by Michelle Fox
He gave me a wary look, his dark eyes foreboding. "For what?"
"Being honest."
"Yeah. Well, here's some more truth for you. We don't have a lot of time."
"What are we going to do?"
"Flush Zion out and expose him for the liar he is." He settled into the chair opposite mine and watched me dive into the banana split. My stomach hadn't growled in the last five minutes. I was almost full.
"What do you need me to do?" I asked.
"I'm going to auction you off."
"What?" My gut clenched and I stopped eating. "I don't want to be a blood slave again, not even to take out Zion."
"Don't worry. No one is going to touch you. It's just for show. We need to draw Zion out, and if he thinks I'm selling you and pocketing his profit, that will goad him into being stupid."
"Are you sure he'll come? Wouldn't it be easier to just walk away until the Vampire Council doesn't care anymore?"
"Once we're out of here, he'll be able to track you by your blood. There's no way he's going to leave you loose to sneak up on him. He knows you'll want revenge, and he hasn't given up pinning everything on me, not yet."
I giggled. The reaction was inappropriate. My life was in danger, but the stress demanded a way out.
Davian frowned. "What's so funny?"
"Blood is a vampire's GPS. Did you ever think about that?"
Davian gave me a blank look. "What's GPS?"
"How long have you been dead again?"
"Long enough to wonder if it was worth it."
I swatted him on the shoulder. "Of course, it was worth it. You met me."
He smiled at that.
"GPS is a technology that you can use to get somewhere."
"Like a map?" he asked.
"Yeah, but with satellites and stuff. It does more than a map." I frowned at him. "You have to know what it is. I've seen you use a cell phone."
"Finding directions on my phone I can do. I didn't know it was GPS." He gave a sheepish smile. "Sometimes the modern world moves too fast for even an immortal to keep up."
"Okay, so..." I took a deep breath, reining myself in."Where's the auction going to be? In the City Oscura?"
"No. It's not safe here. I have to get Zion out of his element. Someplace he doesn't know."
"Which is?"
"I was wondering if you would call your pack and see if they can help."
"I guess. Which pack, though? My home pack or Huntsville?" Neither would be thrilled to see me, but I kept that to myself.
"Huntsville. They'll want their pound of flesh, right?"
"Definitely."
"We'll pick a spot around Huntsville. You running back there will make sense to Zion."
"Are you sure?" I asked."He seemed to believe he'd ruined my reputation."
"Even if he thinks that, he'll follow your blood."
"And then?"
"We lure him in and kill him."
We both smiled at the same time.
"Sounds good to me. You got a phone I can borrow?"
Chapter Eighteen
Adele
Fun fact about vampire caves: Not only could Zion not track me through all the stone, cell phone signals couldn't penetrate either. Which meant, I had to call Huntsville on the run. Davian led me back into the City Oscura where we hot-wired the first car we found—a tiny, battered hatchback that had all the zip of a snail trying to run against hurricane force winds.
We putt-putted our way out of the underground city. Davian pushed the hatchback to go faster and the engine made a grinding noise in protest. The car ever-so-slowly passed through the City Oscura. I had plenty of time to gaze out the window, certain Zion would pop up without warning.
Lights shone out storefront windows in the business district of City Oscura, highlighting crowds that didn't look at us twice. The residential areas were quiet, the glowing rocks arranged in serene patterns. I didn't see any people, but it was dark enough that anyone could be out there. It made me nervous.
"Zion can probably outrun this tin can." We'd just left the last of the housing area and the corkscrew up the mountain waited for us.
"This is just temporary. We'll switch cars up in the human world." Davian turned the car and we worked our way around the first hairpin curve. I tried not to watch. My stomach bottomed out if I looked at all the empty space around us.
"What about the planes? There's hundreds of them here. Wouldn't flying be faster?"
"Do you know how to fly a plane?" Davian turned into the next curve.
