She gave him a smile that made his heart almost stop and sent shock waves all the way down to his wounded crotch. “I’m fine, but I’m afraid I’ve lost my drink.”
“No problem,” Fraser said quickly. “Let me buy you another one.”
“Why, how gallant of you, kind sir,” she said, sticking out her hand. “My name is Christina Alario.”
“Hi, Christina, I’m Brendan Fraser,” he said, taking her hand and shaking it.
Christina glanced up at the clear sky and the sun shining overhead. “I’d love to take you up on the drink, but I’m afraid I need to get inside. My skin never seems to tan, and I’ve had a bit more sun already today than is good for me.”
Fraser licked his lips. He just couldn’t let this one get away. She was by far the best-looking woman on the entire island and he had the feeling that if she left he’d never see her again. “Well,” he said hoarsely, “how about the hotel bar?”
She smiled and glanced down at her skimpy bikini. “You think they’d let me in like this?” she asked.
He pursed his lips. She was right. The bar had a strict dress code—no bathing suits were allowed.
When he hesitated, she moved closer to him and he could smell the heat coming off her skin—it smelled like the musk of some exotic wild animal and made his groin grow heavy.
“I know,” she said, her eyes lighting up as if she’d just had an idea. “Why don’t you come up to my room and I’ll change into something . . . more suitable.” When he hesitated, thinking of the intern in his room, she added in a sultry voice, “We can have room service bring us a drink while I change.”
“Okay,” he croaked through a suddenly dry throat, thinking he was the luckiest son of a bitch on the island.
* * *
Once in her room, Christina moved toward her bedroom while Fraser went to the phone to order them both drinks.
Christina undid the tiny straps to her bathing suit top as she walked, calling back over her shoulder, “I’m going to take a quick bath to get this sunscreen off, if you don’t mind waiting.”
He shook his head when he caught a glimpse of very full breasts as she turned to enter her bathroom, thinking he’d wait all day if necessary.
After the bellman dropped off their drinks, Fraser carried them into the living room of the hotel suite, calling, “Drinks are here,” toward the half-open bathroom door.
Her voice came floating out of the door along with waves of billowing steam, “Why don’t you bring them in here, Brendan? The water is just too delicious to leave.”
Fraser picked up the drinks and walked into the bathroom, weaving his way through the clouds of fragrant steam that smelled like vanilla until he saw Christina leaning back in a large Jacuzzi tub, the jets blowing soft bubbles around her floating breasts.
She smiled seductively. “Care to join me?”
He almost choked at the sight of her breasts bobbing on the bubbles, waiting for him in the steaming water.
He sat the drinks down on the cabinet and stripped out of his bathing suit, ignoring the aches and pains in his penis as it grew heavy and stiff, and seconds later he was next to her in the tub, clinking glasses and offering a toast to new friends.
She emptied her drink and sat the glass down on the edge of the bathtub before leaning forward and covering his lips with hers.
When he felt her hand on his penis, he grabbed her breast and closed his eyes, reveling in the moment and moaning from both pain and lust.
He opened his eyes and screamed against her mouth when he saw what she was becoming, but it was too late . . . much too late!
Chapter 32
John Ashby poured two cups of coffee and took them to the table where Marya Zaleska was sitting across from Theo Thantos and Christina Alario. John had requested a meeting with Thantos prior to his scheduled meeting with the cell leaders of his followers. He’d told him that he and Marya were tired of being kept in the dark and treated like they weren’t important enough to know what his plans were.
“So,” John said after he’d handed Marya her cup, “what’s going on, Theo? Where exactly are we in your plan to take over the country?”
Thantos puffed up like a toad with self-importance and put his hand on Christina’s shoulder. “We’re almost there, Johnny. Now that Christina has converted Brendan Fraser we have an ally sitting on the president’s right hand with complete and total access to the number one man in the country. In addition, General Black Jack McCormack has managed to convert General Blackmon Taylor and his wife, and they are soon to start working their way through the higher echelon of officers and their wives at Fort Detrick.”
