Valentine's Resolve (Vampire Earth 6)

"I'm here for the night air, not a speech. Enjoy". He lifted his finger and the cigar rolled off the balcony rail. A muttonchopped officer in a black dress uniform grabbed it as it fell.

By the time Muttonchops was showing his trophy to his escort, a blonde who had the body of a seventeen-year-old and the eyes of thirty-five, Adler had vanished indoors.

"He's shy", the artist said. "I like that".

Valentine looked out into the clear night, wondering what the shy military genius had been looking for to the west. Sulfur-colored light painted the distant clouds above Seattle.

* * *

"I thought you were going to buy boots", Valentine said as they returned to their room. The bed had been turned down, and the room carried a floral, elegant fragrance.

"I did", she said, pointing to a box. "Socks too, lots of them. Great quality. I picked up a few pairs for Julia. She loaned me this dress I'm not really fitting".

"Who's Julia?" Valentine asked.

"My roomie. She takes a little getting used to - she was born a slave to some Grogs in Oregon. They caught her poking around in a larder and chopped off her nose with a set of tin snips. Though she's always joking about it... really a lolly person once you get to know her. When she goes out, she wears this silk veil and calls herself' the Phantom.' The guy gave me a great deal on the shoes, because they were used. You can hardly tell".

Valentine looked at the label in the bottom, something in Italian, as he took off his tunic. It added to the air of fantasy in the lodge.

"Mmmmm, they spritzed the sheets with lavender water", Gide said.

"It's supposed to relax you", Valentine said.

"They had tabs of Horny in the gift shop, can you fuckin' believe it? KZ aphrodisiacs? Here?" She let her two-tone hair fall, though the roots were now coming in an even walnut brown, and flopped back on the bed, her hair spread out like a fan.

Valentine adored her for a moment. Her hard-bitten, tattooed

beauty, her profanity, and the military acronym somehow complemented one another. But a moment was all he allowed himself. Much more and his self-control would go.

"I think I might take a walk before I shower", Valentine said.

"Going to buy some Horny?"

"You wish", Valentine said, and winked.

Her upper lip twitched rightward. "I'm not so sure anymore".

The cool, clear air took the lavender out of his nose and replaced it with the mountain smell of pine and cedar. Valentine walked out in front of the resort, where a winding road ended in a dark oil slick of the parking lot. In the distance the green light of the military checkpoint glowed. At one end of the lot by a couple of bright outdoor lights - insects flashed like shooting stars as they whizzed by - a drunken game of pickup basketball proceeded noisily. Valentine watched the players try to dribble with one hand and hold a beer with the other, then turned toward the river.

He caught a little music from the small dance club at one end of the Outlook, but even that was soon drowned out by the quick-flowing river, rushing out of the mountains in a white froth. Some kind of cable contraption hung over the waterfall downstream, a gondola basket providing both a crossing for the river and a unique way to view the spectacular falls. Valentine saw motion across the river, just a sentry out to have a look at him.

He returned to the patio.

Most of the parties had broken up. A few people still smoked, or chatted over hot drinks in the chilly air; Valentine had to remind himself it was June, as in the mountains it felt more like an Arkansas March.

Valentine couldn't shake the feeling that something bad loomed out there, watching the hotel. He turned over in his mind ways he might try to assault the place. There were sentries at the door, and Valentine suspected some kind of security reserve lurked in the basement, as he'd seen uniformed soldiers disappear into the doors marked service use only leading down.

Or was he just talking himself into a breakdown? Not enough stress in this getaway, so you have to bring some along?

Or are you scared of what's in that king-sized bed?

* * *

He undressed and got into bed quietly, the vast bed giving him a margin of error.

She rolled, faced him. "This is different", Gide murmured. "I'm glad you brought me".

"Nice to have a familiar face around", Valentine said.