Vampire Vacation (16 page)
Authors: C. J. Ellisson
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Fantasy, #Murder, #Paranormal, #Supernatural, #Romance, #Mystery, #Vampires, #Alaska, #Resorts, #Mysteries & Thrillers
Miranda’s still on shift at
the front desk when I enter the lobby. She’s busy working on the computer, but looks up on my approach.
“Hey Miranda, has it been slow this morning?”
“Yes. Only one blood request and nothing else. Tommy went out to Jet Natsuhara’s cabin around five.”
“Good. We’ve got a temporary employee named Asa coming up from Cy’s place in Manhattan. Could you put him in one of the cabins for now? I’m not sure how long he’ll be here or where I’ll want him long term.”
Miranda types rapidly on the keyboard in front of her, “Sure thing, I’ll put him in unit one. What time do you expect him?”
I smile at the thought of our ex-military guy tucked away next door to the Natsuhara cabin. “According to Cali, he could be here as early as nine.”
As I walk away from the front desk, another thought occurs to me. Turning back to Miranda, I say, “Call me when the airstrip reports his plane coming in.”
“You got it, Vivian. No problem.”
I smile my thanks and head to the pool in the east wing. It’s still too early to head back to our suite; maybe I’ll relax in the steam room. Rafe could use a bit more rest. Werewolf-infused vampire blood or not, he needs a few hours a night to keep healthy.
The pool wing’s double doors open at a push and the humidity from the vestibule wraps around me, transporting my senses to a tropical island paradise. The second set of doors open as the first set close behind me. Pausing a moment, I once again admire the gorgeous sight in front of me.
Large, healthy green palm trees and other tropical plants flourish in big containers with their personal UV bulbs. Cushioned chaise lounge chairs are scattered around the pool’s edge with small tables placed in between. A flapping noise breaks the relaxing spell and the flutter of green wings causes my head to whip up as I twist my body to the side.
“Braaacck! Mikey wants a biiiite.”
“Stop it, you Goddamn bird!”
I swear that flying menace is out to get me! Who would have thought a parrot could cause me so much anxiety. I’m a damn powerful vampire and this is embarrassing.
Mikey never fails to swoop down on me whenever I enter the pool area. His only saving grace is that he’s well behaved with the guests. If Rafe hadn’t insisted we have the three birds in here for atmosphere, I’d throw all of them out into the snow and be done with it.
I fell quickly out of love with the whole atmosphere idea when Rafe taught Mikey that cute little phrase. Months later, Rafe topped it by somehow training the flying bastard to pester me the second I walk in. There are times that man should count himself lucky I don’t smother him in his sleep. The fact it wouldn’t work and he’d just laugh at me must be what has kept me from trying.
The calypso music and voices bouncing off the water have thankfully made my very un-cool freak-out go unnoticed by the patrons in the pool. I think some day I’m going to set those birds free. Today they have a stay of execution as I spot the very person I need to talk to above all others.
Sheba.
Strolling past empty chairs, I casually stop at the one next to the lovely, full-bodied woman. Lowering myself into the chair next to hers, I clear my throat to get her attention and she looks over at me. Her expression looks strained as she struggles to focus on me.
“Hello. Sheba, isn’t it?”
Her inviting smile warms up her whole face, helping dispel some of the strain. Her beautiful
cafe-au-lait
skin and hazel, almond-shaped eyes speak of an exotic mix in her heritage. I can see why she was sought after to enter this seethe. Her coloring is breathtaking to behold, and I’m shocked no vampire has laid claim to her yet.
“Yes, you have a good memory, Vivian. How are you?”
“I’m good. Surprised to see you here, actually. I ran into Sal at the bar last night. He said you weren’t feeling well. Is there anything we can get for you?”
“No, but thank you. I’m not myself. Bouts of being upset and crying without quite knowing why. It’s the oddest thing really.”