“Fort Detrick?” Marya asked, completely ignoring Christina and focusing all of her attention on Thantos.
Thantos nodded eagerly. “Yes, it’s the country’s main storehouse for both chemical and biological weapons. Once we have it completely under our control, the government and the people of the United States will have to do whatever we want or else we can devastate entire areas of the country, or any other country that pisses me off for that matter.”
Ashby was horrified. He’d known there were no bounds to Thantos’s ambition, but this went far beyond anything he’d contemplated when he agreed to help Thantos in his schemes. “You mean, you’d actually consider gassing or releasing germ warfare on the people of this country?” Ashby asked, trying to keep his distaste from his voice.
Thantos looked amused. “What? Did you actually think this was going to be a bloodless coup, Johnny?”
“No, not bloodless, but I didn’t think we’d be annihilating half the population either.”
Thantos waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, I don’t think it’ll ever come to that. I imagine just the threat of such an action will get me what I want.”
“Okay,” John said, slightly mollified. “So, suppose you get what you want and suddenly you’re in the driver’s seat, running the entire country. What then? Once our race is able to come out of hiding and rule the country alongside the Normals, are you going to force all of the Normals to donate blood periodically so we can eat whenever we want?”
Thantos pursed his lips and looked at Christina. “Well, uh, why would you say that, Johnny?”
“I thought the whole purpose of this coup was to make us equal to the Normals and enable us to live openly in society, getting our blood whenever we needed it, without having to kill for it.”
“Without having to kill for it?” Thantos asked, with a smirk. “But, Johnny, my dear boy, killing for it is half the fun. Why on earth would any self-respecting Vampyre want to give that up?”
Before John could answer, Christina said, “I told you he didn’t have the guts to see this through, sweetheart.” She leaned forward, her eyes full of hate. “Hell, I’m surprised the both of them aren’t on that vaccine that makes us into nothing more than toothless farm animals.”
John ignored Christina’s barb, glaring at Thantos. “So, when you’re in charge, the Normals will be relegated to something like cattle, to be slaughtered whenever we feel like a little snack?”
Thantos held up a hand. “No, no, nothing like that, John. I’m sure there will be plenty of our race who feel as you do and will be satisfied with drinking canned blood. But provisions must be made for those of us who prefer . . . ah . . . a more active role in procuring our blood. So what I propose is to decriminalize killing of Normals for food, that’s all. Then it will be every Vampyre’s choice on how to get his blood, from a blood bank or from a living donor.”
“But,” John argued even though he knew in his heart he’d never get Thantos to change his mind, “we’ve been feeding all the new converts out of stolen blood bank and hospital supplies for the past few weeks, and no one’s complained. Why can’t we just go on like that?”
Thantos sighed. “The only reason I’ve been using blood bank blood to feed our growing army is that I don’t want dead bodies lying all over the streets to warn the police, and you’ll have to admit, it is rather difficult for som
e of our more famous converts to find the time to hunt down and kill prey with Secret Service agents following them around.”
“Come on, baby,” Christina said, getting to her feet and rubbing the back of Thantos’s neck as she stood behind his chair, staring at Marya with barely concealed hatred. “Don’t waste any more time on these two. You’re the boss and they’ll just have to go along with your orders or else.”
“Or else what, bitch?” Marya said, getting to her feet, her hands forming claws as she got ready for combat.
“Are you going to let her talk to me like that, Theo?” Christina whined, suddenly frightened as she crouched down behind Thantos.
He held out his hand as he got slowly to his feet, his lips curled up in a sneer. “Tell your mate to calm down, Johnny, before I have to do something about it.”
John had to use all of his self-control not to bound across the table and rip Thantos’s throat out as he put his hand on Marya’s shoulder. “Let’s go, sweetheart. Now is not the time nor the place to have this discussion.”
