A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21)(24)

I’d never seen any creature like this before. Certain features reminded me of vampires—like its fangs, claws, and pale skin—yet it was like no vampire I’d ever seen.

Shuffling came from my left, and I turned around to see another creature moving toward me. It appeared to be in a hurry and whizzed right through me, followed shortly by a third creature. They scurried to the end of the corridor and raced up the stairs toward the upper deck.

I wasn’t sure where they were going or what they intended to do. But there was nothing else I could accomplish by staying on this boat. It seemed that Aisha would remain trapped here until fate decided to free her.

I followed the creatures to the upper deck, where I found all three standing near the bow of the boat. One of them had taken the reins and was apparently slowing the animals to a stop. Looking around, I realized that we had already reached the harbor.

I didn’t know what the trio wanted to do in The Tavern—perhaps stop over for the night and rest until morning. Somehow, I found it hard to imagine them booking a room in the Blue Tavern’s guesthouse. For that matter, they didn’t appear to be the type of creature that would be welcome in The Tavern at all.

Pushing aside thoughts of them, I floated off the ship and drifted down toward the moonlit shipyard. I turned my mind to thinking about how exactly I was going to glean information about the nearest gate.

Heading to the pub ought to be my first option. That was the hub of this island, where most travelers passed through. In theory I could just hover around there for as long as it took to overhear something.

When I arrived outside the building, it was packed, as it always seemed to be. Although I hardly needed to worry about finding a seat anymore—which was a good thing, for there were none. I wandered around the tables, getting as close to the patrons as I wanted, and listened to their conversations. I saw no familiar faces other than the man tending the bar. He’d been here the night I’d arrived in the guest house, the same night I’d met Julie.

As I glanced over to the same table where I’d first spoken with her, a memory flooded back to me. That same night, sitting around the table next to us, had been four hooded vampires. I hadn’t paid attention to their faces much, and now I wondered if they had been the same four companions who had accosted me on Julie’s ship.

I shook away the memory. It didn’t matter anymore, anyway. Whatever Julie had been thinking, however long she had been planning her deception… it was all irrelevant now.

I continued drifting slowly around the pub, moving from table to table, until morning arrived and the crowd began to thin a little. So far, I hadn’t heard anything that could help me. Most who’d sat in the pub that night seemed to be wanderers, and although they’d spoken of recent travels, none mentioned a voyage to the human realm.

It was so bizarre to be here in this supernatural world, a world that only a tiny fraction of the human population was even aware of. I should have been fascinated by these creatures’ tales, and yet once I’d realized a conversation wouldn’t lead to the information I sought, it faded into the background, mundane and uninteresting.

All I wanted now was to return home. It was what my soul ached for, even though I’d already had premonitions of how painful it would be.

Chapter 6: Ben

I waited all day in the pub, listening to the conversations of the myriad of supernatural species coming in and out, until evening arrived. Now that it was more crowded again, I stood up to avoid someone coming over to my bench and sitting right on top of me. I settled into the same routine as the night before, wandering about the tables, listening and trying to catch hint of a traveler who might be intending to pass through a gate.

It was toward the end of the night, having still had no luck in overhearing mention of a gate, that I decided to leave this room and head upstairs, toward the bedrooms. Since the crowds were thinning from this place anyway, perhaps I might overhear some useful information in the guest rooms above, like comrades discussing plans before they drifted off.

I headed toward the exit and reached for the door handle before my hand just sank right into it. Straightening, I stared at the door in front of me before walking headfirst into it. I winced a little, half expecting my etherealness to disappear just as my head made contact with the wood. But I sank through it, emerging on the other side, at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the guest rooms. The staircase I’d climbed only days ago with Julie.

I drifted higher and higher until I arrived at the very top floor. I figured that I could start wandering around here and then make my way down to the lower levels.

To my right was a large window—the same one I’d taken refuge at to get away from the scent of human blood. I looked out through the glass, able to see the ocean beyond the high wall that surrounded the island. The window was closed, but judging from how the trees were swaying, there was a gentle breeze. I wished that I could feel the wind on my face right then.

Tearing my eyes away from the window, I turned around. Then I stopped in my tracks. Someone was slumped on the floor at the opposite end of the hallway. A man with a long, bushy gray beard, his eyes closed. His head hung over his chest, as though he’d fallen asleep while sitting… or was dead. Wrapped around him was a tattered brown cloak. I wasn’t sure what creature this was exactly—a vampire, a human, or perhaps something else—but whatever he was, he looked like a tramp.