Read Online Maggie on the Bounty by Kate Danley - Free Book Online

up in pretty gowns for a fancy dinner
and I heard a couple of them say that there was an interactive murder-mystery
show tonight.  I tried not to think about the fact that if Killian and I didn't
play our cards right, their show might get a bit more interactive than what
they signed up for.
    We kept making wrong turns looking
for the pool.  I was having serious trouble tracking down this vortex, and
considering the fact that I was a magical tracker, all the not-tracking-down
was starting to make me feel pretty frickin' freaked out.  Finally, drawing on
our highly advanced skills at reading signs with arrows on them, we got to the
first class swimming area.  Killian looked at me and I looked at him, and we
both took out our weapons. 
    "Ready?" he asked.
    "Ready," I replied, and
pushed open the door.
    Inside, the room was the same pool
area we saw before, with its mother-of-pearl ceiling and empty swimming pool. 
Except it wasn't empty anymore.  Instead, the pool was filled with this green
glow that rippled its light off the ceiling as if it was phosphorescent water. 
I heard laughter and the sound of splashing.  The pitter pat of tiny feet ran
right across in front of me, the child's giggling followed by a woman's
laughter. 
    I looked up at the balcony and
standing above the pool was a woman dressed in a white wedding gown, holding a
child's hand.  The kid was dressed in blue sailor suit.  Gave a whole new
meaning to I'd rather be dead than caught in that get-up.  I'm pretty sure no
one packed these outfits in their overnight bags. 
    I looked at Killian to make sure I
hadn't completely lost my mind.  Gotta say, part of me wished this was all
residual hallucinations from one-too-many dimension jumps, but no such luck. 
He saw it, too.
    "We are sure
seeing a lot of ghosts for people who shouldn't be able to see ghosts," I
muttered.
    An explosion of white light took
over the room.  It was coming from the dressing room, where I had seen the
vortex earlier.  The little blonde girl in the dress whom I had seen on the
balcony before suddenly reappeared and was trying to shout something at Killian
and me. 
    A woman in black emerged from the
portal.  This dame was movie-star gorgeous, kind of a Vivian Leigh in a flouncy
1930's gown straight out of a Busby Berkeley flick.  But her swinging good
looks didn't make up for what she was trying to ferry over.
    Vampires.  Two of
them all dressed up like they were getting ready for some sort of booze cruise,
complete with Hawaiian shirts and sandals with socks.  I'm pretty sure this was
breaking all sorts of maritime laws.  If not maritime laws, fashion laws.  This
pool area was the perfect place for a vampire to hide out.  No windows.  No
external light.  Just sweet, sweet darkness and all you had to do was put up
with a couple of nosy tourists every couple of hours.
    My stake was in my hand before they
were able to look around and figure out where I was.
    THWACK!  THWACK!
    Two stakes, right through the
heart.
    I turned to Killian and held my
hand up.  I could see him trying to remember the appropriate response.  I took
his hand and showed him the high five. 
    He nodded his head, remembering. 
"Good job, partner."
    The little girl was screaming
silently and all of the ghosts were looking at her like she had lost her
goddamned mind.  But then they all looked at us.
    Man, I would have done just about
anything for my mom's gift right about now.  The woman in black's gaze was
enough to make me feel like someone had dumped cold water right down my back. 
She hissed, bared her fangs, and it all finally made sense to me.
    The vampires turned a world walker.
    Mind you, she was a lousy world
walker, but that's probably why they had been able to convince her to become
one of them and use her powers for evil.  Nothing like being at the bottom of a
food chain to make a girl decide she wants to be at the top of the food chain. 
Literally.  The vamp-walker looked like