Welcome to the Darkness (Darkness Trilogy) (12 page)

He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. The rocky driveway crunched under the car’s wheels as he returned to the main road.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder at Reed. “So . . . I take it everything went okay?” she asked.

The car’s headlights cut into the darkness as they co
ntinued the drive to Las Vegas. Nathaniel kept his attention on the road. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose,” he answered.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that Reed was only partially successful at accomplishing the task. For reasons I cannot comprehend, he was unable to place his prey into a trance. I was forced to do it for him.”

“Oh. And what’s wrong with that?”

“It is mandatory for him to feed without leaving a trail of victims that recall being fed from. Otherwise, he risks exposure to our kind and most vampires would kill him for that reason alone. Now that he has sampled fresh, human blood, I do not see how he will be able to return to drinking the blood of livestock.”

“Gee, he can’t get a break,” Sarah said, shaking her head.

“It is a worrisome problem indeed.”

The lights of the city flooded the sky as they crested a small hill. Soon they were driving into the heart of Vegas. Nathaniel exited the freeway onto West Flamingo Road and pulled into the parking lot of the Palms Casino Resort. The
three towers of the resort rose into the night sky, the glittering lights beckoning tourists and gamblers. Forgoing the valet service, they chose to park the car and trailer themselves due to the dead vampire in the back seat.

They climbed out of the car, and Nathaniel scooped up Reed and slung him over his shoulder. He walked toward an entrance labeled “Executive Lounge” and Sarah followed behind him.

“Aren’t you worried about attracting attention with him like that?” Sarah asked, pointing at Reed with her thumb.

“This
is
Las Vegas,” Nathaniel replied. “I expect they are used to dealing with clientele in a professional manner, no matter the situation. Our young fellow may simply be inebriated.”

“True,” Sarah replied.

The overwhelming opulence of the hotel became obvious as they entered through the glass sliding doors. Nathaniel marched across the black marble floor to the check-in counter. The mahogany surface of the counter gleamed under the generous distribution of pot lights above. The room was encompassed by floor-to-ceiling windows, and sumptuous leather couches filled the open space. The plush, maroon carpet at the base of the welcome desk felt luxurious to walk on.

The concierge behind the desk eyed them with one
slightly raised eyebrow. “Can I help you, Sir?”

“Is the two-stor
y Sky Villa available this evening?” Nathaniel replied smoothly, as though there weren’t a body draped over his shoulder like a bizarre fashion accessory.

The concierge cleared his throat, before tapping a few keystrokes into his computer. “It is
available; however we require a fifty percent deposit. How would you like to take care of that?”

Capturing the man’s gaze, Nathaniel said, “It is co
mplimentary tonight, courtesy of your fine establishment.”

The man blinked. “Yes, of course. Let me handle this for you, Sir.” He finalized the arrangements on the compu
ter before passing over the room’s key cards. “Enjoy your evening.”

Nathaniel took the cards and
proceeded to the private elevators for the luxury suites. Sarah drew up beside him and glared. “Are you nuts?” she hissed through clenched teeth. “How much is this Sky Villa room worth?”

“The cost is of no consequence. Did you not observe that I acquired the use of the suite free of charge?” The el
evator door opened, and he stepped inside.

Sarah stomped in behind him, her frown reflecting off the mirrored surface of the elevator walls. “But how much is it worth
normally
?” she demanded as the doors shut behind them.

“I believe in the neighborhood of twenty-five thousand a night,” he answered. He scanned their room card granting them access to their floor before pressing the button for the penthouse.

“Twenty-five . . .” she said, mouthing the word “thousand” as her eyes bugged open.

They arrived on the top floor and walked off the elev
ator into the posh entryway of their suite. Nathaniel slipped a key card into the slot and swung the door open onto pure decadence.

He walked into the dimly lit suite and deposited Reed onto one of the three wh
ite couches facing the two-story bank of windows in front of them. The view of the city below was an incredible display of multi-colored lights. Sarah stood unmoving while Nathaniel turned on more lights. A spiral staircase wound its way up the left side of the room, and two separate hallways branched off either side of the grand living room towards the bedroom areas. A fully stocked bar ran along the right side of the room, edging the large dining area fit for at least fifteen guests.

Sarah placed her hands on her hips. “Nathaniel,
this is
robbery
! Why didn’t we rent a little motel room? Whatever happened to being inconspicuous? My God.”

“We are not attracting undue attention. I can use mind control over the human staff of this establishment if it b
ecomes necessary. As to why I chose such accommodations for us, I have to take what enjoyment I can when the opportunity arises.  I see no harm in us staying here. We shall treat the premises with respect.”

She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Yeah . . . sure, I guess.” She walked over to one of the couches next to Reed and plopped down.

“I need to contact the King in New York. Perhaps you should get some sleep while you are able,” he suggested. He turned and walked down the hallway to the first of the two bedroom areas.

Nathaniel entered the room, which
was decorated in dark, earthy tones. The sleek furnishings matched the clean modern look throughout the hotel suite. He closed the door behind him and chose a chair between the window and the bedside table. It had been many years since he had last spoken with the King, yet he easily recalled the phone number of the New York lair. Assuming the phone number had not changed in the intervening years, he plucked the phone from its cradle and dialed. There was an answer after only two rings.

“Hello?” The deep, male voice sounded like the King himself.

“Your Majesty?” Nathaniel asked.

“Ah, Nathaniel,” the King’s rumbling words carried over the phone line. “I have been expecting your call.”

