Burning (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #1) (3 page)

I shook my head. “What could be more pressing than calling home after being kidnapped by a vampire and dumped on a cruise ship to be forcibly conscripted into service for an elite paramilitary group in Switzerland?”

“Elite
vampire
hunting paramilitary group,” she corrected. “And it’s not exactly like that.”

“
Isn’t it?”

“
Okay, it is almost exactly like that. Except for the words ‘forcibly conscripted.’ But we have common goals, Rand. We should talk. You need us.”

“
My wife comes first. She’s gotta be worried sick.” After getting the dialing instructions, I heard the call go to voicemail and then I got a message that the mailbox was full. That never happened. I was instantly alarmed. “She’s not answering and the voicemail box is full.”

“
Does she usually pick up?”

“
Almost always.”

“
Try again,” she suggested.

I did, but got the same result. “Something’s wrong.”

“Want to email her?”

“
Yes.”

Gabby swiped her card for internet service and stepped away from her laptop while I logged onto my Gmail account. I didn’t have any emails from my wife so I sent one of my own:

Megan: A strange situation arose. I find myself stuck on a cruise ship bound for Hawaii. Long story. At the first opportunity, I’ll get off in port and fly home. I still have my wallet. I love you and Kristen. Stay safe. Rand.

I clicked on “send” and logged out of my email. Then I cleared out the cookies from the browser.

“There’s some clothing in the adjoining stateroom. Why don’t you shower and put on clean clothes?”

“
Not yet. Tell me what’s going on, Gabby.” I grabbed a bottle of water from her honor bar and started guzzling it.

“
Only your brother was allowed to call me that,” she said, sitting on the corner of the bed and holding my gaze. “Please call me Gabrielle, okay?”

“
Of course, sorry. Look, Rudolph died years ago. Why was I brought here now? Don’t sugarcoat it.” I grabbed packages of nuts and ripped them open with my teeth. “Sorry, I’m starving.”

“
Help yourself,” she said and nodded at the snacks. “I’ll get to the point. One of the three vampires who killed Rudolph is on this ship.”

“
Son of a bitch!”

“
Exactement
.”

“
Did you and Samantha Moon bring me here to help you kill him?”

“
Oui.
”

“
What’s he doing on a cruise?” I crunched up a bunch of praline pecans and took a swig of water.

“
I’m working as an entertainer on the ship. He’s here to kill me. I’m the bait and we’re going to slay that vampire.
Tonight
.”

“
Are you freaking kidding me?” I almost choked on the nuts.

“
Non, monsieur
. I never joke about vampires.”

“
Neither do I. And I don’t go killing vampires without a ton of planning first. And research.”

“
Neither do I.”

“
I always work alone,” I added. “Who do you work for?”

“
I can’t tell you yet.”

“
Look, Gabby—”

“
Gabrielle,
s’il vous plait
...”

“
Sorry. Look, Gabrielle, when my brother wrote to me years ago and told me he was engaged to Gabrielle Dubois, the famous Paris nightclub singer and rising recording artist, I was happy for him. I didn’t know jack about you, but if Rudolph was happy with you, I was happy for him.”

“
As it should be.”

“
But...Rudolph died at the hands of the Griffith Park vampires while trying to avenge our parents’ deaths. He hinted that he was with some obscure vigilante group. I assumed you were also involved.”

She nodded slightly.

I studied her, then got to work. “I’ll need some tape. Do you have tape?” I rummaged through her bathroom stuff as she followed me in there. She handed me some pink hair-setting tape, the kind that my mom used to use to tape down her bangs at night.

“
Er, thanks.” I lifted a pants leg and taped the arrow bolts to my leg, instead of having them down my sock, poking me.

“
We are not really a paramilitary group,” she said, watching me curiously. “It’s more informal than that.”

I fixed my pants leg and looked at myself in the full-length mirror to see if my arrow bolts showed. They did not. “I get it, Gabby. You’re still a member of that group, which I assume is by now very elite, and not some rag-tag operation, judging by the elaborate scenario you set up to get me here on the same ship with one of my brother’s killers.”

“You could say that. We’ve been searching for you for years. Your skills are...intriguing.”

“
Flattery won’t work. I’m a loner. Always have been.”

“
So we gathered. Truth was, the only one who could find you was Samantha Moon.”

“
I found Samantha. She didn’t find me.”

“
Then how do you explain that you are now on the same ship with one of the bastards who killed your brother?”

“
So you say. This could have been just a coincidence—”

“
Except that you know it’s not, Rand.”

She was right, of course. This had the makings of an elaborate set-up...or an elaborate trap. I’d hunted the bloodsucking bastards for far too long—had seen humanity and that which was not human—at its worst. I was jaded, to say the least.

“Fine,” I said. “So, you are saying that Samantha Moon found me and made it seem like I found her?”

“
Now you’re getting the picture.”

“
She’s good...”

“
Yes, Rand. But so are you. Look, I have a singing gig on a cruise ship. This has been in the works for months, if not years. Look at the big picture, Rand.”

I chewed on this for a moment. Samantha had set herself up as bait to kidnap me. It was nothing short of brilliant.

