Chapter Seven
After a long night of passion and a lot more work than expected, Gabriel and I face a new day full of new tactics. He suggested returning to the hotel room that first night to look around and see if he can figure out anything useful about what happened there. Back to the scene of the crime—or should I say, the scene of my un-vamping. So, here we are, back at the hotel that’s seen better days and worse guests, and the receptionist is giving us the ‘you can’t handle the truth’ vibe when Gabriel requests to rent the same room I woke up in a few days ago.
I shake my head, staring at the young woman who reminds me of a Disney princess with her wavy blonde hair and perfect makeup. She sits behind a desk, not even acknowledging us as she types something into the computer screen.
When she refuses to answer his question, he adds, ”We rented that room on our wedding night. The wife and I just want to spend some quality time in the place where it all began.”
”Look, I”m sorry, but that room isn”t available,” she replies sharply, turning around to face him with a sour look on her face. Her eyes land on Gabriel first, and then they wander over to me, and there”s some nervous recognition there. The corners of her lips pull down into a frown. ”This isn”t a good area for... someone like you. Maybe you should go somewhere else?”
Someone like me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? She knows something, I can tell. Her demeanor has shifted from annoyed to almost terrified now that she”s looking at my face. ”I need to rent that room,” I say firmly.
The young woman gasps, clutching the computer monitor like it will protect her. When I move closer, she holds up one hand as if she”s about to push me away and scurries out of her chair. It clatters loudly behind her as she steps back, causing a few heads to turn our way. They look over quickly but then return to whatever business they were involved with. No one seems to care about us.
”I”m sorry,” she stammers. ”It”s already been rented. Check with the manager if you don”t believe me.”
”Listen, lady,” I start, but Gabriel places a hand on my shoulder.
”It”s all right,” he says. ”We”ll find another hotel. Thank you, Miss. Have a nice day.”
She offers him an uncertain smile before returning to her computer screen. When we walk away, I can feel her eyes on us the whole time until we step out the door. He leads me back to the parking lot, but he doesn”t head for his car. Instead, he heads down the hallway and toward the rooms, keeping track of the room numbers. ”Don”t suppose your life as a vampire gave you a reason to learn how to pick locks?” he asks without looking at me.
My right cheek lifts as I smirk. ”As a matter of fact...”
When we get to the door, it takes me less than five seconds to jimmy the lock open, and we slip inside. It looks like any other hotel room you would see anywhere, and it”s in the same condition as when I left it. Blood is still stained on the carpet, and the door to the adjoining room is still wide open. Two queen-sized beds, one with a green floral pattern and the other with white bedding, and neither have been slept in. The unfamiliar suitcase is still sitting on top of the green comforter.
Gabriel paces around the room, studying everything with a careful eye. He steps into the bathroom to take a look and then moves over to the black case. He picks it up carefully and sets it on the counter before opening it slowly. It”s filled with paperwork. He grabs a handful of it, and underneath is a cell phone. My cell phone. I snatch it up, intent on contacting Drake, but it”s totally dead. At least I have it now. I can charge it back at Gabriel”s place.
”Do you recognize this?” he asks, holding up one of the papers he removed from the bag.
It”s a photo of me standing outside our clan”s estate. It”s a shot taken from the other side of our iron fence. I was about to get into my car when they took it. I recognize the outfit as the one I wore on the day I left for Italy. The caption below it reads: ”Marina Marchesi (19 pre-turning), daughter of Don Marchesi, murdered by vampires.”
He shuffles it behind another photo, this one also of me and dated two years ago. It looks like it was taken somewhere downtown—a restaurant maybe. I”m sitting at a table across from Lola, the queen of vampires. All in total, there are ten photos of me taken over a span of five years. My stomach churns as I realize what this means. This isn”t just some stalker who has been watching me for months or even a few weeks. He has had his eyes on me for years.
”What else is in there?” I ask, swallowing the bile that creeps up my throat.
Gabriel sets the photos down on the bed and focuses on the other papers he”s found. ”This is their manifesto,” he explains. ”It goes into great detail about how they believe vampires are evil monsters who shouldn”t exist and should be hunted down. There are several diagrams and pictures of... well, I suppose you don”t need to see any of those.” He grabs a few more sheets from the bag and places them on top. ”But this part here seems interesting. It”s a list of names.”
He holds out a sheet for me, and I look it over. There are a dozen names listed, mine included. ”These are all vampires. I know or have at least heard of all of them. They”re all connected to Drake. This group must be targeting vampires that are closest to the royals. My entire clan.”
He picks up another sheet that”s titled ”Shadow Extractor Locations” and holds it up next. There”s an address on one end and then a series of coordinates on the other, each one leading to a different city around the globe. ”This must be their headquarters,” he says.
”We need to get this to my clan,” I state. ”They can handle these guys. We need to get back to your place so I can charge my phone and call Drake.”
”Right,” he agrees. ”We should probably reach out to Emily as well. She has one of their soldiers in custody, and this information should help her to get more out of him. He might know what happened to you and how to reverse it.”
I let out a shaky breath and stuff everything back in the case. We”re getting somewhere. This could be good news. It could also be bad. Anything could happen, but now we know that these guys aren”t just some weirdos on the internet who think vampires are evil and should all die. No, they”re organized, and it”s going to take something serious to bring them down. If these people want my kind dead, then they must be targeting me for a reason—something I don”t yet understand. But I will find out. That, I promise myself.
”Hey,” Gabriel whispers. ”It”ll be okay.” He puts his hand on my arm, rubbing it gently with his thumb. The warmth of his touch seeps into my skin, reminding me that I”m not alone anymore. Having him here makes me feel like there”s hope that maybe I can overcome this after all.Maybe I can figure this whole thing out with help from a human who doesn”t want to see me killed.
It would be nice if it were so simple, but as he takes the bag from my hands and moves away toward the door, I realize nothing is ever going to be simple when it comes to the supernatural life I live. I’m destined for absurdity.