The Huntress Trilogy 01 The Vampire With the Golden Gun

by Chanel Smith

  He drove down the road for nearly half a mile before she came into view. At the sound of his engine, she turned and stuck her thumb out. Set drove a few feet past her before pulling over. She came running up to the car and pulled the passenger door open.

  “Thank you so much!” she said, as she shoved her backpack into the back seat of his car then slid into the passenger’s front seat and closed the door.

  “Sure thing,” Set said, shining a smile. “Where are you headed?”

  “New Orleans,” she said, returning his smile.

  “Perfect.”

  It was more than half an hour later that the pair had pulled over and made a trek into the woods. Set had seduced her slowly, simply for his own enjoyment, otherwise things would get into a boring routine for him. His excessively good looks never failed him. Women took one look at him and they were immediately smitten. It was his nature; all of his kind were beautiful to humans. His smell was also intoxicating to them, both male and female, prone to cause extended periods of adoration and confusion. By the time they had pulled over, his hitchhiker was practically stripping her clothes off.

  Set carried her naked into the woods. Her breasts were small, but firm and he made good use of them as he ran his hands over her constantly to enhance the spell. She moaned and opened herself up to him. Set ran his tongue over her neck, feeling her pulse beating beneath her skin.

  “Please… take me,” she whispered, breathing heavily.

  Set decided it was time to oblige. He’d played with his food long enough. His jaw unhinged and his teeth extended into rows and rows of long, sharp fangs. With blurring speed, he dug them into her flesh. She screamed, not in pain, but pleasure. She wanted it, more than she could have ever imagined. Her body shivered in orgasm as blood poured from her neck.

  Set sucked hungrily at the flow of blood, his venom prevented even the slightest bit of clotting to occur. The taste of her was hot and electrifying. He lapped up all of it, savoring each drop. When the girl lay on the ground, hiccupping for air, the cambion sat back on his heels. Set used her jacket to wipe his mouth.

  There wasn’t much left of her but he still needed to dispose of the body. Thankfully, when he took a good look around, he found himself in an area rife with nature and many well-made places for just such an occasion. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her through the underbrush until he reached the telltale edges of a swamp. He hoped that there would be alligators there that would take the remains for him. But even if that wasn’t the case, she would sink and get swallowed up by the water.

  He didn’t even watch her disappear. Set just tossed her in and left. As he walked away, he heard the welcome sound of the reptiles splashing into the water to go after their easy meal.

  ***

  Veronica let out a gasp. She felt Rand throbbing inside her as she sat on top of him moving steadily in her lust. His hands gripped her hips and pushed her further down on him and she could practically hear the blood rushing through his veins.

  He turned his head to the side to reveal his white neck.

  “Feed,” he said. “You’re hungry. I can see it.”

  She sank her fangs tenderly. Rand groaned. Veronica hissed. Their passion was heated, making Rand’s body wash with sweat.

  Finally, Veronica screamed. She felt the pleasure rushing in at that point. It coursed through her, making her body tingle. Rand grabbed a hold of her again and moved even quicker until they both exploded into each other.

  Her body was shaking as she fell to the bed beside him. He was staring at the cabin ceiling in disbelief as he took slow, deep breaths.

  “Holy shit!” he said.

  Veronica laughed and began putting her clothes on. The moon was coming up now, illuminating the sky and shimmering mercilessly off the surface of the water that surrounded the enormous vessel they sailed on.

  “You sure you can’t stay?” Rand said, sitting up.

  Veronica giggled as she sat on the edge of the bed, pulling on her tight leather pants.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  Rand shrugged.

  “Yeah, I guess you’ve got work to do…”

  Veronica pointed at him.

  “Bingo!” she replied as she slid her shirt over her head and turned to give him one last kiss. “I’ll catch you later.”

  Rand barely managed to wave goodbye before Veronica stepped through the bedroom door to make her way back to the top deck of the ship. They had timed it perfectly. Once again, most of the crew and passengers had gone in for dinner and the public decks were all but deserted. Moving faster than the human eye could even see, she teleported back to the edges of the cliffs on Catalina and then speed ran the rest of the way to her little hovel under the mission at San Juan Capistrano. To her relief, she found that her things were undisturbed.

  Maybe it was that fucker Rand who had been following her all along. Damn vampire hunter.

  She smiled at the thought. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to mind that he might find her lair again.

  Oh, the things I could still do to that fabulous body of his! Easy now! Settle down, girl. You have work to do.

  She packed her gear and supplies into her handy satchel and placed it on the bed. She looked at the little safe in the corner with dread. She still didn’t know where it had come from and what the hell it was for but somehow she knew that she would need it on the adventure she had ahead of her. Her gut was never wrong, so she had no reason to stop trusting it now. Veronica bent and thumbed through the combination, reached inside and pulled out the box with the golden gun in it. Carefully, she placed it into a spare holster and strapped it to her thigh. She closed the safe and locked it, double-checked everything, then grabbed her bag and set off. She could always find whatever she might be in need of while she was on the road; all she had to do was let Mr. Tan know that she was out of town. He would ensure that wherever she ended up, Veronica would have access to the closest, the safest and the best of resting places, food and equipment if and when she needed them.