As they walked off, Thantos watched with narrowed eyes. “I’m afraid we may have to do something . . . uh . . . more permanent about John and Marya’s attitude, dear,” he said to Christina, who smiled evilly at the suggestion. She couldn’t wait for Marya to get what was coming to her.
“When the time comes to do that bitch, sweetie,” she said, caressing his arm, “let me be the one to do it.”
He turned to her. “Okay. Now, do you have the crates of blood packages ready for the cell leaders to take back to their members?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good, ’cause I wouldn’t want any of them getting so hungry they act out and do something stupid to draw the attention of the authorities to us.” He grinned as they moved toward the door. “In a few days, we’ll be so far advanced in my plan that it won’t matter, and that’s when we’ll get rid of Johnny and Marya.”
* * *
As John and Marya walked toward their car, he shook his head. “This is not good, babe.”
“Why don’t we just pack up and leave, Johnny?” she asked. “We could go off together and forget about all this and just lead our lives someplace else.”
He stopped and turned to her. “I can’t do that, darling, no matter how good it sounds right now. When I agreed to go along with Thantos’s scheme, I thought we were going to be working toward a country where Vampyres and Normals could stand side by side, sharing the country without animosity.”
“Poor Johnny,” Marya said, caressing his cheek with her hand. “You are so idealistic.”
“But that’s the way it should be, Marya. There should be no masters and no slaves, just two different species each living their own lives without harming the other.”
“But Thantos is right about one thing, John,” Marya said, glancing back over her shoulder at the couple behind them.
“What’s that?”
“There is a definite percentage of our race who still prefer the hunt and the kill, rather than being spoon fed blood from a plastic bag. So, what would you do about that?”
“I’d handle it the same way I handle it personally, darling, I’d make sure that anyone killed for food deserved to die—it could be part of the prison system or capital punishment, or something like that.”
“That’d be tricky,” she said. “A lot of bleeding hearts would say it was cruel and unusual punishment.”
He grinned and put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward their car. “And they’d be the first people I targeted for food,” he said, only half-joking.
Chapter 33
As Elijah came to the freeway loop surrounding Washington, Ed leaned forward from his position in the backseat and pointed to the left. “Take that exit ramp there and go east, Elijah.”
“So you still refuse to tell us where you’re taking us, huh?” Elijah grumbled.
TJ, who was riding in the right front passenger seat, reached across and punched him in the shoulder. “Oh quit being such a grumpus, Elijah, lighten up a little for Christ’s sake. We’ll all find out soon enough what Ed’s got planned for us.”
Elijah sighed the deep sigh of the perennially harassed male faced with unarguable logic from a female in his life.
He cut his eyes toward her. “I should have ripped your throat out when I had the chance, girl,” he teased.
She laughed. “Just think of all the fun you’d have missed by not getting to know me,” she retorted.
“Yeah, and just imagine how horny I’d be if you’d done that, Elijah,” Shooter added from the seat directly behind TJ, “although, now, you can all see what I have to put up with on a daily basis.”
She glanced back at him and went, “Pooh, Shooter. If I wasn’t here you’d still be going after anything in a skirt like you did for the twenty or so years before you met me.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. But no matter how many I chased or how many I caught, I’d never find someone as great in bed as you are, dear,” he said, mock contritely.
Elijah, Matt, and Ed all said, simultaneously as if planned, “Amen.”
TJ sniffed. “Well, I’m glad to know I’m appreciated by all the men present.”
Sam and Kim laughed, not at all offended by their men’s compliments about TJ’s prowess in bed. They knew from being able to read their mates’ minds that it was all in fun, and besides, they also knew that their own sexual abilities were appreciated just as much, as were the men’s by them.
Ed consulted a piece of paper and said, “Okay, Elijah, take the next exit and make a U-turn under the overpass and the place will be about half a block down.”
