replied, then Euriel looked up at us.
“How many languages do you know?” I asked.
Euriel paused and thought for a moment. “Three hundred and eighty-seven. I think. I forget some of them. I can never remember which ones are still in circulation either, but he seems to understand me, so that’s all we need.” He turned back to my attacker and began to speak again. The vampire didn’t seem very helpful at first, muttering and struggling and occasionally trying to break free, but after a few minutes of vocal persuasion with Alex’s forearm pressed against his throat, he seemed to become quite talkative. Alex finally removed his arm, and the guy staggered forward a step, then backwards the opposite way from which we had come. He took a last, quick look at me and darted off down the street.
“Well?” I inquired, pulling my jacket back on.
Euriel shrugged. “He’s not part of the order. In fact, he’s never actually heard of it.”
Alex stared at him. “All that talk, and he’s not even part of the order?”
I groaned. “Tell me that doesn’t mean more alleys.”
“No, no more alleys,” Euriel stated, slipping his arm around my shoulders when he noticed I was shivering. “When he said he’d never heard of the order, I asked him a few more questions. Seems he’s fairly new to being turned, only a couple of decades or so, and to be honest, he didn’t seem that bright. I asked if he could tell me where to find the oldest vampire in the city, and he directed me to a temple not too far from here. Apparently this vampire, Lord Razeen, was turned thousands of years ago. He doesn’t know exactly how old he is, but he said he’s pretty old, so if anyone knows anything about the order, I’d imagine the eldest person in the city would.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “Good thinking. Well then, let’s go and pay this Razeen a visit.”
The temple my attacker had spoken of turned out to be a rather swanky-looking nightclub situated in what was once an old temple. Coloured lights streamed from small windows high up in the sandstone walls, and the beat of the music reverberated through the streets. A long line of well-to-do patrons queued down the road away from the door, and it looked like most of them were being turned away.
“Great, now what?” Alex muttered.
“Not to go down the bait route again, but maybe we could use Faith to get in?” Euriel suggested. Alex and I turned to look at him.
“How exactly? I don’t imagine they’re desperate for willing victims in there,” Alex countered.
Euriel shrugged and looked down at me. “Well, I don’t propose to know a lot about nightclubs in this day and age, but I do know that from the earliest time of human occupation that a pretty girl can get in anywhere.”
I looked at him, cocked my head, and smiled, fluttering my eyelashes at him. “You think I’m pretty?”
His mouth dropped open. “Well, I… I…”
I turned to Alex and gave him a sickly sweet smile. “He thinks I’m pretty.”
Alex laughed. “I guess he’s got a point. I suppose it could work. Plus, I’m guessing it’s a vampire club from the appearance of some of the patrons, and it will look good for me if I bring a human guest.”
Euriel smiled, clearly pleased that we liked his plan. “Well, Faith, you are appealing in more ways than one tonight.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Appealing? You make me sound like an appetiser!”
Alex pulled me close and brushed his lips over mine, his tongue darting swiftly between them. “That’s because he likes how you taste,” he murmured, glancing at Euriel with a wicked grin. I elbowed him in the stomach as Euriel actually blushed.
“Ow. Well, let’s give it a go. Though if it is a vampire club, I don’t think you’re going to get past the rope, Euriel.” He pulled back and looked me up and down.
“Want me to twirl for you?” I said with acid in my tone.
“No, that’s okay.” Alex grinned. “But lose the jacket and maybe pull the top down a little.”
“Fine,” I muttered, throwing my jacket at Euriel. “But you need to make some alterations too.” I put my arms around him, slipping the ends of his shirt into his skinny jeans to pull it down tight, then I unbuttoned it down to the middle of his chest to reveal his slender but sculpted body.
“I thought you were the eye candy,” he complained as I tugged down my cropped vest top to reveal a little more cleavage.
“Tit for tat.” I smirked at him. “You okay waiting out here?” I asked Euriel.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll wait outside, but don’t be too long. And I swear to God if you’re in there longer than an hour, I’m coming in after you, and there’s not a lot they’ll be able to do to stop me.”
Alex smiled. “Now that’s tempting, I’d love to watch that.”
I smacked him in the arm. “Behave. He’s just trying to help, and it’s a good idea. Well, it’s an idea anyway.”
Euriel disappeared to skulk in the shadows, and Alex and I sauntered up to the door of the club, his arm draped loosely around my shoulders.
The bouncer looked up as we approached and said something loudly in Arabic. Alex shook his head as if he didn’t understand and tried to move past him. The bouncer held out his arm, barring the way through. “Hey, English? What do you think you’re doing?”
I looked up at him through lowered eyelashes. “Oh please, I’ve been wanting to come to this club forever, and my date promised me we’d get in.” I added a little lip pout at the end as well, hoping it wasn’t overkill. The bouncer stared down at me, his eyes flicking to my cleavage and then up to rest on my throat. I guess Euriel was right, vampire club.
Alex hugged me tighter and leaned in to brush his lips down the side of my neck. “Come on, we’re only in town for the night. Besides” —he grinned up at the bouncer— “I brought my own drink.” The bouncer grinned then rolled his eyes and bent to lower the chain, letting us past. Ignoring the murmurs of protest from the people in the queue, we sauntered through the door into the hallway beyond.
