“I suspect that these guys are relatively new at the whole secret society thing. I doubt they’re more than a century old. They misjudged how people would react to their lunacy, which tells me they hadn’t put as much thought into it or haven’t been planning it for very long. And any organization, however secret they may think they are, can’t stay completely hidden for very long. It’s the nature of sentient creatures to gab about ‘secret’ things. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should take them lightly, but even their successes so far seem a bit amateurish.”
Veronica mulled that over in her head. “I’m glad I hired you,” she said. “You seem to be really good . . . at your job, I mean,” she added. “Do you think they’ll find us before our people get all the way through the Arcanum?”
“Oh yeah. They already know the Dead Man’s World is here. I suspect they’ll mount an offensive in a couple of days.”
Veronica looked like she’d just been smacked upside the head. “What?!? How . . .”
“Think about it. These guys waited until they Heaven’s Eye was in a more open, remote location with accessible escape routes before they made a play for it, probably because they weren’t good at walking into traps and surviving. They needed to flush it into a more accessible area. If the World had stayed anywhere on the continent, we could have easily set up a controlled area. It still would have been a bit isolated, but nothing like this. The Purity probably realized that they would be in for a fight trying to get this one. Out here, we can’t call for help and have nowhere to run with the jewel if things go south. They, on the other hand, will show up in aircraft or boats and be able to vanish into the night, just like last time. By trying to keep this operation ‘secret,’ we have a very small fighting force in a somewhat defensible but isolated location with no way of getting help quickly. And I know they’ll move in the next few days, just in case someone actually finds a spell that can do what we want that uses this thing. They need to get it out of here fairly quickly, but a full-blown assault takes a while to plan. They’ve undoubtedly got a mole or two within the rank and file around here who will try and find out the World’s location and communicate it to his or her superiors. When they can’t find it, well . . . that’s when the attack will come. Someone was pushing your superiors’ buttons and pulling strings to get the jewel out here in the first place.”
Veronica was still sitting there with her mouth open. “Why didn’t you say this earlier? We have to tell the Captain and . . .”
“He already knows. I talked to him about it this morning before I went to bed.” Eliza noticed that Veronica was starting to look angry. “Listen,” she said, “I knew the Captain was okay. If he had been in on it with the Purity, the World would’ve been gone before we showed up. I wasn’t as sure about you.”
“What? If I were in on it, why would I hire extra security?”
“So that when the raid came down and the World disappeared, you could say to those honest members of the government that you tried. But I agree that the Purity probably didn’t want to deal with non-humans since we’re unknowns. And if you wanted, you probably could have hired a security team that was actually sympathetic to the ‘anti-monster’ movement. That, and you have an illegal gun.”
“Why is THAT a mark in my favor?”
“When the raid came at the museum, these guys were trying to approach the building too inconspicuously. A common mistake that new and/or bad criminals make is to look too hard like they’re NOT conspicuous. As I said, these guys are kind of amateurish. If you were working for them, you’d have been doing everything by the book, including carrying a side-arm from the acceptable list.”
Veronica was really confused. “Wait, if you know they’re coming, why did you agree to this?”
“Because I don’t trust enough people in the government to leave this in their hands,” Eliza told her. “And because I’m tired of sitting around and waiting for other people to decide whether or not I’ll ever get to see my family again.”
Veronica looked down. “I guess you do know how I feel,” she whispered. “I’ve never gone this long without talking to my sister Vicky.” Eliza noticed that the woman was sitting very close now. “I know this is none of my business,” she continued, “but are you and Officer Ryder . . . involved?”
It was Eliza’s turn to be surprised. “No,” she said. “We were, but we had to end it.”
“Did you love her? I’m sorry,” Veronica said. “I shouldn’t be . . .”
“Yes, I did,” said Eliza. “And she loved me. But she loved her husband too.” She paused for a moment. “What made you think that?”
Veronica pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She was wearing a snug black jumpsuit like Eliza’s security team and the soldiers were wearing, but it didn’t look as good on most of them. “When you went off to get your things, I noticed her staring at you. I think a bomb could have gone off behind her and she wouldn’t have noticed. I was under the distinct impression that she didn’t like seeing you walking away from her.”
“I thought that I was supposed to be the problem-solver here,” Eliza said. ‘That jumpsuit seems to be zipped down a bit more than in needs to be,’ the vampire thought. Her eyes lingered in the shadows where the two sides of the “v” formed by the two halves of the jumpsuit joined for a moment. A Pacific breeze wafted through the tower, carrying the light scent of an organic-based body-wash towards Eliza. The mixture of that scent with the salty aroma of the ocean lit up Eliza’s senses.