Minutes later, Elijah pulled into a parking lot in front of a large funeral home with a sign that read, ABERNATHY’S FUNERAL PARLOR.
“This is it?” Matt said in a disbelieving tone. “Your great idea is to have some mortician named Abernathy bury all the bodies of the Vampyres we kill?”
Ed laughed, “Not exactly, Matt.” He motioned for Elijah to pull up next to the delivery entrance since the place was dark and appeared closed for the night.
Ed jumped out of the car and walked to the door, which had a single lightbulb hanging above it. He rang a bell next to the door and waited. After a couple of minutes, the door opened and a pasty-faced man in pajamas shook Ed’s hand and handed him something.
Ed returned to the car and climbed in. “Drive on around the building to the rear entrance, please, Elijah.”
Once Elijah had parked next to a set of large double doors, and everyone had gotten out of the SUV, Ed pointed off to one side where three black limousines were parked. One was obviously the type used to transport grieving family members from the funeral home to the gravesite, and the other two were hearses that were used to transport the coffins.
“Those are part of the deal,” Ed said proudly, beaming at the group.
“What deal?” Elijah asked, exasperation at being kept in the dark evident in his tone.
“Come on inside,” Ed said, “And I’ll explain.”
Shooter looked over his shoulders at the automobiles as they entered the doorway. “No matter what he says, I ain’t gonna wear no chauffeur’s uniform.”
The group followed Ed down a series of halls and finally gathered in a large, open room with several iron doors in the wall, complete with temperature gauges next to each one.
Ed faced the group. “Now, as Elijah said, one of our major problems is going to be disposing of dead Vampyres after we cut their heads off.” He waved his hand at the iron doors. “This is the crematorium part of Abernathy’s Funeral Home. It can do three bodies at a time, six if we stack them double.”
“How . . . ?” Elijah started to ask.
“Wait, it gets better,” Ed said, grinning. “We also have the use of the hearses and the limousine to move around town and to transport bodies.” He laughed and spread his arms, “Who’s gonna suspect us of riding around town stalking our enemies in a hearse?”
The other m
embers of the group all joined him in laughter and all clapped their hands enthusiastically.
“But, how did you get the owner to agree to letting us use all this?” Elijah asked, still chuckling.
“Remember, when you first asked Kim and I about our psychic abilities, and I told you I was pretty adept at long-distance psychic communication?”
Elijah nodded. “Yeah, you showed me by contacting Sam and having her call me on the phone while she was thousands of miles away.”
“Well, since our blood sharing, I’ve gotten much stronger and more focused in that ability, so when you outlined our body disposal problem, I called Washington information and got the number of all of the crematoriums in town. After calling a few, I found this one out on the loop near the hotel Sam found for us to stay at, and I told the man I represented several veterinarians in the area. With a little mental push to make him buy the idea, I got his permission to use the crematorium at night to dispose of all the little doggies and cats that our customers were bringing in that didn’t survive.”
“What about the limos and the hearse?” Matt asked.
“Oh, he agreed to that but he won’t remember it,” Ed answered. He opened his hand, “See, he gave me the spare keys to all of the vehicles. All we have to do is to make sure we leave them full of gas when we bring them back.”
“And they’re not used at night?” TJ asked.
“Extremely rarely,” Ed said. “And the only drawback is that we’ll have to use our regular transportation during the day, since the limos and hearse might be busy.”
Shooter snapped his fingers. “I’ve got an idea, guys. How about we buy or lease an ambulance? We can put some fake name and number on it and it’ll make a perfect way to move around during the day, and if we get in a jam and have to move fast,” he spread his arms, “then we just turn on the lights and siren and go code three.”
“And the neat thing is it’ll be big enough inside to carry all of us at once if we need it to,” Sam said, getting into the spirit of the idea.
Elijah clapped his hands together. “Excellent, team, you’ve outdone yourselves. Now I suggest we go check into that hotel Sam found for us and get ready for action.”
Tainted Blood Page 24
