Real Vampires and the Viking

by Gerry Bartlett

  “There are. Your husband is breaking them. My friends and I are going hunting. Perfectly legal to carry our guns with us if we’re members of a gun club. See our matching patches?” Fredrick pointed to the coat of arms sewn on his jacket. And, yes, his men had identical patches sewn on theirs. I couldn’t read what the symbol said, but the crossed rifles made it clear what it meant.

  “Hunting? On an abandoned island with a museum? Don’t think the authorities would buy it.” Jerry kept his gun pointed at Fredrick’s heart. “And a regular bullet will barely slow us down anyway.”

  “Ah, but there I have once again proven my ability to produce a weapon just for vampires.” Fredrick nodded and one of his men dug in his pocket and handed him a bullet. “These bullets are special. We have loaded our rifles with this ammunition made of a hard wood guaranteed to kill if it hits a vampire’s heart. Be assured, my men are excellent marksmen.” His smile gave me chills. “Would you like for me to have Finn demonstrate on your wife?”

  “Bastard. What the hell? Do you sell to vampire hunters?” Jerry’s fangs were down and I was afraid he was going to jump Fredrick and take his chances.

  “It’s a lucrative market. Why not? I do it on-line so there is no danger to me.” Fredrick’s smile was self-satisfied.

  “You are a disgrace to your kind.”

  “Quit whining, Campbell. I find it boring.”

  “Then we will get out of your way.” Jerry kept his arm around me and moved toward the door. “You know we are not who you want to kill tonight so we’re leaving now. Don’t try to stop us.”

  “You’re right. I’m not interested in you two. The authorities are funny about things like missing American tourists. I don’t need them looking into my affairs.” He waved his hand and the rifles aimed at the floor. “I’m looking for my wife of course. Have you seen her?” Fredrick pulled out his cell phone. “Oh, there she is. A few hundred yards away. What could she be doing there?” He gestured and his men moved closer. “Hand over that gun, Campbell. Or is it Blade this century? Vampires. We lead such complicated lives, don’t we?”

  “Why should I give you the gun?” Jerry kept it aimed at Fredrick’s heart. “You could be seriously wounded before your men got off a shot.”

  “Not likely. I’m wearing a bulletproof vest. Are you? Better yet, is your wife?” Fredrick laughed. “Drop the gun and stop wasting my time.”

  “Do it, Jer. I just want to get away from this creep.” I tugged on his arm. Not his shooting arm. For all I knew that gun had a hair trigger.

  “Fine. We’re leaving. If you’re smart, you’ll let your wife have a dignified divorce. Our family will make sure you’ll regret it if she comes to any more harm. Understand? As you say, you don’t need the authorities looking into your business dealings.” Jerry tossed the gun to Fredrick who caught it deftly.

  “You’re careless. I could have been hurt just then. But you’re also a Campbell and they are all a bit reckless. I have good reason to know that. Get out of my sight.” He looked down at his phone. “Jaklar! Her phone has gone dead.” He gestured to his men. “Come. We must go to her last known location and hurry.”

  “Do you think..?” I ran to keep up with Jerry as he headed for the cliff and the way down to the boat.

  “I don’t know but we have to be ready to cast off as soon as they get to us. Watch your step on these stairs but hurry.” He was nimble as he jogged down the stone steps, taking them two at a time.

  “Gretchen has the Eliminator. Maybe . . .”

  “The odds are against them, Gloriana.” Jerry jumped the last few feet to the dock then held out his hand to help me onto the boat.

  “At least he didn’t have his favorite anti-vampire device with him. Gretchen must have found a great hiding place for his spare.” I worked with a grim Jerry to cast off the lines, holding one loosely while he started the engine. We scanned the cliff eagerly but didn’t expect to see two large white birds fly overhead, land on the deck and then shift in front of us.

  “We made it. Shove off.” Gunnar was out of breath as he pulled Gretchen down to a seat in the back of the boat. It was a good thing because Jerry gunned the motor as soon as I tossed away the last rope. The boat went shooting across the water. “Slow down. Remember the rocks.”

  “Watch above us. They can all shift too, you know.” Gretchen leaned against Gunnar for a moment then looked across at me. “I can’t believe Fredrick followed me using my cell phone. I should have thought of that.”

