Hunter's Kiss

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Indeed, and we have examples of previous drugs produced from study of vampire blood and other secretions by various agencies which have then leaked into the public arena.’

  ‘Usually because they don’t work as intended. Warrior was designed to enhance combat soldiers, and it does if you don’t mind them being rampaging psychopaths.’

  ‘Again, indeed. What bothers me here is that we have always previously heard about these drugs prior to them hitting the street. Apollo seems to have been designed specifically for release as a covert anti-vampire agent, and been given to Societas for deployment.’

  ‘You’re suggesting someone deliberately conspired with Societas to reveal vampires to the world?’

  Winthrop considered for a second before nodding. ‘Yes, I suppose I am.’

  ~~~

  ‘We’re racking up the conspiracy theories today,’ Mike commented as Dione drove him home. He got a grunt of displeasure in response. ‘What’s with the whole locking SCU out if there’s a senior vampire involved thing?’

  Dione could tell that had been stewing in him all day, and was ready for it. ‘In fourteen sixteen, the Summus Concilium moved to Paris.’

  ‘And they made you Hunter to the Summus Concilium. Uh, Princeps Venatrix. I remember.’

  ‘Then you also remember that the arrangement had an abrupt end. I didn’t notice at first, but there were gradual changes, little things like changes in staff which meant nothing unless you began looking at them all together, and I had no reason to. Then I got a couple of orders to end certain vampires. The evidence was compelling, but I had reason to check into one of them and I found holes.’

  ‘Someone was fabricating evidence to get vampires terminated, officially.’

  ‘Yes. I dug deeper, and started looking wider. I began to realise that the conspiracy had been in place since before the move to Paris, but those responsible had only been able to make their move with the new location. Changes in personnel to bring the “right” people in seemed more natural. There were bound to be some policy shifts. No one thought much about it, but the aim was to have the Summus Concilium take over all vampire affairs and take control of human governments through infiltration of key politicians and civil servants.’

  ‘Your basic “take over the world” plot.’

  ‘Oh, clichéd for sure, but when you live for centuries, these kinds of plans can actually work. I decided to end it, and the four leaders, all members of the Summus Concilium.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It was my job. A part of it which they had forgotten, I might add. The Hunter of a region is not the tool of the Concilium. Or shouldn’t be. The Concilium gives us the job, but our duty is to vampire society. If the Concilium is rotten, the Hunter is the last backstop before the shit hits the fan.’

  ‘I’m going to assume this didn’t go down too well?’

  ‘I knew it wouldn’t. I couldn’t get everyone involved and the others needed to cover their collective butts. I was several hundred miles away when they declared me a fugitive from Concilium justice in my absence. I remained a fugitive until seventeen eighty-nine when the Summus Concilium moved to London and the move unearthed various documents proving that the conspiracy had existed.’

  Mike whistled. ‘Three hundred years on the run.’

  ‘It was quite fun, actually. I travelled, saw a few places I hadn’t seen before. Posed for a book plate.’

  ‘Yeah… but–’

  ‘Yeah, but if it comes down to it, it is my job to deal with it, and I won’t have anyone else catching shrapnel from the almighty explosion that’s likely to result. I will find them, and I will end them.’

  There was no point in arguing: right now, it was all hypothetical anyway. ‘There was something else I’ve been meaning to ask you. When you took out those vampires in the lab at the end… It was like you were on rocket fuel. You moved so fast.’

  ‘Ah, yes… That’s something you may not want to mention to Leanne.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Vampires, old ones, I’m talking past the millennium, can sometimes do things… Let’s just say that Winthrop has put them on his list of things he can’t explain. The whole “live blood” business is a bit of a mystery still. Why do we need it? How is it that we can somehow use it to accelerate healing? Well, old vampires can do more with it. It suggests that, maybe, there is something not exactly natural about us. We’ve just got Leanne sold on the idea that vampires exist, but they aren’t really supernatural. I think saying they might be would be a bad idea.’

  ‘Maybe, but that… well, kind of accelerating your nervous system doesn’t seem too supernatural.’

  ‘That’s not all I can do. And I’ve seen vampires do some really amazing things. None recently. This was mostly back when the internet and camera phones didn’t exist so it was easier to hide.’

  ‘Oh. Okay, we won’t mention you’re some sort of vampire goddess then.’

  Dione laughed. ‘I think she already thinks that. Lisa certainly does.’

