Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampire Hunter II: Bloodlines ❯ Chapter 9

Chapter IX

Clark stared out of the floor length windows that formed one side of her hotel room as she sipped at a bottle of water. The lights of the city were beautiful against the moonlit night and she'd spent the last half hour peacefully watching them.

Unfortunately, she still had some work to finish.

Clark turned away from the windows and walked across the plush carpet to where her laptop was sitting open on the dining table. The hotel room was a lot classier than she was used to, but the Sheraton was a nice central location that put her within minutes of everything Cairo had to offer, including the Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, and the airport.

Clark hoped she got a chance to spend some time taking in the sights before Gabrielle moved on again, but if she didn't, she knew she would return. This was Gabrielle's home, and she wanted to know everything about it.

Clark set her bottle of water on the table and took a seat in front of her laptop. She'd started her latest report as soon as she'd come back from Gabrielle's current location, but then room service had arrived and she'd decided to take a break while she ate.

The report gave an overview of Clark's and Gabrielle's activities for the past two weeks in an attempt to give the individual reports she'd been sending off more cohesion. As her report showed, things had been both hectic and utterly boring all at the same time.

Clark had been stuck in Melbourne for over a week waiting for Gabrielle to go to a country that respected the VHA Charter. Though Clark had considered following the vampire when she'd gone to India, she'd decided against it. India's government had been unwilling to allow visiting VHA members to keep their hunting equipment, so they'd rejected the entire Charter.

Then Gabrielle had gone to China, another country that refused to take the VHA seriously. But Clark wouldn't have gone even if they'd rolled out the red carpet for her. She didn't understand the language and with her height, she'd be spotted by anybody with a pair of eyes.

Gabrielle's next stop had been Russia and Clark had just shaken her head when she'd seen the reservations. Though relations with the Russian government weren't horrible anymore, they weren't exactly wonderful either. The government saw the VHA as a possible threat to national security, so they hadn't even considered allowing a VHA office within their borders.

Finally, Gabrielle had booked passage to France, a country that not only accepted the VHA, but whole heartedly endorsed it. Unfortunately, with the time differences and sheer length of the flights from Melbourne to Paris, Clark had arrived just as Gabrielle was leaving for Rome. After the full day of travel and the likelihood of Gabrielle jaunting off soon after she arrived again, Clark had decided to sleep for the rest of the day rather than take the next flight to Italy.

She'd been glad she'd waited, too, when she woke up that evening to find new reservations for Athens scheduled for the following morning. She'd gone online to make her own reservations, but the earliest flight to Greece out of Paris wouldn't have arrived until late the next evening. Clark knew that by that time, Gabrielle could be on her way to someplace else. So she'd waited again.

As soon as Gabrielle had arrived, Samantha had made reservations for Cairo. Though Egypt hadn't been overwhelmingly supportive of the VHA, they had signed the Charter, and Clark knew she wouldn't have a problem getting into the country, as long as her ID checked out.

Clark had gone back online and found a flight that would get her there a half hour before Gabrielle was supposed to arrive. It had been cutting it close, but Clark had made it. She'd waited at the airport and followed Gabrielle out.

That had been a strange experience all by itself. Since the flight took place at night, Gabrielle and her entourage had ridden as passengers, instead of cargo. Clark had watched Gabrielle walk among the masses for the very first time.

Clark shook her head. No, that hadn't been the first time, but the bright lights of the airport, as well as the lack of understanding of the other humans around her, had somehow made it different from the dark club in Los Angeles. She could see Gabrielle clearly and had wanted nothing more than to walk up to the vampire and hug her. She missed Gabrielle.

At least, she didn't feel drugged anymore. That effect had worn off completely and had been replaced by a crystal clear need in Clark's heart. She wanted to talk to Gabrielle, ask her how she was.

And kiss her. Clark had had plenty of time to think about kissing Gabrielle. She'd analyzed their past encounters and shuddered at her total insanity for trying to goad Gabrielle into biting her. She didn't know how Gabrielle had restrained herself.

Of course, that was a whole other set of fantasies that Clark didn't want to go into. The Vampire Hunter fantasizing about being bitten by a vampire was just a little too much for Clark to dwell on for very long.

Clark shook her head again and went back to looking over her report for errors.

After following Gabrielle and her group out of the airport, she'd tailed them to an abandoned area on the outskirts of town. She'd waited in the shadows for several hours for Gabrielle to go on the hunt, but she hadn't come out. Clark had decided to return to her room and write up the report that was on her screen now and send it off to her server.

Clark checked the other reports she'd sent during her stay in Melbourne. Though Clark hadn't been able to take notes firsthand, she had been able to pinpoint the exact locations of the places Gabrielle had stayed in for more than a few hours. It was a good bet that those locations were local Gathering Places for the lead vampires of those countries, since they were all in the capital cities. That information alone would be pure gold to the VHA should Clark ever decide to disclose it.

Clark frowned. There was a saying. One could not have two masters. Her loyalty was divided between the VHA and Gabrielle. Then again, Gabrielle seemed to have quite a lot of power within the VHA, so maybe her loyalties weren't as divided as she thought.

Still, not giving the VHA all the information she had, knowing that it would be very useful to her fellow Hunters, but instead choosing to keep her involvement with Gabrielle secret to protect herself and Gabrielle, was not something she did easily. She'd worked for the VHA for almost half her life and she'd known Gabrielle for less than a month. But she wasn't in love with the VHA and that seemed to make a difference.