I shook my head and stared at the glove compartment. Coming down had been bad enough, but going up proved to be even more difficult. I knew exactly how far below us the ground lay and could picture the fall. "No."
"Me either and I don't want to kidnap a pilot. Too much trouble. They're all thralls, and I only want one vampire tracking us right now."
"Makes sense." The tunnel spit us out into the desert and I blinked. The full moon hung overhead and wisps of gray cloud streamed across the stars. Rolling down my window, I gulped in fresh air, relieved to be out of the City Oscura.
Davian handed me his phone. "Make the call."
I put the window up and took the phone. My hands shaking, I dialed Jackson's number. I'd scheduled so many prenatal visits with Chloe that it was the one phone number I knew by heart. I just hoped they'd survived the fire. And that they didn't blame me for what Zion did.
This was why werewolves shouldn't do drugs. If the addiction didn't kill you, the pack just might for all the bullshit you put them through. It seemed I'd signed up to learn that lesson the hard way.
While the phone rang, I looked at Davian. "Tell me it's going to be okay."
"Don't worry. I've got this." He reached over and gave my knee a little squeeze, a gesture that made everything instantly better.
"Hello?" Jackson's deep voice filled my ear.
"Jackson? It's me Adele. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" The questions tumbled out of me. If they had died that night... My grip on the phone tightened and I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
"Yes. We're fine."
"Oh, thank the moon."
"Where are you?"
"I, um..." I turned to Davian because I had no idea.
"Nevada. We're in Nevada," Davian said.
"Why are you in Nevada?" Jackson asked, having overheard my location.
"It's where Zion took me."
"Zion?"
"The vampire who showed up the night your son was born."
"Is that who you're with now?"
"No. I managed to escape. I'm on my way back to Huntsville."
"How much trouble are you bringing with you?" Jackson's voice was hard.
"Zion's going to follow me and we're going to kill him. I mean, if you want to, that is."
"Ripping his guts out is on my bucket list."
"You know I had nothing to do with what he did, right? I'm not a killer."
"I know, Adele. The pack has mostly figured that out."
"Mostly?"
"It's hard to see straight when someone murders your mate."
"Should I leave?"
"Maybe. It might be safer for you. We'll discuss it once Zion is dead." He sighed. "Tell me who's with you? You said 'we.'"
"A vampire."
"No. Not happening. You are not bringing another blood sucker into Huntsville."
"He's helping me."
"That's what they all say. Ditch him before you walk onto my pack's land or we'll kill him along with Zion. We've lost too much to vampires."
"I trust him with my life, Jackson. He's saved me twice now."
"I don't care. My job is to protect my pack and we're not inviting in any vampires. Ever. That is final. Understood?"
"Just agree with him," Davian whispered to me. "There's no point in arguing. It doesn't change anything."
"Okay. I get it," I said.
"There's an empty warehouse outside of Hudson," Davian said. "Orly Shipping Company.
Tell him that's where it will happen."
I relayed what Davian said to me about the warehouse. "That's where Zion's going to be."
"When?" Jackson's voice barked at me.
"Tomorrow," Davian said, still whispering so Jackson wouldn't hear him. "Midnight."
I passed the time on.
"Okay. We'll be ready. Make sure it's just you and Zion. Anyone else is going to die."
"Got it. See you tomorrow."
I hung up and stared out my window with wide eyes. "This is bad."
"No. It's fine. I don't blame him for being cautious. He doesn't know me."
"If you say so, but..." I trailed off.
"What?" He shot me a concerned look.
"I don't know. I'm exhausted and I don't have anywhere to go. I thought maybe we could stay in the area for a few days." Images of how Davian and I could spend that time danced in my head, teasing me with all the possibilities.
Davian shook his head. "We can't. Not unless your alpha changes his mind."
"That's a lot to ask given what Zion did."
"Yeah, it probably is. But you begin to see why I left. There aren't too many packs who will want you and me as a package deal."