It was fairly short and narrow, widening out as we got closer to the main hub of the building. Instead of doors, there were heavy drapes in archways made of silk and satin. Alex pulled the largest to the side, and we headed into the throng of people behind it, the music hitting us as we stepped under the archway. I could tell the club held vampires of all ages from all eras—the dress code was interesting, to say the least. Everything from 17th century clothing to 70s punk was in the room, and yet the beats playing were current.
“How are we going to find Razeen in this?” I shouted to Alex.
He shook his head, hearing me perfectly with his strange senses. “Come on, let’s go to the bar. Maybe the bartender can point us in the right direction.”
We squeezed through the crowd on the dance floor, trying to reach the long bar at the other side of the room. Funnily enough, when we reached it, there weren’t many people actually ordering drinks. It seemed odd, until I realised that the only people at the bar were humans. I couldn’t quite determine whether they were here willingly or unknowingly, but they seemed to be having a good time either way, so I decided I didn’t want to know. Alex leaned across the bar and waved until he got the barman’s attention
He moved over to us, his eyes doing a now very familiar flick to my throat then up to my eyes to see if he had unnerved me. I simply met his gaze and smiled. “We need to speak with Razeen. Is he here?”
The barman stared at me as if he couldn’t understand, so Alex leaned forward, repeating the question in Arabic. The barman continued to stare at him for a moment before turning and walking to the other end of the bar where another customer was waiting.
I looked at Alex and he shrugged. “Okay, let’s try asking around.” He turned, but I caught his sleeve.
“Wait.” My eyes never left the barman, who was now talking over the bar to a couple of men in pale linen suits. Alex followed my gaze.
“Come on, let’s get lost in the crowd.” He slid his hand under my elbow and ushered me out onto the dancefloor.
“At least we tried,” I said. “Now what?”
Alex took a deep breath. “We’re not going to get far at this rate. We didn’t find anything at the site, and now we can’t even find the order. I think maybe it’s time to make them come to us.”
“Isn’t that a bit risky?”
“It is, but it’s the only thing we’ve got, Faith. I don’t know about you, but I want—I need to get him back. The longer he’s possessed, the more we lose of him.”
I looked up into his eyes and nodded. “Agreed. Come on then, let’s start asking around.”
So that’s what we did, literally tapping people’s shoulders and shouting the name Razeen and Lizpha at random, confused-looking people. Most just shook their heads, appearing clueless, while others gave the impression that they knew what we were talking about, but then they would just turn and walk away.
After half an hour or so, I dragged Alex to the side of the room. “This is crazy. It’s not working, and Euriel is going to be worried sick if we stay much longer.”
He sighed. “I know. I just don’t know what else to do.” He looked defeated and broken, and I slipped my arms around his waist, pulling him in tight, but I knew I couldn’t really make him feel any better.
I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. “Come on, let’s leave. We can go back to the hotel, meet up with Euriel, and get some sleep. Tomorrow, we can try to figure out another way of tackling this. Maybe there’s something about the city records or something that you can find, some kind of location where the order might be based at. Something linked to mythology?”
Alex smiled at me. “You never give up, do you?”
“On getting Amadi back? Never.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I’m just desperate and panicking, and we need to stay calm and approach this methodically.” The concentrated expression I knew so well snapped back onto his face. “Maybe… Yes, cross-linking the mythology to the history. Sumerian in ancient Arabic…” He went on in some kind of mumble about ancient religions and languages and cross-checking. I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door of the nightclub. I hadn’t wanted to mention it, but the pressure of being surrounded by thirsty vampires was starting to freak me out a little, and the throng of bodies pressing in on all sides was not doing great things for my claustrophobia.
As we scrambled out into the night, I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. The queue for the nightclub had gone. Whether they’d given up and gone home, or whether they’d all been eventually let in, I wasn’t sure, but the street was deserted. I looked about, even craning my neck to see up onto the darkened rooftops, but I couldn’t see Euriel anywhere.
“Where do you think he’s gone?” I asked Alex.
“Probably back to the hotel. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’s like a hundred million years old or something.”
I wanted to smile, but something was nagging at me. “He said he was going to wait out here.”
Alex shrugged. “Yeah, well, you can’t trust angels as far as you can throw them. You’d think you would be able to, but they’re all such fundamentalist nutters that you can never predict how they’re going to interpret anything. The only thing you can know for certain is that in their own warped way, they’ll be doing whatever they do for the good of all. No, scratch that, they’ll be doing what they do for the good of God, nothing else. Nothing else matters. Come on.” He took my hand, and we began to walk down the streets as I wondered at the tirade. Was he annoyed at Euriel, assuming he’d left us, or was he worried too?
The night was still cool, and I shivered, wishing I’d kept my jacket instead of giving it to Euriel. Alex looked down at me and stopped walking.
“Cold?”
I nodded.
He stepped closer, rubbing his hands up and down my arms to try and warm me with friction.
“It’s okay, it’s not too far to the hotel. I’m fine. Let’s just keep—Alex!” A face had appeared over his shoulder, and he whirled around, only to be shoved into me. We both stumbled, and a buzz of laughter surrounded us. A ring of vampires clad in dark robes encircled us, their red eyes burning in the darkness.
“I think we may have found the Order of Lizpha,” Alex murmured, taking my hand and pulling me close.
