**Ch 99: The Arduous Journey

"Victoria, wake up," a faint voice calls to me. "Wake up, my love."

"I knew I sensed danger! I just couldn't identify it. Someone deliberately caused the plane crash," the blurry sound of Jack's voice sailed into my ears. "Somebody sabotage the plane's engine!"

"It's not your fault," Glenn assured him. "We'll figure out who did this later."

My eyelashes fluttered open to find myself cradled across Kai's lap as he sat on the arid ground. Peering around, I realized we crashed in the middle of nowhere, encircled by disheveled dry terrain as rocky cliffs dotted the distance.

"Welcome back, Princess!" Rome quipped, randomly popping his head into my view. "Enjoy your ten-minute nap?"

"Where are we?" I asked, ignoring his jesting query as I slowly sat up.

Glenn, Jack, and Ian were all accounted for.

"Somewhere in the Middle East. We need to seek shelter. Can you walk?" Kai responded, his thumb caressing a delicate, feathery touch against my cheekbone.

"I think so," I replied, carefully rising to my feet. "Ouch!" I hissed, wincing in pain when I moved my arm.

Rolling up my sleeve, I discovered a sharp piece of metal lodged in my skin.

"Careful," Glenn urged, quickly coming over before delicately extracting the deeply embedded thin metal shard from my arm.

Blood soaked my long sleeve as Kai and Ian backed away, hissing at the scent of fresh blood.

"Great! As if being stranded wasn't enough, now I'm injured around five deadly vampires," I sighed, frustrated by my unfortunate predicament.

For the meantime, Jack, Glenn, and Rome were able to control their thirst until their hunger kicked in, but Kai and Ian were a different story. Ian was still mastering his control, and Kai had recently been drained of blood, making him extra sensitive to the scent of mine since he never cared about control. So I knew Kai was feeling twitchy to feed on me.

"It's alright. We'll take it slow and get through this," Glenn reassured me, tearing a piece of his sleeve to tightly wrap around my arm, aiming to stop the bleeding.

"Perhaps removing that wasn't wise," Rome observed, fixing his gaze on Kai and Ian's struggle as their red eyes shone with desirable hunger.

"It needed to come out! She can't risk an infection out here!" Glenn retorted, gently securing the makeshift bandage around my wound.

"We used to live here. I know a place where we can rest and get your wound properly stitched," Kai claimed, flashing me a reassuring smile, though he kept a cautious distance as the smell of blood made him wary of getting anywhere near me.

"Shouldn't we be careful?" I asked, feeling a sense of wariness.

Aside from Kai and Ian fighting their instincts to feed on me, other dangers still lurk in the desert.

"The most we might encounter out here would be terrorists, but they're no match for us," Jack reassured, attempting to give me a sense of security.

As an aspiring archaeologist, I'd be thrilled to explore the Middle Eastern deserts, but my condition as a stranded, injured pregnant woman, I was acutely aware of the potential dangers.

"Terrorists are mere food to me," Kai mused, licking his lips at the thought of feeding on someone.

"Still..." My voice trailed off as I looked ahead, studying the rock formations and cliffs ranging throughout the dull landscape that awaited our journey.

"Relax, my love. We used to keep our granted humans and mates alive in far worse conditions. This will be like a stroll in the park," Kai replied, managing his distance when he went to step forward, but the smell of blood halted his tracks from reaching me.

"It's a pretty far park," I sighed, lamenting my injured and vulnerable state while pregnant.

"Rome and I can take turns carrying you," Glenn kindly proposed, hoping to ease my stress.

"I'm ready," with that affirmed, we set out on our arduous journey.

"Nothing like the old days," Rome whimsically mused as we trudged on our seemingly endless journey.

Walking beside him, Glenn agreed, "It does bring back memories."

Throughout our trek, Jack stayed ahead while he kept a watchful eye on Ian, who remained beside him. While I took periodic breaks to sit down, they'd each take turns to hunt for a critter to satiate their hunger.

Anytime I felt parched for water, Rome miraculously managed to bend it from the arid ground for me to drink. True to their word, he and Glenn took turns carrying me whenever I needed a respite. As our hike stretched over the endless miles, my pace gradually became a hindrance, causing everyone to slow down. They couldn't just whisk me to the shelter site because I couldn't withstand their faster speed in my current condition. At some point, Kai eventually walked alongside me once he felt he had more control over his hunger.

About an hour later, my feet swelled and I felt overwhelming exhaustion, so I stopped to sit on a rock, halting everyone in their tracks.

"How are you holding up?" Kai asked, delicately kissing the side of my head.

"I need... a rest," I heaved a heavy breath.

At random, he scooped me up in a bridal style. "We're almost there, so we'll take the fast route," Kai warned before darting off.

Just as I felt an unbearable wave of sickness, he stopped dead, and I stumbled out of his arms to vomit over a rock. After I was done, I noticed we were surrounded by the ruins of what might have been a small palace. Over the centuries, mainly the weather had reduced the structure to piles of rubble, although some walls and pillars still stood in random places. The architecture seemed Egyptian, but the lack of hieroglyphs on the pillars or walls didn't provide any information to confirm my theory.

"What is this place?" I whispered in awe, wandering into what remained of a grand, carved edifice.

"This could be an undiscovered civilization. If only I had my excavation tools, I might be able to determine who lived here," I mused aloud, brushing dust off a wall embellished with plated blue jade.

Other than spotting scattered relics of pottery and ancient shelving, the interior was mostly empty.

"My love, stop excavating," Kai's voice echoed inside as he entered. "I could sketch you a diagram of the construction layout on the dirt if you like."

I turned to him, puzzled, "Do you mean to say you knew the people who once lived here?"

"I did," Kai replied with a smile, igniting a sparkle of fascination in my eyes.

"Do tell," I urged, my curiosity piqued as a small chuckle escaped his lips.