I snorted. "Most packs don't want me at all. I'm no shifter saint."
He tilted his head. "True."
I twisted in my seat to face him. "Let me be clear, Davian. I am not looking for a pack. That's not what I need. I've been in two now and I don't fit in. I'm not like other shifters. Even you said that. Remember?"
He nodded, acknowledging that he had.
"The only place I fit is with you. If Huntsville doesn't want me, I can accept that. If you don't want me, that's what I can't take."
Davian grabbed my hand in his. "I'm sorry."
I gave him a wary look. "For what?"
"That I'm what you get. You deserve so much more."
Closing my eyes, I thought of all my failures. "I don't think about what I deserve anymore. I'm more interested in what I can actually have."
Chapter Nineteen
Adele
We reached the half way point just before dawn. It consisted of a medium sized town with a lot of empty strip malls. I fortified myself with coffee and a pile of breakfast sandwiches from a fast food place. We'd agreed not to stop, to drive straight through, which meant no sleep for me. While I polished off my food, Davian pulled the hatchback we'd stolen into a car dealer lot he spotted off the highway.
"What are you doing?"
"Time for a new ride." He smiled at me and went to the chain blocking the driveway. Lifting it up in the middle, he snapped it with a quick jerk of his hands. The metal screeched and then clanged against the pavement.
Looking back at me, he said, "Why don't you find a place to park this thing? We need it out of the way."
Nodding that I'd heard him, I got out of the car to go around to the driver's seat. While I eased the car toward an empty spot at the back of the car lot, Davian headed for a sleek Porsche SUV painted bright red.
I parked the tin can we'd been rattling around in at the back of the lot. Before leaving, I wiped down the steering wheel and the doors with the hem of my shirt. My fingerprints weren't on file and I doubted Davian's were, but it seemed important to keep it that way. Trouble liked following me around too much for me to think nothing would happen if law enforcement got a hold of my fingerprints.
I headed for Davian and his Porsche at a trot. He already had the engine running, so I jumped into the passenger seat. "Are you sure stealing a car that costs more than most houses is such a good idea? What about that?" I pointed to a black, four-door sedan a few spots over. "No one would look twice at that."
Davian shook his head. "It's almost dawn and we need a good vehicle. One that can go fast, and," he tapped the tinted windows, "can keep out the sun."
I blinked, registering the tinted windows for the first time. "Oh. I didn't think of that."
"That's the prerogative of the living." He turned and climbed past the back seat into the far rear of the SUV. "Do you mind driving? The windshield isn't tinted."
"Yeah. Sure." I moved over, thankful that the SUV was at least big enough that there was room to maneuver inside. Fitting into the hatchback had required miserable origami-like folding of my limbs.
"You know where you're going?"
I nodded and put the car in drive. "Yep. It's a straight shot north and then east now."
"Good." There was a tearing sound and I looked in the rear view mirror to see Davian pulling up the carpeting in the cargo area.
"I'll be under here if you need me."
"What if the police see us? Pull us over?" I turned right, heading for the highway.
"Just drive faster. This car will outrun almost anything. Keep going. Don't stop until we get there."
Great. My life choices had led me to grand theft auto and police chases. All I needed was a sawed-off shot gun for the shoot-out.
"And if I lose the speed chase?"
"Run," he said.
"What about you?"
"I'll manage," he said, although we both knew he would be trapped while the sun shone.
"If it comes to that, just get out. I'll cover you somehow," I said.
"I don't want you to put yourself in danger."
"Maybe you haven't noticed, but danger is kind of my personal stalker. I mean, have you met me?"
He chuckled. "You have a point, but I'm not going to be why you get hurt. So, just run. I'll figure something out. Just be safe, Adele. If you're okay, then I'm fine, too."
My heart did a little pitter-pat at that and then I got annoyed. "Stop thinking that the only thing that's good for me is you leaving me behind."
"That's not what I mean."