“Hmm…” I think I know why she’s feeling so off. I’d bet a million bucks someone’s been messing with her head. I wonder if she’ll let me check?
“Sheba, how long have you been with Sal’s seethe?”
“Oh, about a year. I’m hoping Sal or one of the others in the family will make me a servant soon.”
She has that starry-eyed look of hope around her, and for her sake, I hope she gets her wish. If she had been a servant already, she would have been protected from whatever someone did to her. I’ve never understood the callousness of not protecting those you feed from. Then again, with more than a hundred and forty humans as my wards, all of whom I won’t touch, I’m clearly not the norm.
“I think someone may have been inside your head and tampered with your thoughts recently,” I say, deciding to cut right to the chase. A deer-in-headlights look quickly replaces her happily contented one. “Would you mind if I take a look?”
“Whhhat?”
“What you are describing,” I repeat, “sounds like someone could have been tampering with your memories. Can you tell me everything you did yesterday?”
She squints as she tries to remember. “I went bowling with the group for Sunday’s tournament, which, by the way, was a blast. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’d had so much fun.”
I smile at her praise and nod. I don’t want to stem her flow of thoughts.
“Let’s see… then next we saw a classic horror movie in the media room and afterwards, I went back to my room to nap for the festivities later…” She looks off in the distance and scrunches up her brow.
“What time do you think you went upstairs?”
“Around three, I think, but I don’t remember much after that except being upset in my room later. I was crying and I couldn’t remember why. Maybe I had a bad dream or something?”
“Do you remember any part of this dream?”
Sheba’s hazel eyes go wide for a second and her face becomes blank. The color leaches out of her skin and it looks as though she’s seeing through me rather than focusing on the here and now. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that she had her head messed with. Poor thing, someone got in there and wiped a few hours from her.
“Sheba, I’d like to help you. Do you feel comfortable letting me into your mind?”
Her vision snaps back to me while she processes my question. Whoever this bastard was, he wasn’t kind. I hope I can fix what he did.
Sal’s smooth voice echoes up from the pool. “What’s going on, Vivian? I have a feeling you’re not telling her everything she needs to know.”
Damn. That’s what I get for talking to her in an open room. Anyone here could have heard our entire conversation, and it looks like that’s exactly what happened. I glance over at the water and see Salvador’s sleek, wet body walk up the steps from the corner of the pool nearest us. His bathing suit sits low and snug on his slender hips as he gracefully moves to the foot of Sheba’s chair.
Sal’s sharp eyes hone in on me. I know I’m not going to get out of here without some careful explaining. The best defense is often an unexpected offense; here’s to hoping I can reveal as little as possible.
I face him, allowing my displeasure to show in my features. “Sal,” my tone comes out harsh, “am I right in assuming Sheba is just your companion? That no one in your seethe has laid claim to her yet?”
“Yes, that’s true. So?” His face mirrors his surprise. I caught him off guard with my vehemence or he would have not shown that much expression, I bet.
“I want you to smell her. Come close and draw in deep. Tell me what you sense.”
He looks intrigued with my question and moves to the side of her chair to comply, watching me as he does so. Sheba’s used to obeying vampires without question. She rises from her chair to stand before him to make my request easier.
As her head tilts to the side, Sal leans in and puts his face close to her neck, unceremoniously sniffing her. His head whips up, his back becoming ram-rod straight. Tension fills his body and he directs a dark angry look my way.
His voices hisses out, irritation quite clear. “She smells like
you.
How is this possible?”
In his anger, he sends his aura to push against me like an angry buzz. His dark brown eyes bleed black. He transforms from calm, pool-swimming guest to annoyed master vamp in a heartbeat. Of course, I’m not some little fledgling to be cowed with a show of power. I resist the dark urge to lash out with my own aura to push him back. I top him by about a hundred and fifty years, but despite our long association, he doesn’t know it.
