“Again?”
“It happens all the time now.” Bliss told Schuyler about the nightmares she was having and the dizzying experiences of waking up and finding herself in places where she had no memory of going. “I’ll just wake up and I’ll be somewhere else, with no idea where I am. I guess it’s all part of the transformation,” Bliss said.
“Yeah, it’s happened to me too. Not as dramatic as what you’ve described, but a couple of weeks ago I blacked out. More like a hibernation, Dr. Pat said.” Schuyler explained her condition as she led Bliss inside the elevator.
“Mine are pretty short, and it’s part of the memory flashbacks, except I don’t seem to remember anything,” Bliss explained, looking relieved that she wasn’t the only one who suffered from the episodes.
“I guess we just need to deal with it.”
“Kingsley said there are tricks to coping with it. He’s going to show me how.”
The elevator arrived in the lobby, and as the doors opened, Jack Force entered. He was wearing a black Christie-Best “guest” sticker on his lapel with 10TH FLOOR written on it.
“Oh, hey,” he said, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“Don’t tell us . . .” Bliss said, grinning. “Jack Force, super-model! Can you show us Blue Steel?” she joked, quoting from Zoolander.
“Shhhh,” Jack said, smiling sheepishly. “It’s not my idea. But they need guys for some upcoming shoot. Chantal’s a friend of my mom’s, and well, here I am.”
“We just saw Chantal,” Bliss said, keeping the conversation afloat since Schuyler was too shy to speak to him directly.
“So I guess I’ll see you guys at the shoot.” Jack grinned.
“Yeah right,” Bliss said. “I don’t think so. I fainted when she took my picture, and Schuyler didn’t even get a Polaroid. I don’t think there’s any chance of either of us getting picked.”
It was difficult to determine who looked more disappointed—Jack or Schuyler—as the elevator doors shut.
TWENTYFIVE
“On the first floor, past the Temple of Dendur, among the sarcophagi in the Egyptian antiquities section, there is a gold and lapis snake bracelet that once belonged to Hatshepsut. I would like you to bring it back to me,” Lawrence said, holding up a stopwatch. Schuyler and her grandfather were standing in his study, one of the many rooms that Lawrence’s return had opened. Already, her grandfather had commissioned contractors and architects to restore the mansion to its former glory, and the sound of construction on the facade—drilling, pounding, hammering—was a daily disturbance. But the inside of Lawrence’s study was as soundproof and quiet as a tomb. It was the third day of her training. A week ago, Lawrence had been appalled to discover that The Committee had done almost nothing to teach the newest crop of vampires how to control and use their powers. Schuyler told him that the most they ever did was read a bunch of books and meditate.
“No one has undertaken a Velox test?” he had asked, raising his eyebrow in consternation.
Schuyler shook her head. “What’s that?”
“Or learned the four factors of the glom?”
“No.” Schuyler shook her head.
“Then none of you have any idea how to counter a Silver Blood attack,” Lawrence said testily.
“Um. No.”
Lawrence was greatly disturbed, and with the clock ticking—Charles Force’s adoption petition was winding its way through the family court bureaucracy—who knew how much time they would have together? Vampire lessons had formally begun. “If you want to know how to defeat the Silver Bloods, and find out who or what is responsible for their return, you will have to learn how to use your Blue Blood knowledge and abilities first.”
Her grandfather had decided to begin with the Velox, or speed test.
“Being swift is not enough,” Lawrence lectured. “You must be so fast that you are undetectable. So fast that you do not set off alarms. So fast that no one can see you. Most Red Bloods think of this as “invisibility.” But this is not a real trait. In fact, there is no such thing as invisibility. It is just that we are so fast, we are undetectable to the human eye. Once you master the art of Velox, you will be able to be anywhere you want in a blink of an eye. The Silver Bloods are swift—that is one of their greatest powers. So you must be faster than they, if you are to survive.”
He gave her the instructions on how to find the bracelet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Snake bracelet. Gold and lapis. First floor. Egyptian antiquities. Among the sarcophagi.
“Go,” Lawrence said, holding up the stopwatch. Schuyler disappeared.
Before it had even clicked to the next second, Schuyler had reappeared.
“Better,” he said. Several days ago, it had taken her two minutes to complete the task.