Four Centuries (Damned and Cursed Book 7) Read online

  Or whatever the meeting turned in to.

  Her fist was an instant away from knocking on the door when she heard something that caught her by surprise. A feminine moan, followed by what sounded like another heartbeat. Victoria frowned and leaned closer, nearly putting her ear to the door. Her senses weren't as strong as that of a werewolf, but she was sure there was another person in Thomas' room.

  She shook her head. No doubt another of Thomas' conquests. That didn't deter her. Victoria's message didn't change, regardless of whether he had company or not.

  But the door opening a few rooms down stayed her hand once again.

  Out walked a little girl, no more than five years old. She waited patiently in the hallway as her mother, with several bags over each shoulder, emerged behind her, pushing a stroller. The mother struggled as she went to close the door, with one bag slipping to the ground. Her daughter sprang into action, anxious to help, while the baby in the stroller cried.

  Victoria picked apart the scene with ease. The bruises on her cheek, the way she favored her left arm, the raw look of hopelessness. Checking in at a nearby hotel was probably the only escape available to the abused family. Seeing the family reminded Victoria there were real people in the rooms around Thomas Sanders. People that could be affected by their upcoming conversation.

  "Mommy," the girl said. "I'll help you."

  "It's okay, honey." The mother paused to catch her breath. "Just watch your brother for a second."

  "I got it," Victoria said.

  The mother jumped. She didn't even hear Victoria approach. If a vampire wanted to be quiet there wasn't a human ear that could hear them.

  "Oh, God, you scared me."

  "Yeah. I get that a lot."

  The mother placed a hand over her heart as Victoria picked up the loose bag. The daughter was laughing, despite flinching herself at Victoria's sudden appearance. The only one that wasn't laughing was the baby, maybe six months old, in the stroller. Victoria raised an eyebrow at the adorable tiny human. The baby was completely quiet, which was odd. Most babies could sense the supernatural around them, and cried in response.

  "Thank you so much. You wouldn't believe how much stuff you need with two children."

  "I'll bet." She winked at the five-year-old, who giggled in response. "Where are you headed? The elevator?"

  "Yeah. We just need…to get out of here for a little while. Get some fresh air."

  Victoria understood completely, but for her own reasons. There were times she went stir crazy, hiding from the sun. She could only imagine what hiding from the world was like when it involved an abusive husband and caring for two children.

  She helped the family to the elevator and nodded politely as she stepped back into the hallway.

  "Are you going down?" the mother asked.

  "Ah, yeah, but I really need to hit the stairs."

  The mother and daughter waved and smiled as the doors closed. Victoria glanced once again at Thomas' room before heading to the stairwell.

  The woman sitting behind the lobby desk looked up from her smartphone as the vampire approached. She quickly tucked the phone away and shifted in her seat. Victoria tried to stifle a laugh. Her eyes were sharp as well, and picked up some rather suggestive sexual talk in her text message.

  "Can I help you?"

  "I hope so—" Victoria took note of her name tag. "Rhonda. I need to see the manager, please."

  Rhonda blinked. Victoria wasn't sure if Rhonda was new, or simply never dealt with a woman that exuded such confidence. Whichever it was, Rhonda froze.

  "Uh, is there a problem with your room? Maybe I can help you with something?"

  "Yes, you can. You can help me speak with the manager. Please."

  Rhonda's cheeks flared as she spun in her chair and reached for a phone at the desk behind her. She lowered her voice, not that it did any good, and spoke to a man named Richard. She spoke of an angry woman, demanding his attention. The myths of vampires having hypnotic powers were very much fictional. But there was something about a centuries-old being giving orders that mortals tended to notice. She'd learned how to deal with people. Some required kindness, compassion, nurturing. Others required a kick in the ass.

  A door opened behind Rhonda, and a man with dark hair, graying at the temples, leaned out. He glanced at Rhonda, who gestured with her head. Richard looked to Victoria and smiled.

  "Yes, ma'am?" he said. "What can we do for you?"

