Vampire Deep (Vampire for Hire Book 30), page 15
There’s only one thing to do.
I release my grip on the claw and fall backward, quickly swiping through the screen settings on my watch as I do so...
Chapter Thirty-eight
Crap! He’s falling, shouts Allie in my head.
It’s probably a good idea she’s sharing this via telepathy. Surely, such an announcement would break Roxy’s connection to her brother.
Okay, whew! He stopped falling. Not sure what he’s hanging onto, but he didn’t drop very far. He’s not in immediate danger, as far as I can tell.
Can you see his watch?
Yeah. Closing in on it now... Okay, I see the date. But it’s moving super fast.
Moving?
Yeah. Moving forward in time. The months are a blur. The year—1852, 53, 54. Okay, it’s slowing down now. Nope, it’s speeding up again. Crap. She pauses, then she says: Okay, slowing down again. Slower, slower...
“Got it!” shouts Allison. “November 12th, 1877. 3:32 p.m. Hurry, Sam—before it changes!”
I do as I’m told, visualizing within the flame the gaping, tooth-filled mouth of the creature—the last thing Roy had seen before losing his swimming fin. Superimposed over that frightening image, I add the target date: 11/12/1887, along with the time indicated, and with the help of my emerald time-travel ring, I make the leap.
The girls did their part.
Now, it’s my turn.
***
Unlike in my memory, the creature’s mouth is presently closed.
I land on a massive, squishy tongue that’s pressed up against the roof of the creature’s mouth. I’m pretty sure I’m the first person ever to teleport into a monster’s mouth. Why the mouth, you might ask? It’s the clearest visual of the creature I had. I suppose I could have teleported upon its snout or between its eyes. But I’m pretty sure Roy is somewhere inside this thing. Somewhere inside its neck, in fact.
He’d been trying to climb up and out of the beast. Makes sense. I would, too.
Everywhere around me are teeth the size of traffic cones—the big cones on the side of roads. Stuck between the sharp, bony protrusions are chunks of animal matter: seal flippers, a walrus head, shark fins, and God knows what else. All putrid and reeking. Truly, I have materialized into a nightmare.
I hear grunting behind and below me, sounds that are too human to be anything else.
Squishing along the giant tongue as surely as if I were running along a slimy trampoline, I come to the creature’s throat, presently closed. If it’s an air breather and it’s underwater, it makes sense why this thing’s throat is presently closed tight. Surely, there’s a fleshy valve nearby that would lead to its windpipe. I doubted Roy had ended up in the lungs. No, the swimmer had been swallowed up as a tasty morsel—straight into the creature’s belly. So what had Allie seen Roy climbing along—and subsequently falling down into?
The creature’s throat, of course. Roy had been trying to find a way out. And had fallen while trying to manipulate his watch.
Where he is now, I don’t know, but one thing is certain: I need to get down into this thing’s throat—a throat that looks completely sealed shut. One way into a throat is to be swallowed down. Somehow, I need to trigger this thing’s swallowing reflex. We all have it, when masticated food reaches a certain spot, we all feel an automatic need to swallow. Which gets me thinking...
I zoom around its oversized teeth, collecting disgusting chunks of this and that—heads, fins, tails, torsos—working as a sort of human dental floss. Once done, I push the chunks over the back of the tongue, which begins undulating, propelling the food like a conveyor belt toward the back of the throat. When enough of it collects there, I watch as a massive flap swings opens and down goes all that old food.
And down I go, too, right behind it.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Roy
I don’t have the lobster claws, but I have my hands.
Hoping like hell I managed to scroll through the watch and land on the date screen, I reach out and dig my fingernails into the esophageal lining. The creature lurches, surely feeling the raking drag on its throat. No, the fall won’t kill me. Heck, I’ve already gone through this once. But I may not survive another plunge into the stomach bile—at least, not for long. (And God knows what else is in there.) After all, it had taken every ounce of my energy to get where I am now and seriously, I don’t want to do this again.
Of course, I will do it all again, as many times as I need to. Either that, or I’ll die in this hellhole.
Speaking of which, I’ve managed to slow my plunge enough to almost come to a stop. I hear the partial seal splash down below me.
Unfortunately, my raking hands can’t stop my descent completely, and as skin from the esophageal wall peels away, I feel myself falling again—and that’s when I see her. A woman with dark hair and dark wings heading straight down the throat toward me. Light illuminates behind her.
Surely, the Angel of Death is upon me...
Chapter Forty
I don’t need light to see, but when the creature briefly opens its mouth, the natural light definitely helps me get oriented.
I’m in a long shaft... longer than I can believe. It could have been the inside of a grain silo. In fact, there’s just enough room to—
Snap!
I open my wings to help control my fall. And as I drift down, I see the object of my desire—of all of our desires: Roy.
He’s clinging—desperately—to the side of what I can only assume is the world’s longest esophagus. Unfortunately for him, the animal matter that I had used to trigger the creature’s swallow reflex is also raining down on him, triggering something else: the esophageal sphincter (what a name, right?) beneath him to open up and allow the material to pass down into the stomach. Pummeled by this rancid seafood buffet, I watch as Roy loses his grip and falls down through the fleshy trapdoor and into a dark void that I can smell immediately. No, it’s not like he’s plummeting off Niagara Falls in a barrel, but God only knows what’s down there. All sorts of nastiness, undoubtedly.
