Chapter Five

Off the coast of Malibu, CA

August 20, 1960

Madaline Jacks wasn't a happy camper. She'd tracked the murdering asshole onto a freighter and now the damn ship was limping along the shoreline, trying to reach a harbor while slowly sinking. Sure… the vamp was dead as were his two fledglings and a half a dozen sailors, but now she was stuck on a sinking ship in the ocean. Which, as one might imagine, has saltwater, of which she was not a fan.

She had to grab one of the lifeboats and get away while the shore was at least in sight. She was a good swimmer and didn't mind the exercise, but she was not willing to jump in and swim for it unless there were no better options.

After searching the ship, she wasn't all that surprised to find it only had a few blow-up boats. There were about a dozen survivors left and three boats. She could take one and they'd still be fine.

One was smaller than the others. She pulled it out and headed to the rail. Down the safety ladder to the water. With a yank of the cord, it exploded outward. A quick assembly of the oar and she was in motion toward dry land.

The waves from the ship and mother nature in general left her almost as wet as if she had taken the plunge. As if that wasn't bad enough, the further she went, the more the damn boat leaked. And by the time she reached the sandy shore of a secluded beach, she was positive that she was drenched enough in the briny water that she might never get the smell off her skin.

"You should have taken a bag of cucumbers with you. At least then you'd have pickles." The sultry voice had carried clearly on the wind but the source of it wasn't visible in the moonless darkness.

"Who's there? And do you have a towel or just a snarky attitude?"

"I didn't mean to startle you?" A slight glow brightened a couple dozen feet away revealing a spread out blanket, beach chair and umbrella set up. And on the sprawling lounge chair was one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen. Long slender lines, pale, almost translucent skin, with flowing blond hair dancing in the light breeze.

And glowing red eyes.

Vampire eyes. Set above a gentle smile that showed not even a hint of fang.

She grasped her knife hilt and tried to awaken her wolf magic. Which of course was almost completely subdued by the salt water. "What are you doing?"

"Moon bathing."

She glanced up at the cloudless sky and its backdrop of stars that were very clearly not keeping company with the moon. Because tonight was a new moon with not even a hint of moonlight. "There's no moon tonight."

"The perhaps I'm just enjoying the freshness of mother nature. You don't need to be so frightened. I'm not breaking any rules. Just relaxing in my own backyard."

"This is your yard?"

"Or perhaps it would be the front yard, depending on where you stand. My villa is up there beyond the edge of the beach. If you need a place to stay for the night, you're welcome to the guesthouse."

She fought against her own trembling muscles. The moment was too strange. How was she supposed to react to this nonsense?

The vampire stood up in a single graceful motion. "Come along if you like. Or go your own way if you have other plans."

"Wait."

She turned back and this time the light from the little lantern flickered a bit, revealing her eyes were now a soft blue. Had she seen wrong? Was this woman just some strange human? "Here, have the towel." She tossed the towel across the distance. It fluttered to the sand about halfway between them.

Was it a trap? Would she attack her as she reached for the towel?

"All that salt can't be comfortable. Use it and if you want to, you can return it to me up at the villa." And as easy as that the oddball moon-bather disappeared into the darkness. Maybe she'd turned the light out or maybe she'd just put enough distance between them.

The darkness was complete. And she was still standing on the shore covered in ocean water. Several minutes passed and she was certain that she was alone. Only then did she pick up the towel and use it to dry off. After that her magic started to return. She used the time to explore the beach. It was marked as private and besides a couple small storage shelters it was empty. Every inch of it was clean and well maintained.

It was maybe an hour later when the sun started to brighten the horizon. By then she was mostly dry thanks to shifting forms and giving herself a nice sand bath. Once she'd shaken out her fur, she was almost feeling back to normal.

Only then did she expand all her senses to confirm what she'd suspected before. She could smell the spicy scent of vampire all over the area. It was a little more subtle than usual, but spread so evenly, that she knew without a doubt that this had to be the heart of the vampire's territory. Oddly she could only identify one of the creatures. And she was certain that it was the woman who had been moon bathing.

She'd clearly been identified as a werewolf, but the vamp had no way of knowing that she dedicated her days and nights to hunting down and killing vampires. Eight long centuries and most of them had been filled with exterminating their kind.

When she thought about it too deeply, she had to wonder if there had been better choices she could have made. Had she made any difference? Had she saved any lives?

After most of her clan had been drained dry by the blood suckers, she'd sworn she would find them and get justice. At the very least she intended to satisfy her need for vengeance. Nothing she did could ever bring back those who had been lost. Her parents had been among them. But what would her family think of who she had become?

Would they be proud of her? Or would they say she'd done enough?

No, she'd never found the group that had actually committed the crime. Even now she had to wonder how they could have escaped. Like ghosts, the trail had disappeared almost immediately after the murders.