I’m going to ignore his question. Sal’s smart enough to figure out the how of my scent on Sheba. That is, if he can get his dick back in his pants and stop thinking we’re going to have a pissing contest right now. I have no intention of fighting with a guest, but I have no qualms about taking him down a notch or two in his arrogance either.
“Did your maker not teach you to respect the gift this human shares with you? Her very life fuels your own and yet you offer her no protection against others of our kind.”
“You…” his face flushes with his outrage and he sputters in his haste to spew his indignation out at me. “You have no…who do you think you are? I treat her fine. She is here in your resort with me, is she not? I protect her.”
“If that’s the case, how is it that someone’s been inside her mind playing marbles and wasn’t very neat about it?” I’m calm and cool in my response, but I need to diffuse his anger and get Sheba alone somehow.
Theresa, his buxom, brunette mate, wisely chooses that moment to step in. Also dripping wet from the pool, she places her hand on Sal’s arm to calm him before addressing me. “What are you saying, Vivian? Do you think that’s why Sheba feels off? I thought maybe she was getting a cold or something.”
Theresa’s concern for Sheba sounds sincere. Her brow creases with worry and she steps from Sal’s side to place a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
“Look at me, dear. Is what Vivian saying true? Are you missing some points in time from yesterday?”
Sheba looks uncomfortable under our scrutiny. She pulls back into herself. Her arms come up to wrap around her body and a shudder passes through her. “I’m not sure… can either of you tell?” Sheba turns to Salvador, hoping he’ll come to her rescue.
Ah, and now the moment I’ve been waiting for. Damn, Sal is not going to be happy with me in the next few seconds. Hopefully, he’ll shake it off and we can talk it out later, like two civilized bloodsuckers.
I rise from my seat and draw up to my full height. I now allow my aura to come to the surface and I push gently against Salvador’s. His face shows his shock while I keep my own expression perfectly neutral. There’s no need to rub this in anymore than necessary.
The tension in the air fairly crackles from the power we’re exuding and the unknown of what the next moment holds. I adapt the formal speech associated with an act of importance, hoping it will dissolve the barrier between us and allow him to think clearly.
Extending my hand to Sheba, I bow slightly to Sal then turn to face the young woman. “I request your presence in a formal audience, and I implore you to honor my desire. You have ingested my blood and I lay claim to that which runs through your veins.”
Sheba’s jaw drops open as a gasp emits from both Sal and his mate. Sal and I lock gazes and I can see some of his anger drain away, replaced by a look of loss.
His quiet voice holds a note of hope. “You have not fed from her yet then?”
“No, and I will not. I do not feed from our guests. You should know that in the fifty-odd years you’ve been coming to my properties.”
He smiles weakly at me. “I’m finding there are lots of things I was unaware of in those fifty years. You hide very well.”
I pull my aura back in and present them with the picture they all know so well: the lush, redheaded vampire who feels only about a hundred or so years old.
“Hiding my power was never done to deceive you—only to help you relax.”
No more words need to be spoken. I take Sheba’s hand to lead her from the pool. As I’m leaving, I can’t help but deliver one last thought, hoping I can make this four-hundred-year-old vampire master look at his people in a different light.
“If you care about them, you should mark them as your own. They are not pets but human lives entrusted to you in the very dangerous world
you
brought them into. You risk losing that which you do not honor accordingly.”
His head flashes up and heat fills his black eyes.
Ah, there I go again, making friends everywhere I go. The way I feel right now, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if we lose a steady customer. Hell, it’s not like we need the money. His arrogance caused this woman some considerable pain. Now it’s up to me to fix it.
Can I repair the damage or is she better off the way she is?
I’m going to start questioning Sheba gently and I need a calm quiet place to do so. Leading her back through the lobby, I head toward our private suite of rooms behind the kitchen. We enter the hotel kitchen and find Paul, whom I nod a greeting to as he prepares a bloody mary with bagged blood for a vampire guest. He returns my greeting with a more reserved nod of his own. Looks like the poor bugger still feels the effects of last night.