With natural light shining from above—due to the creature’s mouth still being open—I tuck in my wings and dive. As I do so, the falling Roy looks up and spots me. To say that his eyes widen in surprise would be an understatement. They darn near pop out of his skull. Poor guy. Can’t imagine what he’s thinking.
He thinks you’re the angel of death, says Allie.
Oh, cool. We’re still connected.
Of course! Now hurry! There’s something waiting for him.
Waiting for him—
Plunging down into the massive stomach cavity just behind Roy, I snatch the guy by the back of his wet suit just as a mottled and bloodied shark rises up out of the quagmire below. Holy crap, that thing’s huge! It’s also clearly suffering, being slowly devoured by stomach acid. I doubt it’s hungry. No doubt, it’s out of its mind from pain. Hate leaving something behind to suffer.
Sammy, that shark was the big fella’s lunch.
Also, a living thing.
“Who are you?” screams Roy.
“A friend of your sister’s,” I say, smiling.
“She has friends like you?”
“She does now. Hang on.”
Sam, don’t do it, comes Allison’s voice in my head.
I kinda have to.
And with that, I bank hard to starboard in the cavernous stomach, bumping against the fleshy ceiling. Still holding Roy with one hand, I dive back down and skim the surface of the gurgling stomach acid. There, I spot the poor shark writhing. I reach out and do two things simultaneously:
I grab the creature’s tailfin—
And summon the single flame.
In it, I see my present-day timeline, and the oceans as I know them to be just off the Newport Beach coast. I decide to aim even further off the beach, a dozen or so miles out to sea. I rush toward the water in the flame even as it rushes toward me...
And make the leap.
***
With a screaming Roy in one hand and a writhing shark in the other, I appear just above the surface of the ocean.
I immediately release the brutally damaged shark into the water below, where I know the saltwater will probably sting its acid-dipped skin. But that has to feel better than dying in the muck. As I watch the shark shudder briefly, spiraling down, its tail slashes once, twice, and then disappears from view.
If it survives its wounds, good on it. If not, I tried.
Meanwhile, Roy is still dangling from my other hand, kicking and screaming.
“Relax, will you?” I say, and adjust my grip to two hands under his armpits.
Now hanging in a little more comfort, he calms down and looks up at me. “Is this real?”
“It is, Roy. And we went to a lot of trouble to find you. Oh, and you better be good at keeping secrets. Because this is a big one.”
He stares up at me in stunned silence as I summon the single flame and teleport back to Fullerton.
Cal State Fullerton, to be exact.
Chapter Forty-one
If Max is annoyed or alarmed that I brought so many newcomers to his secret library, he doesn’t show it.
We’re all in the alchemist’s lab, which, other than the pentagram on the floor, the weird animals in jars, and even weirder equipment, could have been any chemistry lab at any high school.
Tears flowing, the twins haven’t stopped hugging each other. I note Max and Alexis talking quietly together. Pretty sure I haven’t seen his eyes beam this brightly in, well, ever. To say that he’s smitten by the mermaid is an understatement. That said, she doesn’t seem to be encouraging his affections. It’s just one of those things that seem to happen with her and her special charm. Thank goodness, I broke out of it. My life is complicated enough. Can’t say the same for Allison, who keeps stealing glances her way.
“I’m just fascinated by her,” says Allie, who’s next to me. “Never met a mermaid before. And she really glows. Do you see that?”
“A silver light,” I say. “Like a halo, but all over.”
“Yeah, that.”
I nudge her in the ribs with my elbow. “Well, I expect the fascination will wear off.”
She shrugs. “Maybe. I’ve been fairly fluid my whole life, Sam. Besides, I still kinda like my man.”
“Detective Smithy of the Beverly Hills P.D.?”
“He would be the one.”
“You don’t talk about him much.”
“We don’t see each other all that often. With my late nights and his crazy cop hours, we’re lucky to see each other twice a month. Truth be told, that’s about the right amount for me, though he’s been pushing for more time together. We’ll see.”
She doesn’t say it, but I know she enjoys spending time with yours truly and my crazy brood.
She looks at me and winks. “Hey, you guys are kind of fun. There’s always something going on.”
“You can bring him by, you know,” I say.
“We’ll see. For now, I like to keep my two lives separate. Hey, Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you really save a shark, too?”
“Tried to, not sure if I succeeded.”
We stand there together, basking in the glow of a successfully solved case. Guess I will send Roxy a bill, after all. Then again, I like her. Maybe she can just take me out to lunch. Two or three times.
Allison chuckles at that. “It really does look like Max and the mermaid are hitting it off.”
My turn to chuckle. “Max thinks he’s hitting off. He probably doesn’t realize how charmed he is.”
“Shouldn’t he know better?” asks Allie.
“Everyone has a plan, until a mermaid hits you with her charm.”
Allie chuckles. “Not sure what that means, but yeah.”