“Never underestimate the shrewdness of vampires. But I work alone,” I repeated. “I have my reasons—the safety of my wife and child is number one.”

“
I hope that will change—that you will want to join us. We need you. We can provide not only security for your family but vast resources and training for hunting.”

“
That’s all well and good, but I have a safe place for my family. My house is a fortress. My resources are fewer than yours, but let me put it this way: I’m a resourceful guy. Speaking of which, you mind if I go through your little desk and see if there’s anything useful for a vampire hunter?”

“
Go ahead.” She smiled. “Our leader, Lucas, calls you the McGuyver of vampire hunting.”

I tried not to be flattered. But failed. “That is exactly what I do. I do use all available resources to find and kill my, ah, quarry.” I pocketed some twist ties and a purple crayon from way in the back of the drawer. Also, I took part of a pad of sticky notes and a couple of safety pins.

“We’re in the same business, Rand.”

I ignored her words. “Thanks for the tape and the little things from the drawer. I never know when junk will come in handy.”

“You should join us.”

“
I’ve done my time in uniform, sister, and I don’t want to be on the hook again for years.”

“
This is more like extended family, Rand.”

“
Oh great. A nest of vampire slayers joins forces to wipe evil from the face of the earth, committing all sorts of heinous vampire murders together. Nice family you have, Gabrielle.”

“
I could deny it, except that’s a perfect description of us.”

I paused, took a deep breath. I always admired honesty. I looked at her sideways. “What do you need me for, specifically? Mind you, I’m only asking out of curiosity’s sake.”

“First, I need you to find the vampire tonight.”

“
You don’t even recognize a vampire when you see one?”

“
He uses disguises like you do.”

I blinked at that. How long had they been monitoring me? “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She crossed her arms and gave me a smirk. “Oh? Rock star, web designer, vintner, spy. Believe me, Rand, when I say that we know all about you.” She paused and drew a pack of Gauloises out of her purse.

“
There’s no smoking in vampire hunting. It’ll deaden your senses.”

She put them away. “Rudolph told me that you could smell out the vampires.”

Air escaped out of my lungs like I’d been sucker-punched. My brother, apparently, spoke freely of me. Perhaps a little too freely. Hard to curse the dead, but I felt like doing it now. My vampire hunting talents were a family secret. Rudolph had broken that secret.

“
That’s a very,
very
private bit of information,” I said, not bothering to hide my irritation.

“
Nobody knows it but us.”

“
Who’s
us
? A creepy cult?”

“
No.”

“
Prove it.”

“
I can’t.”

“
Do you have mantras you recite? Sleep deprivation? Worldly goods surrendered?”

“
None of that.
Mon Dieu
, you are such a hard ass.”

“
Yes, I am. The truth is, I
can
smell vampires, usually from close range. They smell kind of like black truffles, a little mushroomy, a little spicy, definitely earthy. Sometimes I can even smell the decay on them. If they have recently fed, I also smell the overload of iron in their blood and in the exhalations of their breath and from the stench oozing from their pores.”

“
Impressive. How do you smell so keenly?”

“
Before she and Dad were vampire hunters, Mom was a master perfume maker. Dad was an astronomer, but Mom was a bigger influence on me because we were awake during the same hours.”

Gabby smiled as I continued, “She taught me a lot about perceiving scent and analyzing each of the elements of scent, separately.”

“Rudolph never told me that detail.”

“
Rudolph was never interested in perfume. He considered it a feminine pursuit, while I considered it a science—I can tell you the flowers in the perfume you’re wearing right now: tuberose or May rose, and jasmine. I would say you’ve got on a hefty spritzing of Chanel No. 5, however, the aldehydes are a bit off. You’re probably wearing a good knock-off.”

Her hand went to her throat in surprise. “It’s fake? So much for the duty-free shop at the airport.”

“If you quit smoking, you’d be able to smell things a lot better.”

“
Maybe even vampires?”

“
Perhaps that can be taught. I’ve never tried to teach anyone how to smell vampires. Beyond the basic safety measures that I’ve taught my wife, I have never before breathed anything about vampire hunts, except to my brother and my parents and they are all dead. As you know, to tell you
any
of this risks
your
life, too.”

She nearly laughed, and I caught the implication: she’d been risking her life to hunt vampires for a long time now.

She said, “You were almost a myth until Samantha Moon found you.”

I polished off my water and opened the fridge. “Diet Dr. Pepper! My favorite!”

“I bought them for you.”

“
Rudolph told you that much about me?”

“
Yes. We have a whole dossier on you.”

I popped the can open, took a swing. Then took another and another. God, I loved this crap. “Look,” I said. “I didn’t want to be known nor found, not even by my beloved brother because wherever he went, vampires followed—it risked the security of my wife and child to have Rudolph in my life. We rarely saw each other in adulthood. The last time I saw him was when he took his last breath in Griffith Park, in my arms. You, on the other hand, are a world-famous singer. This concerns me. Hard to stay anonymous when fans are running after you for your autograph.”

“But you forget that singing’s the perfect cover and my fame opens doors that would otherwise be closed. I can pursue my music passion and still be a vampire hunter.”

“
Hiding in plain sight. Brilliant. Or crazy.”

“
Merci.
”