Thirst No. 3 (29 page)

“Hello, Sita. Hi, Seymour,” she says.

Seymour gushes. “I didn’t know you knew my name.”

“Sita’s told me all about you. Come in, please.”

Paula wears white shorts and a pink top. Her legs are deeply tanned. She’s aged since we last met, which is only natural after fifteen years. Yet I can tell most of the lines on her once-smooth complexion are due to stress. Nevertheless, she is still striking, with her long black hair and large dark eyes. She has incredible lashes; she can convey a dozen subtle moods in the way she bats
them. She also has one of the most lovely voices I’ve ever heard. She can disarm most people with a few words.

We sit in her living room. In the back, I hear John playing a computer game—the firing of electronic weapons, the howls of the special-effect villains as they die. I don’t know what I expected John to be doing when we arrived, but playing games was not one of them.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” Paula says when we’re all seated with cups of tea. She’s an expert when it comes to herbs. Her teas are not only tasty but healing. “Why didn’t you call and say you were coming?”

“I was afraid you’d say no,” I reply.

“Sita, you’re one of my oldest friends.”

“I’d say she’s definitely your oldest,” Seymour puts in.

Paula smiles. “I can’t argue there.”

“Is John here?” Seymour asks.

“He’s in the middle of a computer game. You don’t want to interrupt. He gets . . . annoyed. He should be done in a few minutes.”

“How has he been?” I ask.

“Fine.”

“Yourself?”

Paula shrugs. “Life doesn’t get much nicer than Santorini. We’ve been very happy here.”

“I’m glad,” I say.

“Tell me about your life,” she asks me.

I hesitate, then glance at Seymour. “Tell her. The last three months.”

Seymour gives a brief summary, starting with my meeting with Teri and Matt and finishing with my catastrophic interrogation of Numbria. Paula listens closely, although she shifts her focus in three directions: on Seymour, on me, and out the window. The last disturbs me, because I know when she gazes into nothing she sees the most. I suspect her unpredictable power to see the future has suddenly awakened.

A chill runs through the room. In the back John stops playing, and there is only silence. I feel it and it scares me. It’s not why I came to see her. I’m not there for a reading. I wouldn’t mind some comfort, of course, to be told everything is going to be all right. But I don’t want the truth, no, never, no one wants to hear that.

For some reason, a quote of Krishna’s comes back to me:

“No one awakens in the morning thinking they will die that day. Not a saint or a sinner. Not even a condemned killer. We all know we’re mortal, and yet we all believe we’ll live forever.”

Suzama would have known I’d come to see her out of fear. And when Paula looks at me, I sense she sees the same thing—that I’m afraid I’ll die in Arosa.

When Seymour finishes, Paula sits quietly. John has finished with his game but hasn’t come out to greet us. His mother gestures for Seymour to go to him.

“He’s waiting for you,” she says. Seymour, suddenly unsure of himself, glances at me and then retreats to the back room. Paula stands and slips on a pair of sandals. “Let’s walk to the beach.”

The sea isn’t far, but when we reach it, Paula removes her sandals and heads north, letting the waves wash over her bare calves. I do likewise; the water feels wonderful. We walk a ways, but at one point she takes my hand and steers us up a dusty path that leads into a sheltered cove where a few old pillars lie worn and broken. We sit on a boulder beside the relics. They are too big, too heavy, to steal.

I continue to feel tense. Paula lets go of my hand and looks at me and shakes her head. “Why did you do it?” she asks.

Seymour’s summary was short but detailed.

“Why did I give Teri my blood, or why did I say hello?”

“From the moment you said hello, you were going to give her your blood.”

“That’s not true.” I pause. “At least, I didn’t plan on giving it to her.”

“Talk to me about it, Sita.”

Her simple request shakes me to the core. “You have a son. He’s your whole life. He fills your days. I had two daughters. Both were taken from me. More than anyone, you know about my loneliness.”

“You’ve been lonely all your life. Why try to fill the void now?”

“The older I get, the more I feel the need for comfort.”

“That’s no answer.”

“It’s the truth. What else do you want me to say?”

“You knew that bringing Teri into your life would bring risk.”

