Page 31 of Death Dance

NINE

Just try not to fall overboard.

True to my father’s word, the instant I began viewing myself more as a bright furry ball of sunshine rather than a sleek black panther, I found I could pop from human to feline form with relative ease. Unlike Emerick, who preferred a larger form, I came in at roughly twice the size of a house cat. While my base coat was a bright golden hue, white mottled it, much like clouds in a brilliant sky. Rings enveloped my tail, leading up to a pristine white and fluffy tip, which I enjoyed flicking at my spouse whenever I caught him staring at me.

My father transformed into a larger version of me, although he had more white in his fur and fewer rings around his tail and golden tips.

Adelmo remained in human shape, serving as a translator.

He could understand my spouse and my father, where I could not.

“Telepathic abilities don’t tend to awaken until a hundred or two years as a vampire,” he explained, crouching beside me and scratching behind my ears. “It does not help that you have excellent blocking skills as an inheritance from your father, so you will have to learn how to lower your defenses. Those defenses are likely why Breckenan abandoned his efforts to bend you to his will, settling with breaking you instead.”

My father growled, and without a single sign of fear, Adelmo snapped his fingers and made a gesture as though to give my father a swat he wouldn’t forget if he tried anything. “Hiding the truth from her does not help at this stage. One of your uncles came by the ship yesterday and filled us in, as if we do lure Breckenan to Europe, we may all need to fight. Which we are more than ready to do, of course. She may not have known it, but she has been the daughter of our brood from her first breath, and she would have been even if she hadn’t suffered from that nasty heart deformity.”

As few were willing to go toe to toe with my father, I settled in to watch the fuss.

Sunshine, held captive in a soft carrier with a fleece bed, mewed in the hopes we would set her free so she could play in the ship.

Footsteps drew closer, announcing the arrival of someone, and I twisted around in time to witness Giovanni stroll in and laugh at us. “Kittens, Emerick?”

My husband lifted his large paw and gestured at Sunshine’s carrier.

“We have an abundance of strays, and we’re going to be catching them so they can go to the vet, be fixed, and have their vaccinations. The ones the Lowrance family do not take home will become ship cats, companions to crew or dockworkers.” Adelmo smiled, rose, and extended his hand to the Italian doctor. “I am part of Charlie’s brood. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s mine,” Giovanni replied, shaking with the other vampire. “Our brood’s vet is busy tonight, but I can work with animals, give vaccinations, and do everything except spay and neuter. For tonight, I’ll just do health checks. Vaccinations can wait until tomorrow, and we’ll handle the spay and neuter as soon as safe for the animals.”

“We can do the procedure on board the ship if needed,” Adelmo replied, and he picked up Sunshine’s carrier and slung the strap over his shoulder. “We need to catch at least one more female. Emerick refuses to have a lonely kitten in his penthouse.”

“And which one decided kittens were on tonight’s agenda?”

Adelmo pointed at me.

Aware the doctor could make my life miserable if he wanted, I strolled to him, engaged my purr motor, and rubbed against his legs.

He laughed, bent over, and stroked my back. “I’m going to guess the lion-sized version of Pepper is Pepper’s father?”

My father rumbled, came over, and stretched, making a point of showing off his incisors.

Giovanni kept on laughing. “Good evening, Mr. Francis. Why are we cleaning kittens off a cruise ship?”

I envied the other vampires for their telepathic abilities; Giovanni tilted his head to the side, his laughter ceased, and he nodded. “I see. I’ll get to work preparing the brood so the master and mistress can enjoy a few days of tending to their new family members. How many will we be able to bring on board? Excellent. I’ll arrange flights, staggered over the voyage time, so we are in position in Europe. Emerick, while malnourished, the rest of Breanna’s metrics are within acceptable parameters. As she is not a preternatural but she is our ideal bait, I recommend we put her on the ship with you and Pepper. Darius can accompany her with members of his brood, and they can teach her how vampire gentlemen behave. Breckenan has no chance against Darius or any in his brood, and them teamed together will make short work out of Breckenan and his underlings. Frankly, this will be overkill.”

“And far more merciful than they deserve,” Adelmo commented.

Giovanni shrugged. “While I agree, it’s better this way. I recommend we funnel any earned bounty money from this operation to Pepper. The influx of wealth might keep her from complaining much over the cost of the ball.”

I vocalized my complaints regarding the death dance I needed to orchestrate in wails and yowls.

Adelmo raised a brow at my behavior while the Italian doctor snickered. “She’s upset over the ball, which has been driving her quite wild. Every time she thinks of something clever, someone is a step ahead of her, and when she does come up with something new, the evaluation of the cost has caused literal tears. The first time she cried over the price, Emerick called me in a fluster. Therapy for large expenses will be needed.”

I turned my ears back, and as I couldn’t offer commentary, I decided I’d go start the search for unclaimed kittens. With a rumbling purr, my father joined me.

“Just try not to fall overboard,” the Italian called out after me.

Asshole vampire.

Rather than fall overboard, I deliberately jumped into the water. An adventurous kitten, a black and white one, had decided it was a good idea to climb onto one of the ropes leading to shore, encountered the rat barricades, and tumbled off the ship.