Always the Vampire

Still facedown, he eased away, pushing himself backward until his chest cleared my butt. One more push and he was off, hand-overhanding himself to mid board as I scooted back for better balance. When I levered up to straddle my board, Triton rested his hands by my knee.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

We floated with our own thoughts for a moment, but Triton’s breathing sounded better every second he was cradled in the sea.

“I’m sorry, Cesca.”

He’d barely breathed the words, yet I’d heard him clearly.

“What for?”

“Not protecting you from the vampires that night.”

I shrugged. “What could you do? Fluke them to death?”

“If you hadn’t been with me, you wouldn’t have been captured.”

I patted his head. “Marco would’ve kidnapped me anyway. It was just a matter of time.”

Triton shrugged. “Maybe, but I’ve felt guilty about that night. And about the other time I failed to rescue you.”

I stared at his upturned face. “What other time?”

“In 1820. Florida was still being transferred from Spain to the U.S., and the whole town was being surveyed. I came back to reclaim the land trust for you. And I came back to search for you. I couldn’t find the vampire’s house.”

“The foundation was gone by then?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I ran across a lot of rubble. Thought I was close a few times. None of the places I searched felt right.”

I took a deep breath. Remembered Isabella’s revelation that Cosmil had reconsecrated the ground. Had he really blessed it, or had he bespelled it?

“Why didn’t you open our telepathic connection, Triton? Maybe I could have led you to me.”

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up and fail you again.”

“Oh.”

“The worst is that I got away. Made a life for myself. I’m sorry you didn’t have the same chance.”

I laid my hand on his shoulder. “I never blamed you, Triton. Not for the vampires or leaving town. I wanted you gone and safe.”

“Then you accept my apolo—”

He broke off, his neck muscles contracting in a savage spasm. Hands flailing, he sank under the surface. The ocean around me churned violently, but I didn’t fear a shark attack. I adjusted my seat on the board. Waited.

Minutes later, a beak bumped the nose of my board and water sprayed me from a blowhole. Triton in his dolphin form.

Shifting injured hurts like the devil.

“But you’ll be okay?”

If you accept my apology.

“Done.”

He swam near enough to rub against my leg under water. His way of saying thank-you, I guessed.

See you Tuesday morning. An hour before sunrise.

Or his way of reminding me of that extra favor, but I nodded. “I’ll be here, and you’d better be ready for butt-kicking boot camp.”

He slapped his beak on a swell, and a cascade of water smacked my face.

Tyranoulitsa.

“Cretin.”

Wrong, I’m cetacean.

He laughed in joyful dolphin speak, then arched away.

All in all, I guessed it was good to have him home.





Saber welcomed me back to the cottage with a deep kiss and a long hug.

“I missed you,” he murmured as he nuzzled my neck.

Darling man. He focused on me before he asked about Triton. I framed his head with my hands and kissed him again.

“I missed you, too.” I released him and looked down at our feet so I wouldn’t step on the ever-present cat. “Where’s Snowball?”

“Passed out in her carrier in the kitchen,” he said, turning to flip the deadbolt. “Any idea why she’s hunkered in there?”

“She had a hissy fit over Isabella, a ghost she cornered this afternoon.”

“I take it you know this ghost?”

“She was Normand’s human mistress and my only friend, and she came to warn us that evil is stirring up vampire ghosts. Normand and company.”

“Is Starrack behind this, too?”

“She didn’t give me a name, but who else could it be? I’ll tell you about her and other things, but I need to shower this salt water out of my hair first.”

He eyed my loosely ponytailed hair with a mess of escaped wavy strands. “More trouble with Triton?”

“He was too weak to wade in deep enough to shift,” I said, taking Saber’s hand and leading him to the bedroom. “I floated him out on my surfboard.”

He leaned against the doorjamb while I turned the shower faucet on hot and peeled off my T-shirt.

“Tell me about the attack.”

I paused with my cutoffs half unzipped, the weight of the amulet pulling one side lower than the other. “Now? You don’t want to join me in the shower?”

“Not tonight.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Truth is, I’m done in.”

“As in Void tired?” I dropped my shorts, and the amulet in my pocket made a dull thunk on the bathmat covering the slate-tile floor.

He shrugged. “So what happened with Triton?”