by Chanel Smith
Veronica asked for water and then with a quick look at Rand told the bartender to make a Jack and Coke, a double.
She turned to Rand and said mischievously, “You need it.”
He smiled sheepishly at her, then extended his hand in greeting.
“I’m Rand, by the way,” he said.
“I’m Veronica.”
They sipped their drinks in silence for a few moments before she caught him stealing glimpses at her from the corner of her eye.
“What are you looking at, buddy?”
“A nice vampire. I never meet any of those; well, possibly until a few weeks ago, and I didn’t even give her a chance before I shot her with a silver-tipped arrow. Now that I think about it, I don’t know how she survived, but I’m really glad she did. She’s a good pers… ummm, I mean, vampire.”
“Was that the chick who dumped you here? What do you reckon was so nice about that?”
“I tried to kill her. Instead of finishing me off when she could, she just took me out of the city and warned me against ever returning. I know I’d better listen to her, too. She’s not the type to waste second chances.”
“So you hunt vampires, huh?”
He nodded his head cautiously, keeping his eyes on her.
“You seem pretty calm at that revelation.”
Veronica laughed and waved her hand up and down indicating his appearance from head to toe.
“Oh, dear God! Look at you! Perhaps this Sam isn’t as tough a vamp as you make it out to be if you actually managed to hammer her with a silver arrow. You’re not even close to my definition of tough.”
Rand winced.
“I’m not exactly on top form right now.”
Veronica stopped laughing and looked over at her companion for a moment. She instantly regretted ribbing him. It was obvious that the events of the night had shattered his whole reality. Things that he had thought to be true about the world and about himself had all come crashing down. He was vulnerable, and she had been mean to him.
“I’m sorry, Rand,” she said softly to him. “I wasn’t being mean on purpose. I have a strange sense of humor, always have.”
“It's okay. I’m just…”
“What you are is hungry and tired. Why don’t you go down to the main restaurant and grab a bite to eat. Order me a really, really rare steak, no sides and ask the chef to slice it as soon as he takes it off the flame. No salt and pepper, please. I’ll be right there.”
“Wow, vamp gourmet dining 101!”
She smiled at him.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Well, neither of us can sleep out on the deck. I’m going to see about some accommodations.”
Chapter Three
With a few strange looks, forced smiles and the correct questions, Veronica had no problem finding the chief purser’s office and knocked on his door. Turns out the officer was a man and she smiled to herself, thinking how much easier the job would be just because of that fact.
Please God let him be straight… and horny, if possible!
He was working late preparing the sail day reports for the captain, the revenue department and security offices onboard. She was glad he was. It saved her breaking in and hacking into the system to find a cabin that she and Rand could occupy.
“Come,” the man answered without even looking up from the computer screen. He held out his hand, signaling the guest’s chairs that were across from him at the desk.
Veronica walked silently into the little office and sat down, looking around the space. It was pleasant. He had obviously occupied the office for a while now. It was filled with little personal touches that screamed of someone who sat there hour after hour and probably stayed to himself a lot while he was onboard. There were no family photos or ring on his left hand heralding the single nature of his personal life.
There was a struggling orchid on the credenza beside her. A Blackjack. Veronica loved those; the dark purple, almost black color of the flowers appealed to her darker nature. The beautiful moth-shaped flowers were hanging on to the spikes for dear life. Probably due to a lack of water. Stealthily she nicked her forefinger on her fang and stuck it into the cluster of roots. By the time the cut had healed, the plant had straightened in the pot, its deep green leaves lightened to a bright color and all the wrinkles on them disappeared. Fresh roots sprouted at its base and the blossoms raised their heads and unfurled their petals to freshly exhibit their almost black pigment. She smiled and placed her hand back on her lap.
When she looked back at the man at the desk, he still hadn’t looked up at her. Veronica cleared her throat.
“Oh! I’m sorry. I can’t believe that I’d already forgotten you were there.”
“That’s fine. I understand. I’m just so glad to find you still in your office,” she replied, leaning forward and looking the man deep in his eyes.
He faltered for a moment, then nodded his head slowly in response.
Well, that was fucking easy! she thought.
“What’s your name?”
“I am Chief Purser Andrew Harrington.”
“Lovely name. Okay, Andrew, I am in need of your help. Will you help me?”
“With anything you need, Miss…?”
“Miss Melbourne. Veronica Melbourne.”
He nodded again and made an instinctive move to the keyboard of his computer. Veronica reached over and put a hand on top of his. He looked up at her and their eyes met again. This time Veronica held the stare even deeper.
“My friend Rand and I need a cabin, Andrew. Apparently we were erased by mistake from the ship’s passenger records and our card key no longer works. There’s even another couple assigned to our room. We’re not pleased about it. It’s been a dream of ours to sail on your ship for such a long time and now it seems it’s been ruined.”
“My apologies, Miss Melbourne. Please allow me to fix this for you immediately.”
“Of course, Andrew. I knew you would take care of it. That’s why I came to see you.”
The man smiled at the flattery. It obviously meant a lot to him to hear that a guest had such faith in his ability to be of assistance to them.
It’s probably all he has to live for.