“Yes.”

“It’s unlike you to be selfish.”

“I don’t know. I can be the most selfish person on earth.”

“Sita . . .”

“What?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know! She was there, she was beautiful, and I knew she was related to me. She even looked like me. I couldn’t resist. Of course, I knew it was a mistake to talk to her, that it would only lead to us getting involved. I’m not saying it was innocent. I planned to have a relationship with her.”

“One you began with a murder.”

Seymour had told her about Danny Boy.

I harden my voice. “I killed that guy to protect her.”

“It sounds like Matt can protect her.”

“I had to be sure. Besides, the guy was a rapist and a murderer. What difference does his death make? The world is better off without him.”

“You haven’t changed, have you? You’re still so confident in your ability to judge. I’m surprised you still come to me for advice.”

I go to snap at her but then remember who I’m talking to, who she might be. I feel Suzama so near when I sit beside Paula. Their voices, their words—they echo together inside me. There’s a gentleness to her manner but a harshness to her gaze. Sitting so close to her, I feel pinned beneath a microscope. I cannot lie to her, there would be no point.

I lower my head. “I’m lost. I need your help.”

“You want me to peer into your future?”

“No. I know you hate doing that.”

“I don’t hate it so much as I can’t control what I see.”

“Don’t you always see the truth?”

Paula shakes her head. “The future’s in flux. I see possibilities.” She gestures to the worn pillars. “From our point of view, nothing is set in stone.”

“Krishna could see the future. One future.”

“His point of view was wider than mine.”

“Maybe I should talk to John.”

“If he’ll talk to you.”

“Did he know we were coming?”

“I didn’t ask. But I knew.”

I mock her. “So it wasn’t really a pleasant surprise.”

“Seriously, Sita, if you’ve come for my advice, then you should heed it. Leave Teri and Matt alone. Let them live their lives.”

“What will happen if I don’t?”

“What always happens to those you love.”

“But, for good or bad, I’ve already opened the door. They’re exposed. The Telar and probably the IIC know about them. They need my protection.”

“Were you able to protect Ray? Joel? Your own daughter?”

“Kalika died trying to protect John! In case you’ve forgotten!”

“He only needed protecting because you showed up.”

“That’s a lie. I bumped into you by accident.”

“But after that you sought me out. Why?”

“You know why. You reminded me of Suzama.”

“Suzama’s dead. That was another life. You have to stop living in the past. Seymour knows that. The only reason you had Kalika was because of Lalita. And the only reason you want to talk to John is because you once met Krishna.”

“To hell with that and to hell with you! I need help! Help me!”

“Shanti can block the Array.”

I stop. “In London, when she walked in the room and touched my face, the spell broke. But Seymour didn’t tell you that. How did you know?”

“Why do you think IIC wants her dead?”

“How does she do it?”

“It doesn’t matter. She can protect you from the attacks.”

“I can’t take Shanti with me to Switzerland.”

“The Telar are located there?”

“I have a couple of leads that point in that direction.”

“You can be sure they left the leads behind on purpose.”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m probably walking into a trap. How can I take Shanti with me?”

“You decide. Brutran and the IIC are one issue. The Telar are another.”

“They appear to be enemies. Brutran said as much. I was thinking if I could pretend to help one side, and do the same with the other side, I could stir up a war between the two. Let them annihilate each other.”

“The Telar are ancient. They won’t fall for anything so obvious.”

“Did you know about the Telar?”

“Yes.”

“How come you didn’t warn me about them?”

“The world is filled with sleeping enemies. Should I wake them all up so they can come chasing after you?”

“The Telar are devotees of Suzama. They study her prophecies.”

“Suzama never spoke about them. On purpose.”

“But she spoke about John. Doesn’t that worry you?”

“Many seers in the past and the present have predicted the Second Coming. Why should that bother me?”

“I told you, the Telar take Suzama seriously. If that’s the case, they’re probably interested in John.”

Paula waves her hand. “John can take care of himself.”

“You should have told my daughter that.”

Paula stares at me in shock. “You can’t blame us for that. Everything that happened, it was either your choice or hers.”

