Dead Girls Don't Cry (11 page)

You wear Enkile’s Cuff. If it pleases you, I can speak with others.

“Yes. I know exactly who I want you to talk to.”

~ * * * ~

As if our situation weren’t bad enough, Trent, in his newborn vampire glory, had attacked and wounded the entire human crew. Ian had been forced to turn all of them. I didn’t know how he stood upright. He was a better sire then me. I could barely look at Trent. I wanted to slap him silly every time I thought about him. Either that or rip his dick off. I might do both. Day wasn’t over yet.

“It’s better for them,” Ian said, easing into the mess hall chair across from me.

Again, I swear he could read my mind. “Why?”

“They’d never survive the Martian climate long term. The first gamma ray burst and they would’ve died a lingering death from cancer.”

I shrugged. “Good point. But can we feed them?”

“With proper planning, we’ll manage. I have rogues who’ll be willing to donate.”

I couldn’t help wonder at what price. I shook the negative thought away. I tried to apply the power of positive thinking. The result, underwhelming.

One of the vampire newbies joined us at the table, a tray of my favorite juice pouches in hand. I think he was the navigator. Or one of the mission specialists.

“For you, Ms. Cordial. I hear these are your favorite.” He blasted a gap toothed smile at me. A little dimple was on his left cheek. He was so young. Up until the Captain Trent fiasco, the human crew stayed away from us. Captain Trent excluded. The crew didn’t know we were vampires because Prior had told them we were off limits.

“What’s your name?” I speared a straw through the nearest pouch and took a small sip. A faint metallic tang hit my tongue. Maybe the supply was tainted.

“Mission Specialist, Mitch Marron.” He took a large gulp of the pouch. Poor kid. His hunger would be strong for a while.

“Nice to meet you. Welcome to club dead.” I didn’t waste energy asking him if he was surprised. The new vampires wore the same glassy-eyed, slack-jawed look of shock. An
is this shit really happening
look. I knew it well. I think I wore it for six months after I was turned.

“I sure didn’t realize this is what I would be signing on for when I was hired,” Mitch said between swallows.

“Surely, not,” Ian seemed mesmerized by the boy’s rapid juice consumption. “How did you become part of this venture?”

“Funny. I remember answering an ad on the internet. Good timing too after I lost my job at NASA.” Mitch burped. “Excuse me. After, it’s hard to recall. I know I’m getting paid a boat load more than before. And my family will be taken care of if anything happens to me.”

Couldn’t remember, my ass. A vamp had messed with his memories. And poor Mitch never made the connection something bad happened to him and he’d never see his family again.

A lesson I knew well. I took a healthy gulp from the juice. I wish I hadn’t. It tasted worse than before.

“Whew. It sure is hot in here. Isn’t it?” Mitch wiped blood tinged sweat from his brow.

I shot a look Ian’s way. Vampires don’t normally sweat. Or turn gray.

Seizures racked Mitch clear out of his chair. Ian raced over to him.

I followed. Thick white foam frothed from Mitch’s mouth. His teeth chattered, clicking loudly. A slick, gray sheen oozed from his pores.

“What’s happening to him?” The room’s temperature shot up. “It is hot in here.”

Ian twisted back around, “Bollocks! Silver poisoning!”

Double images of Ian reached toward me as my vision blurred. The long forgotten feeling of a fever swept over me. A moment later his incisors pierced my neck.

“Hold tight. I’ll get the poison out of you.” Wet liquid splattered on the floor. Ian’s hair tickled my noise. Fresh mint mingled with acrid odors of tainted blood. For a while, I stopped hearing, seeing, thinking.

“Cherry. Wake up, luv.” Ian’s gentle voice roused me from a sluggish stupor. Anger beat at me. Ian’s anger.

Cold metal seeped into my back. When I opened my eyes, the harsh overhead lights stung my sensitive eyes. A crick twisted my neck when I raised my head. Jay had arrived at some point. He dropped my juice pouch in a sealable bag.

“Poison?” The cylinders in my brain weren’t firing yet. “Mitch?”

“He’ll recover. His newness saved him.” Ian massaged the pain out of my neck with strong capable fingers. “Ingested silver is fatal to older vampires.”

“The real question. Was the pouch meant for you or Cherry?” Jay asked.

