by Chris Sapp
Her suitcase.
It had been stashed in the corner of the room next to the dresser. Suddenly, she got an idea. What if she decided to move? That would give her a reason to be out of her room. She could relocate to a guest room on the third floor or maybe even down on the first. The guard didn’t need to know where because it was none of his damn business. All he needed to know was that she was moving and when she didn’t come back, he wouldn’t think anything of it. She opened the suitcase on the bed and began filling it, a drawer at a time. Twenty minutes later, all of her clothes, her blow dyer, her toiletries, even the knife had been jammed into her suitcase. She had to step on it with two hooves just so she could zip it shut.
Lugging the suitcase, she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. The guard was there in an instant. He was a young buck with well developed pecs and an equally impressive goatee. He reminded her of a young Magnus and she instantly hated him.
“Good evening, Lady Slade.”
“If you say so,” she said, maneuvering the heavy suitcase through the doorway.
“Hey, let me help you with that.”
“No, I got it.” He reached for it and she tried to pull away but he was too fast.
“No, I insist. If Lord Slade found out I let you carry this by yourself, he’d have my head.” His eyes hardly left her breast as he said this, but he wasn’t exaggerating. Magnus expected only the best from his men. But after tonight she didn’t think the guard had much to worry about. But he didn’t know that and she couldn’t very well tell him. So, reluctantly she let go of the suitcase. He slung it over his shoulder as if it weighed no more than a light jacket.
“After you,” he smiled, gesturing her forward like Captain Chivalry.
She could almost feel his eyes on her ass, as she walked down the hallway towards the elevator.
“Going out of town?”he asked, while they were waiting for the elevator.
“No, I always take a suitcase with me everywhere I go.”
“Alright,” he snorted. “Dumb question. So where are you headed?”
“What about my face makes you think I’m in the mood for chitchat?”
His charming smile vanished and so did his chivalrous attitude. “Sorry, I was just trying to be polite. It won’t happen again Lady Slade.” Damn. Now he think’s I’m a bitch. They all probably think I’m a bitch. Magnus had one thousand stallions under his command and every single one of them was probably siding with him. But not one of them knew the truth, that Magnus would rather murder his own blood than admit that he too, was capable of spawning defective heirs.
“No, It’s alright. It’s just been a rough month,” she said.
When the doors opened she almost took the suitcase back but thought better of it. She wanted to leave him with some of his dignity. They boarded the elevator and he waited silently as she decided which floor she wanted? What floor do I want? She pressed the button for the first floor because it didn’t really matter what floor she was moving to. After tonight she would probably move back to the master bedroom anyway.
The doors opened and she moved quickly to the row of guest bedrooms. None of them were occupied so she chose the first one she came to. It was very similar to her previous room only the curtains were a dark maroon where the others had been a light lavender.
“Where should I put this?”he asked, timidly entering the room.
“At the foot of the bed is fine. I’ll unpack in the morning.”
When he turned to leave she grabbed his hand and asked, “What was your name?”
He looked frightened. “Uh…Matthias.”
“Thank you Matthias, you’re an excellent guard and I’ll put in a recommendation to Lord Slade that you be advance to the next level of training.”
His fear melted and his faced brightened. “Thank you, Lady Slade.”
“You’re welcome. Now go,” she shooed him away like the annoying insect he was. When she was sure he was gone, she retrieved the knife from the suitcase and headed towards the kitchen. She found it just the way she’d hoped.
Deserted.
It was two in the morning and all of the chefs were still sound asleep. They wouldn’t report for duty for another two hours. The place was spotless, as all kitchens not currently in use, should be. Kariah could still smell the lemon scented cleaner that had been used to mop the tiled floors. Her reflection gleamed off the stainless steel countertops as well as the various pots hanging from the ceiling.
At the back of the kitchen, past the master chef’s office was her sole purpose for coming this way. It was a private elevator that connected the kitchen to the master bedroom. Centaurs were prone to midnight hunger cravings. She boarded the elevator and pressed the arrow that was pointing up. Magnus had always been a sound sleeper. She hoped that was still the case otherwise the noise of the elevator might wake him and ruin the element of surprise. But if that happened…then so be it. She was going to be ready either way. Gripping the bone handle, she slid the blade out of the coral sheath. The steel glistened under the bright fluorescents.
The doors opened onto a dark hallway and she nearly screamed. There was a figure in front of her. But it wasn’t Magnus. The light from the elevator had cast a knife wielding shadow on the wall. Featureless as it was, it seemed like a shadow that belonged to someone else. She found it simultaneously repulsive and attractive. If she turned left that would take her to the living room and the bar. If she went right she would be heading towards the master bedroom. Kariah knew that some bachelors made a habit of falling asleep in front of the television but she turned right, hoping that he still preferred the comfort of a hay bed.