“We need a cabin with a separate bedroom from the living area, one with very heavy curtains to block out all the daylight. You won’t find our names in the log, so you will have to enter them. I’m going to need new card keys and a ship credit to compensate us for the inconvenience we’ve both been caused.”
Andrew Harrington was so deep under Veronica’s glamour that all he could do was nod and start typing furiously on his computer. Within a few minutes, he pulled out a desk drawer and produced two new cards which he simultaneously swiped through a card reader slot at the top of his keyboard. When he was finished, he put them in an envelope and handed them to her.
“That’s Rand and Veronica Melbourne. Cabin number 4550. It’s on cabin deck 4 forward and has double balconies. The room has stainless steel storm shutters over the portholes and balcony doors, making it light proof should you desire it so.”
“That will do, Andrew. Thank you.”
“I hope I’ve made up for your earlier mishap. Do forgive us for the indiscretion. We try to treat all our guests with the dignity that they deserve.”
“I know you do. Consider it all forgotten, just as you will forget everything about having seen me tonight.”
Again he nodded in a daze as Veronica rose from the chair and walked around the desk. Sitting on the arm of his chair, she took his head between both her hands and kissed him sensuously on the mouth. Her tongue parted his stunned lips and played with his as she deepened the kiss. He responded, as she knew he would eventually, draping both arms around her back and pulling her into his lap. She felt him grow stiffly in the constraints of his uniform pants and he groaned lustily into her mouth at the pressure of it. He tasted good. Like whiskey and flavored tobacco. It reminded Veronica of her hookah smoking days.
<
br /> In an instant, she pulled away from his lips and sunk her fangs into his neck. The man groaned in ecstasy as Veronica fed voraciously from his flesh. After a few mouthfuls she reluctantly pulled away, cut her finger on her fang again and touched a drop of her preternatural blood to the fang wounds. They closed immediately. Then she bit her tongue and kissed Andrew Harrington lustily all over again, driven by the feast she had just had at his jugular vein. He swallowed the small tastes of her blood that coated his tongue and felt energized, emboldened, and confident. When she felt the change in him, she held his head firmly again in her hands and pulled away from him. Veronica put her forehead to his and gazed into his eyes.
Who is it that you want, Andrew Harrington? she asked silently.
Suddenly, fueled by the blood they had shared, a vision arose of a petite blond woman with a severe bob haircut. She wore a crisp uniform similar to Andrew’s and Veronica could tell she was a co-worker. She was European. Kind, sweet and shy. But he had never made his move, despite the woman’s piteously obvious advances.
“She cares for you. Stop being stupid and make your move. Remember how you feel right now, including that hard on you’ve got; the next time you see her and just ask her out.”
He nodded again. She smiled and rose from his lap to make her way out. When she reached the door, she looked back and spoke one last instruction to him.
“Andrew, the plant needs your attention. It’s so beautiful. You either have great taste or someone who cares very deeply for you made a gift of it. Once a week, take it into the bathroom and run the lukewarm tap water over it for five minutes. It will thank you for that for years.”
“Yes, Miss Melbourne.”
***
Veronica found Rand right where he should have been; seated at a quiet corner table for two in the steakhouse restaurant on the lido deck of the ship. He was tapping his fingers nervously on the table, unsure what to do without any card key to identify him as a passenger. The waiter had taken his order, of course, but at the end of the meal they would be required to either present the card for charging or pay cash. Neither of which Rand was currently privy to.
He waved at her and she sashayed over and took her seat across from him. She placed a white plastic card with his name printed on it on the table and slid it over to him.
“You’re gonna have to help me find that room. I’ve never been onboard one of these things before.”
Rand nodded and smiled.
Maybe it is useful to have a vampire friend after all.
But then just as he had the thought, Rand noticed a tiny spot of blood on Veronica’s collar and his smile quickly faded into a nervous frown.
“Don’t be a square, Rand. He loved it just as much as I did. And for the record, he is still very much alive and blissfully unaware.”
Before he could respond, a waiter approached with a sizzling tray of steak. As it turned out, Rand wasn’t much for high temperature meat either. He had ordered filet mignon, medium rare. Veronica sniffed her plate as the man placed it on the table in front of her. Her eyes actually rolled back in her head.
“Amazing!” she said, mostly for the benefit of the waiter.
“The lady is pleased?”
“Immensely,” she replied, taking note of the strange expression he cast her way.
The meat was rare, barely kissed by the fire, just as she had asked. Not a speck of seasoning had been used and it had been neatly cut on the bias and allowed to bleed out its delicious essence in a river of warm blood deliciously onto her plate. Veronica picked up her fork and speared the first piece. She placed it on her tongue and moved it around in her mouth, masticating it carefully, but with fervor. In a few minutes, her napkin went to her mouth and the dried out remains of the meat went expertly into its folds.
“Hmmm,” Rand commented, “I was wondering how that was going to work.”
Veronica looked up from her plate and smiled.
“It's how most of us feed when we’re out in polite society, I hear,” she said. Me, I don’t give a shit about polite society, I just really miss steak. I’d give fifteen bj’s to be able to eat a teaspoonful of A1 sauce.”