  “Obviously he’s into all the high tech stuff.” I was glad when Gunnar stepped up behind the wheel and took over from a frowning Jerry to steer us safely out of the harbor. “But forget that. What I want to know is if you found Gunnar’s treasure.” She and Gunnar both wore bulky coats, his the biggest because of that ever-present sword sticking out of the back. Could there be bags of gold in her pockets? His?

  Gretchen didn’t answer, just stared at Gunnar whose face was a serious mask of concentration as he held onto the wheel. No clue there.

  “Gretchen, a simple yes or no would work.” I wanted to shake her.

  “Later.” Gretchen looked skyward where a trio of large black and white birds had dived off the cliff and landed on the speedboat. It was a matter of moments before it roared to life and came racing after us. “Storm Petrels. Naturally Fredrick would have them shift into a bird like that. Very common. It is a good idea.” She glanced at Gunnar. “But one of them has stayed behind. I wonder why.”

  I wanted to shake the information out of her. What about the treasure? Was that extra shifter at Gunnar’s cave now, looting it? But she was right. We had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like the fact that our boat wasn’t as fast as the red cigarette boat chasing us, maybe because we had one more person aboard weighing us down. The solution might be for two of us to take off. We could meet somewhere.

  I thought longingly of my honeymoon suite at the Ice Palace. Would we be safe there? Why not? Fredrick had already shown a lack of interest in Jerry and me. It was Gretchen and Gunnar he really wanted.

  “You sure there’s nothing else on you that could send a signal to Fredrick?” I looked her over. “Ditch your watch.” It was pretty but digital. Clever Fredrick might have planted a bug in that thing too. She’d left her purse in the boat and now she dug through it.

  “I don’t see anything obvious that he could have used to track me.” But Gretchen tossed a pack of gum and a ball point pen overboard. “Oh, the hell with it.” She pulled cash out of her wallet then threw her entire purse into the water.

  I gasped as I saw a designer bag worth thousands of dollars sink beneath the waves.

  “That bastard.” Gretchen stuffed the cash into her coat pocket. “I wonder how long he’s been spying on me.”

  I had no answer for that and no time to mourn her purse. But I did have an idea. “What if we all shift into birds and fly in four different directions? There seem to be a lot of those Storm Petrels. We can blend with them. Jerry and I can safely go back to the hotel, I think. You have somewhere you can go with Gunnar that Fredrick won’t know about?” I glanced back. Damn, but that other boat was almost within shooting distance. In fact, I could see one of the men picking up a rifle and taking aim. The other one got the idea and grabbed one too. It might be Fredrick at the wheel. He seemed like the type who would want to be at the controls.

  “Yes.” She grabbed Gunnar’s hand. “We’re going to shift now. After we get away from them, Gunnar, head for that tall building you see on the point. I’ll meet you there soon. On the roof. Do you see it?”

  Gunnar let go of the wheel, turning it over to Jerry. “Yes, I see it. But the boat…”

  “Is expendable. We don’t care what happens to it.” I made sure Gunnar knew I was serious when I could see he had a hard time with that idea. “Just leave it. We have to hurry and shift or one of us will get a wooden bullet through the heart. Fredrick told us that’s the ammunition in his guns. By using wooden bullets,
he’s made them lethal to vampires.” I grabbed Jerry and kissed him, not caring that the boat veered when I did it. “Jer, meet me at the Ice Palace. We all should go in different directions now.”

  “I heard you. We’re shifting. But I don’t like leaving you on your own, Gloriana.” Jerry frowned at me before kissing me again.

  “You should know by now that I can take care of myself.” I glanced back. “Hurry, they’re getting ready to shoot at us. All of us shift at the same time, birds like the ones Fredrick and his guys turned into a few minutes ago. On the count of three, we all go.” I could see the shifters aiming at us. “One, two, three!”

  “Gloriana!” Jerry had no choice and shifted before he took off and flew away from me.

  Gretchen didn’t waste time. She was gone too, just another Storm Petrel. Gunnar and I did the same, streaking through the sky with gunshots echoing as we flew as fast as our wings could take us.

