Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (22 page)

I realized he must be the entertainment reporter who was coming along on our little excursion. There were three other men with him, and one of them was filming everything with a video camera. The reporter stepped forward and shook all of our hands, introducing himself as Steve. Aside from the regular camera man, Steve brought along a professional underwater photographer to film the underwater excursion. I pulled up a seat next to Chase by the breakfast table in an effort to get on the sidelines a little.

"Is it always like this?" Steve asked, gesturing to the brooding Emissary detail still standing on the dock.

"Only with these two," O'Shea said, glancing at me and Trey.

Trey shrugged casually. "At least things never get boring."

I tuned out of the conversation just then as the captain and another crew member approached to introduce themselves.

"My name is Dean," the captain said, but it wasn't the captain I was interested in. The man at his side was a vampire. I was certain of it. "This is Rex,” the Captain said. “He’s our dive master.”

Rex gave a polite nod to the group, but his gaze stayed on me a little longer than was normal. He was a vampire all right, and he knew that I knew. The fact that another vampire was on the boat shouldn't have been startling, or it wouldn't have been, if I'd been able to read his mind or something. But it was morning, and the sun was blazing in all its glory in the sky, meaning my vampire mind-reading mojo wouldn't allow me insight anytime soon.

"We've set a course for an area we know has several species of sharks right now," Captain Dean continued. "We're hoping to have some great encounters today for all of you. We'll be there in just over an hour. Make yourselves comfortable and have some breakfast. Let any of the crew know if you need anything."

The guys expressed their excitement and thanked the captain, then he and the dive master returned to their duties. I had to remind myself that everything was probably just fine. I was just being paranoid because I'd been so distracted by the Emissary that I hadn't even noticed I was letting Trey and the rest of the guys board a boat and set sail with another vampire who I knew absolutely nothing about. Not the best start to a day that already seemed excessively dangerous.

"So, if I understand right, this whole thing is your idea," Steve said to Trey while the camera man was still recording. "What made you decide it would be fun to get in a shark cage today?"

Trey nodded. "I thought it would be a good bonding experience for the band," he said. "You know, give us something to talk about twenty years from now."

"If we don't get eaten today," Jonas mumbled.

"Sharks aren’t going to want to eat you," Chase said. “You’re too scrawny.” He gave Jonas a grin between bites of doughnut.

“That’s oddly comforting,” Jonas said.

"The fact that you've chosen this to do on your day off just goes to show how crazy things have been for you guys lately," Steve said. "Am I right?"

"I guess things have been a little crazier than normal," O'Shea answered. "Mostly with this guy." He elbowed Trey, and Trey cleared his throat.

"You could say that."

"First, there was the car crash earlier this week," Steve said. "You're looking well, especially considering you wrapped your car around a pole. I know our viewers will be glad to see you in one piece after that incident."

"Yeah I don't recommend it," Trey said, grinning.

"Then, there was the wedding that caught the country by surprise," Steve said. "Congratulations to you both, by the way."

"Thank you," Trey and I said in unison.

"How is married life treating you so far?"

"It's been good," Trey said, smiling as he glanced at me. "When you find the right person, it changes everything. For the better." I grinned back at him like a school girl, and then felt really stupid because I was being filmed.

"What about you, Aurora?" Steve asked, pulling me from my daze. "What's it like being married to a rock star?"

"I ... uh ... I'm still getting used to all of the attention that comes with it," I said truthfully. "But Trey is amazing, and I couldn't ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with. I'm a lucky girl." Trey grinned at me, and the rest of the guys starting "oohing" and "
ahhing
" in response.

"Just for the record," Chase said. "Our lead singer may be off the market, but I'm still single." Chase waggled his eyebrows at the camera. I picked up another doughnut and put it in his mouth to shut him up, making the other guys laugh.

"In other news," Steve continued. "Your new single dropped this week, and it's already getting a lot of airplay, from what I hear."

"That's good to know," O'Shea said. "It's always a little nerve-wracking releasing a new song. You're never sure how the public is going to react."

"Your fans are excited about the single," Steve added. "And they're eagerly awaiting the music video to go with it. Is there anything you can tell us about the video?"

"We wrapped up filming yesterday," Trey said. "I think I speak for all of the guys when I say that this video is going to be our best yet. The fans are going to love the direction we went, and the fact that it really tells a story."

Chapter 29

Trey

I WAS GOING TO swim with sharks today. The thought alone gave me a jolt of adrenaline. I could hardly wait to get in the water. Neon hadn’t been any more thrilled about our plan to swim with the sharks than Aurora had been, at first. Eventually, though, Neon realized he couldn't talk us out of it, so he’d done the next best thing. He made some calls to the media and before we knew it, an entertainment show was coming along to film our excursion. It was a win/win situation. It gave me a chance to do something fun with the guys that wasn't exactly work-related, film crew or not, and we'd get some free press and record promotion along the way. All of this while I was checking something off my bucket list. Not bad considering I only had one afternoon to do it in.

