“Wait!” Mahu put all the force into the command that he could muster, which is to say, very little force at all. Staring at Daka’s fading form, Mahu finally heard the sounds of people approaching.
When the door creaked open, Daka was completely gone. Mahu sank into the bed, eyes closed, ready to surrender to fate. Without Daka there was no reason to continue the struggle.
Voices filtered through the haze in his mind.
“Oh my, he’s worse off than I imagined.” A woman’s voice, light and airy though tinged with concern.
“Can you help him?” A young man. Gentle and timid.
“Yes, Elias. I think I can.” The woman again.
Without opening his eyes, Mahu heard her approach, sensed her presence at his bedside, but all he could think of was his lost love. His demon-halfling. He should have apologized again. He should have told Daka how much he loved him.
“Hello, Mahu. I’m Sachi.” The woman’s voice rang high and musical, her tone tender. “I hope we’ll become friends.”
Did she want him to answer? He couldn’t bear to open his eyes.I’m sorry.
A bright scent caught his attention. Blood. But more than that. Roses. The smell blossomed under his nostrils as the woman pressed her dripping wrist to his mouth.
What? Did she expect him to drink from her? A stranger?
Mahu tried to turn his head away, but the pull of the blood was too strong. He fell to its allure like water falling over a cliffside.
A spark of strength Mahu hadn’t known he possessed coursed through his veins, enough to allow him to part his lips and bite.
Her blood was like no other. Thick and coppery but with a floral bouquet of aromas. She tasted of spring flowers and sunshine, warm like a summer evening, crisp as fall leaves, pure as winter snow. Her offering brought a host of experiences, a mother giving life, a hint of the divine.
Sensation returned to his limbs, his muscles imbued with long lost strength. Clarity swept madness from his mind like a tornado wiping everything from its path, leaving a clean, black slate.
Mahu opened his eyes.
Dakarai. I will come for you.
He said the vow silently, but soul deep in the same way he’d sent the summons. He said it so Dakarai would hear. So that he’d know Mahu was all right and coming back to Egypt. A reunion, at last.
Before him, a petite young woman sat by his hip on the bed. She’d said her name was Sachi. It suited her. Emerald green eyes blazed with power, bright over her milky white skin, so pale she nearly glowed. Maybe she did glow? Looking closely, Mahu saw iridescent flecks that caught light and tossed it back as rainbows. Mesmerizing. Her dark hair was pulled away from her pretty oval face, lips turned up to a lovely smile, expression open and happy.
“Welcome back,” said Sachi cheerfully, pulling her wrist from his mouth. “Is that enough for now, or do you need more?”
Mahu didn’t know how to answer. A pleasant rolling tremor of intoxication had taken residence in his brain. His thoughts were clear, but he felt as if he were floating, all the aches and pains of illness banished.
She squinted and let out a chirp of a giggle. “I think perhaps that’s enough.”
Mahu made an effort to nod. His voice had yet to return.
Sachi was a vampire, surely, but also something else. Something more. Her blood had just driven away a fatal sickness in one feeding. The mission to the Arctic Circle must have been a success.
Mahu glanced at the other vampire in the room. Though they hadn’t met, Mahu knew who he was: Elias, Valeri’s young fledgling. Before Mahu had gotten so sick as to be bedridden, Valeri had returned to Bran Vigny boasting of ancient secrets with the melancholy lad in tow. Elias looked happier now, stronger too. He flashed a shy smile as he caught Mahu’s gaze.
Mahu returned the smile then cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said to Sachi, though the words weren’t enough. Nothing could repay the boon her blood had just granted him. “You’ve given me back my life.”
She bobbed a friendly nod. “My pleasure. I’m glad to help. How are you feeling?”
Assessing his body, Mahu discovered no more discomfort, only a jittery reserve of cooped up energy and a desire to feel the starlight on his skin. “Wonderful. Like nothing was ever wrong. Like I wasn’t a breath away from death a moment ago. How did you do it?”
“I was Fae before being transformed into a vampire,” Sachi answered the question Mahu was too polite to ask.
She continued, “My people are from another realm, a realm lost to this world several millennia ago. I don’t know why my blood cures old vampires of the aging sickness, only that it does. And I’m glad to have gotten to you in time, Mahu.” Sachi reached for his hand.
