More than Magic: Semester Aboard (15 page)

That sounded a lot better than a vampire.
"
Could
it just be a dhampir?"

"Maybe," Dani said. "There's usually a
vampire pulling the strings when there's a dhampir in the picture."
This time, he didn't wait for me to ask; he just went ahead and
explained. "The ones who go out turning people have a nasty habit
of going after non-magics. They're easier to manipulate because
they don't know anything about magic. It's useful for a vampire to
have a dhampir around. A scapegoat if you will. If, say MES, is
after the vampire then a dhampir or two in the way might be enough
for the vampire to get away." He sighed. "Well, with any luck he'll
get off in Ecuador, whatever he is." Dani stood and stretched.
"Speaking of Ecuador, I think it's about time to get ready for bed.
You and I have got a long swim tomorrow. And I imagine your trip
leaves early too, Jen."

"Yeah."

Mariana went into the bathroom first. While I
waited I nibbled on the food they had been able to sneak out of the
dining room. The phone rang and Dani picked it up.

"Hello? Hi, Thomas." My jaw nearly dropped;
he had answered in a
flawless
impersonation of Mariana.
"Everything's fine. Mm hmm...we will...oh, hey, have I ever told
you I think you're handsome?" I could hear Thomas yelling on the
other end. Dani switched back to his normal voice without any
visible effort. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just adding some levity...well,
what's the point of joking if it
isn't
at your expense?
...Fair enough...no, I haven't...we're going to." Dani glanced my
way and I saw that his eyes were an angry blue. "Tom, we're going
to...yeah, well what about you? ...Mm hmm...Well, I'll be sure to
let the kettle know you feel that way. How black? ...I am being
serious, Thomas," Dani snapped. "Get off my back and I'll stay off
yours." With that he slammed the phone down. He let out an annoyed
sounding hum.

"Dani?"

He sat down onto the couch. "Yeah?" He
sounded wary and I wondered if he thought I was going to ask about
the phone call with Thomas.

"You hum a lot. Is it..." I hesitated.
Suddenly "are you talking?" sounded like sort of a dumb
question.

"Panthalassish," he said. "I'm sorry, I never
explained that did I? That's our language. Water elementals, I
mean. Mermaids too."

"So, when you're humming you're actually
talking?"

He chuckled and his cheeks looked slightly
blue. "More like mumbling to myself really." He sounded embarrassed
and I realized that he was blushing.

"Oh." I laughed. It sounded really neat. "Can
anyone learn it?"

"Never fluently. Panth is really
complicated." He said the first part in an incredibly deep voice
and then effortlessly switched to a nearly ear-splitting high one.
"You can't speak it properly without the right vocal chords." This
time he used both voices at the same time. It was like hearing two
different people speak in perfect unison.

"Whoa! Is that how you impersonated Mariana
earlier?"

He nodded. I heard a whistle and saw that
Mariana had just stepped out of the bathroom.

Dani chuckled. "Sorry, didn't catch
that."

"I said "stop showing off,"" she grumbled.
Mariana turned to me and shrugged. "I can't speak it very well when
I’m human."

Dani pursed his lips like he was whistling,
but didn't make a sound. Mariana glared at him.

"Just because I can't hear you, doesn't mean
I can't guess what you said." They both laughed and Mariana climbed
into bed. "Goodnight, Jen."

"Goodnight," I said.

"I'll be quick in the bathroom, then you can
take all the time you like," Dani said to me.

I sat on the couch while I waited for him. It
wasn't the most comfortable couch, but it would do for the night.
True to his word, Dani only took a few minutes. He came out and sat
down on the edge of his bed.

"Doing ok?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Well, bathroom is all yours. You get the
bed, by the way, when you come out."

"Oh! No, I don't want to kick you out of your
bed!"

Dani laughed. "It's fine. I'm certainly not
going to make you sleep on the couch."

I started for the bathroom and heard Mariana
call Dani's name.

"Hm?"

I paused by the bathroom door and saw him sit
down on the edge of the bed next to her.

"What if the vampire doesn't leave?" she
whispered. "What if he's still here when we leave Ecuador?"

"Then we'll deal with it."

"What if he tries to feed from me?" I could
hear the fear in her voice.

"He won't."