  ~~~

  ‘It’s like there is something supernatural about you,’ Leanne said, grinning at Dione.

  ‘I’m sure I have no idea what you mean,’ Dione replied, smiling back.

  ‘Well, just look at her.’ Everyone turned to look at Lisa, sitting on the opposite side of Dione from Leanne. Lisa shifted uncomfortably in her chair. ‘She’s mesmerised or something. She sort of sits there with those wide eyes…’

  ‘It’s the outfit,’ Lisa mumbled.

  Attention shifted to Dione, who took it with considerably more equanimity. The outfit in question appeared to consist of a very short, black blouse, buttoned under her breasts, and a black, flouncy skirt which was short at the front and barely covered her behind at the rear. These were over the top of some sort of black mesh teddy, though a harness of some sort was visible under the blouse. Black, fishnet stockings were held up on suspenders, and they vanished into pointy-toed, stiletto boots which came up to the middle of her shins.

  ‘The skirt, right?’ Mike said. ‘It’s the skirt.’

  ‘No,’ Lisa replied. ‘It’s all of it. Really.’ Dione just smiled.

  ‘I’ve never seen you dress in anything so… blatantly sexy,’ Leanne said.

  ‘Actually,’ Pat said as she arrived with a tray of drinks, ‘that’s one of her favoured outfits for this place. Hasn’t worn it in a couple of months, but it’s one of her styles.’

  They were at the Candle, celebrating the successful conclusion of the Apollo case. Even Winthrop and Mary had been persuaded to come, though Winthrop looked out of place and Mary looked a little nervous. Pat had decided the group were not paying for anything, all night, though she was sharing the cost with Leo, who was having his own little celebration at another table.

  Pat, it seemed, had decided to dress up a little too and was encased in a gleamingly polished, purple latex dress which left little to anyone’s imagination.

  ‘Okay,’ Leanne said, ‘but there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while… How the Hell do you get yourself into those dresses? I’ve seen Dione in one, and they cling… a lot.’

  ‘Pure skill,’ Pat replied.

  ‘And baby powder,’ Dione added.

  ‘Oh yeah, and that.’

  ‘Baby powder?!’ Mike said, his eyebrows rising.

  ‘Of course!’ Leanne exclaimed, shaking her head. ‘You wear latex gloves for crime scenes, Mike. I wear them for dealing with patients…’

  ‘And they have that white powder in them,’ Mike said, nodding in recognition.

  ‘Talc,’ Winthrop supplied. ‘Hydrated magnesium silicate. A highly effective lubricant, among other things.’

  ‘Not my kind of outfit,’ Mary grumbled. Mike had been especially surprised to see the wolf girl in ‘party’ clothes: she had decked herself out in pink, high-heeled pumps and a matching, very short dress with a bib front and mesh at the sides. Somehow it looked like a dress a teenager would wear, and also made Mike feel a littl
e like he was seeing his younger sister going out on a date wearing something terribly unsuitable. ‘If I wear something like that, or like what Di is wearing, I look like I’m dressing up in my mother’s clothes.’

  ‘You look divine, my dear,’ Winthrop said.

  ‘You do,’ Lisa added. ‘That works for you. It’s young, I admit, but you have to work with what you’ve got. And that works.’

  Mary peered at the blonde girl in the cropped top and micro-skirt for a second. ‘Thank you, Lisa. And thank you, Winthrop. And thank Heavens I don’t get carded in this place.’ There was some laughter and Mary grinned. Then her face straightened a little. ‘I can’t stay too long though. I think Juliana is getting close.’

  ‘Close?’ Dione asked. ‘Or very close?’

  ‘Twenty-four hours, tops. Maybe even tonight.’

  ‘She has the worst timing. I had plans for tonight…’ Lisa went scarlet.

  ‘It might not happen.’ Mary was hedging, and they knew it.

