Chapter 13: To Oz?

 

I was already awake as the sun rose behind me. I was walking to the hotel in which my secretary was staying, a place called The Inn at the Roman Forum. It was a mouthful, but the place was actually quite nice, if a little stuffy. It wasn’t too far from Saturn’s temple, either, which was a plus.

 

I sniffed as I got close. I could smell her on the air, a warm amber on lilies. I snuck up the drive until I was well into the grounds, then I approached the building and tested the stone. It was rough granite that would easily lend itself to a bit of mischief. I smiled as I put my hand on the stones and started climbing. I sniffed out my route like a bloodhound skirting carefully around the windows as I went to the top floor, very left window. I stepped in and listened. She was already up and taking a shower. I waited patiently on the balcony playing count the paparazzi.

 

By the time Syla was out of the shower, I’d already counted about 25, each in an ingenious hiding place and all asleep. I turned as I heard her twist the doorknob, watching as she went about packing her stuff. She still didn’t know I was there. I smiled mischievously as I decided that she’d had plenty of time to find me if she was going to. I lightly stepped into the middle of the room.

 

“So, Syla, what do you say about an emergency trip to France?”

 

She whipped around, her blow-dried red hair flaring out behind her.

 

“Who’s there?” I laughed at the sight of my secretary in a fighting stance.

 

“Who else would know your name when you’re supposed to be me?”

 

“Akira,” she said with relief as she straightened, “How dare you scare me like that? I could have hit you!”

 

“I knew you wouldn’t hit me, that’s why,” I smiled, “But you still haven’t answered my first question.” She thought for a moment, like she was running through the last couple of minutes.

 

“I wouldn’t object,” she finally replied, “Why do we need to go to France though?”

 

“Well, first of all,” I stated reasonably, “I’m still on my little trip,” She rolled her eyes. She didn’t think vampires existed. “And, second of all, it’s about time that we used the collection we have in the closet.” Her jaw dropped open.

 

“Now? But there’s been no press!”

 

“Since when have I ever needed extra press?”

 

“Never,” she nodded, “But I still think it’s a bad idea.”

 

“It may be,” I said with an evil grin, “But any idea that keeps DeLoupe from retaliating has merit.” I saw her eyes light up.

 

“What are we waiting for, then!” She quickly threw the last bit of her stuff into the bag. And we walked out of the room. Once we were out in the hall way, she started berating me with questions.

 

“What’s our story?”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, we’ve never been seen in public together before. What’s our story, what’s our relationship?” I smiled.

 

“I was thinking cousins.”

 

“What?” she sounded appalled, but we were rounding the last corner before the desk. “We look too much alike!” She hissed as I approached the desk.

 

“Ah, Madam Leona, how can I be of service?” The tall Italian at the desk inquired.

 

“I’m checking out, nothing more.” I smiled brightly, but he looked at me questioningly.

 

“So early? I didn’t think you’d be leaving till at least ten.”

 

“I’ve got to beat the paparazzi now, don’t I?” I nodded to Syla, who came up to my side. “My sister came to get me. It happens that we have somewhere else to be.”

 

“Ah,” the man, his name tag read Fred, exclaimed “Then all I need is the room key.” Syla slid it onto the desk where it was promptly taken. He pressed a few keys before making a slight bow. “It’s all taken care of, you may go.”

 

“Thank you,” I smiled, “I’ll see you next time I come to Rome.”

 

“We’ll be looking forward to it, Madam.” I nodded once before taking my leave.

 

“Real smooth,” Syla hissed into my ear as we moved through the otherwise quiet streets. The normally raucous crowd of paparazzi was pleasantly absent.

 

“Well, you said that being cousins wasn’t good enough. Sisters look this similar all the time, and twins even more so. We’re both female, we look exactly alike, boom: paternal twins. And please tell me you didn’t drive yourself here.” I smiled.

 

“Okay, I didn’t drive myself here,” She smiled as well, which told me that my explanation was satisfactory.