“I didn’t choose for Kalika to die.”

“Kalika did what she had to do to protect John. But Teri hasn’t been given a choice. If you stay on your present course, she’ll die, or worse.”

“What could be worse?”

Paula stands. “That’s all I can tell you at this point. Let’s go back.”

When we reach the house, I’m disappointed to see Seymour sitting on the front porch. I know the verdict before he speaks.

“John’s started another game. He doesn’t want to be interrupted.”

Paula holds up a hand before I can speak. “The games are important to him. He’s trying to tell you it’s not a good time, Sita.”

The rejection stings. “Can we come back later?” I ask.

Paula catches my eye. “That depends on you.”

She hugs us good-bye, and even gives Seymour a kiss on the cheek. When we get in the car, I drive. He looks too blissed out to grip the wheel.

“I take it you had a pleasant visit,” I say, unable to hide my jealousy.

“He was wonderful.”

“Did you promise not to write any more crappy novels in exchange for his grace?”

Seymour tries to comfort me. “You’ll see him later.”

“Did he say that?”

“It’s a feeling I have.”

“Swell. Everyone on this island knows the future. Except me.”

“Sita—”

“Why the hell does he play computer games all day?”

“I’m not sure.”

“At least tell me he’s good at what he plays.”

“Sure. But it’s a tough game.”

“Are you saying he plays the same one over and over again?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s it called?”

“Cosmic Intuitive Illusion.” He pauses. “CII.”

“IIC spelled backwards?”

“It could be a coincidence.”

“What’s the goal of the game?” I ask.

“Survival. But all games are about that. It starts on earth and you have to fight your way out of here to higher, more exotic worlds. The ultimate goal appears to be to reach the center of the galaxy.”

“How far does John usually get?”

“He hasn’t gotten off the earth yet. He keeps getting killed.”

“But it’s a game, right? It doesn’t mean anything.”

Seymour shrugs. “He takes it awfully seriously.”

Another week goes by. Shanti and I have traveled to Arosa together and are staying in a cozy bed and breakfast. She carries a cell so I can reach her at all times in case I begin to “feel weird.” Shanti understands the IIC can send out a mental wave that can affect people at a distance. I’ve explained what it’s like without going into detail.

I’ve finally told the girl I’m a vampire. Considering her religious upbringing, she took the news well. She still loves me and trusts me. After what she saw in London, I’m beginning to think nothing can break her faith in me. The feelings run both ways. I’m as devoted to her as I am to Teri.

I don’t hide from Shanti how dangerous our mission is. She appears unafraid. There’s a kind of magic about her, a light in her aura, that makes me feel protected, although I’m
supposed to be the strong one. I trust Paula is right, that the Array cannot attack while Shanti is near.

Shanti’s face is almost healed. I cannot take the credit. My blood helped, but the plastic surgeons did the heavy lifting. With makeup, most people don’t even notice that she was once disfigured.

We’ve been in Arosa three days and no one’s knocked at our door. The town’s extraordinarily peaceful. I hope it’s not a deception. A lake sits at its center, and is surrounded on three sides by snow-capped mountains. Arosa itself is a mile above sea level. The place is supposed to be busy during the skiing season, though this summer it’s almost deserted. To me, it’s the perfect spot to collapse and rest from the traumas of the last few months.

I have come to Arosa in search of the Telar, and to see what I can learn of Yaksha’s past and his connection to this mysterious group of immortals. Of course, I don’t have a photograph of Yaksha. There were no cameras in existence when we hunted together. But I have a photographic memory, and I’ve studied under many skilled artists. I’m able to paint a picture of Yaksha that could pass as a photograph. I carry it with me each morning and evening when I go for a walk around town, and ask people if they remember him. I know this makes me an easy target for the Telar, but I’m not going to hide from them anymore.

Not all of Arosa’s population lives in the town proper. There are a few hotels located at the tree line, approximately
fifteen hundred feet above their main street. One hotel in particular catches my eye as I take a long hike on our third evening in town. So far I’ve had a dozen of the old locals tell me Yaksha looks familiar, but they’ve been unable to say when they last saw him, or where he lived.