Four Centuries (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (3 page)

A door opened behind Rhonda, and a man with dark hair, graying at the temples, leaned out.
 
He glanced at Rhonda, who gestured with her head.
 
Richard looked to Victoria and smiled.

"Yes, ma'am?" he said.
 
"What can we do for you?"

Victoria wasn't sure how she felt about being called
ma'am
.

She didn't wait for Richard to approach her.
 
She walked around the desk, hand outstretched, and joined the pair.

"I just need a few minutes of your time."
 
She softened her voice, just a touch.
 
"Could we speak in private?"

Richard stuttered and stammered for a moment before leading Victoria into his office.
 
Among the many things Victoria was, above all else, she was a skilled liar.
 
She was hundreds of years old, masquerading in the body of a thirty-year-old.
 
She could mimic many accents, speak several foreign languages fluently.
 
Sixty years ago, she convinced a German soldier she was the sister of a high-ranking Nazi official, saving three Jewish families in the process.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Richard asked, sitting behind his desk.

Victoria let out a giggle, unable to help herself.
 
Somehow,
a sip from your neck
didn't seem like the right response.

"No, thank you."

Her imagination ran wild.
 
She had many lifetimes of experience, of fiction to draw upon.
 
A radical idea popped in her mind, something she couldn't remember trying before.

The truth.

"I won't waste your time, and get right to the point.
 
I need you to clear out the fourth floor.
 
Not the whole floor, just the rooms around four-seventeen."

It took five seconds for a reaction.
 
Richard laughed and shook his head, his brow furrowing in frustration.

"I'm sorry, but…what?!"

"Maybe ten rooms total.
 
There's someone dangerous in there.
 
I would have pulled the fire alarm, but I'm trying to be quiet."

"Uh…who the hell, exactly, are you?"

She leaned forward, holding his gaze.
 
"You need to do what I say.
 
I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Are you a cop or something?"

"Not at all.
 
Just a concerned citizen.
 
Look, you knock on a few doors, tell them there's a problem with the plumbing.
 
That'll get them moving fast.
 
I'm in and out in ten minutes.
 
You can go to sleep knowing you helped save some lives."

He rubbed his hands through his hair.
 
"Oh, wow.
 
Well, I can say this is a first.
 
I'm sorry, but no.
 
You come back here with a police officer, and we'll do whatever you want."

Victoria smiled.
 
There was a reason she never went to the truth.
 
It was like she always told one of her best friends.
 
He happened to be able to fly, and was always so terrified of being caught on camera.

Mortals never wanted to believe the truth, even when it was right in front of them.

"Okay, let's see if you believe this," she said, fishing through her purse.

She rummaged past her phone and various collection of hair-ties to find a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
 
It was one of several stacks she carried with her, kept together by a rubber band.
 
She grabbed it and tossed it on Richard's desk.

"That's ten thousand dollars.
 
For you.
 
You can put it in your pocket.
 
All you have to do is knock on a few doors and make up whatever story you want."

Richard glanced back and forth between Victoria and the small band of money in front of him.
 
She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and smiled, waiting for the inevitable.

*****

Victoria leaned against the wall in the hallway as Richard ushered the last guest from his room.
 
The guest was irritated and angry as he struggled to slip into his coat.
 
Richard gently pushed him from behind, steering him toward the elevator.

"You want to wait until I get my coat on there, buddy?" the frustrated guest said.

"I'm so sorry, sir," Richard said.
 
"We're just looking out for your best interests."

Victoria lowered her head to hide the smile.
 
With ten grand in his pocket, Richard couldn't get the guests out fast enough.
 
The prior room was an old couple in their seventies.
 
She thought Richard was going to throw their walkers into the hall.

"Yeah, yeah.
 
How long will it take to fix the pipes?"

"Not long at all.
 
No more than two hours."

"Fine.
 
I expect to be comped for this."

"You will, sir."

The guest disappeared into the elevator.
 
Richard took a breath as he joined Victoria.
 
She cast him a glance as she kept her focus on the room ahead of her.

"Is there really someone dangerous in there?" Richard asked.
 
"Or are you just a rich, crazy ex-wife trying to get back at a cheating husband?"

She laughed quietly.
 
"Go to sleep tonight knowing you did a good thing, and was paid well for it."

Richard hesitated, unsure of himself, but decided the payoff was worth whatever reason Victoria had for visiting his hotel.
 
He nodded in farewell before leaving through the stairwell.

Finally, with every precaution in place for the nearby mortals, she approached the door once again.
 
Dropping to her hands and knees, she inhaled deeply at the gap under the door.
 
There were definitely two people, a man and a woman.
 
The room smelled of sex and alcohol.

She gave the door a stern knock.

"Thomas," she called.
 
"Thomas Sanders.
 
We need to talk."

Her sensitive ears were answered by a quiet snore.
 
The fact that she couldn't hear his companion concerned her.

"Come to the door, please."

"Go the fuck away!" he shouted, his voice groggy.
 
"I already told you people.
 
If I need something, I'll come to you.
 
Do you see the sign?
 
Stop
disturbing
!"

Victoria stared at the carpet and clenched her fists.
 
She'd learned long ago that patience was a virtue.

But even as old as she was, she wasn't perfect.
 
There were times she had a temper.

She'd spent enough of her own time and resources on Thomas Sanders.
 
Whether he knew it or not, it was for his own good.