"It's what happens. Over and over again." I shook my finger at him. "If we get caught by the police, your ass better be running away, too."
"Or what?"
"I'll drag you with me."
"Point taken. If it goes bad, we run together." He saluted me. "Got it."
"Good." I floored the accelerator and zipped into the merge lane for the highway. Time to see what this Porsche could do.
***
The miles rolled under us and no one noticed we didn't belong in the fire engine red Porsche SUV. There weren't too many people on the roads, and I made good time. Davian had gone quiet in the back once we hit the highway. I could wake him up if I absolutely needed to, but he wasn't much of a day walker.
Missing his company, I scanned the radio stations, looking for a distraction. Out in the middle of nowhere, my choices were a country station or a grunge marathon. I went with the country, my fingers tapping on the steering wheel. The day passed in a bass beat and deep voiced men singing about love gone wrong.
Oh, tell me about it. It was like I'd found my personal theme song station.
At dusk, Davian woke and joined me up front. Smoothing his hair back from his face, he asked, "How'd it go? Where are we?"
I looked at the car's clock. "A few hours away."
"You made good time." He turned down the radio and fiddled with the settings so the bass thumped in the back.
"I didn't stop." I watched him in my peripheral vision. He had a sexy case of bed head that made me want to pull over and drag him to the back of the SUV so I could do bad things to him. But there was no time for that now. I forced myself to focus on the road.
He pulled his phone out. "Let's find out how much of a head start we have on Zion." Tapping his finger on the screen, he said, "Looks like he's still in the City Oscura."
"How do you know?" I craned my neck to see his phone.
"I arranged for some people to keep an eye on him. They say he hasn't left yet. Now that it's night, he'll probably head out by plane."
"There's no airport in Huntsville."
"He doesn't need one. He'll parachute in."
"What?" My mind tripped over the idea of vampires jumping out of planes. Things like vampires were not supposed to drop out of the s
ky.
"Yeah. It's a thing he does."
"How about you?"
He shrugged. "Only if absolutely necessary. I'm not big on heights."
"Me neither."
"We probably have about four hours before he shows up."
"That means he'll be there early. The meet is at midnight, right?" I glanced at the car's clock. Time was going faster than I liked.
"Zion's not stupid. He'll case the warehouse and put his men in position."
"That's going to be a problem."
He shook his head. "No. I expect it. We'll be ready."
I bit my lip. So many things could go wrong. "I'm not sure my alpha will show."
"He'll come. They want revenge, right? They won't let me stop them."
"You sound so confident."
Davian nodded. "I've played this game a few times. I know how it goes."
"And Zion? Does he know how it goes?"
"He thinks he can't lose. But he's wrong." He handed me the phone. "Call your alpha and tell him it's time."
Chapter Twenty
Adele
The warehouse, a large, pre-fab metal building, stood on the outskirts of Hudson. A forest thick with evergreens ran behind it, full of shadows. I parked up front, the gravel lot crunching under the Porsche's wheels. A lone streetlight shone over the whole thing, and once we parked, Davian chucked a rock at the light. It broke with a sharp crack and darkness fell over the area, thick as a winter blanket.
I blinked, pushing my eyes to adjust faster.
Davian, unfazed by the change in light, strode toward the building. I discerned his movement via my ears more than my eyes, tracking the sound of his footsteps. Metal jangled and then something clicked. A weak light came to life inside the building, outlining Davian's silhouette in the doorway.
"Come on," he said, waving me forward. "We need to set up."
I stepped into the building, quickly scanning its interior. There wasn't much to see beyond a bare floor and plain sheet metal walls.
"What do you need me to do?" My breath fogged in the air. Winter had deepened its hold on the area while I'd been underground.
"Our equipment is in there." He nodded toward a pallet of boxes just to the left of the door. Using the SUV keys, he stabbed through the packing tape and pulled a smaller box out of the bigger shipping box.