The guys and I answered questions for Steve during the entire boat ride. I didn't mind 'working' during the trip at all. In fact, it was exciting to discuss the new single and the album's release next week. It felt good knowing how much our fans would enjoy the footage, as well. We'd been off the radar a little while recording the album. It was time to get back out there and give back to the people who were so supportive of us and our music.

When the captain announced that we were only about five minutes out from our destination, Steve took a break from the questions, and I made my way over to Aurora. She was standing toward the front of the boat, having disappeared almost fifteen minutes before.

"Hey," I said as I approached. "We're almost there."

She turned to look at me, smiling as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Good," she said. "That's good."

I studied her carefully, trying to decipher the look in her eyes. "Is everything okay?" I asked. "I mean, I assume you're not seasick or anything."

She grinned and shook her head, stepping in closer to me. "I’m fine," she said. "I'm just ... well, I don't know."

"What is it?" I asked, my heart rate jumping a little at the concern in her voice. "The sharks aren't a big deal," I added quickly. "Like I said before. It's perfectly safe. I'll be fine."

"No," she said, forcing a smile. "I know. I trust you." Then she looked out over the vast expanse of the ocean, biting her bottom lip in thought. "Oddly enough, it's not the sharks I'm worried about," she said.

I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind, resting my head on her chin. "What could possibly be scarier than the sharks?" I asked, making my voice light.

"There's a vampire on the boat."

I was shocked into silence for a few seconds before I recovered and managed to speak again. "How ... how is that possible? Where?"

She turned into my embrace and played with the material of my shirt nervously. "He's the dive master."

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I guess the obvious question is, is this a problem?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, I talked to him ... but I can't read him. I hate that the moon isn't out. I feel so useless without it."

"You don't need the moon to get a feel for someone," I told her, touching her face lightly. "Trust your gut. Your instinct. What did he say? How did he seem?"

"He seemed ... busy," she said, her shoulders slumping hopelessly. "He might have been a little distracted getting the scuba gear ready."

I cocked my head to one side and said, "Well, maybe that's something. Wouldn't someone who had an agenda be less concerned with dive gear and more concerned with the fact that another vampire was on his boat?" I was totally winging it as I went, but the frown on Aurora's face lessened slightly at my words.

"You're probably right," she said. "I'm sure he's just making a living on this boat."

"Maybe it's a coincidence that we booked a boat with another vampire aboard."

"Maybe." She didn't look completely convinced, and I couldn't blame her. It did seem like a stretch, as far as coincidences go. The boat slowed dramatically before the motor shut down and we sat, bobbing on the surface of the blue water.

"Look," I said, lifting her chin to meet her gaze. "I promise to be careful down there."

"Promise?" she insisted. "You'll keep an eye on everyone? Not just the sharks?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine. You'll see."

She frowned again but put her arms around my neck, hugging me close. "Okay," she said. "I guess you'd better get ready." I gave her a quick kiss, but I was hesitant to walk away for some reason. "Go on," she said. "The guys are probably waiting for you. I'll be over in a few minutes."

I did as she said and went to the back of the boat again. Rex, the dive master/vampire was handing out scuba gear. I couldn't help but look at him differently now. It wasn't logical, but I couldn't help feeling that I should have known he was a vampire when I first saw him. That made no sense, of course. Only another vampire would be so adept at recognizing it. Still, it was a strange sensation, and it only made me wonder how many other vampires I'd encountered in my day to day life, completely clueless as to their true nature. I tried to shove those distracting thoughts to the back of my mind and focus on the task at hand. A few minutes later, the guys and I were all suited up, and Steve had the camera rolling again, capturing footage of Chase playing with the bait box full of dead fish.

"Wish I was going down with you," Steve said. "Okay, that's not actually true, but get some good footage while you're there," he added to the professional underwater photographer he'd brought along.

"Will do," the photographer answered.

"We're hoping to see some
reefies
today," Rex said to the group. "The reef sharks like to hang out in this area. Sometimes we see them in groups as big as twenty or thirty at a time."

"Oh yeah," O'Shea said as he gave me a celebratory fist bump.

"We might see some nurse sharks," Rex continued. "There have been some lemon sharks around as well, and there's a chance we'll run into a bull shark." Then Rex went on to explain more about the different species of sharks in the area and how the most important thing was to respect them in their territory. Aurora joined the group, standing a few feet behind me as Rex gave his informative pep talk. I glanced at her over my shoulder a few times, hoping she wasn't going out of her mind with worry. I was asking a lot of her today just by going in the water. But throw an unexpected vampire into the mix, and even I was feeling less and less confident about the situation. Tomorrow night's full moon couldn't come soon enough, as far as I was concerned.