  ‘I’ll call around the emergency contacts when I get back to the bar,’ Pat said.

  ‘Is everyone here still happy with gifting?’ Dione asked.

  There was a general round of agreement and then Winthrop added, ‘I can, if it’s needed.’

  Dione looked across the table at him. ‘Only if we’re having trouble getting two more. I want to split this over five people, and you’re all going to be driven home after, unless you sleep in the office.’

  ‘Winthrop and I have guest rooms in our apartments,’ Mary said. ‘For a night, I don’t mind putting some people up.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Winthrop said.

  Dione gave a nod, and then another to Pat. ‘Call around. This could be a long night.’

  24th January.

  ‘You did a good job the other night,’ Leo told Mike. Having spotted the detective alone at the table, he had walked over to talk, Bar not far behind, even here. ‘And don’t think your discretion on the matter did not go unnoticed. You’re able to separate being a policeman from being the Hunter’s partner, and that’s something some of your predecessors found difficult.’

  Mike nodded. ‘Thanks. I think anyway. Doesn’t that imply my morals might be a little–’

  ‘It most certainly does not,’ Leo said firmly. ‘It says your morals are right where they damn well should be. You put the public good above being a cop. Believe me, what you’re doing is for the public good. All of the public, not just humans.’

  ‘Huh. Now that’s a phrase I didn’t think I’d ever hear and think made sense.’ Mike’s gaze shifted to the bar where Leanne and Lisa had followed Dione to ‘help with the drinks.’ They were still there, talking. ‘Right now, I’m more worried about what those three are doing. And maybe a little about whether Juliana will wake up tonight.’ Winthrop and Mary had left just before midnight, Winthrop for his bed and Mary to check on Juliana.

  ‘Well… As for the latter, her situation has been arranged with the Concilium, so if she does wake up, she’ll know she has a place in our society.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  ‘And as for the former…’ Leo looked over to the bar too. ‘Some advice from an old man who’s had plenty to do with intelligent women. When they gather together in groups like that, it’s best to run for cover.’

  Mike grinned, but he did have to wonder whether the Princeps was right. Except that the little meeting had broken up. Leanne was on her way back with a tray while Dione and Lisa headed off toward the restrooms.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Leo said.

  Leanne was smiling as she put the tray down. ‘Di and Lisa will be back in a few minutes.’

  ‘Okay. What were you talking about so intently?’

  ‘Um… The future.’

  ‘That’s… vague.’

  Leanne sat down and took a pull on her glass of wine. Then she smiled brightly at her boyfriend. ‘When our residencies are up, me and Lisa are going to come work for SCU.’

  Mike looked back at her. ‘Uh…’

  ‘It does depend on you agreeing. For me anyway. I mean, you don’t have any say in what Lisa does.’

  ‘I… I’m pleased you think I have a say in what you do. It’s your life.’

  ‘Don’t be silly. Of course you have a say, but I really want to do this. Please don’t say no.’

  ‘You’ve always wanted to be a doctor, Leanne.’

  ‘No, I wanted to be a ballerina before that. I wanted to quit my residency and start right away, but Di said I should use the time to be sure and that being a fully qualified physician would be useful. Mike, I found out that there’s a whole world out there I never knew about. I can help people and learn about that world.’

  A thought filtered through Mike’s head: a look he had seen exchanged between Winthrop and Dione. ‘And Winthrop’s not getting any younger,’ he said.

  Leanne’s face straightened. ‘No. I talked to him a lot when Lisa and I were in SCU. Everyone knows he needs to pass on his knowledge to someone, and there’s really no man like him.’

  ‘But there are two women who, together, might be able to do the job.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Leanne blinked. ‘Okay?’

  ‘Okay. If this is what you want, I won’t stand in your way. We might get sick of the sight of each other, working and living together, but… okay.’