  Now she only hoped she would find some answers where she was going.

  ***

  Set had decided that after his meal he needed to sleep. He was experiencing something of a food coma. As much as he hated to admit it, it happened sometimes when the feeding was particularly satisfying, and his hitchhiker had certainly been satisfying. He took a room at a nearby hotel in Alexandria and slept for hours on end. When he awoke, the sun was down. The moon had taken over the watch, and was casting its creamy glow down on the earth.

  He sat up and stretched limbs and wings. It was so nice to stretch out his wings. Set held the stretch for a moment longer, feeling the freedom and relief that came when he was in his natural form. He relaxed again and then heard the sound of his stomach growling. It was empty already.

  He would have cursed if he didn’t enjoy the hunting in those southern states so much. The women there tasted different. He couldn’t put a finger on the reason why. Disappointed, he wasn’t sure what to do for food.

  Set dug through the backpack that the girl had placed in his backseat to see if there was anything useful in it. He found a laptop that Set decided he could use to fill his current growing and pressing need. The computer wasn’t password protected, which he found rather stupid. But then again, its owner had gotten into a car with a perfect stranger.

  He used it to order a local call girl over the Internet. They weren’t hard to find and he used the hitchhiker’s credit card to pay for it.

  The rest of the night’s events went as smoothly as he could possibly have anticipated. The prostitute showed up, did the usual recital of her rules, then got right down to it. Seconds later, Set had his tongue all over her neck, sucking the essence from her like meat from a bone. When he finished with her he took all the sheets off the bed, wrapped her up inside, then and carried her into the Dumpster out back. He tossed in the backpack and its contents beside her. Set planned to be long gone and into Opelousas by the time anyon
e found her.

  Chapter Six

  Veronica sat up and looked at the clock. Night had finally fallen, which meant it was time for her investigation in Suffolk to begin. She already had an appointment to see a detective by the name of Francis Meerschaum, one of the few detectives who had been working on the case from the very beginning. No matter what she did, Veronica couldn’t get the pictures of the crime scene out of her head and if she had read the news article even one more time, she would have been able to recite it.

  New York Cops Fear Serial Killer May Be On the Loose

  The decomposing remains of four females, at least two of them girls under eighteen years of age, have been discovered along a New York beach. Police are combing the area for more bodies in what they fear may be the victims of a serial killer's murderous spree.

  "Four bodies found in the same location pretty much speaks for itself. It's more than a coincidence. We could have a serial killer on our hands," Suffolk Parish Police Commissioner Richard Norman told ABC News today.

  Norman said investigators have talked to an alleged pimp who he said was a person of interest in the disappearance of a prostitute in that area earlier this year. It's not yet clear whether that woman's body was among the skeletal remains found in recent days.

  The bodies appear to have been thrown from a vehicle into a remote and windswept area of thick brush near a Long Island beach, Norman said.

  "They weren't buried, and were in different stages of decomposition. Obviously some were there for some time," he said.

  At least some of the bodies were wrapped in burlap sacks. The bodies were spaced approximately 500 yards from each other, and all appeared to be young females, Norman said. The other two remains were too badly decomposed to determine their age outside the parish coroner’s office.

  He said it could take weeks or months to positively identify the victims.

  The first body was discovered Saturday when Suffolk Parish police announced they had discovered human remains on Gilgo Beach. The body was found during a training exercise. The officers chose that spot to search because a woman was reported missing near there last May.

  "Periodically a detective in the missing person's unit would return to the area where the woman was last seen to search, as part of a training exercise," Norman said.

  "The first body was found 3.5 miles from where the woman was last seen," Norman added.

  According to police, that missing person was Jersey City resident Shannon Gilbert, a 24-year-old woman alleged to have been a prostitute.

  Gilbert was last reported alive on May 1, and she had allegedly arranged through Craigslist to meet a client about a mile from Gilgo Beach, Norman said.

  The chief said Gilbert was accompanied by a pimp on her trip, a man who was a person of interest in her missing person's case. He did not identify the alleged pimp.

  "She was a prostitute working off Craigslist and accompanied by a pimp. We located the pimp originally, spoke to him and got some information from him. It's still all part of this investigation," Norman said.

  Possible New York Serial Killer

  Police discovered three more bodies Monday, and today, are expanding the area to be searched in case there are additional bodies dumped along the beach.

  Although officials said it may take weeks to identify the bodies, investigators said it is likely that Gilbert's remains are among those discovered.

  "Common sense tells us it's not a coincidence," Suffolk Parish Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky told WABC.

  During a news conference today, police said it appeared as though the bodies may have been dumped at different times spread over the last year and a half to two years.

  ABCnews.com

  Suddenly, Veronica’s phone started ringing. She stirred and looked over at it. It was an unknown number. Cautiously, she flipped it open and answered.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Veronica?” the voice asked. She sounded gruff, but somehow pleasant, almost matronly, at the same time.