“What really sucks is that we could be doing all this and it might turn out that the Dead Man’s World can’t do a damn thing about reopening the portal between worlds,” Veronica said. Her hair was actually not up in the bun she had been wearing the previous twenty-four hours. ‘When did she take it down?’ Eliza wondered. Those golden-blonde locks poured down her back and over her shoulders, and that hair was a little bit curly and a little bit wavy. She tilted her head, exposing a beautiful, slender neck.
Eliza took a deep breath and looked away. One part of human legends about vampires that WAS true was that they like to bite on the neck. Now, there were other places they could bite and draw blood if all they wanted was nourishment. To bite someone on the neck was an erotic act for most of her kind, but Eliza had never found the right person to want to do it with. Veronica’s neck looked delectable. Suddenly, the previously airy watchtower seemed far too small for comfort. She stood up and walked over to the edge, breathing in the cool air and trying to clear her head. “I agree,” she said at last. “And within a couple of days, some people will probably be showing up and trying to kill us just because of the possibility that we might disrupt their ideology.”
“We have emergency beacons, don’t we? Why not call and have it moved?”
“Forget about the airport fiasco already? They didn’t grab the World on the trip out here because they work working on the defensive. If we put it out on the water again, we’ve left the only advantage we have, namely a defensible position, behind. They might be able to send out a battleship, but it would take too long to get it to sea and anything smaller would be vulnerable. These are hit and run guys and . . .” Eliza heard Veronica standing up and heard soft footsteps behind her. She knew that Veronica was very . . . very close.
“Eliza?”
“Yes?” the vampire responded, almost afraid to look behind her.
“Have you ever begun to feel like you’re in over your head? I always thought I was good at my job. I’ve walked into war zones and held talks with enemy leaders. I’ve charged into buildings against heavily armed and drugged up goons. Why does this scare me?”
“Because it’s easier to attack. When you’re attacking . . .” She paused when she felt a gentle hand placed on one of her hips. “When you’re attacking, you get to call the shots. It’s comforting.” She felt a hand on her other hip, and could almost feel the envoy’s breath. “Defending is about waiting. It’s about trying to prepare for almost infinite possibilities . . .” Eliza felt warm breath on her neck, causing the small hairs there to stand up. ” . . . with finite resources. You never know when . . .” Veronica’s arms circled Eliza’s waist. “. . . someone might be sneaking up behind you.” Then she felt Veronica’s lips brush along her neck up to her ear. She could feel the wetness of those lips on her skin. “Veronica . . . what are you doing?”
“I thought it was obvious,” the woman said. “I’m going on the attack,” she whispered. “I wish this could be under different circumstances. I wish I could have more time to woo you. I’ve wanted to make a move on you since I laid eyes on you, but I usually like to take my time. I came up here so you could see I wasn’t just another government suit. But if you’re right, then we’ve got a fight coming soon. A fight could mean someone getting killed.” Holding Eliza’s waist, Veronica slowly spun her around. Veronica’s jumpsuit was unzipped all the way to her bellybutton. She had a nicely tanned four-pack of abs, and her full breasts were gently constrained by a silky white bra. “And there’s something I’d very much like to do before my time is up.”
Eliza knew this was a woman who was used to getting what she wanted. The vampire had been walking one earth or another for a century. Her training and her job were supposed to make her prepared for any contingency. She could, and had, broken people almost in half with her bare hands. But her own words were beginning to haunt her. Someone had snuck up behind her, and she found herself without the resources to deal with this . . . threat. A curvaceous and gorgeous blonde threat whose lips began kissing Eliza’s own.
Veronica was beginning to get nervous. Eliza was beautiful, even for a vampire. The yellow eyes and white hair simply made her MORE exotic to the federal envoy. After seeing the way she and that police officer had looked at each other, she had realized that Eliza probably had a great capacity for passion from the pain the separation had caused. She had guessed that Eliza was single from the vibes she and Officer Ryder had given off after their brief interlude, but she had wanted to make sure. Now, Veronica had thrown herself at this stunning creature and she was afraid that she was getting shot down. Eliza’s only response so far had been to move away. But then Eliza’s lips began to part a little more and kiss Veronica back. Veronica felt the other woman’s tongue slip ever so gently between her lips to dance in Veronica’s mouth.