“Have you?”

“Are you surprised? While it is true the Queen of San Jose and I are often at odds with each other, we do co
mmunicate every decade or so. Most particularly when there is something of great import to relate, such as the destruction of one’s entire lair, for example.” The last few words hung in the air between them while Nathaniel tried to formulate an appropriate response.

“Yes, well . .
.” he faltered. His growing thirst made it difficult to think clearly.

“My dear friend,” the King continued. “Do not worry, please. I am not in the least bit upset. If our sweet little Queen was negligent enough to allow such a thing to occur, it seems only fitting she suffer the consequences. Is that not so?”

“Perhaps,” Nathaniel replied carefully. Oftentimes, the King’s behavior made one feel as though he was your closest friend, but Nathaniel knew his life could be in peril if he caused offense.

“Nathaniel, my friend and former loyal subject.
If I did not know better, I might say you sound a trifle frightened,” the King admonished. “I had hoped you were calling upon me to welcome you back into my kingdom. It would be an honor to have you in my service once again. You have only to say the word.”

Nathaniel stifled a sigh as memories of the King’s th
eatrical demeanor came flooding back. “That was my intention, your Majesty. I wish to formally request asylum with you for myself and my two companions.”

“Ah, yes.
The newling and the human female. I am uncertain about bringing the human into our midst, although I admit to a great curiosity about your young vampire. He may be the answer I seek to some of my medical research. A valuable asset, most probably. In any case, I grant you all asylum, should you manage to make your way here successfully that is. I am aware, unfortunately, that the Queen has unleashed some of her lesser minions to hunt down and dispose of you. I recommend you secure the earliest possible nighttime flight out of Las Vegas to New York City.”

“I suspected as much from the Queen,” Nathaniel grumbled. “And where is she now?”

“She has discovered a safe haven for herself,” the King replied vaguely. “Good luck, Nathaniel, and farewell.” He hung up without waiting for a reply.

Nathaniel placed the phone back in its cradle and rose out of his chair to cross the room. He opened the door and walked down the hall to the main sitting area. Sarah was staring out the window, sitting right where he’d left her and Reed was still dead on the couch.

“Did you not wish to get some sleep?” he asked Sarah.

She turned, the dark circles under her eyes evidence of her exhaustion. “I’m
exhausted, but my mind is going a hundred miles a minute. So much has happened today, I can’t seem to relax.”

“Fair enough.
I must leave you now to take care of my nutritional needs. Feel free to order room service should you need to satisfy your own. I am going to purchase a disposable cell phone for each of us whilst I am downstairs, and I will send one up for you and Reed. With our numbers programmed into each phone, we can contact each other if we become separated. I shall return in an hour. Do not leave this room for any reason.”

He imagined Sarah staring after him
when he slipped quietly out the door of the suite. His intellect told him to dispose of her now rather than drag her into the lion’s den of the New York vampire lair, but he knew he could never carry out such a heartless task at this point. Nathaniel shook his head, realizing how soft he had become in his old age.

I
opened my eyes and sucked in a huge breath. Sarah yelped. She was sitting nearby, on a white couch identical to mine.

“Sorry.
” I sat up to look around.

“No problem,” she
said and relaxed back onto the couch cushions.

The room we were in was
super fancy. There were two open floors of space, walled in by a ton of windows. A sea of white leather couches surrounded me, and a dark wood dining set with matching bar and gold fixtures shone in the room’s bright lights. I couldn’t have imagined a more expensive looking place in my wildest dreams.

“Where the hell are we?”  I strode over to the giant windows, which looked out over a flashy city nightscape and
an amazing rooftop pool, lit up with underwater lights.

“We’re at the Palms Casino and Resort in Vegas,” Sarah replied. She sounded
tired.

I turned to her in surprise. “You mean this is
some crazy-ass hotel room? Wait a sec . . . is that our own private pool? Man.”

I spun around and spotted a spiral staircase that led to the suite’s second floor. “What’s up there?” I asked and zipped up the stairs without waiting for an answer. My feet barely made contact with each metal step
and I practically flew to the top. Wow, I felt like a million bucks after that last feeding.

At the top of the
stairs, I discovered yet another bunch of couches, with a snazzy entertainment system, huge flat-screen TV, and two massive leopard-print beanbag chairs. I threw myself onto the closest beanbag chair and rolled around in delight.
Was I dreaming?
I crossed my arms behind my head and nestled back into the chair.

“It’s not a dream,
it’s robbery,” Sarah called from downstairs.

Huh? Oh, she’d read my mind again. I hopped out of the beanbag chair and walked over to the railing. I leaned over to look down at her. “You sound kind of mad. Did something happen while I was down for the count?”

“What happened was that Nathaniel waltzed into this place like he owned it and mind-zapped the staff into giving us this psychotically expensive room for free,” she said in a huff.

“Oh,” I said, not getting why she was upset. I felt so high I was tempted to leap over the railing and land on the first level below, but instead I walked down the stairs to e
xplore the rest of the place.

The lights on the patio glinted off the surface of the pool invitingly, and I imagined going for a dip with Sarah. It could be
sexy, considering we didn’t have any swimsuits, so it was either wet clothes . . . or no clothes. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in going for a swim?” I asked her.

The look she gave me was the opposite of the enthus
iastic response I’d hoped for. “Reed, a couple of hours ago we were attacked by vampires and I thought we were going to die. Considering all the things that have happened, I don’t understand how you can be enjoying this.”