Clark finished off the report and sent it to her server. She shut down her laptop and then checked the GPS unit. There was no change and it was getting close to sunrise, so Clark figured it was safe to assume Gabrielle was staying in. She was probably catching up with childhood friends.

Clark had a feeling Gabrielle would be staying in Egypt for a little longer than she had the other places. Egypt was her home turf, it was where she'd grown up, and even if the main seat of power was in New York now, Egypt was the ancestral birth of that power. If there was any one thing that could solidify Gabrielle's leadership, Clark was sure it was here.

~\/^^^\/~

Gabrielle walked around the open courtyard and smelled the air. She listened to the quiet sounds of the desert and trailed her fingers over the rough texture of the stone wall that enclosed part of the square. She looked up at the stars, and though there were minor differences in positioning, it was still the same sky she'd seen for thousands of years.

Home.

Gabrielle had to admit the place hadn't changed much since her time. The main city had expanded, the technology had become more sophisticated, but once she'd gotten away from the bright lights of the capital, she'd found it easy to believe she was back at the beginnings of human civilization.

Gabrielle looked around, as she suddenly felt a strong presence. It was familiar, but...

"Mistress?"

Gabrielle turned her head.

"Gabrielle. I'm not your Mistress," Gabrielle automatically corrected.

The young slave swallowed self-consciously. She'd been told that the First Born didn't like having her titles of respect used, but she'd assumed her friends were just trying to get her in trouble with the Queen.

"Uh, Gabrielle, Mistress Subira is ready to see you now. She apologizes for her tardiness, but prays you will forgive her."

Gabrielle moved to follow the servant. She took one last look around the courtyard, but the presence was gone.

"Why was she unable to greet me when I arrived?" Gabrielle redirected her attention to the slave.

"There was a... miscommunication. She believed you would not be arriving until tomorrow."

"I ask again. Why was she unable to greet me?"

The slave swallowed again.

"She was feeding."

"And?"

"It gets messy," the slave finally admitted.

Gabrielle nodded, though she wasn't quite sure what to make of the revelation. Bathing in blood had been a favorite past time of her siblings and eventually her father. Rending the "meat" in a fit of ecstasy had also been quite a common occurrence in the old days. Apparently, those traditions were making a comeback.

Gabrielle stepped inside one of the massive receiving halls and the slave quietly left her side.

"Welcome home, First Born," Subira greeted her.

"Thank you, Subira," Gabrielle accepted.

"It's been a long time, but well worth the wait. You will be staying for good now?"

Gabrielle shook her head.

"No, only about a week. I must return to New York soon."

"But this is..."

"I live in New York now," Gabrielle cut her off.

Subira nodded her head in acceptance, though the frown was still clear on her face. The First Born's place was in Egypt, as far as Subira was concerned. She'd treated Gabrielle's absence as an extended sabbatical and believed that when Gabrielle finally came to her senses and took her place as Queen, she would rule from Cairo. However, Subira was not blind to the extenuating circumstances surrounding Gabrielle's reasons for remaining in New York.

"You could bring the Hunter with you," Subira offered.

Gabrielle looked up, a little startled.

"Why would I want to do that?"

Subira smiled.

"You love her."

"Who told you that?" Gabrielle questioned harshly.

"No one, my Queen. It is rather obvious. Why else would you protect her?"

"She stood by me against Blake. That's reason enough."

"But it isn't. It isn't the reason."

Subira gestured to the low pillow-couches that covered the floor nearby and they made themselves comfortable.

"Will you make her one of us?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't wish to be a vampire."

"Ah. So, she will still continue to hunt us, though she has made an exception for you."

"Something like that."

"So, you will rule from New York and I will remain your trusted servant here," Subira deliberately closed the subject, seeing her Queen's discomfort.

"Thank you. But you are no one's servant, Subira."

"Of course I am. Everyone has someone or something to which they owe their allegiance. Even you, my Queen. We need only be sure our devotion is merited," Subira added pointedly.

"It is merited. She is... She protects the humans the way I protect the Order. I believe together we may be able to calm the war between our species."

"Or begin it anew."

"What do you mean?"

"The Order has not been very accepting of your association with the Hunter. From what I understand, the humans are not yet aware of her association with you. What do you think their reaction will be when they find out?"

"They won't," Gabrielle said with certainty.

She'd already flagged Clark's communications with the VHA and would know immediately if Clark sent any kind of information electronically. It would also be diverted to her own account, rather than continuing on to its original destination. As for verbal communications, Gabrielle knew there was no way for her to prevent those, but she was pretty sure Clark would keep their alliance a secret, since Clark had agreed to work with Gabrielle "off the record."

When Gabrielle had first decided to set down her edict concerning Clark, she'd been confident that the information would remain among the top echelons of the Order, since that was who it was intended for. Vampires below the Twentieth Order rarely even knew of Gabrielle's existence and Gabrielle knew Clark would have no problem handling attacks from those lower ranks. The rule had simply been to keep higher Order vampires from attacking Clark, since they had a much better chance of succeeding in killing her.

"Well then, will you tell me the tales of the past month? I have heard many reports, of course, but I would like to hear the details from you and you neglected to send your regular update."

"I've been a little busy," Gabrielle said wryly. "What do you want to know?"

"Begin with Blake. What led you to finally discard that piece of filth?" Subira grinned predatorily.

Gabrielle smiled in return and started the story.