  Our boat still zoomed across the water so Gunnar and Jerry must have left it on full throttle. Fredrick gestured and his two men threw down their guns and shifted, hitting the sky to follow us. To my relief it soon became apparent that they didn’t know which one of the birds was a priority.

  We were careful to avoid each other and, as luck would have it, a flock of real petrels fished nearby, diving into the water. Gunnar headed that way so I made a sharp right, leading one of the shifters away from him and toward yet another group of birds soaring toward the shore. It didn’t take long before I realized I’d left all signs of pursuit behind. I hoped the others also had that kind of luck.

  I finally relaxed enough to look down and try to get my bearings. I was still over the water but very near the coast. Hopelessly lost? Possibly. At least I could see the lights of Stockholm and headed toward them. The sky was blazing with a beautiful display of the Northern Lights. Too bad I couldn’t really enjoy it. I was desperate to hit the ground and get warm. The icy wind was much worse when I flew into it as fast as my wings could take me. I watched for a major highway or the spires of the Ice Palace. No such luck. Snow and ice. This country was ridiculously beautiful but not giving me landmarks I could use.

  Obviously I should head for the city. Surely it would be easier if I just landed where I could catch a taxi and take it back to the hotel. The other petrels stayed near the water so I was the only bird in sight now. That reassured me that I’d lost Fredrick’s shifter anyway. I hoped the others had lost their pursuers as easily.

  As for taking a taxi? I had a credit card in my pocket. Hey, I’m an addicted shopper. You don’t think I’d ever leave home without at least one of those or some cash, do you? Not even the idea that maybe there’d be a nice shop in town helped me on my journey. The last few miles nearly killed me. I was almost numb from cold. I was cursing my new husband for his clever honeymoon surprise. Yes, we had those long, endless nights for fun and games, but it was freezing. And, to cap off my misery, it started snowing just as I finally hit the city center.

  Flying was way harder than it looked. Flapping your wings aka arms wasn’t fun in the best of conditions. When ice crystals started forming on my poor wings, I decided to land and shift no matter where I was. Fortunately I found the perfect spot to change back into my human form behind a tree. Bingo. The park with snow-laden evergreens was handily surrounded by luxury hotels all dressed for the holiday season with twinkling lights. It was almost Christmas and I had somehow let that important fact get lost in the rush of getting married, this trip, and now a crazy and dangerous adventure.

  I hurried across the street and into the warmth of a hotel lobby that was centered by a beautiful tree that blazed with colored lights. I hadn’t seen a taxi out front but that wasn’t surprising this late. There was a doorman though so I knew he could call one for me when I was ready to leave. First, I had to thaw out. After I brushed my hair back from my face and freshened my lipstick of course.

  A glance at the clock above the check-in desk assured me I still had a few hours before what passed for sunrise in these parts. I wandered into the bar and stood in front of its roaring fireplace. Too bad the bartender didn’t serve synthetic blood but he stood in front of a big screen TV. The reporter looked excited and had planted herself in front of what I recognized as the museum on Birka. I asked the bartender to translate her Swedish. There had been a break-in of some sort and there was our guard who looked a little dazed as she questioned him. The reporter quickly got frustrated when it became obvious that he didn’t have any juicy details for her and the scene changed.

  To a boat crash. Gretchen’s boat had apparently finally come to rest in a marina where it had slammed into the end of a floating dock. Luckily no one had been hurt and that reporter was having a tough time finding witnesses or an explanation for why an unmanned boat had been left running until it crashed. The poor boat looked totaled while the dock seemed to have sustained minimal damage. No sign of Fredrick or his men as the camera panned the scene but I did notice a familiar red cigarette boat tied up nearby. Hmm.

  I took advantage of the open gift shop to pick up a gift for Jerry. The clerk even wrapped it in holiday paper for me. I tucked it into my pocket then headed to the front of the hotel to ask the doorman for a cab. Hopefully Jerry would be waiting for me at the Ice Palace. We’d get one more night of privacy if we were lucky and then meet our friends at the airport tomorrow night. I wished we would hear from Gretchen before then so we’d know she and Gunnar were safe but there was really nothing we could do for now.

  I sighed as I settled into the taxi and asked for the Ice Palace. I could use a little honeymoon action with my husband. Adventure was fine in small doses but the timing for this one sucked.