“Paul, would you mind preparing breakfast for Rafe and having it ready by 7:30?”
“Sure thing. What would he like?”
“His usual: sausage, a two-egg veggie omelet, and rye toast—heavy on the butter.”
Paul shakes his head. “I don’t know how a man can eat like that four times a week and not have a heart attack.”
I smile elusively and reply. “Good genes, I guess.” Remembering Jonathan’s appointment with us for this morning, I add, “Oh, and could you make a rare steak with lots of potatoes, and a four-egg meat omelet, as well? Jonathan is coming by for an early morning meeting.”
“You got it.”
Sheba and I continue through the kitchen to a security door nestled in a corner by the walk-in fridge. At a swipe of my key, the door opens into a narrow hallway. While Rafe and I enjoy our privacy, it is not unheard of that we bring people back to visit. We both love having our own space and this suite occupies the rest of the west wing, with the kitchen and small dining room taking up the front. That makes this more like a private apartment within the much larger building.
The hall opens into a comfortable living room and beyond lies our small kitchen. I gesture to the seating area for Sheba to help herself to a seat.
“I’d like to talk with you a bit before we begin,” I say. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks.” She lowers herself to the couch and looks up at me with big eyes. “Is this going to hurt?”
Very good question and I don’t have an answer for her until I see for myself the extent of the damage.
“I’m not sure, Sheba, it may. Do you want me to return your memories to you if I can fix things, or would you feel better not knowing?”
She meets my eyes with the first hint of a backbone in her gaze. “Of course, I want to know what happened. Who wouldn’t?”
“You say that now, but let me tell you what we found last night before you decide.”
I fill her in on finding the corpse and Rafe’s discovery of the wallet. Hard to believe it was only thirteen hours ago. Her eyes fill with tears when I mention the victim’s name.
“Are you sure? John Pierre Vaughn?” The first tear spills down her cheek.
“Yes, did you know him?”
“He’s a member of our seethe. A companion like me. But he didn’t come on the trip with us.” She shifts in her seat, nervous from the last revelation.
“Would there be any reason he would come here if he wasn’t included in the invite?”
Most master vampires like to leave all the cares of their seethe behind, humans and lesser vampires alike, and travel with a small retinue. The MacKellans, unlike Salvador’s group, are rare in that they brought three vampires with them on their trip.
Sheba twists her hands in her lap, distress starting to mar her smooth visage. “John Pierre had shown a lot of interest in me lately and Sal didn’t want him to distract me from my fun here.”
Hmm, isn’t that interesting?
“Why would Sal worry about distracting you? Aren’t you happy with them?”
“No, no, I am. But John Pierre…well, he’d been talking of leaving the family and…”
“Yes?” I’m on the edge of my seat here. I know she’s nervous, but if she doesn’t spit it out soon I’m going to scream.
She heaves a great sigh and collapses into the back of the couch. “He wanted me to join him and asked me to marry him. I didn’t feel the same way about him and had to break it to him before we left.” The tears start in earnest now, spilling down her cheeks in rivulets. “I guess none of that matters now, does it? You’re sure it was him?”
“I’m not sure of anything. We can get you a picture later to confirm.”
Yeah, after I defrost the body and take one. I’ll get right on that, honey. What the hell was I thinking making that offer?
Maybe I’ll let Sal ID him and he can confirm it for her. I’d hate the last time she sees him to be a picture of him frozen solid. But wait, who am I kidding? She could very well have been there when the murder took place and saw it all. If I can restore her memories,
that
will be what she remembers last.
Ugh, this is going to suck, and not in a good way.
“How can you help me get my memory back from yesterday?” Sheba says.
“Have you had a vampire bite feel exquisite and bring you pleasure?”
She throws her head back and laughs. “Why else would I be here? For their sunny disposition and giving natures? It’s all about the bite, baby.”