“We have a limited pool of suspects. These newlings are mine.” Ian cracked his knuckles. His new vampires flinched at the sight. The fierce blue light in his eyes scalded them. “One by one, you will confess your crimes. You will go first.”

The singled out vampire nodded and listed, in graphic detail, everything in his life he’d ever done wrong.

After an hour, my head reeled with too much information. I didn’t really need to know Mission Specialist Greer liked to lick peanut butter off toes. Again with the toes. And I sure as hell could have lived a long, happy life without knowing the mission scientist had been caught stalking his brother’s girlfriend. With rope and a hunting knife.

“What a bunch of degenerates,” Jay observed.

“No kidding.” A horrid thought crossed my mind. I interrupted Ian’s interrogation of the ship’s navigation specialist. “You. Did Prior personally hire you too?”

He froze like a deer in headlights.

“Answer her, Carlos,” Ian said.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

After hearing similar stories from each of them I turned to Ian, “I’ve heard enough. Where’s Prior?”

Twenty minutes later, I had Prior cornered outside of his room. Jay stood next to me, glaring.

“What the hell were you thinking when you hired these douche bags?” I jabbed a finger into his chest. Funny to think, at one time, the twerp intimidated me.

“I had. . .no. . . ch-choice.” Prior shrunk further back into the wall. “I had limited funds. They were the best I could do. They had the requisite skills. And years of astronaut training.”

“And no morality whatsoever,” Jay added. “Did it ever occur to you that on a mission like this, personalities mattered? We have to live together for a long time.”

An awful thought struck home. “They’re considered disposable. Right, Prior?”

“Of course,” he sniffed, “they’re humans.”

Prior’s head slammed into the wall. Jay and I had moved as one.

“Did we both hit him at the same time?” Jay asked.

I shrugged and lifted the creep up by his jumpsuit, jamming the zipper into his chubby neck. “I suggest you think long and hard about what’s wrong with your attitude. No one on this mission is disposable.”

Jay glared at Prior. “Except, maybe you!”

We left Prior nursing his throat and his self-esteem. I doubt anything I said would have a positive impact. Points for me. I probably gained another enemy. Prior was still a male and I had bruised his ego.

“Don’t worry about him right now, Cherry.” Jay flipped up his laptop screen. We had decided to re-group in his room. “As per usual, we have bigger issues.”

“Worse than someone trying to poison me?” I loved those juice pouches too, I thought sourly. “Do you think it was Prior?”

“No.” Jay waved off the concern, “He was genuinely surprised. I can tell. Must be a gift from my new sire.”

I winced. “I’m sorry this happened to you.” I had so much to atone for already. Jay losing the last bit of his mortality, well, sucked.

“Don’t be. I feel great. I’m a practical person. I would never have survived long term on Mars. Besides, you catching Trent was a good thing.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Funny, I don’t see how.”

“Now we know you have lot more enemies than Thalia.” He smiled and motioned to the computer. “I uploaded this footage today.”

One of the useful things I had learned during my all night cram sessions was it took about twenty minutes for us to receive communications from Earth. Jay had already tapped into the Vampire News Network’s daily broadcasts. He had been providing transcripts to Prior and Ian each day. Apparently I had been receiving them too, except I hadn’t bothered to read them.

A perky newscaster, from
Evening
, the vampire version of a morning show, appeared on the screen. “We’re standing outside the burned out shell of the infamous Cherry Cordial’s love den.”

Love den? Side by side pictures of Ian and me appeared on the screen. Mine was the club’s publicity photo, hair coiffed in a hideous 80’s do and copious amounts of make-up. Ian’s was a . . . painting? By the looks of the short hair, high collar and stuffy attitude, it was from around the Napoleonic Wars.

“It’s here Cherry and her lover Ian McDevitt masterminded their most heinous act, the cowardly murder of our beloved Queen Victoria. They used this location to finance the purchase of handheld rocket powered grenades, most likely purchased from Middle East terrorists.”

“Wow. I didn’t know I was so devious,” I said, my stomach in knots.

Ms. Perky continued, “Joining me today is self-professed Cherry Cordial expert and until this monstrous betrayal, her number one fan. . .”

I groaned, “Oh no.”

Jay nodded his head, “Oh yes.”

“…Morton J. Vandemere III.”

That night’s events rushed back to me. I sat heavily on Jay’s bed, hugging the pillow to my stomach. “In the alley. The masturbating freak saw Ian wink at me from across the street. The son of a bitch. That’s how they tied me to Ian.”

