25. Lessons
Chapter 25
Lessons
Hawaiian Desire cruise—Later the same day
W hen the weather turned into a dense, gray, swirling cloud overhead, Cerissa opted to leave the pool and spent the late afternoon browsing through the shops with Karen. Duty-free jewelry, designer purses, perfume, clothing, and artwork filled the shopping mall at sea—as did too many of the like-minded crowd.
“Rolf gave me a five-thousand-dollar credit line to spend any way I wanted to.” Karen browsed the jewelry case as she spoke. “But none of these appeal to me. I’d rather buy from my jeweler in Mordida.”
“Then let’s go next door and look at clothes. The window display looks interesting.”
The clothing store focused on cruise wear. Cerissa checked out a navy-themed jacket-and-pants set, but her mind kept wandering back to Petar’s murder and what the evidence meant.
Since their call with Tig two nights ago, they’d only heard from her in a mass email sent to Sierra Escondida residents, asking those in the community who placed sports bets through Petar’s casino to reply. Henry and Rolf responded right away. They hadn’t received any news related to Petar’s murder since, although she’d received a private email from Tig about something else.
“Hey, girlfriend.”
Cerissa startled, then looked at the two-piece swimsuit in green and peach flowers Karen held out. “Sorry. What?”
“I asked, ‘Think I’d look good in this?’”
“Sure.” Cerissa waggled her fingers toward the changing room. “Try it on.”
Karen disappeared into a small booth, and Cerissa went back to her woolgathering. Tig’s email had asked if she was still interested in the rabbit. Apparently, the chief wasn’t happy with Jayden volunteering to keep Ernestine.
Cerissa had immediately replied, No, thank you. Henry was right. She had her hands full with Bear.
After Karen purchased the new swimsuit, Cerissa realized the sun had set and returned to her suite. She found the television off. No sports tonight, as Henry relaxed on the living room couch reading a book. Dressed in a twisted-waist tux—which emphasized his broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted physique—he looked downright scrumptious for the last formal evening of the cruise. A black and metallic blue brocade vest peeked out from under the jacket, and he’d tied his long ebony hair with a matching satin ribbon.
She kissed him. “Hi, Quique. How are you feeling?”
“Fine, now that you’re here. Did you recall what we discussed doing tonight?”
She looked at him blankly. What had she forgotten?
“The lesson?” he prodded.
“Oh. Is that tonight?”
“It’s on the calendar.”
They’d made an activity calendar before leaving for their honeymoon—not every night was filled in, but some items were.
Dammit . She’d been putting off the lesson for ten months now, and with their friends along on the cruise, she didn’t have a good reason to postpone it again.
She sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable. “Then I better get ready.”
Rolf and Karen arrived earlier than she expected. When Cerissa joined them wearing a full-length red formal, Rolf waited impatiently, tapping his foot. “Good color choice. If you spill any blood, it won’t show.”
Cerissa frowned at him. She hadn’t picked the dress for that reason. “I’m not biting anyone.”
“No, but you’ll need clone blood to fuel your vampire form. I’m teaching you how to mesmerize a mortal tonight. Henry mentioned you have no control.”
Grr . She may have agreed to the lesson, but Henry didn’t have to be so blunt when he asked for his friend’s help. Sure, she might have overdone the process when she’d first mesmerized some of the Cutter’s henchmen in New York. She’d knocked them out for over a day. At least the experience confirmed she possessed some of the same powers as a vampire when taking their form.
She cut Henry a look. “I still don’t understand why Rolf should teach me. Why not you?”
“ Ach . Because we all saw how well your one and only flying lesson went with him in the instructor’s chair.”
Her mate growled. “We do not need a reminder, Rolf.”
Cerissa cringed at the memory of her argument with Henry in the cockpit when he got a bit bossy. She’d ultimately hired a flight instructor—a stranger—to help her complete the licensing requirements.
But Rolf’s tutelage deserved merit for another reason: as recently as a year ago, he’d hunted mortals to feed on. Henry survived solely on bagged blood, so Rolf was the more practiced of the two at mesmerizing mortals. Not to mention the fiasco when Henry tried to re-mesmerize his ex-girlfriend, Allison.
Rolf might be the better choice after all.
“Now, you just need a mortal to learn on,” he said.
“That’s my cue.” At the wet bar, Karen stuffed the cork in a wine bottle and turned to join Cerissa on the couch.
“Please bring a pouch of clone blood with you,” Cerissa said. “I may want some once I morph.”