  Giggling, Leanne leaped forward and wrapped her arms around Mike’s neck. ‘I could never get sick of the sight of you. You’re perfect.’

  ~~~

  In one of the cubicles of the ladies’ restroom, Lisa was busy thinking that life was, just about, perfect. Her head was under Dione’s skirt where she had pulled aside the crotch of the bodysuit to give her proper access to her prize, and she was making good use of that access. Three fingers were thrusting vigorously up into her vampire lover, while Lisa’s tongue lapped hungrily at a clitoris which she never tired of licking.

  Dione whimpered. She had reached up to grasp the top of the stall when Lisa had started and her knuckles were white from holding on. She had one booted foot braced against the opposite wall of the cubicle, the muscles in her thighs and calves straining as she fought back the orgasm she knew was going to come soon. Lisa had become remarkably adept at this very quickly.

  ‘Aphrodite bless her,’ Dione whispered through gritted teeth, and then her mind exploded into a wash of brilliant colours.

  When the lights had gone, she found herself looking at Lisa’s face. The blonde was massaging her fingers and licking them clean with a rather delicate, deliberate action. ‘I think you may have crushed my fingers,’ Lisa said reproachfully, but the corners of her mouth were curling.

  Dione grinned at her and then pushed her back against the cubicle wall. Her hand went straight between Lisa’s thighs. ‘Let me massage it better.’

  ‘That’s, oh! That’s not my h-hand.’

  ‘You’re not feeling better?’

  Lisa started to pant. ‘I… I’m feeling… something…’

  Dione leaned forward, her lips hovering over Lisa’s. Her voice dropped to a low murmur. ‘Tonight I’m going to chain you to my bed and make you my abject slave.’

  ‘I already am,’ Lisa whispered back, and waited for the kiss.

  And then Dione’s phone chirped. ‘Fuck,’ Dione said. ‘I know exactly who that is, and why.’

  ‘Slavery postponed?’ Lisa asked, a little plaintively.

  ‘Postponed. I made a list of things I was going to do this week, and enslaving you was on it. I hate not getting everything done on a “To-Do” list.’

  ~~~

  It was just after three a.m. when Juliana’s eyes flickered open. They had been waiting for two hours after Mary’s nose suggested it was imminent, but no one was really counting. By arrangement, the only person in the isolation room with the newly awakened filia was Leanne, but Dione and Mary were waiting in the airlock, just in case. Everyone else was watching through the observation window, which had been switch
ed to its one-way mode by means of turning out the lights in the main room and some smart crystals coating the inside of the glass.

  Leanne looked up when she heard a breath being drawn in, and waited. It did not take long. Juliana sat bolt upright on the bed and looked around frantically. ‘Oh, thank God,’ Juliana said. ‘Doctor Drake. I thought… I mean, I was sure… That thing attacked… I was dying. You saved me?’

  Leanne got to her feet and stepped closer. She had been assured that Juliana’s hunger for blood would not really hit for a few hours and Juliana’s personality profile suggested she would not be dangerous until then. ‘Uh… I had all this worked out in my head and it’s just…’ Leanne lifted a hand and flicked her fingers apart. ‘It’s like, poof! Juliana… this is kind of a good news, bad news situation.’

  ‘Well, I always prefer the bad news first. Then I’ve got something to look forward to.’

  ‘That’s a… good attitude. Okay, the bad news is that… I didn’t save you.’

  The smile faltered on Juliana’s face and she swallowed. Then she frowned a little and Leanne could see her tongue probing behind her lips, finding the elongated canines, no doubt. But what Juliana said was, ‘Then one of the other doctors…’ She trailed off at the look in Leanne’s eyes.

  ‘You remember you were attacked. That’s good. Some people block that kind of thing. He dragged you into a supply closet and I came after you. I think you were dying when I got there…’

  ‘Doctor Drake, this place doesn’t look a lot like Heaven, or the other place. We can’t both be dead.’

  ‘Uh, no. He attacked me, but just with his fists. I was pretty badly bruised, some internal injuries, but I recovered.’

  Juliana made a quick assessment based on her clinical skills. ‘How long have I been… asleep?’

  ‘Just under a month. Twenty-seven days.’

  ‘A-and I didn’t survive. I died. On the floor. In that squalid little room.’

  ‘Uh… yes. They couldn’t resuscitate you; you’d lost too much blood. Almost all of it, in fact.’

  Juliana’s tone had turned a little cold. ‘If you’re not dead, Doctor, then clearly I’m not.’