"But-"

Dani cut her off. "He
won't
. Don't
worry, you know I won't let anything happen to you." He stroked her
hair and then leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep,
calf."

"Don't call me that," she muttered.

I didn't want to keep spying on a private
moment, so I hurried into the bathroom. As excited as I was about
going to Ecuador, I couldn't help but worry about the vampire. I
had just finished brushing my teeth when I heard someone knock on
the door to the room. I froze. Did vampires knock? I heard someone
cross the room and open the door.

"Char?" Dani said in surprise. "What is
it?"

I sighed in relief as I heard the door close
and Charlie replied, "I'm spending the night here."

Dani laughed softly. "Any particular
reason?"

"Jen's a witch. Thomas and TS were worried
that she might be targeted."

What? I felt a chill and edged closer to the
bathroom door, hardly daring to breathe in case I missed a single
word.

"Jesus," Dani groaned. "Her blood hasn't
already changed, has it?"

"It's starting to. It's enough that Thomas
thinks the biter might notice."

What did that mean? I yanked my pajamas on as
fast as I could. I was not going to let this be another little
thing they neglected to tell me. Whatever was apparently happening
to my blood was something I needed to know.

"Well, we'll keep her safe. We're only on the
ship for a few more hours anyway," Dani said softly. "And hey,
can't complain."

I opened the door, ready to demand answers.
Charlie and Dani were still crammed in the sorry excuse for a
hallway by the door. Before I could say anything Charlie put a hand
on the back of Dani's head and kissed him soundly on the lips. My
jaw dropped and for a split second I was shocked. Then it made
sense. It was a perfect example of what Mariana had told me earlier
about fire elementals. I was certain that Charlie had more than a
little crush on Dani. Being in close quarters with someone you
really liked, especially if you were stressed out, would have been
taxing on anyone's self-control. And that was without the apparent
self-control problems fire elementals had. I hoped that Dani
understood fire elementals well enough to not freak out. But when
Dani reacted it was not at all what I was expecting. He wrapped an
arm around Charlie's shoulders, pulled him closer, and deepened the
kiss.

My jaw dropped. There was no way that Dani
was just going along with it. He was just as into it as Charlie. I
didn't know how long I would have stood there in shock, but ship
rocked sharply and all three of us stumbled. They noticed me and
their eyes widened. Charlie cleared his throat nervously and Dani's
cheeks turned remarkably blue.

"Are you two-" I realized I was being loud
and cut myself off so that I wouldn't wake Mariana. Oh my god,
Mariana
. I stared at Dani for a moment in shock. Honestly,
he and Mariana didn't seem to be having a very blissful honeymoon.
They argued more often than not and tonight was the only time I had
seen Dani act tender with her. And that had been while she was
afraid. Still, even though I didn't know him that well, I hadn't
thought he was the sort of guy who would make out with somebody
else while his
wife
was asleep not ten feet away! I lowered
my voice, "Are you two fooling around?"

Dani ran a hand through his hair and grinned
nervously. "Little more serious than that."

Charlie laced his fingers in Dani's. "We're
dating."

"Little more serious than that," Dani said
with a snicker. Charlie elbowed him and let out a small
chuckle.

"Bu-but what about Mariana?"

"Yeah...we're not married..."

I was speechless.

"Why don't we sit?" Charlie said.

The two of them sat on the couch and I
settled down on the corner of the bed near them. For a minute or
two, nobody spoke. I decided to break the silence with the only
thing I could to say.

"Why?"

"We had to share a room," Dani said.
"Mermaids have to get in the water every couple of days, otherwise
they get sick. If they stay on land long enough they die. Plus,
they need to eat raw fish and seaweed and things. Mariana has to
dive off the ship and the best time to do it in secret is at night.
We figured that if she had a non-magic for a roommate they might
get suspicious. Not only that, but I'm the only one who can get her
back on board again. Then I'd have the same problem." He leaned
against Charlie with a smirk. "Unfortunately, we couldn't be
roommates cause this is technically a college and the rooms aren't
co-ed. Then we found a loophole. Even though we're students we can
share a room if we're married."

It made sense. But still... "Isn't it
awkward?" I asked.

"Yeah, mainly because I didn't think they'd
be kind enough to give us a single bed," Dani laughed. "Really
though, it's not that bad. I've known her since she was two; I
think of her as my sister."