But why? None of it made any sense. They could have had Ian as their scapegoat without dragging me into the mess. Unless… the bracelet? Was that what Thalia really wanted?

The door slid open. Ian entered the room, all frown and sour attitude.

“Did you see this crap already?” I tossed the pillow aside.

“A right load of bullshit.” Ian eyed Jay. Without a word, Jay nodded and left us alone in his room.

“I’ve lost him, haven’t I?” The final tie to my human past had been snipped. While Jay had been my thrall, our connection went deeper than friendship. In the day’s excitement, I hadn’t immediately noticed the blood bond’s absence.

“I
am
truly sorry. But the alternative…” he left the obvious answer hanging between us.

“I know. I’d rather have Jay here with me.”

Ian took Jay’s vacated chair and closed the laptop lid, cutting off the rest of the fabricated news report. “There’s nothing to be done about events back at home.”

“Any luck with juice pouch?”

“No. None of the new vampires was behind your poisoning.”

Which left Ian, Jay or Prior. “Shit.”

“Yes.” Ian gave me a long hard stare. “I would never poison someone.”

“Or blow them up with a rocket?”

“Those are acts of cowardice.” He was suddenly on the bed next to me. His nose so close, I could smell mint on his breath. “When I kill someone, I look them in the eye first.”

I should have been scared. Any right minded person would have been. I blinked. The intensity of his blue gaze ignited my senses. Tiny shocks rode up my spine. I reached over to touch his face. With a rapid blur of motion, he was out the door. The only sign he’d been there, a slowly inflating dent on the mattress.

CHAPTER NINE

Jay banged on my door. “Cherry! It’s time.”

Twenty hours had passed since I’d provided the ship with our destination and someone tried to kill me. “I’m ready.” I brandished the cuff.

“How long have these characters been appearing?” Jay angled my arm around to examine the runes.

“Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.” I raced down the hallway toward the bridge. The cuff pulsed, counting down the time until we reached the Veil.

I couldn’t read ancient runes or whatever language the countdown was in. Not that I was one hundred percent sure the cuff was counting down, but I had to warn Ian before the ship did who knows what.

When I had asked the ship what to expect when traveling through the Veil, she said was,
Hold onto something. I must concentrate
. And she shooed me away. The bitch.

“Cherry, why are we running?” Jay zoomed up behind me, a big smile plastered on his face. Since I had commanded the ship to allow Jay access he’d been wearing a shit-eating grin. He still hadn’t “met” her yet, but he would. If we survived the Veil.

“We have to warn Ian and the crew. They need to prepare.”

Jay stopped, “Why not use the intercom system?”

Of course, I had no idea there was one or how to use it. “Did the ship tell you how?”

“Cherry, you’re such a kidder.” Jay walked over to the wall and touched a square panel next to the door. It flared to life at his touch. Why didn’t I know this?

“Ian?”

“What’s up?”

I walked away, leaving Jay to his conversation. I was a total loser. Close to two weeks on the ship and I never noticed the communication panels. Ship and I would have to chat.

Jay caught up with me a few minutes later. “Let’s go watch on the observation deck.”

I bit back my surprised response and acted like I knew about the observation deck. “Sure, sounds great.” We arrived in time to join Prior. He gave me a tight smile. Expression hinting I shouldn’t turn my back to him anytime soon.

As soon as we were seated, lap and shoulder restraints strapped us firmly into our seats.

“This ship is so cool,” Jay said like a giddy school girl.

“Sure it is.” If you like sentient machines. The room was similar to a theater on Earth, with one exception. There was a giant view screen instead of a stage. Or maybe it was an actual window.

The wall brightened and an image of space appeared, along with a bunch of flashing runes and other unrecognizable symbols, possibly numbers. The familiar black smudge dominated most of the view. It was still as dark and foreboding as before.

My hackles rose. I didn’t like the idea of entering dark places, let alone a massive unknown galactic phenomena.

Jay and Prior were enraptured by the screen. Apparently, I was the only one with any common sense.

The cuff stopped pulsing. I gripped the armrests. Faint vibrations rattled my seat. The shaking grew more pronounced the closer we drew to the Veil.

Swirls of color appeared in the Veil’s center. Dim at first, then more vibrant. I couldn’t look away. My gaze locked onto the kaleidoscope.

