Just One Taste (19 page)

“What time do you think you went upstairs?”

“Around three, I think, but I don’t remember much after that except being upset in my room later. I was crying and I couldn’t remember why. Maybe I had a bad dream or something?”

“Do you remember any part of this dream?”

Sheba’s hazel eyes go wide for a second and her face becomes blank. The color leaches out of her skin and it looks as though she’s seeing through me rather than focusing on the here and now. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that she had her head messed with. Poor thing, someone got in there and wiped a few hours from her.

“Sheba, I’d like to help you. Do you feel comfortable letting me into your mind?”

Her vision snaps back to me while she processes my question. Whoever this bastard was, he wasn’t kind. I hope I can fix what he did.

Sal’s smooth voice echoes up from the pool. “What’s going on, Vivian? I have a feeling you’re not telling her everything she needs to know.”

Damn. That’s what I get for talking to her in an open room. Anyone here could have heard our entire conversation, and it looks like that’s exactly what happened. I glance over at the water and see Salvador’s sleek, wet body walk up the steps from the corner of the pool nearest us. His bathing suit sits low and snug on his slender hips as he gracefully moves to the foot of Sheba’s chair.

Sal’s sharp eyes hone in on me. I know I’m not going to get out of here without some careful explaining. The best defense is often an unexpected offense; here’s to hoping I can reveal as little as possible.

I face him, allowing my displeasure to show in my features. “Sal,” my tone comes out harsh, “am I right in assuming Sheba is just your companion? That no one in your seethe has laid claim to her yet?”

“Yes, that’s true. So?” His face mirrors his surprise. I caught him off guard with my vehemence or he would have not shown that much expression, I bet.

“I want you to smell her. Come close and draw in deep. Tell me what you sense.”

He looks intrigued with my question and moves to the side of her chair to comply, watching me as he does so. Sheba’s used to obeying vampires without question. She rises from her chair to stand before him to make my request easier.

As her head tilts to the side, Sal leans in and puts his face close to her neck, unceremoniously sniffing her. His head whips up, his back becoming ram-rod straight. Tension fills his body and he directs a dark angry look my way.

His voices hisses out, irritation quite clear. “She smells like
you.
How is this possible?”

In his anger, he sends his aura to push against me like an angry buzz. His dark brown eyes bleed black. He transforms from calm, pool-swimming guest to annoyed master vamp in a heartbeat. Of course, I’m not some little fledgling to be cowed with a show of power. I resist the dark urge to lash out with my own aura to push him back. I top him by about a hundred and fifty years, but despite our long association, he doesn’t know it.

I’m going to ignore his question. Sal’s smart enough to figure out the how of my scent on Sheba. That is, if he can get his dick back in his pants and stop thinking we’re going to have a pissing contest right now. I have no intention of fighting with a guest, but I have no qualms about taking him down a notch or two in his arrogance either.

“Did your maker not teach you to respect the gift this human shares with you? Her very life fuels your own and yet you offer her no protection against others of our kind.”

“You…” his face flushes with his outrage and he sputters in his haste to spew his indignation out at me. “You have no…who do you think you are? I treat her fine. She is here in your resort with me, is she not? I protect her.”

“If that’s the case, how is it that someone’s been inside her mind playing marbles and wasn’t very neat about it?” I’m calm and cool in my response, but I need to diffuse his anger and get Sheba alone somehow.

Theresa, his buxom, brunette mate, wisely chooses that moment to step in. Also dripping wet from the pool, she places her hand on Sal’s arm to calm him before addressing me. “What are you saying, Vivian? Do you think that’s why Sheba feels off? I thought maybe she was getting a cold or something.”

Theresa’s concern for Sheba sounds sincere. Her brow creases with worry and she steps from Sal’s side to place a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

“Look at me, dear. Is what Vivian saying true? Are you missing some points in time from yesterday?”

Sheba looks uncomfortable under our scrutiny. She pulls back into herself. Her arms come up to wrap around her body and a shudder passes through her. “I’m not sure… can either of you tell?” Sheba turns to Salvador, hoping he’ll come to her rescue.