  Victoria wasn't sure how she felt about being called ma'am.

  She didn't wait for Richard to approach her. She walked around the desk, hand outstretched, and joined the pair.

  "I just need a few minutes of your time." She softened her voice, just a touch. "Could we speak in private?"

  Richard stuttered and stammered for a moment before leading Victoria into his office. Among the many things Victoria was, above all else, she was a skilled liar. She was hundreds of years old, masquerading in the body of a thirty-year-old. She could mimic many accents, speak several foreign languages fluently. Sixty years ago, she convinced a German soldier she was the sister of a high-ranking Nazi official, saving three Jewish families in the process.

  "Can I offer you something to drink?" Richard asked, sitting behind his desk.

  Victoria let out a giggle, unable to help herself. Somehow, a sip from your neck didn't seem like the right response.

  "No, thank you."

  Her imagination ran wild. She had many lifetimes of experience, of fiction to draw upon. A radical idea popped in her mind, something she couldn't remember trying before.

  The truth.

  "I won't waste your time, and get right to the point. I need you to clear out the fourth floor. Not the whole floor, just the rooms around four-seventeen."

  It took five seconds for a reaction. Richard laughed and shook his head, his brow furrowing in frustration.

  "I'm sorry, but…what?!"

  "Maybe ten rooms total. There's someone dangerous in there. I would have pulled the fire alarm, but I'm trying to be quiet."

  "Uh…who the hell, exactly, are you?"

  She leaned forward, holding his gaze. "You need to do what I say. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

  "Are you a cop or something?"

  "Not at all. Just a concerned citizen. Look, you knock on a few doors, tell them there's a problem with the plumbing. That'll get them moving fast. I'm in and out in ten minutes. You can go to sleep knowing you helped save some lives."

  He rubbed his hands through his hair. "Oh, wow. Well, I can say this is a first. I'm sorry, but no. You come back here with a police officer, and we'll do whatever you want."

  Victoria smiled. There was a reason she never went to the truth. It was like she always told one of her best friends. He happened to be able to fly, and was always so terrified of being caught on camera.

  Mortals never wanted to believe the truth, even when it was right in front of them.

  "Okay, let's see if you believe this," she said, fishing through her purse.

  She rummaged past her phone and various collection of hair-ties to find a stack of hundred-dollar bills. It was one of several stacks she carried with her, kept together by a rubber band. She grabbed it and tossed it on Richard's desk.

  "That's ten thousand dollars. For you. You can put it in your pocket. All you have to do is knock on a few doors and make up whatever story you want."

  Richard glanced back and forth between Victoria and the small band of money in front of him. She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and smiled, waiting for the inevitable.

  *****

  Victoria leaned against the wall in the hallway as Richard ushered the last guest from his room. The guest was irritated and angry as he struggled to slip into his coat. Richard gently pushed him from behind, steering him toward the elevator.

  "You want to wait until I get my coat on there, buddy?" the frustrated guest said.

  "I'm so sorry, sir," Richard said. "We're just looking out for your best i
nterests."

  Victoria lowered her head to hide the smile. With ten grand in his pocket, Richard couldn't get the guests out fast enough. The prior room was an old couple in their seventies. She thought Richard was going to throw their walkers into the hall.

  "Yeah, yeah. How long will it take to fix the pipes?"

  "Not long at all. No more than two hours."

  "Fine. I expect to be comped for this."

  "You will, sir."

  The guest disappeared into the elevator. Richard took a breath as he joined Victoria. She cast him a glance as she kept her focus on the room ahead of her.

  "Is there really someone dangerous in there?" Richard asked. "Or are you just a rich, crazy ex-wife trying to get back at a cheating husband?"

  She laughed quietly. "Go to sleep tonight knowing you did a good thing, and was paid well for it."

  Richard hesitated, unsure of himself, but decided the payoff was worth whatever reason Victoria had for visiting his hotel. He nodded in farewell before leaving through the stairwell.