  “Who wants to know?” Veronica asked.

  “It’s Agrippina,” she said. “You probably knew that I would be contacting you sooner or later.”

  The name clicked and Veronica remembered something Rand had mentioned while they were together on the cruise ship.

  “Yes, of course. Rand mentioned a little about you.”

  “I’m calling about your gun,” Agrippina said.

  Veronica got out of bed, completely naked, as she always slept, and strode over to the holster that was lying casually on top of her moto jacket. The supple leather still cradled the beautiful golden gun inside it. Veronica had remained somewhat tentative to touch it until now. She picked the holster up by the end and slid the gun out onto the desk.

  “What is this thing, anyway?” Veronica asked, looking at it with an air of near disgust.

  “It’s something you’ll need greatly on this particular hunt, Veronica,” Agrippina began. “Gold is a demon’s weakness; much as we vampires cannot withstand the sanctity of silver, so do those beasts succumb to the purity of gold. Even their hide is impervious to anything besides it.”

  Veronica sighed and poked at the gun. Something about it made her deeply uncomfortable. A weapon that she didn’t understand was a completely foreign concept to her. It put her out of her comfort zone. As if responding to her thoughts, she began to feel a little more comfortable. Maybe her apprehension was retreating now that it had been spotted?

  “Is that all you have to say to me? What about the cryptic message that accompanied the weapon? What club am I being welcomed into? Can I opt out if I so wish?”

  “That’s all you need to know,” Agrippina said. “But regarding the message, that was just the Romanovs’ attempt at a joke, I’d guess. There is no club per se.

  “We are the Watchers, Veronica, and we have taken notice of you. Your skill, your passion, your ethics. It is my personal hope that one day we will all come to know each other better. Perhaps you will like what you learn about us, perhaps one day you will desire to be one of us.”

  “I don’t do well in group activities,” she retorted.

  The snide comment made Agrippina laugh buoyantly.

  “Rand thought the same as well before he went to the Brotherhood. After almost two thousand years, I have come to the conclusion that every being thinks themselves unique; even in their oddity they believe that there are no others that are quite as distinctive as they are.” She laughed again and continued. “After two thousand years, Veronica Melbourne, I have found that there can be almost nothing further from the truth. Individuality does not exist as you think it does, my dear. In reality, the concept of individuality transcends your understanding of the term completely.”

  The sheer confidence with which the elder vampire spoke rendered Veronica speechless. There weren’t many things or beings that could do that. She was wise, ancient, and colossal in her philosophies on life. She wanted to know this creature better and could feel herself being drawn into the orbit of what could only be the immenseness that was Julia Augusta Agrippina.

  “I assume you didn’t get any ammunition within your package? You’ve never had a weapon like this one before.”

  Veronica looked at the holster again, just to be sure, and shook her head.

  “No, nothing. I don’t believe there’s anything in the gun either.”

  Agrippina laughed.

  “They never seem to remember to send ammo. It’s really just because they always want to meet the hunter they make the weapon for.”

  Agrippina coughed and Veronica heard her clear her throat repeatedly.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “That’s fine,” Veronica said, feeling very confused. “So where do I buy the ammo?”

  “When you get to Louisiana, it will be as good a place as any to do so. The New Yorkers, as you have probably already noticed, are less than particularly hospitable to visiting creatures. It’s no wonder that Set did so phenomenally well there. We c
ouldn’t root him from the Tri State area for almost a year just because no one keeps as good tabs on beings in the area as they should.” She paused to clear her throat again. “In New Orleans, there’s a place known as Lilith’s Pathway that the supernaturals operate. The beings there can provide you with what you will need for the gun as well as anything else you could possibly want.” Agrippina said.

  “What does that even mean? Lilith’s Pathway? And who is Set anyway?” Veronica asked, confused by her words.

  “Don’t worry about it. You’ll know it when you see it. Just know that the people down there are a little on the strange side and the children of Lilith are no exception. If the name itself perplexes you, child, I’d suggest you brush up on the history of your kind. As for Set, he is the being that you hunt for, Veronica Melbourne. A cambion. An ancient creature. The half-human and half-demon spawn of an incubus,” she said.

  “Ha! He doesn’t sound as dangerous as Rand purported. I knew that hunter was a pussy.”

  “Oh, my dear, underestimating Set would be a grave mistake. He is old and cunning. You shouldn’t trifle with that one.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. Everything she had been dealing with recently had come with some sort of a warning tag.

  “Thanks,” she said dryly. “I’ll keep that in mind, but beauty trumps age every time in my book and I’m one hell of a looker!”

  Agrippina laughed heartily.

  “You’re a funny one, Veronica. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t immensely looking forward to meeting you.”

  Veronica looked at her watch.

  “Thank you for the compliment, Agrippina, but it’s getting late and I’ve got a job to do. A hard one, too, by the sound of what you’re saying.”

  “Of course,” Agrippina said. “I’ll let you go. Good luck.”