Ah, and now the moment I’ve been waiting for. Damn, Sal is not going to be happy with me in the next few seconds. Hopefully, he’ll shake it off and we can talk it out later, like two civilized bloodsuckers.

I rise from my seat and draw up to my full height. I now allow my aura to come to the surface and I push gently against Salvador’s. His face shows his shock while I keep my own expression perfectly neutral. There’s no need to rub this in anymore than necessary.

The tension in the air fairly crackles from the power we’re exuding and the unknown of what the next moment holds. I adapt the formal speech associated with an act of importance, hoping it will dissolve the barrier between us and allow him to think clearly.

Extending my hand to Sheba, I bow slightly to Sal then turn to face the young woman. “I request your presence in a formal audience, and I implore you to honor my desire. You have ingested my blood and I lay claim to that which runs through your veins.”

Sheba’s jaw drops open as a gasp emits from both Sal and his mate. Sal and I lock gazes and I can see some of his anger drain away, replaced by a look of loss.

His quiet voice holds a note of hope. “You have not fed from her yet then?”

“No, and I will not. I do not feed from our guests. You should know that in the fifty-odd years you’ve been coming to my properties.”

He smiles weakly at me. “I’m finding there are lots of things I was unaware of in those fifty years. You hide very well.”

I pull my aura back in and present them with the picture they all know so well: the lush, redheaded vampire who feels only about a hundred or so years old.

“Hiding my power was never done to deceive you—only to help you relax.”

No more words need to be spoken. I take Sheba’s hand to lead her from the pool. As I’m leaving, I can’t help but deliver one last thought, hoping I can make this four-hundred-year-old vampire master look at his people in a different light.

“If you care about them, you should mark them as your own. They are not pets but human lives entrusted to you in the very dangerous world
you
brought them into. You risk losing that which you do not honor accordingly.”

His head flashes up and heat fills his black eyes.

Ah, there I go again, making friends everywhere I go. The way I feel right now, I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if we lose a steady customer. Hell, it’s not like we need the money. His arrogance caused this woman some considerable pain. Now it’s up to me to fix it.

Can I repair the damage or is she better off the way she is?

It’s a delicate balance sorting through someone’s ravaged mind. Although all vampires are able to perform mind control and erase memories, not all are gifted in how to use the power with subtlety. What can be damaged can almost always be fixed, but the return of lost knowledge is not always a good thing for the victim.

I’m going to start questioning Sheba gently and I need a calm quiet place to do so. Leading her back through the lobby, I head toward our private suite of rooms behind the kitchen. We enter the hotel kitchen and find Paul, whom I nod a greeting to as he prepares a bloody mary with bagged blood for a vampire guest. He returns my greeting with a more reserved nod of his own. Looks like the poor bugger still feels the effects of last night.

“Paul, would you mind preparing breakfast for Rafe and having it ready by 7:30?”

“Sure thing. What would he like?”

“His usual: sausage, a two-egg veggie omelet, and rye toast—heavy on the butter.”

Paul shakes his head. “I don’t know how a man can eat like that four times a week and not have a heart attack.”

I smile elusively and reply. “Good genes, I guess.” Remembering Jonathan’s appointment with us for this morning, I add, “Oh, and could you make a rare steak with lots of potatoes, and a four-egg meat omelet, as well? Jonathan is coming by for an early morning meeting.”

“You got it.”

Sheba and I continue through the kitchen to a security door nestled in a corner by the walk-in fridge. At a swipe of my key, the door opens into a narrow hallway. While Rafe and I enjoy our privacy, it is not unheard of that we bring people back to visit. We both love having our own space and this suite occupies the rest of the west wing, with the kitchen and small dining room taking up the front. That makes this more like a private apartment within the much larger building.

The hall opens into a comfortable living room and beyond lies our small kitchen. I gesture to the seating area for Sheba to help herself to a seat.

