Just before closing time, he had kissed her long and hard, and all she could think about was getting him into her bed. Yet that wasn’t meant to be. He’d taken his leave right after the earth-shattering kiss, saying duty called, but pledging they’d meet again someday and pick up where they left off.
Events a few mornings later, though, shot his vow all to hell. She’d received a missive outlining her own duties. Her quest commanded she find and capture the head Winchapel vampire-warlock, take his shadow magic from him, retrieve his amulet and leave him as a withering husk on the cold earth. His demise would be a warning not only to his clan but also to all other clans in the valley that Rampartchapels weren’t to be trifled with.
Unfortunately, all the clues Bella had found over the course of time led her to Godric, the wonderful man she’d met and who haunted her daydreams. She hoped he wasn’t the one she searched for. Godric had been too kind, too funny and warm to be the evil one she tracked. She wasn’t much for praying, but she called upon any higher deity out there listening to let her assumption that he was the warlock be wrong.
Too many close calls and lonely nights depleted her hope for a bright future more than she cared to admit. Bella loved her job as a warrior in the clan, but she was tired of failing and coming up empty-handed on this particular mission. She couldn’t wait till she could give chase of the evil ones and Chem Warfare Urchins, also known as CWU’s, for mere sport and play rather than under command of her leader and his vengeful need. Maybe once she brought the amulet back, they’d stop calling her Bella Morte—Beautiful Death. However, until she completed her responsibilities to her and her master’s satisfaction, she had to soldier on and continue to hunt within the war-torn ruins of Las Vegas for those who had to be dispatched.
A true shame Godric’s next on my list. Killing him would be a horrible waste of a beautiful male specimen. Perhaps I should stop thinking of him in terms of a hunky man with a name. Might make doing the necessary deed easier in the long run.
A draft of air streaming along the buildings carried a mark’s fragrance to her, but the scent she caught wasn’t Godric’s anymore. To her dismay, she’d lost his trail, yet had picked up a different one. Another evil creature lurked in the area. Perhaps he’d know where the warlock she sought was and if he was Godric. She was so close to finding the Winchapel vampire she could taste it. Victory was sweet and would be hers.
Gingerly, trying to keep noise to a bare minimum, she lifted a small, thin flap on her jacket, unzipped the pocket hiding underneath, and pulled out the wires and ear plugs to the MP3 player tucked in there. With the ear buds fit snug in her ears and a click of a button, she prepared for her work to begin. Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries played as her target drew near across the street.
“Damn,” she exclaimed on a whisper.
The new vampire had someone with him. So distracted was she by thoughts of Godric, his scent, and the smell of food, she never registered his female companion, who looked all but willing to be with the man as she struggled in his grip.
They had stepped a few feet into an alley across the way and stopped. The ragtag vamp clutched the equally unkempt lady and pinned her against the wall of the building. By the looks of them, they appeared to be CWU’s—mutated creatures that had lost their humanity and higher reasoning and had no special abilities. Those animal-like beings were the complete opposite of her kind. The chemicals from the wars had given her people, and those in other clans, special powers and heightened instincts.
Bella’s vision intensified, turned telescopic, and narrowed in on the couple. The young girl thrashed in her attacker’s grip to no avail. Her screams echoed off the walls. He plunged his face into the lady’s neckline. The victim, who seemed to rally and find some last threads of strength, placed her hands on his chest and pushed. He jostled backwards. A twisted smile contorted his mouth. Pointed canines dripped crimson liquid.
Oh, this isn’t good. Bella stepped out of the shadows and advanced towards her prey. She hated witnesses when she fed.
In a blur of movement, she arrived at the couple, then grabbed and spun the attacker. He faced her and not the frightened girl who’d fallen to her knees in sobbing fits. Bella seized his throat and lifted him off the ground, pinning him to the building.
“Now you know how it feels, fucker.” Bella loved the rough, husky quality of her voice when she entered fighting mode. “Time to spill your secrets and your blood.”
A flash of light lit the night sky. A couple seconds later, thunder boomed, rolled over their heads. The atmospheric disturbances broke through her warrior training and shocked her. She couldn’t remember the last time a natural thunderstorm occurred. There’d been lots of manmade storms when water became a necessity, but they had a different smell, different feel, than natural ones. But even this storm seemed…odd.
Bella dropped the vampire, tucking her MP3 player and headphones back into the pocket as she stepped out of the alley to get a better look at the roiling heavens.
Another crack in the air snapped above her.
Her vision went black.
Chapter Two
“Shit!” Beth jerked back in her chair. The images on the flat screen computer monitor wavered and blipped several times before returning to normal. She blinked, jarring herself out of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game fantasy world of C.O.V.E.N. streaming before her. Her gaze flitted to the clock on the wall.
Five hours? I’ve been online that long? Feels like it’s only been five minutes. And what’s with me adding my own thoughts to the game’s storyline?
The music Valkyries blaring through her computer speakers ended and fed into the next song on her playlist, “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. Except nothing in the game had bit the big one this time.