“Told you,” Rolf said.
Cerissa glowered at him.
With her wineglass held aloft, Karen bent over to reach into the wet-bar cabinet for the box. “Got it.”
Rolf snatched the wine glass from Karen’s outstretched hand. “You don’t need this.”
She righted herself, gave him a moue of displeasure, and grabbed for the glass.
He lifted the glass out of her reach. “Go on. No wine until afterward.”
Karen narrowed her eyes at Rolf, then sashayed to the couch and plopped down. She squeezed Cerissa’s arm and handed her the pouch. “You got this, girlfriend.”
Cerissa hadn’t realized she’d felt anxious until Karen said something. Her friend’s support meant a lot to her.
Rolf moved the serving tray aside and sat on the leather ottoman. “Look at me.” Both ladies did. “Cerissa, not Karen.”
“Okay, I’m looking.”
“Change into your vampire form.”
Cerissa let out a resigned sigh. The creepy feeling of dying, of changing her genetic essence, caused the hairs on her arms to rise. She didn’t mind doing it to make love to Henry. But to learn how to mesmerize? Not so much. “All right. Done.”
Rolf scrunched his brows together. “You’re going to need more power. Drink the pouch.”
She stuck the straw in the small plastic seal and slurped it down. She hated following anyone’s orders, especially Rolf’s. But the blood instantly recharged her and tasted divine to her vampire form. “Now what?”
“When I say so, turn to face Karen.”
Cerissa side-eyed her friend, who started cracking up with laughter, and soon couldn’t keep a straight face either.
Rolf crossed his arms. “ Ach . When you two are finished, we will continue with the lesson.”
“Okay, okay.” She coughed to stop giggling. “I’m ready.”
“Now, when I say go, look into Karen’s eyes. There are only a few commands that work when you’re mesmerizing a victim. ‘Freeze’ and ‘forget’ are the two basic ones. You’re not practicing ‘forget’ on Karen—a careless slip and she might forget all of us.”
“Oh, that would be bad,” Karen said.
“Precisely. So ‘freeze’ is your focus word. It’s the way we hold a victim in place to feed. Remember when Gavin froze his practice victim too long?”
“Yes, I was there.” The gaffe had terribly embarrassed the poor young man.
“You’re aiming for a light trance. One Karen wakes from quickly.”
“Got it.”
“The intensity of the freeze depends upon how much power you push into it. So be gentle. Form the thought and infuse a tiny amount of power into it. Barely touch the accelerator. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Now face Karen.”
Cerissa pivoted, still seated, to face Karen, who struggled not to giggle. “Quit it, or you’ll have me laughing, too.”
Karen took a deep breath. “I’m ready. Do your best.”
Cerissa made eye contact, the word freeze floating through her mind. A light tap, a smidge of power, and she projected the command toward her friend.
Karen froze and her eyelids closed.
“Stop.” Rolf grabbed Cerissa’s arm, turning her away. “That’s enough. Let’s see how long she stays under.” He touched something on his digital watch. “I’ve started timing.”
Cerissa opened her mouth to ask what they were waiting for when Henry raised his hand in the classic halt position. She promptly shut it.
“Don’t rouse her,” Rolf said. “We are testing whether you can create a short, light trance.”
She gnawed on her lower lip as they waited in silence.
“It’s been five minutes.” Rolf shook his head and grumbled. “She may be out for the night.”
“Let me try to wake her.” She touched Karen’s arm, letting a little of her Lux aura escape. “Karen? Are you okay?”
Her friend’s eyes opened. “When are we going to start?”
Rolf ran a hand through his hair and straightened his spine. “That’s a new one. Henry?”
“I’ve never known a vampire able to reverse a trance once they mesmerize a victim.”
Cerissa morphed back to mortal form, pleased to know she could at least undo the effect. That was all she really needed, wasn’t it? “If you’re through, Karen and I would like to have dinner.”
“But you’ve learned nothing,” Rolf said stubbornly.
“I learned I can reverse the effect. And that’s useful, isn’t it?”
“That’s a shortcut.”
“Perhaps,” Cerissa said. “But it’s also my honeymoon, and I don’t want to be here all night.”
Henry sighed. “You can’t avoid this forever, mi amor . But very well, we will schedule your second lesson after we return home. I don’t want any complaints about our honeymoon.”
She rose to her feet and slid into Henry’s arms, then ran a finger along his sculpted cheekbone. “Oh, I have no complaints.” She kissed him. “None at all.”