“I’d like to talk with you a bit before we begin,” I say. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.” She lowers herself to the couch and looks up at me with big eyes. “Is this going to hurt?”

Very good question and I don’t have an answer for her until I see for myself the extent of the damage.

“I’m not sure, Sheba, it may. Do you want me to return your memories to you if I can fix things, or would you feel better not knowing?”

She meets my eyes with the first hint of a backbone in her gaze. “Of course, I want to know what happened. Who wouldn’t?”

“You say that now, but let me tell you what we found last night before you decide.”

I fill her in on finding the corpse and Rafe’s discovery of the wallet. Hard to believe it was only thirteen hours ago. Her eyes fill with tears when I mention the victim’s name.

“Are you sure? John Pierre Vaughn?” The first tear spills down her cheek.

“Yes, did you know him?”

“He’s a member of our seethe. A companion like me. But he didn’t come on the trip with us.” She shifts in her seat, nervous from the last revelation.

“Would there be any reason he would come here if he wasn’t included in the invite?”

Most master vampires like to leave all the cares of their seethe behind, humans and lesser vampires alike, and travel with a small retinue. The MacKellans, unlike Salvador’s group, are rare in that they brought three vampires with them on their trip.

Sheba twists her hands in her lap, distress starting to mar her smooth visage. “John Pierre had shown a lot of interest in me lately and Sal didn’t want him to distract me from my fun here.”

Hmm, isn’t that interesting?

“Why would Sal worry about distracting you? Aren’t you happy with them?”

“No, no, I am. But John Pierre…well, he’d been talking of leaving the family and…”

“Yes?” I’m on the edge of my seat here. I know she’s nervous, but if she doesn’t spit it out soon I’m going to scream.

She heaves a great sigh and collapses into the back of the couch. “He wanted me to join him and asked me to marry him. I didn’t feel the same way about him and had to break it to him before we left.” The tears start in earnest now, spilling down her cheeks in rivulets. “I guess none of that matters now, does it? You’re sure it was him?”

“I’m not sure of anything. We can get you a picture later to confirm.”

Yeah, after I defrost the body and take one. I’ll get right on that, honey. What the hell was I thinking making that offer?

Maybe I’ll let Sal ID him and he can confirm it for her. I’d hate the last time she sees him to be a picture of him frozen solid. But wait, who am I kidding? She could very well have been there when the murder took place and saw it all. If I can restore her memories,
that
will be what she remembers last.

Ugh, this is going to suck, and not in a good way.

“How can you help me get my memory back from yesterday?” Sheba says.

“Have you had a vampire bite feel exquisite and bring you pleasure?”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Why else would I be here? For their sunny disposition and giving natures? It’s all about the bite, baby.”

Well, that certainly tells me a lot about Sheba and her seethe now, doesn’t it? They sound like a bunch of groupie fang-bangers. To each their own. I’ll keep my judgments to myself. Or at least, I’ll try.

“Okay, then, glad we got that covered. My point was, the vampire ‘rolls’ your will under their own with their mind and that’s how you feel the intense sensations. Rolling you under their control is another way to say they’ve invaded your mind.”

Her face sobers and she straightens up. “You mean any of you can go in my head at any time?”

Could she really be this dumb? Apparently she is, and Sal must prefer to keep his food that way. Not to my taste, but, eh, I know I’m not the average vampire.

“Never look us in the eye, Sheba, and you’ll be safe. I can’t believe after a year, you didn’t know that.”

“I guess I got caught up in the lifestyle.” She quickly looks away and down at her hands, wringing them in her pool wrap. “You know, the big house, the clothes, no need to work… All that great sex was only the icing on the cake.”

She has a dazed look to her, as if all the events in her life are taking on a new significance.

“Finally see you’re playing with more then you can handle?”

Her gaze sharpens and she looks at me with something akin to dislike on her lovely features.

People rarely thank you for opening their eyes up to the lies they are comfortable living with. Seems the realization of her party life is starting to hit home, and she might be looking to place blame. Yeah, God forbid she look in the mirror for that one.