by Wulf,Rose
Ali continued to ignore him, keeping an arm around Jude’s shoulders as she adjusted to guide him inside. When she was brushing past Mick she whispered, “Just ignore him.”
Chapter Twelve
Allison couldn’t believe the guilt swarming her stomach. While she’d been lost in Mick’s arms, Jude’s mother had been killed. They knew there was at least one vampire on the boat. They knew it had attacked Amanda once before. How had it not occurred to her that Amanda might still be a target? What if we could have saved her?
She nearly laughed at herself. What could she have done to improve anyone’s chances of survival in this kind of situation? The only thing she could have, arguably should have, done differently was not distract Mick. He, at least, might have had half a chance.
Her stomach clenched and she drew a deep breath. For a moment she held her thoughts back, staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. There was a bit of red around her eyes from the sympathetic tears she’d cried earlier for Jude’s pain. Except it hadn’t all been for Jude and his lost mother. Amanda… Amanda had been Mandy’s name, too, even though she’d never gone by it. What kind of miserable luck did Allison have to know two Amandas who fell, through no fault of their own, to hungry vampires?
No. Neither death had been necessary by any stretch of the imagination. Mandy had been a warning. A message. Amanda Michaels had been … clean-up, she supposed. A loose end. Neither had been a necessary meal. Especially on the heels of the other dead passenger, whatever her name was. Because Allison was sure that the other passenger was dead and not just missing. A fact she suspected the crew of the Euphoria were also coming to suspect, as they’d just a few minutes before announced their impending return to Baltimore.
So much for my vacation.
But this was so much bigger than her. There were a couple thousand potential victims on board, most of whom were probably rather angry at the turn of events. Ignorance and anger never were a good combination. Worse, though, was that they were two days out from Baltimore. Who knew how many more people would die before the ship made port and police boarded. Police who would be just as ignorant as the rest of the passengers. Ill prepared to handle the real threat.
Suddenly she felt stifled.
Not by the once-spacious bathroom, or the single suite beyond, but by the very boat. The crowded, stranded boat.
Nausea rolled in Allison’s stomach and she braced herself against the sink, looking away from her reflection. Breathe, Allison. Yes, the situation was bad, but it wasn’t connected to the one she was trying to run from. More than that, just because a vampire was aboard didn’t mean it would come for her.
But you’re sleeping with a witch. And for as surreal as that still was, she knew without a doubt that would drastically change her odds of being targeted. Her only recourse, though, was to walk away from him. And she had no desire to do that. The only thing she wanted less was to see him hurt.
“Ali?” the subject of her thoughts called through the closed door. “You okay in there?”
No, she wanted to say. No, of course not. There were vampires killing people around her. Again. She was absolutely not okay.
But this wasn’t about her. And she wasn’t so weak as to let it cripple her even if it were.
“Just a second,” she called back, straightening. She stole another look at her reflection and smoothed her hair unnecessarily. So people were dying. That was bad, but not debilitating. She wanted to be a surgeon, she was going to have to get used to the idea of death anyway, right? Think of the enemy like a virus. A disease. Yes. The vampires on board were just cancerous tumors that needed to be found. Found and excised with subtle precision.
Telling herself to hold onto that focus, Allison turned and reached for the bathroom door. They didn’t have time for her to be losing her composure like that. Mick needed to focus and she needed to help him by not distracting him with her overworked emotions. Mick was their only hope—Mick was the scalpel that would cut out the tumor.
The sexy scalpel.
There might have been something wrong with her, she decided as she fought back a laugh.
Fortunately, Mick only raised a curious brow at her odd behavior.
They left her room together. It’d been a little over three hours since Jude had come to them in search of comfort. Less than thirty minutes since Jude had gathered himself enough to go back to his own room and begin making whatever kind of preparations he needed to. They’d asked Jude to call if he needed anything, but Allison doubted he would. And in the meanwhile, there was still the vampire situation to deal with.