  Finally, with every precaution in place for the nearby mortals, she approached the door once again. Dropping to her hands and knees, she inhaled deeply at the gap under the door. There were definitely two people, a man and a woman. The room smelled of sex and alcohol.

  She gave the door a stern knock.

  "Thomas," she called. "Thomas Sanders. We need to talk."

  Her sensitive ears were answered by a quiet snore. The fact that she couldn't hear his companion concerned her.

  "Come to the door, please."

  "Go the fuck away!" he shouted, his voice groggy. "I already told you people. If I need something, I'll come to you. Do you see the sign? Stop disturbing!"

  Victoria stared at the carpet and clenched her fists. She'd learned long ago that patience was a virtue.

  But even as old as she was, she wasn't perfect. There were times she had a temper.

  She'd spent enough of her own time and resources on Thomas Sanders. Whether he knew it or not, it was for his own good.

  "Thomas, please—"

  "I said go the fuck—!"

  The first blow didn't knock the door off its hinges, but it came close. The entire upper-right portion caved inward, sending shards flying. There was a chair wedged under the knob, braced against the floor. Thomas was definitely paranoid, which was smart, considering what he was.

  "What the hell—?"

  Victoria stepped back and thrust her right foot forward. The hinges popped, and the door collapsed, falling to the floor alongside the chair.

  The first thing she noticed was how dark the room was. Layer upon layer of black trash bags were taped over the windows. Victoria's lip twitched in a half-smile at the memories. She'd employed many unusual and creative ways of hiding from the sun during her lifetime. Many times involved trash bags. Once, she even hid under a pile of men mere moments removed from killing them.

  She blinked away the darkness. Seeing in the dark was never an issue for a vampire. The supernatural decided that vampires shouldn't exist during the day. The least it could do was let them see in the dark.

  Thomas fumbled and stumbled about as he tried to slip on a pair of underwear. He nearly fell once, tripping over his own feet. Catching himself on the dresser was the only thing that saved him. Victoria had her suspicions before, but she was convinced now that he wasn't very old. He didn't smell or hear Victoria at all, and he lacked all sense of grace.

  Her eyes fell on a woman laying half across the bed, naked. A bottle of liquor Victoria was unfamiliar with lay on the floor, just out of reach. The woman didn't move or stir, even with all the noise Victoria had caused.

  She pushed her way inside, her gaze locked on Thomas' companion. She thought she heard a heartbeat, but couldn't be sure. Thomas rushed to intercept her as she approached the bed.

  "Just what the fuck do you think you're—?"

  Victoria shoved him hard with one hand to his chest. He stumbled back, and she could tell by his expression that her strength was a complete surprise. Still, after watching her destroy a door with ease, he didn't know he was looking at his superior. She scowled for a moment, hoping her point was clear, and turned her attention back to the woman. She was in the middle of pulling the woman completely onto the bed when she noticed Thomas, out of the corner of her eye, reaching for the lamp on the nightstand.

  With blinding speed, Victoria closed the distance between them. Her hands were claws in an instant. She raked him once across his bare torso, and another across the face. Blood sprayed everywhere, over the walls and both Victoria and Thomas. He howled in agony as he collapsed against the dresser.

  She pointed at him with a now normal finger.

  "Stay," she commanded.

  She hated talking down to him. It wasn't Victoria's way. But it seemed to be the only thing that got his attention.

  She kept one eye on him as she moved toward the woman.

  "Did you kill her?" she asked.

  Thomas didn't realize it, but his next response would go far in determining the course of their relationship.

  "Ah, shit, I don't know. Does it really matter?" He lowered his voice, speaking to himself. "What was her name? Joan? Jane? Jen! Her name's Jen! Is she breathing?"

  Jen stirred and moaned as Victoria approached, drawing a sigh of relief. She suddenly shot upright and coughed violently, before leaning over the edge of the bed and vomiting. Victoria gently rubbed her shoulders and neck while holding her hair back as she unloaded last night's liquid dinner all over the hotel room floor.

  "She had a little too much to drink last night," Thomas said, unleashing a smile. "I guess we both did."

