Kate scowled. "How do you know? The sky is always dark here."
"I get a massive crick in my neck whenever I sleep more than twelve hours is how I know. My neck feels fine."
Olivia absentmindedly touched her neck, and it did feel okay, even better than usual. Odd, how did her first night undercover fix her chronic stiff neck courtesy of a whiplash injury which she received a few years ago in a fender bender?
Kate strolled about the chamber and gazed up at the walls, examining the scenes either woven or embroidered into the large hanging tapestries. Olivia joined her. She couldn't decide how the tapestries were created, but the intricate artwork hinted at how the Pure Bloods weren't always the stuck-in-the-muds on the lookout for fresh blood as they were perceived to be in current times.
There were hunting scenes reminiscent of medieval Europe with pageantry and happy serfs serving their lords and masters at great outdoor tables. Scenes of carnivals and festivals with entertainments similar to jugglers and acrobats, musicians serenading the elite, hinted at a people who enjoyed a good time.
Stranger still, Olivia observed scenes of blossoming gardens and verdant arbors. Tall trees grew in almost jungle-like settings, beckoning her to explore the artwork closer yet. The architecture of the buildings depicted on various tapestries displayed a wide variety of influences, some European in form, some Middle Eastern-looking, some very much like the Pueblo Indians' adobe homes of the American Southwest, and some similar to oriental pagodas.
Olivia paused in front of one tapestry and almost laughed. Pure Bloods paddling gondola-styled boats on an above-ground river or lake? Their long, thin physiques made them almost blend in with the poles they used to propel their watercraft. Funny, she'd traveled halfway across the planet and had observed mostly a semi-dry and desolate terrain with very little water or lush vegetation. Had such an Eden ever existed on BloodDark or were these scenes from an idealized existence on the vampires' long-lost home world?
Or were they scenes of vacations spent on Earth throughout the centuries... throughout the times they came and raided humanity for new slaves and fresh blood for their own D.N.A. experiments?
"You can tell a lot about a people from their artwork, can't you?" Kate said, breaking the silence. "They appear quite happy and contented in these tapestries, don't they?"
"They do, they do." Olivia nodded.
Her neck didn't ache at all, and yet somehow she sensed they'd both been asleep for much longer than twelve hours now. Had the punch been spiked? Had they been drugged? Had their hosts wanted them out of their hair for a longer period than normal to do some checking on their new guests?
Had they discovered she wasn't the real Lauren who had submitted the application?
Before Olivia could bolt toward the front door, a group of Pure Bloods entered from the back hallway.
"They're awake from their slumbers at last!" cried an elven-like Pure Blood with a wisp of a white beard on his pointed chin. He clapped his hands together as he approached. "Kate, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm Kate Hemsworth." Kate smiled and blushed. "We chatted at the welcoming party. This is Lauren."
He made a gallant bow to Olivia. "Nice to meet you, Lauren. You two are enjoying our lovely tapestry?"
"Very much so." Kate's face glowed with excitement. Olivia sensed the older woman was quite the bookworm and not used to the attention she was receiving from the scholarly-looking Pure Blood. His intense eyes probed her every expression with eagerness as they paired-off and began conversing about the tapestries, leaving Olivia with the two young adolescent males and one female of indeterminate age who appeared to be their mother.
"You must be hungry after your rest period." The female Pure Blood arched a sharp black eyebrow. Olivia nodded. "I will go tell our chefs to begin the pairing meal at once."
"Pairing meal?"
The female frowned and tapped the translator device on her wrist. "Engagement party?" she ventured, glaring at the device.
Whoa. We are moving awfully fast. Olivia tried not to feel panicked, but she thought it would take more than a day or so for the Pure Bloods to make their final picks and settle the deal as it were. She smiled and gestured she was fine being left with the attention of the two young males in the grand hall as the matron wandered off to organize the meal.
It was then Olivia noticed neither of her hosts wore a translator device. This could be interesting.
"I don't suppose you guys could tell me where the closest telephone is, could you? I told my folks I'd call home as soon as I arrived."
Their blank stares only confirmed the fact they didn't have a clue as to what she was saying. She grinned and rocked back and forth on her heels at a loss on how to ditch her escorts and look for her luggage where she had stashed a communication device disguised as a make-up compact to alert Annara she was safe and sound and on the job. She was about to turn and head back toward the dormitory when a hearty chuckle followed by tinkling laughter interrupted her musings.
The wispy-bearded Pure Blood and Kate had hit it off. Olivia sighed. Maybe the pairing of Pure Bloods and humans wasn't always a bad thing? Kate and her professor had a lot in common if their animated conversation, smiles and mutual laughter were any indication. He only had eyes for her, and she appeared equally smitten with him. Too bad the vampires of BloodDark enjoyed feeding upon their mates' blood as well as their affections...
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you awoke, Lauren."
Olivia spun around. The voice, the intensity of feeling, the golden hair boy...
"Oh, hello there. I'd say good morning, but I have no idea if it is morning or not."
Damn! She was blubbering on like a girl with a crush on a movie star