“Frustrating as all hell.” She tossed a length of pizza crust onto a pile of empty chip bags and candy wrappers on a small table near her desk. The colorful garbage covering a couple of pizza boxes crinkled while a few fell to the floor, revealing take-out containers. When did I have Chinese delivered? Her idling character, Bella, shuffled and fidgeted on the screen, waiting for commands from her. Three or four nights ago? Maybe five? In the grand scheme of things, did it really matter?
A light drumming sound pulled her thoughts away from the game and her horrible diet consisting of junk food and take-out. Rain pelted the windows and siding of her small apartment. How fitting. The weather’s yucky just like my week’s been.
Seemed the only thing biting the dust recently had been her life. She’d moved from the city she grew up in both to follow her boyfriend and to take a job a year and a half ago. Then last week her world fell apart. Her weekend hours at the bookstore were cut to the point it wasn’t even worth keeping the second job. She’d lost that extra income, and now she’d have to pay retail to feed her reading addiction. She’d been dumped by her boyfriend of two years, betrayed by someone she’d considered to be a best friend, then learned a day later that her ex-boyfriend and ex-BFF had run off to Cancun together.
Reality sucked. No wonder she loved her full-time job at I-D-8 Entertainment, a software company that developed and published computer games. She was an assistant to the assistant to Mr. Gott, the lead designer—a striking man who fit the tall, dark and handsome cliché. Being around him set her hormones blazing and made her want to do things that would not only get her in trouble with HR but also get her slapped with a sexual harassment suit. So she tried to keep her distance, especially after the company charity work they did at a carnival for underprivileged kids. Just the two of them stuck in an information booth together for a six-hour shift. It was heaven and hell. They had a great time. He was easy to talk to and easy on the eyes. Too easy actually and her blooming feelings for him scared her. After the event, she kept busy with lots of grunt work to lessen her chances of running into him. And even though she had a Masters, wanted to be a designer and dabble in programming, she took the entry-level job to learn all she could
about the business.
Yet, there were perks. One happened to be that she could participate in alpha and closed-beta testing of the games, which meant she could work from home on occasion. Lucky for her a closed-beta testing assignment came up at the same time she needed to take several days off to regroup.
I-D-8’s new MMORPG, C.O.V.E.N., which stood for Clans of Vegas—Endless Night, was a great fantasy game, full of all the supernatural monsters she loved and lots of magic and fighting. The program still had several bugs and glitches that needed to be fixed, but she didn’t care. She could be a different person online—someone alluring, tough, assertive…beautiful. As the warrior Bella, she shucked her shyness, average mousy brown looks and the extra fifteen pounds on her short frame.
None of the testers knew her online personality. Neither did she know the identities of her co-workers and the invited testers from outside of the company. The anonymity was quite liberating. Playing had become a wonderful escape from the pain of 3D that waited outside her apartment, especially since she met the Godric character.
Of course she realized the player behind Godric most likely didn’t look like his onscreen character, but it was fun imagining he did. She just hoped the real guy was as funny and warm off-screen as he was on. She tried to throttle back the intense, lustful currents running through her at the thoughts of being with a handsome, kind man who could make her laugh, but it wasn’t easy. Looking back on the past couple of years, she realized her last boyfriend was a true bad boy and hadn’t treated her well. Now, she knew she wanted a good guy, a man who wanted to have fun with her, treat her with respect. It was too bad she’d probably never get to meet the man behind the character. Still, whether he was fake or real, she was crushing big time, wanted to avoid the real world for as long as possible, and couldn’t bring herself to go AFK, away from keyboard.
Beth glanced back down at the screen. The border of the chat window in the bottom left corner flickered in neon green. The flashing color was a signal she’d set up through a user interface program to alert her when a private message awaited her in C.O.V.E.N.’s lair post office. Several keystrokes had her in the room where she could retrieve the message. One more command and a chat window popped up.
Aldaren_Wicked: Bella Morte, what’s your deal? You attacked me and let my prey get away. I was about to feed. Didn’t you see the cross above my head?
She touched the keys and her fingers flew across them, typing out a response. There wasn’t any cross above your head. If I had seen one, I would have honored your request to be in PvE status. As it is, you’re on a PvP board—player versus player—not a player versus environment board. You were fair game. If you think there’s a glitch in the game, note it in the feedback forms.
Aldaren_Wicked: Feedback forms. Sure. But it took me forever to spawn that CWU on my quest so I could get the jug of blood. Now I have to continue hunting and hope I can find a source soon to get my energy level up.
Beth leaned back, wondering if she should be nice to the player, even though he was on the side of evil, and hand over some vials of blood in apology or just say take a hike. Normally, she got a kick out of being a bitch online since she always acted so accommodating in real life, but the snags in the game were quite annoying. Having experienced a few times when quests wouldn’t load properly or the end of quest rewards wouldn’t appear after killing a boss—especially when she needed the reward points the most to level up, she empathized with the player’s frustration. It would suck, too, if Aldaren_Wicked was one of the invited testers rather than an employee and developed a bad taste about the software and company as a result of her actions.