Well, that certainly tells me a lot about Sheba and her seethe now, doesn’t it? They sound like a bunch of groupie fangbangers. To each their own. I’ll keep my judgments to myself. Or at least, I’ll try.
“Okay, then, glad we got that covered. My point was, the vampire ‘rolls’ your will under their own with their mind and that’s how you feel the intense sensations. Rolling you under their control is another way to say they’ve invaded your mind.”
Her face sobers and she straightens up. “You mean any of you can go in my head at any time?”
Could she really be this dumb? Apparently she is, and Sal must prefer to keep his food that way. Not to my taste, but, eh, I know I’m not the average vampire.
“Never look us in the eye, Sheba, and you’ll be safe. I can’t believe after a year, you didn’t know that.”
“I guess I got caught up in the lifestyle.” She quickly looks away and down at her hands, wringing them in her pool wrap. “You know, the big house, the clothes, no need to work… All that great sex was only the icing on the cake.”
She has a dazed look to her, as if all the events in her life are taking on a new significance.
“Finally see you’re playing with more then you can handle?”
Her gaze sharpens and she looks at me with something akin to dislike on her lovely features.
People rarely thank you for opening their eyes up to the lies they are comfortable living with. Seems the realization of her party life is starting to hit home, and she might be looking to place blame. Yeah, God forbid she look in the mirror for that one.
“I have a feeling Sal has protected you from a lot of the true nature within the seethe. Shielding you from family politics and power plays. He made sure you remained untouched by the inherent darkness within a group of vampires. Some may consider that admirable, but I think it’s a gross injustice to you. Now can you understand why John Pierre might have wanted to leave?”
She doesn’t answer my obvious implication, dismissing it and moving on to one of her own. “So, you think I might have been there when he was killed, don’t you?”
I hold back the insane urge of wanting to roll my eyes. Her beauty made me want to hope for the best, but she is starting to sound more and more like an opportunist—happy to get a good lay and a free ride. I know I can’t save the world, and I know some people get exactly what they have coming to them, but no matter what I think, Sheba did not deserve to have her mind trashed like a house of cards. Damn Sal and his selfishness.
“Yes,” I answer. “I think it’s a strong possibility that you saw something and the killer had to silence what you know. In the bigger picture, you’re lucky he didn’t kill you too.”
It’s apparent by the shock on her face that this thought had not occurred to her. “Could I be in danger? Could the killer come after me?”
The laugh spills from my throat before I have a chance to contain it. Stupid people do that to me sometimes, make me lose myself and forget my decorum.
“Let me get this straight,” I say, gasping for air, “you live with vampires and let them feed from you but now you’re worried about the danger you could be in? Oh, darling, how old are you?”
“Twenty-two,” she answers, not meeting my eyes.
“Old enough to know that nothing in life comes for free and you should stop selling your ass. Face it, that’s what you’ve been doing for a year now.” There goes my short-lived attempt not to judge. “Hasn’t it occurred to you that if you want to be taken seriously by Salvador and the rest of the seethe, you have to prove your worth beyond that of donating blood?”
“Like how?”
Oh. My. God. I think she’s serious.
“Get a job or work within the seethe to better it and protect it. Make a difference to them and stand out. If you don’t, you’ll be forever looked at as food and not worthy of any other title in their eyes. They’ve been keeping you like a pampered pet for a year and you let them.”
“I… I hadn’t… ” She hangs her head and fingers the pretty beads on her silk sarong. “You’re right. It was too easy to take and not really pay attention. I feel like a fool.”
“No offense, honey, but you’ve been playing the fool. These are not some characters from a movie and this life isn’t glamorous. Vampires try to blend in like regular people with jobs living night to night and fighting to not misstep and be uncovered for what they really are. They form the family to protect each other and to care for the ones they love, but companions like you come and go. Have you talked to anyone who’s left the seethe?”