He made a horrified face at her and returned to churning some gravy into his mashed potatoes, deep in thought.
“What’s on your mind, Rand?” she finally asked, as she put her full napkin on top of her empty plate. “Tell me why you’re mining those spuds as if you’re hoping that you might strike gold.”
“I’m just thinking about what I will do after this ship gets to wherever it’s going.”
“Hawaii, apparently.”
“Oh, okay, Hawaii. I’m thinking of traveling to the south to take on a different type of supernatural. One that’s been killing young women all across the country and leaving investigators completely baffled. I don’t even think that they’ve figured out that it’s all the same creature yet.”
Veronica’s interests were immediately piqued. She cocked her head to the side and looked at him.
“Say what now?”
“I have information from a governing body that there’s a half-demon on the loose. In ten months, he’s managed to murder more than fifty girls without anyone catching up to him. He moves around, working one area, then crossing the country to work the next. So far he’s been in the New York tri-state area, and then he hit Las Vegas, Phoenix and Reno before working his way down the California coast and disappearing into thin air.”
“This guy is a real bad ass, huh?”
Rand could tell that he had Veronica on the edge of her seat. It was her nature. She was always on the lookout for the next hunt, the next evildoer. Kind of like a murderous, modern-day, female Robin Hood of the supernatural world.
“That’s an understatement. If I’m right, he’s abducted and killed fourteen hitchhiking girls along the Pacific Coast Highway in the last three months and I think that the Suffolk Parish police just discovered one of his dumping grounds. The bodies of several young women identified as having gone missing this year have started turning up in the Gilgo Beach area.”
“It's obvious the authorities need help. They’re treading water and this bastard needs to die. Quickly. How do you kill a half-demon anyway?”
Rand laughed.
“Like you do most supes. Silver.”
“I’m sensing a trend with you, buddy. Is that stuff your damn trademark?”
“It’s sanctified and it’s effective. Call it my go-to for eradications of the preternatural kind.”
“You’re a real peach, you know that?”
Sarcasm had no effect on Rand and he continued to tell Veronica the story.
“Since then, he’s crossed over to Georgia and he might be the one responsible for another cache of abduction-murders along the Georgia coast section of I-95. I’ve been contacted by a small, but efficient recovery and investigation company in Savannah called R3. Ricki, one of the girls who runs it told me that she was sure the same person committed all the Georgia killings and, from what she had managed to piece together from out of the Suffolk Parish Police Department, she thinks the same man did the murders up north as well. So, I’m going to start there. Hopefully there’s a direct flight from Honolulu to Atlanta.”
“Why are you telling me this, Rand?”
“Because you are Veronica Melbourne, the Huntress,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “I’m trying to get you interested enough in it to want to take the case!”
“But why? Its seems like your bag. Why would you give it up so easily?”
“It’s not an easy choice, trust me,” he replied, lowering his eyes to look sadly at his mashed potatoes again. “But I can’t go back to L.A. any time soon; Samantha Moon will kill me. Everything I need is there. I’d really rather take a little break in Hawaii and wait for instructions on where I’ll go after that.”
Instructions from whom? Veronica thought.
“You, on the other hand, can go find this bastard. Be careful, though; there’s nothing quite like a
cambion.”
“Why’s that? He’s just another supe, isn’t he?”
“Not quite. At least that’s what Agrippina told me.”
“Who?”
“You’ll know all about her soon enough. When the time is right.”
Just as suddenly as it had all started, the conversation changed to music and art. Veronica eventually managed to steer it to drugs and blood. She told Rand that she and a few other researchers had recently discovered how incessant drug use as a mortal could easily follow a vampire into their fledglinghood with the use of naturally occurring stimulants. In their purest forms, the bodies of vampires tolerated and reacted to them.
“So you do drugs?”
“No. I just like to know everything that happens outside the glow of the corner streetlamp. I walk on the lesser known, poorly-tolerated side of society most of the time.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “When you hunt scum, you have to know them.”
Rand nodded in appreciation. She looked into his bright amber eyes again and sighed.
It’s been so long since I got laid! It couldn’t hurt to fuck this hunter once and blow this joint tomorrow night. After all that, Sam Moon told him never to return to LA. It would be a shame to waste all this hunkiness in front of me.
She deepened her stare and a smile slowly crept across Rand’s lips.
“Don’t glamour me, Veronica,” he said. ‘Tell me what you want. Whatever it is, I think you could get it from me.”
Veronica smiled at the sentiment. He wanted her to know he had the hots for her. It wasn’t her first rodeo.
“We’ve got a suite to check out. Let’s go!”
Chapter Four
When Veronica had first gotten the attention of the Watchers, she had been busy hunting a rabid were. It had been an unfortunate story, mostly because everything that happened could have been easily avoided. The young man had shifted unexpectedly one night and had taken to the woods. Confused and embarrassed, he had followed his instinct and had taken off on a wild run through the forest before stopping to rest and drink from a creek. While he rested, he began to shift back to his human form. He had caught the approaching animal’s scent too late to counter the inevitable attack and had suffered multiple severe bites and gouges from the beast before fending it off.