“It’s a quote from Mike Tyson: ‘Everyone has a plan, until I hit them in the mouth.’”
“Ah, I see. I think.” Allison suddenly gasps. “She’s coming over here. Be cool!”
“I am cool,” I say. “You’re the one losing your shit.”
“Shh! Hey, Alexis. What’s up?”
“Not much,” says the mermaid, veritably glowing silver in the muted light. “And no, Sam. I don’t always glow silver. The room is still charged with energy and magic. It sort of activates me and, in particular, Licinia.”
“Your dark master,” says Allie.
“Well, I think of her more as a ‘dimly lit’ dark master.”
Allison laughs. “Oh, I see what you did there. Wow, it’s so cool that you two are friends.”
Dial it down, I think to Allison, knowing full well that Alexis can hear my thoughts, too. Hey, when everyone’s a mind reader, what can you do?
“You’re heading out now?” I ask the mermaid.
“I am, yes. Night swims are the best. And yes, Sam, I will check in on your shark friend. Maybe there’s something Licinia and I can do for him.”
“Thank you—for everything,” I say.
“It’s the least I can do. I consider Kingsley a dear friend. And now, you, too. All of you, in fact. Max is a sweetheart.”
Uh-oh, says Allie in my head. There’s more going on here than just charm.
Alexis winks. “Maybe. Keep in touch, ladies.”
We each give her a hug, though Max’s seems to linger longest. As the mermaid strides out of the room, she telepathically tells us that she will take an Uber to the beach. I let her know I can be-bop her there faster, but she apparently prefers the quiet time in the back of a stranger’s car.
Max shows her the way out. Despite his obvious attraction for the mermaid, he never leaves anyone alone with his freaky books.
When Max returns and strikes up a conversation with Roy, Roxy sidles over to us.
“This was the most terrifying, magical evening of my life,” says the psychic and writer. “I can’t thank you enough, Sam.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
She spread her hands, looks around. “Is this what your life is like all the time?”
“Usually, it’s not this boring.” I wink; she giggles.
“Coffee some time?” she asks.
“That would be nice.”
Next, Roy comes over. “I’m not sure what happened to me today.”
“Not just today,” I say. “A full week.”
“It felt like only a few hours.”
“That’s the thing about time travel,” I say. “It makes no sense. The Coast Guard and police are going to have a lot of questions for you. It might be best if you and your sister get your stories straight.”
“Any suggestions?”
“A boat. A kidnapping. Drug dealers. A miraculous escape. That should do the trick.”
“Sounds even crazier than the real story.”
“A time-traveling, seafaring dinosaur?”
“Uh, right. I’m still holding out hope that this is all a dream.”
I wink. “There’s still that. Take care of yourself, Roy. Still going swimming in the ocean?”
“Like that’s ever going to stop.”
“Oh, God,” says Roxy. “Make it stop. I worry about you so much out there.”
“You shouldn’t,” says Roy. “I feel safer out there than on land.”
Roxy looks at me. “Any chance your mermaid can turn this one into a mer-dude—or whatever they’re called?”
“They’re mermen, I believe,” I say.
“Whatever. Maybe having a tail will keep him safe.”
I chuckle as Max leads the twins out of the lab.
“What now, Sammy?” asks Allison, as we find ourselves alone in Max’s lab.
“A drink?” I suggest.
“Or two,” she says, reaching for my hand.
I take it and summon the single flame.
“Hero’s Bar?” I ask.
“But of course.”
The End
Samantha Moon returns in:
Moon Matador!
Vampire for Hire #31
by J.R. Rain
Available now!
Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK
~~~~~
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Also available:
To read Alexis Silver’s latest adventure check out:
Silver Kingdom
Alexis Silver, Mermaid Detective Book 6
by J.R. Rain and Matthew S. Cox
Available now!
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~~~~
Also available:
To read the latest Allison Lopez adventure check out:
The Witch and the Hangman
The Witches Series Book 5
by J.R. Rain and Matthew S. Cox
Available now!
Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK
Return to the Table of Contents
Begin the Alexis Silver series here:
Silver Light
Alexis Silver, Mermaid Detective #1
by J.R. Rain and Matthew S. Cox
(read on for a sample)
Chapter One
Different Paths
Comfortable can mean many things.
In the sense that I’m crouching in the weeds with a rock jabbing me in the ass, I’m not comfortable in a physical sense. On a metaphysical level, I am, but it’s taken over a century for me to get here.
Pine trees filled with the steady susurrus of insects and the chirp of birds surround me. A chorus of cheers and howls goes up from the group of nineteen-to-twentysomethings in the campground I’ve been watching for the past few hours. Despite the ratio of girls to boys basically one-to-one, the predominant activities going on so far have been drinking, pot-smoking, sleeping, and the occasional pill or three.
My camera sits against my chest on a strap, half-hidden behind my long, black hair. Normally, I prefer skirts or dresses, but neither are good choices for deep woods hiking. Since my objective has turned out to be rather boring, I lose a few minutes observing a caterpillar inching across my right shoe. I’m wearing one of those ‘not-quite-a-boot-but-not-quite-a-sneaker’ hiking deals.
