Kissed by Ice(10)

"Perhaps we should sit down," Drago suggested. Eddie and I ignored him, so Drago shrugged and pulled out one of the chairs, dumping the books on the floor. He sank into it, propping his booted feet on the table.

Eddie sighed. "We were a day out of port when the first body showed up." He rubbed the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses. He looked tired. I could see dark circles under his eyes, and he was looking rather pasty for someone vacationing in the Bahamas.

"You found it? The body."

"Yes."

"So," I said. "Why did you call me? Why didn't you turn it over to the captain or the nearest port authorities?" I wasn't entirely clear on what the law was about bodies found at sea.

"Because the body was drained of blood."

"Shit." I cleared the other chair and took a seat, propping my elbows on the table. "So not the authorities. What about Hunters? Surely there are some in the area."

"A couple, yes. But they are inexperienced. Vampires don't exactly gravitate toward the equatorial regions. Too much sun."

"Makes sense," I said. "Okay, tell me everything."

Eddie began pacing back and forth in front of the table, hands clasped behind his back. His fringe of curly gray hair was wilder than usual, sticking out in several directions as though he'd stuck his finger in a light socket. "I came back from dinner the first evening and prepared for bed. I found the body in my shower. There was blood everywhere, but none in him."

"Let me guess. Vampire."

He nodded. "It appeared so, based on the wounds."

"Did you know him? The body, I mean."

"Not at all. He was a complete stranger. One of the cruise line employees, I believe."

"What did you do with the body?" Drago asked.

Eddie cleared his throat. "I destroyed the heart and then threw the body overboard."

"Oh, dear gods, Eddie." I buried my face in my hands.

"I didn't have much of a choice, Morgan. You know the danger better than anyone."

I did. Such an attack could mean the victim would rise from the dead a vampire. Nobody had time for that shit. Especially not on a cruise ship where the food—read: humans—were herded together like cattle. The only possible option was to destroy the heart, but that was kind of hard to explain to the authorities. Not to mention the family of the victim.

"Hasn't the ship noticed he's missing? Surely he's got friends, co-workers?"

"I imagine they have reported him missing, but so far no one has put two and two together. Hopefully they will simply assume he abandoned ship for some reason of his own." Eddie shrugged, but his eyes were bleak. I could tell he felt horrible about it, but we both knew there was nothing else he could have done.

"So, there's a vampire on board," I said.

"Clearly." Eddie removed his glasses, polished them, and put them back on. "I've done the best I can to search the ship, but I haven't had much luck."

"You said there was another body?"

"Two, in fact. The second body appeared shortly before I called you. This time there was a witness," he said grimly.

Drago and I exchanged glances. "What did you do with the witness?" Drago asked.

"Nothing. I merely convinced her she'd had a nightmare. She was rather hysterical when she woke up and found a dead body in her room. It was easy enough to persuade her."

"What was he doing in her room? Did she know him?"

Eddie shook his head. "No more than any of the rest of us. Her room is next to mine, which is why I heard the screaming. Fortunately, I arrived before the steward and was able to prevent him seeing anything untoward. I, ah, gave her a sleeping pill, and then cleaned up her room."

I was betting there had been an extra something in that sleeping pill to help along Eddie's power of suggestion. "And the body?" I asked.

"A guest this time. I'd seen him around. Something of a loner and not well liked by anyone as far as I could see. He wasn't on-board with anyone. While he may have family back home who will question his disappearance, we've got a few days before we have to worry about anything like that. I… took care of the body. That was two days ago. I moved in here after that. It seemed safer."

"So, this third body," I said. "When did it show up?"

"Early this morning. One of the maids. I found her in this very room. How she got in, I do not know."

"Shit," I said with feeling.

"My sentiments exactly."





Kabita arrived a couple hours later by helicopter. The captain wasn't thrilled, but she flashed her Supernatural Regulatory Agency badge, and he clammed up. I'm pretty sure she lied and told him she was CIA. Nobody outside the supernatural community knew about the SRA, but nobody wanted to risk messing with a bunch of spies. Probably they'd seen too many Hollywood movies. Eddie went through the tale of the blood-drained bodies again for her benefit.