With a sigh and a few clicks, she dipped into her inventory and gifted four vials of blood to the player. She typed a note to Aldaren_Wicked. Here’s something to tide you over for a bit. Sorry for causing trouble and making the glitches you’re experiencing worse. Hopefully the CWU respawns quickly for you.
Aldaren_Wicked: Thanks, Bella. You’re not such a bitch after all. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, message me.
A smile stretched over Beth’s face. Fate treated her kindly tonight, dropping this opportunity in her lap. There was a good chance Aldaren knew of Godric and where she could find him.
As a matter of fact, she typed, I’m hoping you have some info that could assist me. Any chance you know where Godric Winchapel is?
Aldaren_Wicked: Yep. Saw him over on the RP board about an hour ago. He may still be there.
The news sent a bubbly giddiness racing through her. She hadn’t felt such a sensation since her first crush in middle school. Thanks, Aldaren.
Aldaren_Wicked: NP. Going AFK.
Beth closed out the chat window, not taking long to decide to go over to the role playing section of the game. Maybe Godric and I could “role play” together for a bit. Have some cyber fun. She chuckled at her wit, executed a couple of commands and entered C.O.V.E.N’s RP board.
The war-torn, dark-skied Las Vegas setting was the same on every board so she knew exactly where she was when her character generated on the screen. From her vantage on the street behind the Strato building belonging to the Americhapel clan, she surveyed a busted column. It’d been fixed with scrap metal and concrete. She thanked God she wasn’t a member of that clan and forced to live in the observation area of the tower. No telling when the tall, three-columned building would finally collapse.
It was sad how the once vibrant, colorful city had come to ruin. Shaking her head, she took to the shadows of the broken buildings on the north end of The Strip and headed for Downtown.
Downtown was the center hub for the RP board, with The Experience being the neutral area where a member of any clan could hang out without issues. If she were to find Godric, walking through The Experience would be the best place to start.
As she jogged, she ran through the parameters of the role playing area in her mind. Situations are unscripted, not set like the other boards. It was like improvisational theater, but players had to stay in game character. Speak as the character would speak. Stay in character. Definitely stay in character. No sense in having my own passive nature come through when I’m supposed to be a tough warrior.
Lightning cracked on screen at the same time it did outside Beth’s window. Thunder rolled barely a second later. The few lights she had on in her small room flickered. A strange glowing orange light skimmed along the dark clouds on the game. The simultaneous actions startled Beth and for a brief moment she thought about getting off the computer. But then, an image of Godric in his gray trench coat, tight jeans and black snake-skin boots filled her mind. Thinking of getting lost in the game again and having his blue-eyed gaze piercing hers, his tenor voice whispering titillating words in her ear, warmed her insides.
No. She wouldn’t quit the game or turn off anything. She really wanted to meet with Godric. Her computer and other electronics were on surge protectors. She could keep playing without issue.
Rain pelted the apartment building. From the dinging, it seemed there was a bit of hail coming down, too. The air buzzed around her, with anticipation or excitement—she didn’t know and didn’t care. She, or rather her character, hurried toward the man of her dreams—a guy with whom she could have la petite mort, even if she had to stimulate herself during their cyber tryst to achieve it.
Bella entered Downtown via Third Street. The buildings in the vicinity were still pretty much intact though they’d lost their luster in the war and storms. Neon lights continued to turn on at dusk like they used to before the world went to hell, but didn’t shine as bright and some flickered incessantly, causing strobe light effects on the tattered canopy. Industrial metal music played through the few speakers remaining in their high perches on the casinos.
Characters huddled in small groups, most keeping amongst their own clan members, along the pedestrian walkway. Beth slowed Bella to a casual stroll, somewhat concerned over how the air continued to crackle around her. She had Bella’s gaze rove to and fro. S
ome characters wearing the long coats flipped up the collars and wrapped the flaps closed around them. Other characters who were in skimpy leather straps, vests, skirts and loin-wraps stayed close to the walls to try to stay out of the wind. Most of the chatter she overheard centered on the strange storm and how it was different than the other storms.
Near the Golden building, Bella’s arm hairs stood on end. Someone watched her. She stopped and turned. Godric.
His character stared at her character so intently, Beth wished she could climb into her computer screen, become Bella and experience his interest for real.
But a cyber relationship would have to suffice. The best thing she could do was focus on the game and pretend she actually was her character.
“Godric, just the man I wanted to see,” Bella purred the words in the husky voice she loved so much.
He sauntered toward her with a cocky swagger. “Oh, really now. And why do I deserve such an honor?” Godric asked in a deep, rich like chocolate lava cake voice.
His shirt spread halfway open, revealing a smooth chest and shadowed lines of muscles. A silver chain with a piece of turquoise in the center of a pentagram amulet sat just below his throat. Her gaze lit on it. The piece of jewelry I have to retrieve.
But, she’d worry about her mission later. For now, her primal female side wanted to be close to Godric, be wooed by him, not fight him. “Because I believe we left some things unfinished the other night.” Bella stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “And I’d like to pick up where we left off.” She ran a finger down the center line of his torso, and when she reached a fastened button, she flicked it from its hole to show off more of his chest.
“Mmm…” He leaned in. His hot breath wisped against her ear. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
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