I studied the two of them. "I never
would've..." Actually, I
had
guessed. At least about Charlie
liking Dani. If I hadn't thought that Dani was married I might even
have figured it out.

"Sorry you found out like that," Charlie
said. "We were going to tell you."

"It's ok." As I spoke I regretted it. Yet
another thing they hadn't told me to begin with. I had to wonder
just what else I hadn't been told. A chill ran up my spine as I
remembered the reason Charlie was there to begin with. "What were
you saying about my blood?" They both sighed and I had a feeling
they had been hoping I wouldn't ask.

"Vampires drink human blood," Dani said.
"Magical human blood, from witches and wizards specifically, is
better."

"So...I taste better?"

"I'm not sure if there's a difference in
taste," Dani said. "I suppose "better" isn't the right word."

"More potent," Charlie suggested.

"Yeah, that's it. More potent. Drinking your
blood would be the equivalent of feeding from two or even three
non-magics."

I chewed my lip nervously. "Which means the
vampire would come after me?"

"If he smells you, yes." Dani shrugged
helplessly. "I'm afraid the fact you've started using magic is
changing the scent of your blood. Nothing we can do about that
though, what's done is done."

"You'll be safe," Charlie said.

"Yeah. For all we know the biter will be gone
tomorrow. No sense worrying. Ok?"

"Ok," I agreed. I stood and got ready to
climb into bed, then hesitated. "You're sure it's ok if I take the
bed?"

Dani laughed. "I'd be on the couch even if
you weren't here."

"Oh. Right."

Falling asleep was impossible. I tried to
focus on Dani and Charlie instead of worrying about the vampire. I
replayed some of their interactions in my mind, trying to figure
out if I had missed any clues. But my thoughts kept returning to
the fact there was a vampire, a real vampire, on the ship at this
very moment. I pulled the covers up over my head, feeling only a
little foolish. The vampire could have been sinking his fangs into
somebody's neck right now. The fact that the ship was rocking
unusually hard made falling asleep even more difficult. I could
hear things sliding around in drawers as the ship pitched back and
forth. After a particularly rough rock I heard Dani laugh.

"Not funny," Charlie said. "It's a narrow
couch."

"I'm not going to let you fall," Dani
snickered.

"Why is it so rough?"

"We're going up river," Dani said. "It's just
choppy here at the mouth."

We were almost there then. The port was a few
miles up the river. Maybe the vampire would get off the ship as
soon as we docked. With that slightly comforting thought, I finally
managed to fall asleep.

Chapter 10

When the alarm woke me I was still exhausted.
I probably hadn't gotten more than an hour or two of sleep. I
cracked open my eyes and grabbed my phone to cut off the alarm. I
was tempted to hit snooze, but there was only half an hour before
the bus for my trip boarded. For a moment, I couldn't figure out
why I had set my alarm so late. I had missed the sunrise! Then
everything that had happened before I went to sleep came rushing
back. I fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on. I really
was in Dani and Mariana's room; last night hadn't been a dream.

"Morning," Charlie called. He looked
wide-awake and rather cheery. "I warmed up some leftovers. It's not
much, but it should be enough to tide you over."

"Oh, thanks."

"You want any, Mariana?"

Mariana sat up and shook her head. "I'll be
fine. We're diving off pretty soon. Dani, when are we leaving?"

Dani was still lying on the couch. He groaned
and rolled over to face the back of the couch. Mariana tossed a
pillow at him.

"Dani! When are we leaving?" she
repeated.

Dani fumbled for the pillow and then used it
to cover his head.

Charlie pulled off one of his shoes and threw
it in Dani's direction. "Get up!"

"Yeah, yeah," Dani groaned, "I'm awake."

He didn't actually get up until we were all
dressed and ready to go. The walk down the hall to the gangway was
quiet and a little tense. Dani joked about going to get coffee, but
I could tell he wouldn't risk it. The short walk down to Deck Two
seemed to take forever. I wondered how good a vampire's sense of
smell was. A chill ran up my spine as I thought about the fact a
vampire could smell me. We made it to the gangway without incident
and I heaved a sigh of relief when we stepped out into the crowded
port. We spotted Thomas and TS near the buses and joined them.