The elevator doors closed plummeting the hallway into complete darkness. She waited for her eyes to adjust and then continued on. She had always wanted to rip up the carpet and replace it with hardwood floors but Magnus never found the time. Now, she was thankful he hadn’t, otherwise the clacking of her hooves would’ve spoiled her stealthy approach.
She paused at the doorway to their bedroom. No, his bedroom, soon to be her bedroom. Her eyes were still adjusting, but she could make out a form lying on a bed of hay. She could hear him from where she was standing. He was a noisy sleeper. He slept with his mouth open and that was only a few sound waves short of snoring. She half expected him to wake up as she stepped into the room. But he didn’t, so she kept going until she was looming over him. A triumphant smile parted her lips. This night couldn’t get any better. Magnus wasn’t just sound asleep, he was dead to the world. She could tell by the amount of drool that was pooling on his pillow.
Gripping the knife with both hands, she raised it above her head. Magnus looked like a different man when he was asleep. His endless scowl was gone and he looked like a man who was capable of laughter. He almost looked like the man she’d fallen in love with years ago. Except maybe a little older. He was developing a healthy case of crow’s feet at the corners of both eyes and the first strains of grey had sprouted in his goatee. But Kariah wasn’t dumb enough to let any of this change her mind. Even snakes can look harmless when they are sleeping. No, she still needed to kill him and she needed to do it now before he woke up and went back to being the murdering bastard he had become. With a quick inhale of breath she brought the knife down.
The blade never reached its target and Magnus’ diseased heart continued to beat. A strong hand intercepted Kariah’s strike and another one, just as equally strong, clamped down over her mouth stifling any chance of a scream.
“Don’t scream, love. It’s me,” whispered a familiar voice.
“Blair? What are you doing here?” Her eyes flashed to Magnus. Incredibly, he was still asleep.
“Saving you from a mistake,” Blair pried the knife out of her fingers.
“No, you don’t understand,” she protested. Hot angry tears streamed down her face. She tried to pull free but he was too strong for her.
“I do. More than you know,” he turned her so that their eyes met. “Come with
me. We’ll talk.”
He urged her out of the room and away from her husband, who so deserved to die and looked so vulnerable. But it didn’t matter. The moment of opportunity had passed and if Magnus woke up and saw them, she wouldn’t get another one.
Blair guided her out of the bedroom. She let him. He didn’t gallop or trot. He didn’t even seem to be in a hurry. They glided down the darkened hallway as if they were dancing and into the welcomed light of the elevator.The doors closed, snapping her back into reality.
“How did you know I was here?” she demanded.
“I followed you.”
“Followed me. Why?”
Blair wasn’t looking at her. Instead he was examining the blade.
“Vi’s I presume?”
“Of course. Do you think I would own such a hideous thing?”
“So your plan was to kill Magnus and blame it on Vi, the disgruntled employee?”
“Why not? You see the way he treats her,” she folded her arms across her breasts. “It’s logical.”
“Logical but not possible,” said Blair as the elevator doors opened. He strolled into the dark kitchen. She followed.
“What do you mean? You just stated Vi’s motive.”
“It’s very difficult to kill someone when you’re not even on the planet.”
Damn, Why didn’t I think of that! “Well, she could’ve hired someone to do it.”
“With a blade from her own collection?”Blair laughed.
“Don’t you laugh at me!” Before she knew what was happening, her hands shot out and shoved Blair into one of the stainless steel stoves.
“Alright, I’m sorry.” He touched the back of his head. His fingers came away bloody.
Good! Not really, but damnit she was mad. “Why were you following me?”
“I know all of this hasn’t been easy on you,” he said.
“Just because you helped me doesn’t mean you know what it’s like to up a child”
“I come from a very poor family. I was raised by a single mother and when I was ten years old she traded my baby brother for a year’s worth of morphagens, my morphagens. Six months later, I came home from school and found her overdosed on the kitchen floor. It was ruled a suicide. ”
His emotions seemed genuine. But the story couldn’t be true. “None of this showed up on your background check.”
“I certainly hope not. I’ve paid good money to bury my past. Anyway, I followed you because I didn’t want to lose you the way I lost my mother.”
“Lose me?”
“I saw how close you came to becoming Cecilia’s dinner,” Blair said.
“That was you?” she gasped.
He nodded. “Well, if I’m spilling secrets then I might as well spill them all. I love you Kariah. I have since the moment we first met.”
She didn’t know what to say. She knew he cared for her and she cared for him. But love? He touched the back of his head again. Still bloody.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. None of this is your fault, love.”
“I was talking about your head.”
“Oh, well that is your fault. But it’ll be fine.”
She smirked and so did he.
“What do we do now?”
“You could run away with me.”
Again she smiled. “Tempting. But I can’t. Magnus has to die.”
“Okay, you twisted my arm. First we kill him then we run away.”
This time she laughed. “So, you’re my accomplice now.”
“Your wish is my command, love.”
“So how do we kill him, then?”
“Well, it certainly won’t be with something as crude as a knife.”