She hadn’t the first clue how, but they needed to find the vampire. Or vampires. They at least needed to determine for sure if there was one or several.
“How do we do this?” she asked as the elevator doors slid shut, briefly isolating them from the rest of the ship.
Mick wrapped his hand around hers. “Honestly, it’ll be hard,” he said. “Slayers have this extra sensory perception that tells them when they’re near vampires or werewolves. We witches aren’t so lucky. We have to observe behavior and make judgment calls.”
“Meaning we have no chance,” Allison surmised on a sigh.
“Not necessarily,” Mick argued. “But it is slim.” The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, letting in more passengers. He stepped closer to her side, still holding her hand, and said no more. But he didn’t need to.
They had to search a crowded cruise ship for one or more vampires who’d so far done a very good job of not getting caught.
The only thing they had to go on, assuming Mick’s logic was sound, was that the vampire probably wouldn’t socialize on the top deck. Not because he or she would explode in the sunlight circa John Carpenter, but because the sun weakened them. Burned them, even, but not in a literal fire-on-skin sense. She supposed Mick was the resident expert so she didn’t argue when he suggested they start with the restaurant level.
But as they stepped out of the elevator and began a slow stroll down the hall Ali couldn’t help but wonder how they would ever identify their target. It wasn’t as if the vampire would be wearing a flashing neon sign or have a face covered in blood.
Blood. Of course! Sure, whoever the vampire was, it wasn’t afraid to take the risk of going after a passenger. But what if those had been impulse attacks? Or attacks of convenient opportunity? They would still have needed a way to be sure they’d be fed on this cruise.
“Mick,” Allison said, tightening her grip of his hand and pulling him to a stop. She kept her voice low, mindful of being overheard.
Mick gave her a curious look, his eyes asking the question for him.
“Maybe we should check the infirmary,” she whispered. “The ship might store blood in case of emergency. Wouldn’t that attract a vampire?” She all but mouthed the final word but she was sure he knew what she’d said.
He frowned, his expression thoughtful. The faint layer of stubble that had grown along his jaw was dark and enticing. Distracting. But she knew better than to lose her focus, especially in the middle of a busy hall. Still, it was good when he finally spoke again. “That’s not a bad thought. But we might need to split up if we want a chance to check the stash.”
Ali smiled. “Then it’s a good thing you have a curious medical school student who’d love some real-life experience.”
Mick grinned and pulled her in for a quick, chaste kiss. It was over almost before it had started and well before she could lose herself. “A good thing indeed,” he murmured. He lifted his gaze, looking around one more time. “We should follow your idea first,” he said. “But if it doesn’t pan out, or probably even if it does, we should come back here.”
Ali pursed her lips. She saw his point at the same time as she saw the flaw. They only had so much time. “Tell me what to look for,” she said without moving.
He immediately snapped a frown back to her. “What?”
“Tell me what to look for,” she repeated calmly. “I’ll go
to the infirmary. It makes more sense to be me. You look here. We’ll meet somewhere in the middle in, say, an hour?”
“Ali,” Mick said, his disapproval obvious. “No way.”
She cut him off before he could say more. “We’re on limited time, Mick. We should split up.”
Mick pulled her into his chest, turning them so that he had mostly backed her into the wall and passerby would likely think they were being inappropriate. “I’m not leaving you alone on a vampire infested cruise ship,” he said. His tone was firm. Undeniable. And somehow sexy as hell.
Allison pushed the thought from her head and placed a palm on his chest in an effort to calm him. “I know it’s unappealing,” she said, “but it’s a good idea, Mick. I’m sure you can see that.”
“It’s a lousy idea,” he argued. “You have no training. No experience in this. If you get caught you’re dead.” He all but growled the last word, telling her just how much he thought of that possibility.
She smiled and slid her hand up to his stubbly jaw. “Mick, I appreciate that, I do,” she whispered, “but we’re almost out of time. And what if Rhea takes you away before we port? Then I’ll be alone with a monster regardless. Not to mention Warner.”
