“Your room is sixty-seven,” she said as we continued up the winding staircase and reached level six. I jumped up four steps at a time, quickening my arrival at my level.
I looked back at her. “Thank you again.”
She shrugged. “No problem. I’ll maybe see you around… Or not.”
Or not would be a realistic expectation.
Chapter 12: Ben
Julie disappeared up the staircase while I entered a long, wide corridor that spanned the sixth level. I was shocked at the size of the place. From outside in the square where Aisha and I had first entered, the Blue Tavern had looked like a narrow building. Now I could see that its accommodation space sprawled out across the floors of the attached buildings on either side of the pub.
At least it was big enough for the scent of human blood downstairs to not bother me so much, especially as I walked further and further down the corridor. I arrived outside room sixty-seven, pushed in the key and opened the door. I stepped into a small, basic room. There was a single bed in one corner, and a tiny bathroom attached. There was no window in this room either, and the carpets looked worn. The sheets and pillow also looked like they had seen better days, but the place seemed clean at least. Not that it mattered much. I was just glad to be on my own, away from the human and the crowds.
I stepped into the bathroom and washed my face. I glanced at myself in the mirror, relieved to see that my eyes were still green.
Don’t leave me yet, Bahir.
I felt like a walking time bomb. Not even the jinn seemed to have much of an idea as to how long Bahir could remain within me. And once he left, there’d be nothing stopping me from…
I caught myself. I needed to stop dwelling on worst-case scenarios. I just needed to hope that Aisha was fast in bringing Arron to me.
I breathed out slowly, trying to calm my racing mind.
I thought more about Arron. What it would be like meeting him for the first time since I was a newborn. I still found it hard to believe that he could be of help to us. I hoped that Nuriya had been right in assuming that he would want to do all he could to help us stop the Elders’ plan.
I lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for the next few hours, mulling over the meeting with Arron in my mind, and what solution he could possibly suggest. If he had any suggestions at all. I found myself sick of all the speculating and eventually closed my eyes.
Then my stomach lurched.
Human blood.
I could smell it again. Not a distant, diluted hint. It was strong. Too strong. As though a human was walking right by my room.
I leapt from the bed and backed up against the wall, trying not to breathe in too much of the scent.
Where is it coming from?
I wondered if it might be that same cleaning man from downstairs, now come upstairs to do his work. I crept toward the door, and clutched the handle. What if he was standing right outside? No barrier between my fangs and his throat whatsoever… Just a few steps.
I groaned in frustration and slammed my fists against the wall.
The scent was driving me insane. As much as I couldn’t risk going outside, I also knew I couldn’t remain here in this confined room, with this tantalizing aroma invading my nostrils.
If I waited much longer, I didn’t trust myself to not burst outside of the room and hunt down the human. I had to get out of here while my vision was still clear.
I twisted the door handle and poked my head out into the corridor. It was empty, to my relief. I tried to place exactly where the scent was coming from—somewhere to my left, perhaps a few doors along? I looked to my right. At the end of the long corridor was another staircase. Grabbing the key to the room, I darted out and sped toward it. I climbed the stairs, passing level seven, eight, nine, and stopping at what appeared to be the highest floor—ten. I stopped at a window in the corridor and pushed it wide open. From here, I had a view of the sea over the high wall that surrounded this island.
The blustery wind blew through the window, surrounding me. It helped to soothe my senses, diluting the atmosphere with a salty scent. The knots in my stomach loosened. I planted my arms on the windowsill and poked my head out of the window, relishing the cool breeze ruffling my hair. This was better. Much better.
A door clicked behind me, followed by the sound of a familiar female voice. “You again?”
I turned around to see Julie standing half in, half out of Room 107. A couple of damp towels hung over one arm and she had changed into a dark green nightgown. I felt awkward as I looked at her.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I think a human moved into the room right next to me or something…”
“Oh,” she said. “Wow, you really must be newly turned.”