 

“Good, that means that we don’t have to back track. You open to a strange mode of transportation?” I asked mischievously. I’d never completely been myself in front of her, even though I’d told her. She hadn’t believed me of course.

 

“If it will keep us from having to walk that far, I completely approve.”

 

“Okay, follow me.” I walked the short distance to an alley and turned in, letting the heat run down my spine as I turned around. As my secretary and one of my best friends walked around the corner, I placed myself in the center of the small ray of light flowing between the buildings. I could almost see what she could as she stopped in her tracks and let her jaw drop. A long winding torso paired with large teeth and talons in complimentary shades of blue and green came together to make a classic and terrifying picture of a Chinese water dragon in a roman alley.

 

“Do you believe me now?” My voice sounded like chimes in the morning air.

 

“No, I think I’m still asleep and that I told Jared that those crawfish were bad.” Her laugh was shaky as she responded to her own joke. Her eyes were so big that I was afraid that if they got any bigger they’d fall out.

 

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” I laughed, “but I’m as real as that red hair.”

 

“Oh, in that case, I’ll just forget that five seconds ago you were a normal person.” She was edging closer; it looked like it was unconscious. Her hand was out slightly, trying to verify that I wasn’t just a vision. I stepped forward and made contact with her hand. She let out a whistling gasp. “So you were telling the truth…” She muttered under her breath as time passed, leaving us less and less time to catch our flight.

 

“This has been fun, but can we get going now? I really don’t want to have to fly us to France because we missed our flight.”

 

“Oh yeah,” She shook herself and took a step forward. “Where do I…?” Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she was going to ask.

 

“Behind my shoulders, if you don’t mind. I think I’ll shift into a Germanic dragon when we’re in the air. I’m sticking out too much for my taste.” I smiled as she froze in the process of settling onto the thin frame of my back.

 

“Sticking out…” She snorted, “Are you sure you can carry me? You look a little small for it.” She asked nonchalantly.

 

“I’m sure,” I chuckled. Then I dug in my claws, pushed off, and we were gone.

 

 

“Question,” Syla said as she adjusted to the ride, “If you can fly like this, why not just skip out on planes? It has to be cheaper.” We were in sight of the town where the airport stood, the flight having taken a lot less time than the drive.

 

“Well, there’s a side effect,” I replied, my spine moving in a wave as I swam through the sky, “The longer I fly, the hungrier I’ll be when I land. It takes as much energy to use this form and carry you as if I’d hiked the whole way with a heavy backpack on. I haven’t even had breakfast yet, which means I’ll feel like eating an entire cow when we get there.”

 

“It still seems like the gain would outweigh the lost,” she continued, “Surely what you eat when you land doesn’t cost as much as a plane ticket.”

 

“And that would be where you would be wrong. If I fly too far, say over the ocean, then the hunger won’t wait until I land. I’ll be driven insane by hunger until I attacked something. Normally it would be an animal, but if I’m not past the sea, or otherwise cut off from easily available prey, and a human was in a boat or walking along…” I suppressed a shiver with a gulp, “Let’s just say it wouldn’t be good, and leave it at that.”

 

“You mean…” I felt her shiver in the same way I would have, and heard her clear her throat. “I see.”

 

I eyed the early morning traffic and started to angle towards the Da Vinci Airport. I let a small stream of heat run down my back as I changed my color to match the background of buildings. We flew in silence; Syla frozen on my back as we tried to keep the movement to a minimum. When we were only a couple of blocks from the airport, I got as close as I could get, safely, to the ground.

 

“Hold on,”I warned as I let the heat run down my body once more, contracting it until I was human again, grabbing Syla as we fell the twenty or so feet into the empty lot below. I caught her as my feet made contact with the cement, the aqua cocktail dress I was wearing flaring out as gravity took back over. I set Syla back down, her eyes meeting mine as we faced each other.

 

Suddenly, my stomach growled. We busted into a fit of giggles as the tension of the fall was broken.

 

“Shall we?” I asked as I held out my arm to her.

 

“We shall.” She replied as she took my arm and we walked into the sleepy street that led to our destination.