Reality shifted.

Colors had taste, taste had sound, sound had feeling. The sensation wrapped around my mind, dragging me along for a ride I didn’t want to be on.

It was like a bad drug trip. Humanoid faces floated by. Some mournful, others happy. A few outright mad. One face turned and captured my mind. It’s thoughts a petal soft caress.

Brunii
.

Espirtii

Decaii

I don’t understand,
I thought. The words pushed into my mind, burrowing deep, touching my soul.

The symphony in my head lasted minutes and days, each happening at the same time. My stomach dropped to the floor before settling in my throat. Another hard wrench. A loud scream (probably mine) pierced the cacophony.

Then it was over.

The view screen displayed a large red planet. Scarred by a long, dark canyon, Mars was so . . . barren.

I hated it already.

The seat restraints retreated, leaving us free to move. Not happening. Not until my jelly filled legs hardened back up.

“Jay, how’s it going?” I flopped my weary head in his direction.

“Fine,” he said, followed by a hard, thick swallow.

“Incredible!” Prior bounded out of his seat with the glee of a first grader about to get new crayons. “I must get to the bridge. Amazing…”

His wormy voice trailed off as he left the lounge.

“Let’s not do that again for a while,” I chewed the edge of my lip, making a quick decision. “Did you see anything in there?”

“It was a total mind fuck.” Jay shook his head, “what didn’t I see?”

I listened closely to his experience. None of it came close to resembling what I saw and heard. I gave him the run-down, including the strange words.

“Never heard of them. I can do some research for you.”

“If we have time. I could have imagined the whole thing. I don’t want you wasting effort on it right now.”

I leveraged my sluggish body out of the seat. A few trial steps later convinced me I could walk without falling on my face. Before leaving, I took a last look at the view screen.

“Shit. Any idea how we’re getting down there?”

~ * * * ~

“No fucking way in hell!” I banged my palms on the table. Ian’s grip on my knee, prevented me from throttling the vampire across the table. “You have got to be kidding!”

Prior took great delight in the news. “They are perfectly safe. We use the balloons to drop cargo.”

The plan: use the same technology used to “land” rovers onto Mars. Essentially, eject us out of the ship in large rubber balls. Then we’d bounce around at high speed for a while. After the ball stopped moving, the sphere would deflate, freeing us. Uh. No.

Ian, looking equaling unsettled, leaned closer to Prior, “Mate, we’ll hurtle thousands of miles an hour down to the planet’s surface, right after you do.”

Prior balked, “I’m supposed to stay on the ship.”

“Says who?” Ian growled, “You’re a member of this crew. If the colony leader says you debark, then you debark with the rest of us.”

I examined the ends of my fingertips. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

“I protest!” Prior spluttered and squirmed in his chair. “Someone has to man the ship.”

“One of my men will do it. I have the perfect chap in mind,” Ian drawled. “Now, get your arse out of here.”

As soon as Prior left, I turned to Ian, “How do I know your man won’t take off and strand us on Mars?” Despite weeks trapped together in a tin can, I still knew next to nothing about Ian.

“He won’t. But if it makes you feel better, you can leave some of your people behind too.”

Damn. There was one person, er... vampire, best suited for the job. He would never agree.

And I was correct. Unfortunately.

“No way. I’m not staying behind.” Jay pointed his finger at me. “You can’t do this to me, Cherry.”

“Come on. It’s a chance for you and the ship to share some quality alone time.”

“No.”

“Jay, I need someone I can trust. As far as I can tell, no one else knows the ship is alive.”

“Sentient.”

“Whatever. The point is we need an exit strategy. I don’t want to spend an eternity on a dusty rock.” The thought of never seeing a tree or a lake again gave me hives. “Besides if you stay here for a little while, you might learn some of the ship’s secrets. I’ll introduce you right now.” I lowered my voice, “Come on, sweet talk her. I bet she speaks nerd really well.”

Jay’s lips quivered, trying to hold off the smile. But I had him. I knew his weak spots and shamelessly exploited them. “Fine. I’m not staying up here forever.”

I tiptoed and kissed Jay on the cheek. “Ian may be your sire. But I’m still your girl.”

“About the sire thing. I don’t think it works with Ian and me.” Jay raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t feel any connection to him.”

Jay was unclaimed. Oh no, that wouldn’t do. “Sweet. You’re mine. Right now. I don’t want Prior or anyone else to claim you.”