Her hunting down other vampires had been justified over and over when she'd found evidence of them killing other races without regard for the sanctity of life. Maybe she would have continued her dark musing if the sound of laughter hadn't interrupted the quiet morning.

A dozen darkly tanned humans frolicked their way down to the beach. They were aged teen to twenties. Some were carrying floating toys and others had surfboards.

She moved out of sight but stayed near enough to watch. Because they might be humans, but they carried the vampire's scent on them.

Were they victims? Or servants?

Either way she couldn't walk away. This was what she did. This was her life. She hunted down or stumbled across vampires using their powers to take advantage or hurt others. And she put an end to the abuse.

She took the next week to stake out the vampire's villa. She watched the humans come and go freely. They seemed happy and healthy. Looking into the ownership of the property didn't help convict the vamp of any crimes. The property had been in the same family since before it was considered part of America. Always passing to the eldest daughter. The collective intel from the census and tax records showed that the people living with her had slowly changed. No sudden turnover. Many lived long full lives on the property, working in the vineyard or the other various business ventures. Some moved away and then returned.

Not even a single news report of a suspicious death.

Nothing.

But it wasn't as if a vampire could live without feeding. She'd never met one before that lived a lifestyle like this one. She had to understand this curiosity.

When night fell, she walked boldly up to the door and knocked.

One of the teenagers opened the door. "You finally came in!" She spun away and shouted toward the back of the huge entranceway. "Who had today in the pool?"

"What pool?"

The girl spun back and giggled. "The betting pool of course."

They'd been betting on when she would finally approach the house? Had she really been that obvious? And she thought she had pretty good stealth skills. How much had they been aware of? Why hadn't they come after her?

And then the house fell silent as the moon bathing vampire who currently went by Bonita Rousseau walked around the corner into sight. "Welcome to my home. I'm glad you decided to visit."

"I know what you are."

Not sure what I expected but it wasn't the slight chuckles from the people in the sunken den just beyond the tall arching stairs that framed the foyer. They quickly quieted again.

"I keep no secrets from my family. I made sure they also know what you are." She smiled slightly and held out one hand. "Would you like to come inside and join us? I promise no one here will offer any threat to a friendly guest."

Meaning that if she started anything then all bets were off and her people, her family would fight to defend her. She'd been forced to fight a few enthralled humans before, but she hated situations like that. She wanted to save people if she could and having the victims killed left a sour taste even when it was unavoidable.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself properly first. My real name is Belladonna Rousseau. My name has changed a few times over the years. Please, just call me Bell, or Bella. What can I call you?"

The vampire was charming her, but she couldn't sense any power behind the words. The charm lay in the logic of good manners. "Madeline Jacks of the Jackel Clan.

Bella nodded and stepped back to make room for her to join the others in the den. "We were having a vigorous game of charades. Do you mind if they continue while we chat?"

"That's fine." She settled onto the edge of one of two soft chairs set back a little from the others. Bella sank gracefully into the other.

"Feel free to keep observing as long as you wish. We have nothing to hide here. As long as you don't harm any of my family, you will be safe here in my lands."

Another veiled threat. "Why?"

"I am curious about you and your kind."

She tensed. "Why is that?"

"My closest friend recently took in a pup. Valàfrn, I believe he said it is one of the most common werewolf races. I've done some research since then but there is not much available information."

Her skin was tingling at the implications of another vampire having a young wolf in their grasp. "What does your friend intend to do with the young?"

"I'm not at all certain. But I think he just means to raise the boy."

"Your friend is a vampire?"

"Oh yes. He's strong and serious. I can't help but laugh at the thought of him settling down in order to protect and raise a stray. Perhaps he wishes to set up a similar home to what I've built here. Perhaps it is just a whim."

"Raising a child shouldn't be a whim."

"I agree. I even offered to let the boy stay here with us, but he refused. How time flies. It's already been many years. I suppose he is already grown."

She would have to follow up and check on the situation.

"I can see your thoughts almost as clearly as if you've already spoken them. Quinn would never treat that young one badly. And he certainly wouldn't feed on him."

"You have no way of knowing that."

"I know Quinn. He's like a brother to me. I can tell you this… He makes a terrible vampire. All he ever wants is to live a peaceful life where he can do some good."

She glanced around the lively home and wondered how they were different.

Bella laughed. "You're very wrong. I'm not the same as him. I don't have any particular urge to help others or protect anyone who isn't my family. I'd let the rest of the world burn if the smoke didn't bother my people."

What did that say about the vampire named Quinn? What had he done that made him so different? She couldn't even imagine a vampire that was willing to put effort of any kind into helping or protecting others. Even the concept of them showing concern of any kind… Well, she was looking at her first example of that scenario. Bella's eyes were crinkled up with laughter as she watched one of the younger members try to mimic some kind of animal.

She was clearly a vampire. And just as clearly different from any she'd encountered before.