His jaw ticked and she knew she’d struck gold.
Instead of arguing her point, Mick closed the distance between them with a rough, short kiss. He pulled back mere moments before they were interrupted.
“Hey,” someone said. “This is a family cruise. Keep that to your room.”
Ali blushed despite herself as Mick eased back enough to let a little air between them. He turned a lopsided smile to the unknown man, saying, “Sorry.”
Using the moment as her opportunity, Ali slipped from Mick’s grasp with a hand on his bicep, saying, “I should get going, anyway, sweetie. See you in an hour?” She didn’t actually wait for his response before offering a sheepish smile to the stranger and moving confidently toward the elevator bank.
She’d have been lying to say she had no nerves, but she intended to stick to her plan. Time was of the essence.
Chapter Thirteen
To say he was unhappy with Allison’s plan would have been not unlike saying the ocean was wet. All Mick could think about while he scanned the various eateries of the Euphoria was how badly she could get hurt on her own. How dangerous her choice was. It would have been dangerous to search any of the ship alone, at least to his way of thinking, but to search the infirmary was the worst. Like she’d pointed out, it was the most obvious source of blood aside from the passengers.
His only consolation was that their mystery vampire—or vampires—didn’t know there was a witch aboard. If they did, if they knew about him, Ali would be targeted for sure.
Mick ground his teeth as he approached the restaurant where he and Allison had shared dinner the second night. It felt like a year ago already. And given the time of day it was only sparsely occupied. Poor hunting grounds for a vampire. Unless that vampire was specifically targeting lonely women.
I should probably check the casino. But it was on the other side of the level. He’d just have to work his way there.
He almost missed the dark eyes that lingered on him as he looked around. And then he nearly snapped his gaze back to those eyes too quickly. But when he did finally look back the gaze was gone, turned down to the book the dark-eyed man was reading.
The man in question was older, with thinning silver hair peeking out from the edges of the wide brimmed hat he wore. He sat with his back to the window wall, seemingly uninterested in the magnificent view. Mick might have brushed him off if not for the oddity of his outfit and those dark eyes he’d glimpsed. Vampires all had pitch black irises, indistinguishable from their pupils. And an intolerance for sunlight, much like the man’s long sleeves and discarded sunglasses might indicate. Beneath the table Mick could see full length pants. The entire ensemble was black. Such a cliché that he wanted, for the sake of his sanity, to dismiss the man entirely.
But he couldn’t.
No, he was going to have to approach the man. And a part of him hoped this was the vampire he was searching for. If he’s up here then at least Ali’s safe. Until, or unless, this stranger saw them together.
“Afternoon,” Mick greeted as he approached the small table where the man sat.
After a beat the man looked up and offered a closed smile. “Good afternoon,” he said. “Can I help you with something?”
Mick returned the smile politely. Just in case this man was an ordinary human. “Ah, actually,” he said, “I was wondering … are you married?” What the hell kind of question was that?
The man’s smile remained and he lowered the paperback face down on the table. “No,” he said. “But I’ve known some amazing women in my time. Need some perspective?”
Finding himself hoping this man just liked the serenity of a cruise and black clothes, Mick pulled out the opposite chair and took a seat. “Please.” He paused, briefly debating how honest he wanted to be. A little honesty did, after all, earn better results. Usually. “I was hoping to ask how you know when you’ve met the right one. Or, I guess, when you haven’t.”
The stranger leaned back in his chair and chuckled quietly. “In my experience, if it scares you, it’s probably good for you. But tell me about her. About your relationship. I’m a good judge of character.”
Mick leaned forward, one hand extended. “I’m Mick, by the way.”
The man caught his hand in a predictably weak grip. “Boris.”