“Oh, yeah? Then what?” she challenged.
“We’re chemist, love. I’m sure we can cook up something.”
IZABEL
WHEN IZABEL WOKE up she didn’t know where she was. But then she remembered. She was in the sleeping quarters of Roe Driskell’s ship. She thought she’d have a hard time falling asleep, considering what happened last time she tried to relax on a strange ship. Plus, bounty hunters weren’t known for their honor. But her body must’ve been less concerned about her life than her mind, because she was out the moment her head hit the pillow. She stretched deep enough to pop her back, then she threw the covers back and slipped down the corridor.
She couldn’t feel the hum of the engines on her bare feet which meant that they were no longer traveling through space. Hopefully they were docked. Once she’d convinced Driskell that it had been a kameleon who had committed suicide in front of the whole damn galaxy and not her father, he’d told her that they needed DNA to prove it. So, she had agreed to travel with him to planet Nos482, where Phaelan’s tour barge had been found drifting in orbit. She found Driskell in the galley, sipping a cup of coffee and smoking a Fenix Tail.
“Morning. Breakfast is on the stove,” he said.
There was no sun shining through the window behind Driskell. It was night time and the only lights she saw were the headlights of other ships, passing by or settling into docking bays of their own. The nights on Nos482 lasted twice as long as the days, which made it a perfect home world for Vampyrs.
Breakfast was a ham, cheese, sausage, and hash brown omelet. It was delicious. Driskell drank his coffee black so Izabel had to use milk as a creamer. But he did have sugar so her coffee was equally as delicious as the food.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked after shoveling the last bite of omelet into her mouth.
“First I’m gonna buy a new hoverbike. Then we’re gonna buy our tickets for your Daddy’s barge. ”
“Tickets?”
“Yep. Tours start at nine.”
Tours? Oh, God. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand. It was such a sick universe they lived in.
“Wasn’t it enough, that Phaelan blew the back of his head off on live Net. Do people actually need to see his brains drying on the carpet?”
“We do,” smiled Driskell. “Because that’s how were going to get our DNA sample.”
“I don’t think I can do this?” Her omelet was coming back up. It wasn’t so delicious now.
“Why? He wasn’t really your dad, remember?” Driskell was smiling but there was nothing kind about it. He’s testing me. Why is he testing me? Because he still doesn’t believe me. After everything she told him, the red feathered prick still didn’t believe her.
“It was still his barge. It’s gonna be filled with his stuff,” she said.
“Well, then I guess the deal’s off. Because I can’t do this alone,” Driskell got up and placed his empty mug in the sink.
“Wait! Yes, you can! Just flash your b—
“Flash my badge and they’ll let me right in? That may work at Morphagen Towers but it’s not going to work here. I’m a bounty hunter. I track live strays, not dead rockstars.”
Driskell was right. He wasn’t some ultimate authority. He was just a bounty hunter. A bounty hunter who had fed her twice, gave her a place to sleep, and bought her 500 credits worth of drugs. Sure, she’d saved his life but most people would’ve found some way to ditch her by now. But he hadn’t. He was doing his part and she needed to do hers. She sighed deeply and said,“What do I have to do?”
DRISKELL’S PLAN WAS actually pretty clever and it didn’t involve her going inside Phaelan’s barge, so that was a major plus. All she had to do was steal one of the guards’ hoverbikes. Well, it was more like borrow because she was only going to keep it long enough for Driskell to sneak into the barge and take a DNA sample.
Phaelan had been dead less than two days but that didn’t stop NOS482 authority from making an event out of it in the town square. Phaelan’s barge was literally sitting on a pedestal fifty feet above the ground. The only way to get to it was to climb a metal staircase, but there was a guard at the bottom of the staircase and a guard at the top, both were verifying tickets. But Izabel wasn’t concerned
about them. She was more interested in the two hoverbike guards patrolling a twenty-five foot perimeter around Phaelan’s barge. She knew that eventually one of the vampyrs would have to piss, or shit, or want to take break and that’s when she planned to make her move. Izabel was standing behind the chain with the rest of the gawkers who were too cheap to buy a ticket. She’d like to say that they were too moral but judging by the way their mouths had fallen open and seemed to get stuck that way, she seriously doubted it. The ogre next to her had even brought his damn kid, who was currently sitting on daddy’s shoulders. Izabel was wearing a Phaes T-shirt she’d purchased from a street vendor because she had worn the same shirt for the last two days and she thought it’d make her look less conspicuous. She didn’t have a clue where Driskell was but she knew he was watching. Probably from the comfort of his brand new hoverbike.
Two vampyr lesbians made a big fuss in line and demanded a refund when they realized they couldn’t take pictures. They were the only customers that got out of line but they weren’t the only ones that got upset about the “No Pictures” rule. Izabel didn’t know what disgusted her more, the fact that people actually wanted to take pictures or that planet authority wasn’t allowing it because they didn’t want anyone to cut in on their action.