That question gives her pause. It never fails to amaze me how many young people get roped into this lifestyle thinking about the books they’ve read or the movies they watch. There are no Goth mansions on the outskirts of the big cities. No bodies drained of blood scattered across New Orleans. There are no cults having massive blood and sex orgies in small towns in the Midwest. Wouldn’t people notice that sort of thing? I’d think it would make the evening news somewhere.
Sheba collects her thoughts then raises her head to answer my previous question. “Yes, I have seen some of the others who left. I know they are safe.”
“I never doubted they were safe. Most would have a family or friends who would call the cops if they disappeared, unless the master prefers runaways and street people. But more important, did they remember you?”
I can see she’s slowly figuring out where I’m going with this. She pulls some strength from inside, straightening her back before responding.
“Yes, they did.” Her face scrunches up in an effort to recall the details. “But they weren’t the same. They didn’t remember much about the house or our lives there. I thought they were pretending or maybe embarrassed by some of the things we had done together with Sal and Theresa.”
Good, that tells me Sal does not do a complete mind-wipe. He does the barest he has to do, and I respect him for that. It’s the same thing I do here with the employees when they leave.
“No, Sheba, Sal clouded their memories to protect the seethe. Similar to the compulsion he has placed on you not to reveal what you know when you visit your family and friends from before you met him. His only other choice would be to kill them. Salvador isn’t a stupid man and unexplained deaths are noticed.”
“So you’re telling me when I do leave, I’ll be okay but won’t remember anything?”
“You’ll remember some, but not enough to know there are vampires in the world or that you donated blood to them. It will not change the core of who you are.”
She looks like she can’t decide if she’s relieved by this news or put off. And of course, I don’t have to wait long for her to reveal why. Her beauty and grace are refreshing, but her self-centeredness and base laziness prove tiresome.
“I have a journal,” she says with a triumphant lilt to her tone. “I write down everything I do in the seethe, or should I say whom?” She finishes with a big grin.
Ah, I was right. She’s hoping to write a book or sell her story when she leaves.
“You mean to tell me after all we’ve discussed, you honestly think Sal doesn’t know about it already? Or that you’d be allowed to take it with you?”
A movement in the kitchen brings my head around. Rafe walks out wearing only a pair of black, skin-tight boxer briefs. I’m not thrilled he’s wearing them in front of this lazy fangbanger, but at least he didn’t come out naked.
He starts to busy himself with making coffee and I glance at my watch to see it’s after seven. I wish he’d had more sleep, but with the Were blood in him, I doubt he needs any more.
My guest has straightened up in her seat on the couch. Her eyes linger on Rafe’s solid thighs and round, firm butt. I smile then turn to look back at him as well.
The light dusting of golden hair covering his body looks soft and inviting. His muscles fairly ripple below his skin and he looks like he stepped out of an underwear ad on a Times Square billboard. The broad expanse of his back faces us and he’s focused solely on the task of making coffee. I know he heard us in here, so why would he come out half naked?
I open a link to him to see why.
Morning, my love. Why are you tempting this poor girl so much?
I thought you could use a little distraction. When I woke, I listened to the conversation and could see your thoughts were starting to fall into the
I don’t like her as much
category. You need her and you need her pliant.
I hate it when you’re right. But I love to see you semi-naked so I’ll hold my peace.
Rafe clears his throat, continuing to work at the counter. “Morning, ladies, just getting the coffee started. I’ll be back out in a minute after I’m dressed. Would either of you care for a cup when it’s done?”
I can drink liquids but don’t need much. The idiot that thought vampires don’t use the bathroom should be shot. Seriously, where would all the blood go?
One glance at Sheba tells me she might not have heard a word he said. Yes, he really is that breathtaking to look at with nothing on.
“I’ll have half a cup,” I say. “How about you, Sheba?”
“Um…what?” Her gaze finally breaks from his ass and she looks back at me with a slight blush of embarrassment. “Did you say coffee?” I nod. “Sure, that would be great. Thank you.”