  Chapter Eight

  “Mrs. Blade!” Viktor came running up to me as soon as I finished signing the credit card slip and stepped out of the cab. “I’m so glad you’re back. I tried to keep them out. I did. But they pushed right past me.” He looked a little wild-eyed. “And your room! I had no idea it needed so much attention. May I send in a housekeeper now?”

  “Who, Viktor? What are you talking about?” I pulled him out of the hotel doorway and into an alcove where we couldn’t be seen by anyone coming into the hotel. I glanced around the lobby first. Had Fredrick sent men here after all? Was he going to snatch Jerry and me and try to get Gretchen’s location out of us?

  “What’s this about attention? Mr. Blade and I left the room in perfect order.” Well, except for a few towels on the floor in the bathroom. That was Jerry. He would never hang up a damp towel.

  “I am sorry if I seem to be criticizing, Madame. Perhaps it is an American custom to pull out all the drawers and dump them on the floor.” Viktor nodded. “I was surprised, though, that the mattress was tossed aside and off the bed. I would think you’d be more comfortable--”

  “We didn’t do that, Viktor. Obviously someone made mischief in our room. You say it was like that when you let these people into our room? And they’re still here? Who are they?” I wasn’t about to go to our room if Fredrick’s men were waiting to ambush me.

  “Two men and a woman, Mrs. Blade. They insisted that they were your friends, from America. They were as shocked as I was when they saw the state of your room.” Viktor was wringing his hands. “Oh, if you have been robbed we must notify the police. Take inventory, if you please. Make a list of what is missing.”

  “Viktor, I don’t want to call the police. Tell me about these people who claim to be my friends.” I grabbed his hands. “Calm down.”

  “I can’t. This never happens here. We are a safe place to stay. Our guests must feel that they can trust our security.” Viktor looked behind me. “Where is your husband, Mrs. Blade? I expected you to be together.”

  “He’s coming.” At least I hoped he was. This new development had me freaked out. Had Jerry arrived first and then been taken by force back to Fredrick’s dungeon? God. I tried to put on a calm face, even forced a smile. “Mrs. Blade”. Jerry had registered us that way and it pleased him. O
f course he was all right. I would tease him about the Mrs. Blade thing again. Give him the little gift I’d bought him and we’d… I swallowed, my smile slipping.

  “Please describe these ‘friends.’ We are expecting some people to join us. But much later tonight. You say they’re waiting in our room now?”

  “Yes, yes they are!” Viktor dug in his pocket. “I will give you back the huge tip the blond one gave me if I did the wrong thing. Well, both men are blond, now that I think about it. One man is very blond, his hair almost white. Blue eyes. Which is common in our country. So I think that is not unusual but they were hard eyes. The men were not the kind I would want to meet in a dark alley, if you know what I mean.” Viktor shuddered. “They were very angry at the state of your room. I can send a housekeeper--”

  “Fuck the housekeeper!” Oh, I’d shocked him. Too bad. “Sorry. But I need you to go on. Please.” I took a breath. So far he could have described any of the men who worked for Fredrick. Jerry! “You said there was a woman with them?” Fredrick would never hire a woman to do his heavy lifting. Okay, I took another breath and let go of Viktor’s arm when he moaned. Poor man. I’d probably bruised him.

  Viktor rubbed his arm and nodded. “Yes. She was Italian, I think. Short, very curvy. Dark hair.” Viktor studied his shiny black shoes. “Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have let them in. Aren’t your friends Americans? I speak a little Italian. It is good to know languages in this job.” He looked up again, eyes wide. “She let me know in that language that I should stop trying to keep them out of your room. Called me a few names I would rather not repeat to a lady.” He took a shaky breath, clearly reassessing the lady thing. “If they are not your friends, Mrs. Blade, I will lose my job.”

  I laughed and hugged him, suddenly sure things were going to be okay. “No, you have just described my three friends from America perfectly. As I said, we were expecting them. I would have warned you but I didn’t think they’d get here until tonight. They’re early.” I stepped back. “If I had any cash on me I would add to that enormous tip.” I waved my credit card. “I’ll make it up to you when we check out.”