"Thomas, please—"

"I said go the fuck—!"

The first blow didn't knock the door off its hinges, but it came close.
 
The entire upper-right portion caved inward, sending shards flying.
 
There was a chair wedged under the knob, braced against the floor.
 
Thomas was definitely paranoid, which was smart, considering what he was.

"What the hell—?"

Victoria stepped back and thrust her right foot forward.
 
The hinges popped, and the door collapsed, falling to the floor alongside the chair.

The first thing she noticed was how dark the room was.
 
Layer upon layer of black trash bags were taped over the windows.
 
Victoria's lip twitched in a half-smile at the memories.
 
She'd employed many unusual and creative ways of hiding from the sun during her lifetime.
 
Many times involved trash bags.
 
Once, she even hid under a pile of men mere moments removed from killing them.

She blinked away the darkness.
 
Seeing in the dark was never an issue for a vampire.
 
The supernatural decided that vampires shouldn't exist during the day.
 
The least it could do was let them see in the dark.

Thomas fumbled and stumbled about as he tried to slip on a pair of underwear.
 
He nearly fell once, tripping over his own feet.
 
Catching himself on the dresser was the only thing that saved him.
 
Victoria had her suspicions before, but she was convinced now that he wasn't very old.
 
He didn't smell or hear Victoria at all, and he lacked all sense of grace.

Her eyes fell on a woman laying half across the bed, naked.
 
A bottle of liquor Victoria was unfamiliar with lay on the floor, just out of reach.
 
The woman didn't move or stir, even with all the noise Victoria had caused.

She pushed her way inside, her gaze locked on Thomas' companion.
 
She thought she heard a heartbeat, but couldn't be sure.
 
Thomas rushed to intercept her as she approached the bed.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're—?"

Victoria shoved him hard with one hand to his chest.
 
He stumbled back, and she could tell by his expression that her strength was a complete surprise.
 
Still, after watching her destroy a door with ease, he didn't know he was looking at his superior.
 
She scowled for a moment, hoping her point was clear, and turned her attention back to the woman.
 
She was in the middle of pulling the woman completely onto the bed when she noticed Thomas, out of the corner of her eye, reaching for the lamp on the nightstand.

With blinding speed, Victoria closed the distance between them.
 
Her hands were claws in an instant.
 
She raked him once across his bare torso, and another across the face.
 
Blood sprayed everywhere, over the walls and both Victoria and Thomas.
 
He howled in agony as he collapsed against the dresser.

She pointed at him with a now normal finger.

"Stay," she commanded.

She hated talking down to him.
 
It wasn't Victoria's way.
 
But it seemed to be the only thing that got his attention.

She kept one eye on him as she moved toward the woman.

"Did you kill her?" she asked.

Thomas didn't realize it, but his next response would go far in determining the course of their relationship.

"Ah, shit, I don't know.
 
Does it really matter?"
 
He lowered his voice, speaking to himself.
 
"What was her name?
 
Joan?
 
Jane?
 
Jen!
 
Her name's Jen!
 
Is she breathing?"

Jen stirred and moaned as Victoria approached, drawing a sigh of relief.
 
She suddenly shot upright and coughed violently, before leaning over the edge of the bed and vomiting.
 
Victoria gently rubbed her shoulders and neck while holding her hair back as she unloaded last night's liquid dinner all over the hotel room floor.

"She had a little too much to drink last night," Thomas said, unleashing a smile.
 
"I guess we both did."

Victoria finally noticed the dried blood that ran from Jen's neck down her breasts onto her stomach.
 
Jen's eyes lit up in panic as she examined her naked body.

"What did you do?" she screamed, staring at Thomas.
 
"What did you do to me?!"

"Oh, please.
 
You enjoyed every minute of it."

Jen jumped from the bed and raced forward, only to be caught by Victoria.
 
The sudden movement caused a collision in her stomach, and she bent over again.
 
Too much alcohol and a lack of blood took its toll.
 
If Victoria wasn't holding onto her she would have toppled over.

Victoria ripped the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around Jen.

"Jen, listen to me, you're going to be okay."

"Oh my God!" she said, looking about like a caged animal.
 
Her gaze settled on Thomas, still sitting against the dresser.
 
"He…bit me!
 
We were…together, and…."

She trailed off as her lip quivered.
 
The tears started, and Victoria could see there was therapy in Jen's future.
 
When a vampire fed the right way it left the human in a state of euphoria, even without the sexual side-effects.
 
Feeding could be a wonderful experience for all parties involved.
 
But when done improperly, it was nothing more than assault.

"Can you walk?
 
I want you to go downstairs to the front desk and ask for Richard.
 
Have him call an ambulance.
 
They'll take care of you, clean you up.
 
You might have to lie, say you don't remember anything of what happened, or they'll think you're crazy."

"Yeah, right," Thomas said.
 
"Bitch is already crazy."

Victoria ignored him.

"Downstairs.
 
Richard.
 
Ambulance," she said, keeping things simple.
 
"Go ahead."

Her knees buckled, but Jen managed to leave the room on her own.
 
The sheet she pulled around herself was open in the back, and Thomas stared after her until she vanished around the corner.
 
Victoria grabbed her purse that she nimbly tossed on the refrigerator when she entered the room.
 
She positioned herself against the wall by the covered windows, in between him and the door, to block any chance at escape.