  Victoria finally noticed the dried blood that ran from Jen's neck down her breasts onto her stomach. Jen's eyes lit up in panic as she examined her naked body.

  "What did you do?" she screamed, staring at Thomas. "What did you do to me?!"

  "Oh, please. You enjoyed every minute of it."

  Jen jumped from the bed and raced forward, only to be caught by Victoria. The sudden movement caused a collision in her stomach, and she bent over again. Too much alcohol and a lack of blood took its toll. If Victoria wasn't holding onto her she would have toppled over.

  Victoria ripped the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around Jen.

  "Jen, listen to me, you're going to be okay."

  "Oh my God!" she said, looking about like a caged animal. Her gaze settled on Thomas, still sitting against the dresser. "He…bit me! We were…together, and…."

  She trailed off as her lip quivered. The tears started, and Victoria could see there was therapy in Jen's future. When a vampire fed the right way it left the human in a state of euphoria, even without the sexual side-effects. Feeding could be a wonderful experience for all parties involved. But when done improperly, it was nothing more than assault.

  "Can you walk? I want you to go downstairs to the front desk and ask for Richard. Have him call an ambulance. They'll take care of you, clean you up. You might have to lie, say you don't remember anything of what happened, or they'll think you're crazy."

  "Yeah, right," Thomas said. "Bitch is already crazy."

  Victoria ignored him.

  "Downstairs. Richard. Ambulance," she said, keeping things simple. "Go ahead."

  Her knees buckled, but Jen managed to leave the room on her own. The sheet she pulled around herself was open in the back, and Thomas stared after her until she vanished around the corner. Victoria grabbed her purse that she nimbly tossed on the refrigerator when she entered the room. She positioned herself against the wall by the covered windows, in between him and the door, to block any chance at escape.

  "Okay," she said. "We don't have long until this place is crawling with police and paramedics, so let's talk."

  Thomas touched one of the parallel slices on his face and pulled his hand back to examine the blood. His wounds were already slowly healing. Touching the blood on his chest, he stuck a crimson-covered finger in his mouth.


  "Who are you?" he asked coarsely. "Another vampire?"

  "I am. How old are you, Thomas?"

  "Call me Tom," he said, with a wink. "Why? You want to go out on a date?"

  "How old?"

  "Twenty-eight. Old enough to know my way around a gorgeous woman like you." He winced. "Man, I haven't felt pain like that in a while. What's your name?"

  "That's not important. What is important is that I'm here to explain the rules to you."

  "Rules," he said, laughing. "Our kind doesn't have any rules."

  "When you come to Baltimore, you do."

  She searched through her purse for several pictures. Tossing them at his feet, she looked carefully into his eyes, trying to read the emotions. Curiosity, vague remembrance, but nothing resembling compassion.

  "The first one is Gwen. You fed from her too long and put her in a coma. The second is Tracy. You nearly killed her. And there's Jen, hopefully you remember her. She just left the room. I think I already know the answer. But were these accidents, Tom? Carelessness? Because we can fix accidents and carelessness."

  He let the pictures drop at his feet and shrugged.

  "I'm not out to kill anyone, but really, does it matter if I did? We're vampires. We're better than humans. If we kill one, just find another."

  Victoria sighed and sadly shook her head.

  "Now that, I'm not sure I can fix. But I'll try."

  She squatted down to look him in the eye. Tom's thoughts weren't where they should have been. He admired Victoria's figure, her breasts, the way her jeans stretched taut against her thighs. But that was about to change.

  "Tom, I don't know how long you plan on being in Maryland, but while you're here—and that includes Annapolis, Westminster, Ocean City, even the city dump down the street—you're going to be on your best behavior. You'll treat mortals with the utmost respect. Okay?"

  She thought she was kind, but direct. Tom merely laughed and lowered his gaze. Victoria knew there was trouble brewing on the horizon. Newborn vampires were always pushing boundaries, testing their new powers, seeing what they could get away with. They were like mortal toddlers, looking over their shoulder while they reached in the cookie jar.