Chapter Thirty-One

The air in the far pocket of the long bay was eerily still, and the whipping wind that scraped across the summits of the surrounding islands seemed to die down to a cool, licking breeze within the outstretched arms of the natural cove where the cruise ship sat moored.

Ben floated in the darkness over the surface of the water, peering into the portholes, most of which were covered.

He wasn't the only wind vampire in the area, so it was hardly surprising that the immortals in residence of Paulson's prize vessel valued their privacy and blocked out curious eyes.

Ben was surprised that he'd been able to get as close as he did without detection. Tenzin was watching from the clouds, making certain that no one noticed his surveillance, but even the vampires she'd alerted him to had ignored his amnis. If they felt him at all, they weren't bothered.

Maybe Ben was getting better at cloaking his power, or maybe Paulson's residents had simply become too comfortable in their hidden cove to fear discovery.

He saw a sliver of light from a porthole near the front of the ship and flew closer, peering into the uncovered window to the cabin lit with golden lamplight. Ben glanced inside and quickly looked away. The passenger was a female vampire in the throes of sex, blood dripping from two cuts over each breast while two men—who appeared to be human—licked the blood from her sides, smearing it across her pale skin.

Okay, so Paulson's guests were not preparing to invade or attack anything that night. It looked like it was leisure time for the immortals on this floating vampire city.

But that one glance did confirm that there were definitely humans on board Paulson's ship, which Ben and Tenzin had already guessed. How many was a mystery, but Ben knew that an oceangoing vessel like this would need a good-sized crew to run it, especially when vampires were only active during night hours.

He flew along the edge of the cabins, but there were no other portholes uncovered.

Maybe the first vampire was an exhibitionist.

Overhead, balconies rose over the icy water, and Ben could hear slips of conversation drift by before the breeze snatched them away. He floated up, moving just under the line of sight so he could listen in.

"…send him a message when the markets open in Tokyo."

It sounded like a vampire speaking on a phone but with some kind of headset Ben couldn't hear.

"No, I probably won't be back to Taiwan until the spring. I'm in the middle of a project at the moment." He laughed a little. "Yes, the one Paulson mentioned. I can't tell you."

Another silent exchange on the other side of the call.

"Soon enough. It's not even worth talking about until the Nikkei is over forty thousand. If that happens in the next month, get in touch."

The conversation settled into mundane business, and Ben moved on, looking for more clues.

Each cabin seemed to hold a vampire even richer than the one before, and there was more than one voice that tickled his memory. There was one immortal with a distinctly Corsican accent that Tenzin might feel conflicted about, more speaking Latin, and others speaking Russian. There was a whole section of the boat occupied by a clan from Singapore. Another area held a group of rich French aristocrats.

Ben wondered if they'd been on the run since the 1790s.

He was passing by another cabin and paused when he heard a familiar name.

"…seen Sokholov in days."

The name was spoken in an aristocratic British accent, and Ben flew closer, curious if he could identify the man.

"I don't care if Zasha is here or not," a woman with a similar accent responded. "I'm dying for some variety."

"I'm not sure when dinner hour is over, but we can go take a look at the buffet."

"Darling, can't we order room service?"

Ben flew closer to the second-level balcony, intrigued by this seemingly ordinary exchange that sounded like it could have been any wealthy, middle-aged couple on holiday.

The voices grew louder, and a man said, "We're limited to crew if we order room service, and you know what Henri said about the crew. And after the last incident?—"

"That wasn't my fault." The woman's voice took on a distinct whine. "The girl was struggling to escape, and you know how that triggers my prey drive."

Okay, so not an ordinary couple on vacation.

The man was trying to placate her. "I'm just saying that if you want to be able to finish a kill, the ballroom is where we must go. We don't want to annoy our host."

"Ballroom hunting is boring. What a dreadfully banal way to spend an evening. Frightful, Reggie. Absolutely gauche."

Ballroom hunting? What the actual hell was Henri Paulson doing on this boat?

"Henri promised another shore excursion soon, Poppy."

"Henri promises a lot." There was a definite pout in her voice. "Why are we even listening to him? We're not under aegis here. That's the whole point, isn't it? We can fly out of here right now." Footsteps approached the balcony, and Ben slid to the side, keeping to the shadows.

"Patience, pet." The man soothed the petulant vampire. "Henri promised that once the fighting starts, we'll all have as much hunting as we like without anyone the wiser."

"Oh, I suppose?—"

"Didn't we have fun at the last shore excursion?" He cajoled her in dulcet tones. "Didn't we, pet? Remember that funny old man who was hobbling with his cane?"

Ben heard the woman laugh.

"That was funny. But he tasted medicated. I like younger blood."

He struggled to keep from flying up and showing them what violence really looked like.

"And you shall have it." The man coaxed her back into the room. "Just be patient a little bit longer."

Ben silently shook his head.

Even if he and Tenzin had to raze this boat to the ground themselves, these spoiled and entitled immortals weren't taking another human victim.

"So we agree?" Brigid looked at Katya, then at Oleg on the screen. "You've both dealt with Ben and Tenzin before. We can agree they're giving an accurate report?"

"Agreed," Oleg said. "I am willing to deal with the blowback from any regents who complain. Whoever might be on Paulson's ship, their lives are forfeit for attacking humans and vampires in foreign territory."

"I can agree with that," Katya said. "Oleg and I may have our own disputes, but neither of us condones this. Paulson and everyone on that ship are fair game."

When Brigid had heard the report from Ben and Tenzin, she immediately knew that a group of powerful and wealthy immortals were going to have powerful and wealthy friends. The last thing she wanted to do was start an international incident, but they had ironclad proof that Paulson was hunting humans and that Zasha Sokholov was involved.

Whatever "soon" meant to those waiting vampires, she didn't want to find out what they had planned.

"We're all in agreement then." Brigid nodded. "So let's talk strategy."