Part 22 (1/2)
A visit to a hospital would definitely cause my dad to be notified. I planned to call him at some point, but I wanted him to think I was staying with rini again. I had warned her that she might hear from him and have to cover for me for two nights. Man, I was going to owe her when this was over.
At the first Atm I came to, I managed to withdraw five hundred lira, about three hundred bucks. I flagged down a taxi and told the driver to take me to a nearby hotel. I let the guy choose.
He had good taste-he chose a four-star emba.s.sy suites. My dried blood and bruises helped me register at the hotel. I started to explain how I had been mugged and didn't have my pa.s.sport or credit cards.
But I just happened to have cash. I smiled. The clerk quickly raised his hand. Say no more. Except he wanted me to go to a hospital. I a.s.sured him that I had already spoken to a paramedic and I was fine.
up in my suite, I quickly undressed and headed for the bathroom. I couldn't wait to take another warm shower! unfortunately, the running water opened my scalp wound wider, and I started bleeding more heavily. I had to struggle to get it to stop. In the end I used scissors and cut a towel into thin strips and tied them around my skull. That worked. The emba.s.sy suites had room ser vice, but less selection than the Hilton. I ordered a hamburger and fries. It was hard to go wrong with the basics. The waiter had just wheeled in the food when Lova materialized in front of him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted on my bed.
”I thought no one could see you but me,” I said.
”He didn't see me, but he sensed me, and it frightened him.” the excuse sounded pretty thin to me.
”Give me the carpet and my cell,” I ordered.
Lova handed over both. She continued to eye the unconscious guy. It struck me then that she was looking at him the same way I was looking at my hamburger.
”You startled him, hoping he would faint,” I said. ”You want to drink his blood.”
Lova took a step toward the man. ”I don't need a lot. Two pints will suffice. It won't harm him. He won't even remember I was here.”
”Are your kind responsible for our vampire legends?”
”We are responsible for virtually all your legends.”
that I could well believe. ”What do you do, bite him on the neck?”
”Nothing so crude. Here, let me show you.”
”No! take him in the bathroom and shut the door. Do what you have to do. But he'd better be up and out of here in ten minutes.”
”I need longer than that,” Lova said, grabbing him by the shoulders.
”No. You're only taking a pint. That's all that's safe. Plus we have to talk.”
Lova left with the man and turned on the water in the bathroom. I don't know why. My hamburger and fries were delicious. I wanted to order another round, but was afraid they would ask me where their server was.
”Well, you see, he didn't just deliver dinner. He is is dinner.” dinner.”
Lova reappeared in ten minutes and escorted a dazed room-ser vice guy out the door. Then she came and sat on my bed. Lova seemed in a better mood. We talked as I finished the fries.
”Tell me what happened,” I ordered. She explained that the Carpet of Ka emitted a powerful beacon of light and that it had not been difficult to locate. But the thugs had known exactly how to protect it. They had it locked in a bank vault.
”Are you sure it was at a bank?” I asked.
”Yes.”
”Do you even know what a bank is?”
”I know your language, for the most part. The building had the word bank bank on the side. But it was a deserted bank.” on the side. But it was a deserted bank.”
”What did you do when you first arrived?” I asked.
”As you instructed, I took pictures of everyone present. There were six young men.”
”Did you happen to hear what they were talking about?”
”Money. They were excited at the reward they would receive for the carpet.”
”Did they say who was going to pay this reward?”
”No. But I had the impression they were waiting for the person to appear.” Lova paused. ”But someone else came first and I had to hide.”
”Who was this someone else?”
A note of fear entered her voice. ”Someone who could see me.”
”How do you know he could see you?”
”It was a woman. She stared right at me, and she immediately pressed her palms together and started to invoke a spell.”
”A djinn spell?” I asked.
Lova hesitated. ”Perhaps.”
”But she was human. She wasn't a djinn.”
Lova was doubtful. ”She might have been a djinn in a human body. She built up a ball of light between her hands- what we call a pashupa. I pashupa. It's a subtle weapon. It can destroy a djinn.”
”What if it were to hit a human?”
”It would kill them instantly.”
”Tell me, is a pashupa usually bright green?”
”How did you know that?”
”I was. .h.i.t by one this evening.”
Lova's mouth dropped open. She was stunned. ”No human being could survive being struck by a pashupa.” I acted casual. ” I'm tougher than I look. What happened next?”
”I hid inside the vault. The woman knew where I was. She ordered the others to unlock it. But the moment the door swung open, I was prepared. The woman tried to hit me with the pashupa as I ran out of the vault but I was able to use the carpet as a s.h.i.+eld. Then I flew out the window.”
”Did anyone try to follow you?”
”No human could follow me. But that woman is skilled in the magical arts. She tried to attach an eye to my field.”
”An eye to your field?”
”She wanted to track me. But I knew what she was up to. I was able to expel the eye.”