****
Allison released a breath and wiped sweaty palms along the sides of her jean shorts. She may have put on a brave face in front of Mick when she was trying to convince him of the necessity of this plan, but she was nervous as hell. I’m sure that’s natural. She was searching for evidence of a blood-sucking murderer, after all. Evidence she wasn’t really sure she wanted to find.
Here goes.
As she’d anticipated, the nurse from the day before was working again. And she recognized Allison immediately, even managing a smile. A smile tinged with sadness. So she knows about Mrs. Michaels. “Hi,” Ali said with a smile. “I’m sorry to just drop in, are you busy?”
The nurse blinked at her for a moment. “Not terribly,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
Putting on her best sheepish smile, Allison folded her hands behind her back and said, “Well, I was hoping for a tour or some insight, actually. You see, I’m about to graduate medical school and start my residency, and I wanted some tips. Some real tips, not advice from professors who haven’t practiced in a decade, you know?”
There was a brief stretch of silence and the nurse’s smile returned. Professional. Impersonal. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can give you a few minutes of my time, I suppose, but I really can’t offer much. We don’t do job shadows here, you understand.”
Holding her hands up as if to rebuff the idea, Allison said, “Oh, of course! I wouldn’t dream of infringing on confidentiality. Just … what’s it like, being a nurse on a big cruise ship? Is it satisfying? What made you choose nursing?” She hated when people threw multiple questions at her simultaneously. But what was she supposed to say? It wasn’t like she’d rehearsed for this. “What sorts of supplies have to be kept in stock? Medications, blood stock, anything like that?”
“It’s always interesting,” the nurse replied with a small, deliberate laugh. “You never know who you’ll meet.” She paused, gestured to a waiting room chair, and moved to take a seat. “I chose nursing so I could help people. Not just with one kind of problem or in one location, but wherever I worked.”
Accepting the invitation, Allison said, “That’s really good of you.” God, she was terrible at this sort of thing. Note to self: leave future interrogations to the professionals.
Nodding her acknowledgment of the compliment, the nurse continued, “We try to keep a variety of things, but not too much at the same time. It’s a complicated balance. But yes, we have all that. All of the
standard supplies you might expect.”
Allowing a portion of her genuine frown to show, Allison asked, “But isn’t that dangerous? I mean, don’t you worry about theft?”
“Theft?” the nurse repeated, obviously surprised by the question. “Who would steal from a cruise ship infirmary?”
So they probably haven’t had any mysteriously disappearing blood. Shrugging, Allison said, “Oh, I don’t know. You never know when you get a prescription junkie around, right?” She wanted to cringe at how dumb she sounded, but she needed to make her questions seem off-hand. The nurse would get even more suspicious if she made it too obvious that she had a focus.
“I suppose not,” the nurse said. “But it’s not something that’s been an issue in the couple of years I’ve worked here.” She offered a shrug of her own, then, adding, “Not to say sometimes little things don’t go missing. But that happens everywhere.”
That got her attention. “Oh? What sorts of things?” Had she misinterpreted the nurse’s earlier words?
****
“I wasn’t expecting you to call.”
Mick sighed and fought the urge to hang up. Rhea’s barely-familiar voice, feminine but calculating and dangerous, held a note of impatience he could practically feel across the line. “Yeah,” he said. “I wouldn’t have called if it weren’t important.”
“You’d better not be planning to beg for mercy,” Rhea said. He was surprised she even knew the word “mercy.”
“No,” he said. “No, I was hoping we could work a sort of … agreement.” An agreement with him on the losing end. But he pushed ahead before she could ask the obvious question. “There’s a problem on the ship. A vampire problem. People have died, and now the vampire knows he’s on borrowed time.”
“That is a problem,” Rhea said impassively. “But not mine.”
Grinding his teeth, Mick continued. “I can’t in good conscience leave this ship vulnerable. I’m sure you understand.” Actually, he wasn’t sure she did, but insulting her wouldn’t get him anywhere. “I was hoping you would help me clean this up.”