“Agreed.”

Ten minutes and one blood exchange later, Jay and I were back in business. Connected again. I led Jay down hall and towards the area where the rune chamber appeared. The portal appeared and we stepped through.

“Good day, Cherry!” the ship said in its usual sensuous female voice. This was the first time she had spoken to me out loud.

Jay’s mouth dropped open.

“Who is the new Brunii?”

“What does that word mean?” Might as well ask since it kept coming up. I might not get the chance later.

“Brunii is the clan you are from. It means drinker of life.”

“Cherry, is the ship speaking?” Jay circled around the empty room. When he approached the center, the runes appeared, but dimly. Not vibrant like earlier.

“Yes. I am the ship.”

“Holy Jesus!” Excitement colored Jay’s voice. I could see the inner geek rising. “When Cherry said you were alive she wasn’t kidding. Do you have a name?”

Well, geez. I slapped my forehead. I should have thought of that.

The ship responded, delighted. “My name is Kasia. And yours?”

“Jayakrishna. Call me Jay.”

I interrupted before Jay and Kasia could start with the techno-babble. “Kasia, I have to go to the planet’s surface. Please allow Jay whatever access he requests and cooperate with him as you would with me.”

The runes brightened. “Step forward into the circle, Jay, so I may know your mind.” The runes encircled Jay like a cosmic hula hoop. Spinning slowly at first by his feet then gradually picking up speed and they rose towards his head.

My bracelet flared to life, the colors matching the symbols surrounding Jay.

“I like him. His mind is broad and intelligent.”

“He’s the smartest man I know,” I said, meaning every word. “Once I’m on the surface, will we be able to communicate?”

Kasia was silent for a moment. The lack of quick answer made me uneasy. “Yes, I can arrange a connection. You will have to locate the caves for it to work.”

Caves? Familiar images from my dreams filled the floating view panel. The runes around Jay detached and bordered the screen.

“Cherry. There’s a sexy, angry vampire at the door,” said Kasia. Ian’s image flashed up onto the view screen.

How the heck did he find us?

“Let him in. Keep your mouth shut. Please.” No matter how warm and gushy Ian made me feel, he didn’t need to know about Kasia. “And hide the screen and the runes.”

The door swished open. Ian stalked in, body rigid. “I’ve been calling you for over an hour,” he said, accent sharp enough to cut through steel.

If he thought I was apologizing, he could forget it. “What’s up?”

“What. Is. Up?” Ian glared at me and then Jay. “Did you forget we have to plan our departure?”

“Didn’t we discuss landing at the morning conference?” Seriously, how many meetings can you have on the same topic?

“The earlier meeting was a high level overview. The details still have to be hammered out.” Ian’s face softened. “I’m sorry. I sometimes forget you’re new to this. But don’t get used to it. You need to be in top form for when your family wakes up.”

I sighed. “You’re right. I’m not used to all this fuss about everything.” Cold prickled my back, thinking about what lay beyond. “What do you need me to do?”

Ian looked around the empty room. “What on Earth are you two doing in here?”

“I made Jay part of my family.”

Ian smiled, “Consider him my gift to you. I know how much your friendship means to you both. Jay, do you mind giving us a moment alone?”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll go see what Prior is up to.”

As soon as Jay left, Ian backed me into the wall. “What do I have to do to earn your trust?”

The closeness of Ian’s body stirred all kinds of hungers in me. I hadn’t fed since Jonathan’s death (Trent’s, then weak human, blood didn’t count). I hadn’t had sex in . . . I don’t remember how long. “Why is my trust so important?”

Ian pulled back and ran his fingers through his silky hair. “Understand this, luv. Down there, our survival depends on trust. I know Prior thinks our bodies can withstand anything, but we’re both smart enough to know otherwise.”

Before responding, I swallowed a lump of hunger, tinged with anger, “Ian. I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.”

“Are you so sure?” Ian leaned in again, a rush of scents tickled my nose. Fresh mint and clean male. “This whole time you’ve been assuming I was the patsy in this scenario. From what I’ve seen, it could be you who was meant to take the fall.”

Okay, the new theory rocked my world. And not in good, fun filled way.

“Think about it. Someone tried to kill you. I don’t drink those nasty excuses for juice. The Queen, a known recluse, visited you at the strip club. And she left you a note.”