Page 35 of Lured

I'd let her be after that and encouraged her to eat some breakfast before we got off the plane. She'd followed along demurely, coming with me without me having to keep an eye on her and with enough of a disheveled, wide-eyed look to her that she would pass for a completely addicted enthralled.

Not that I'd had her quite yet. Not fully. There was no way she should be addicted to me yet. But I knew that there was a good chance she would be. I had to avoid that as much as possible. When this mission was over it would be important that she had a clear head.

This was the only way to make her appear enthralled in the meantime.

Despite how well she seemed to be adjusting so far, her nature naturally more submissive than she probably realized, I was nervous about taking her on the cruise.

We still had to get there on time, however.

As soon as we cleared border control, found my luggage and made our way through customs, I looked for a taxi. We were arriving early enough that there were plenty to be had and I didn't need to wait long. It was also in a covered area so even though it was daylight, there was no direct light.

While some vampires couldn't go out in the day, it wasn't a hard and fast rule that all of us couldn't. Over the years several of the clans had made deals with magic users and those who understood our origin and it had led to various degrees of being able to tolerate daylight for a while.

I could be outside and even in full sunlight for a short while, but the higher the exposure the more it hurt and the more uncomfortable I got. There was no way I would want to be out in the sun for more than about half an hour, and I would feel it. Still, this short dash and then sitting in the covered car would do nothing.

Anais practically melted into the side of me in the back of the car, her breathing a little more rapid than it had been before. If I'd felt particularly vindictive I might have fingered her there too, but I knew that was a lot to ask of her when the biggest test and most important one was still to come. I knew I would toy with her like that in the future, however.

She still only had a small rucksack of belongings and barely any other clothes, but we didn't have time to buy any right now. We were going to arrive at the cruise ship with only about twenty minutes to spare before they cut off letting people board. Money could grease a lot of wheels but it could only do so much in this sort of situation.

And I couldn't pass as a true-blood and one of the clan who owned these very boats. I had to keep pretending I was a turned and not Leandro.

“You have to call me Drew from now on,” I whispered to her, only now remembering that she didn't know. “Ludis knows me as Drew. If you call me Leo or Leandro it could get us both killed. Do you understand that?”

She nodded, her mouth pursing into a line before she relaxed again. I hoped it was something she could remember when I was biting down on her and fucking her at the same time.

All of this plan was built on her being able to pretend. If she couldn't act the way she was supposed to, she could get us both killed, or at least waste the last week or two of getting Ludis to trust me.

I still wasn't in his inner circle and it had been hard to really get there when he was so much more hedonistic than I was. Hopefully having Anais and appearing to be into her would make me look fussy and still very eager to enjoy life's pleasures. Especially when I had to explain missing Ludis leaving the casino because I was bonding with her.

A part of me wondered if I should have bonded with Anais. It really would make her addicted to me if I did, but it would be the safer approach.

She was trusting me, however. And there would be a chance it would make it too difficult for her to kill Ludis when the time came. I couldn't do that to her, even if it was easier for me.

By the time we reached the port, Anais was sleepy again and had dozed on my arm. She woke up when I reached for my cash to pay our cab driver. Thankfully he had sensed our desire to be quiet and not cause much of a stir and not really talked to us. I handed him a generous tip for his discretion and efficiency in getting us to our destination.

There was a section of sunlight between the car and the cruise building and there would almost certainly be another small area between the building and the ship. Most ports had some sort of tunnel or gangway to walk along, but they weren't always covered and we had to be careful which ports we chose to embark and disembark at.

Ludis was even more sensitive to the sun, the turned only getting part of the magical benefit that we had bargained for, but if he hurried, he would have made it as well. Most of us just wore hats and kept our faces turned away from the sunlight for a short while.

Of course, this was another way that I had to pretend I was more sensitive than I was. Younger true-bloods and the turned were far less protected than someone like me. It would give away my heritage to appear too comfortable in the sun.

Anais looked out of the car window at the sunlight and up at me as if she was going to ask, but I ushered her forward.

“It's fine, but we need to hurry,” I said. “We're almost late for the cruise.”

Although I added the last part for the sake of the taxi driver, it was true enough and I didn't want her to worry. Our driver was already getting out to get our luggage from the trunk as she got out and she hurried back there to begin taking hold of it and yanking the wheeled cases up onto the pavement.

I had to smile at her trying to make this as easy on me as possible. She was showing true care for me and this was exactly the sort of task enthralled were meant to do to help make sure that their vampires didn't struggle.

By the time I was outside, I could grab the handle of one of the bags, nod at the driver and hurry toward the shade and safety of the building. She followed me with the rest of the cases, letting me go ahead of her and seeming to sense that need as well.

It was perfect and would have fooled any vampire who was also arriving and saw us. I suspected there wouldn't be any cutting it this close, the day early enough that many would have wanted to arrive before now.

There weren't many cruise ships that sailed this early in the day naturally, but we deliberately ran a few that did simply to make this easier, especially in areas of the world near the equator where the seasons didn't create dark for leaving in the evening soon enough.

The check in desk was still open and a smiling and very perky human sat at the desk. She quickly waved them over, probably well aware that we didn't have long.

We handed over the passports and I informed her of our booking. As soon as she saw what room type and level of service I had paid for, her demeanor changed and she sat up a little straighter. If Anais picked up on the better treatment we suddenly gained she didn't comment.

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