by Karen Lynch
I cast one last glance at the demon woman. She was rocking her child gently, and I heard her say softly, “Talael esledur.” Whatever it meant, it worked and the child stopped crying.
“I’m really sorry I frightened her,” I told the woman before I walked out.
Jordan retrieved the dreaded can of gunna paste from her backpack and laughed at my expression as I dutifully swallowed some. The stuff was horrid, but it worked amazingly fast to numb pain and speed healing. She was smart for remembering to take some. It wasn’t as if we could go to a hospital if we got sick or hurt. She got a towel from Orias to staunch the flow of blood until the gunna paste and my accelerated healing kicked in. The warlock happily provided one, and then he politely asked us to leave and never come back because we were bad for business.
“Sara, do you realize what you did back there?” Roland asked as he drove us back to the city. “That vampire was super old, and you killed him by yourself.”
Jordan and I were sitting in the back, and she laid her hand on my arm. “I have to admit, that was the most badass thing I’ve ever seen. When you pulled that knife out of your shoulder and stabbed him with it, my jaw nearly hit the floor.”
I grimaced and adjusted my hold on the towel pressed against my shoulder. “What is it with vampires stabbing me anyway?”
“At least you aren’t picking pieces of pottery out of your skull,” Roland complained. “You were amazing, Sara. Nikolas would be proud of you if he’d seen that.”
“Are you kidding? Nikolas wouldn’t let me get within ten miles of a vampire that old. And we might want to keep the whole stabbing thing between us.”
Laying my head against the headrest, I stared out the window at the dark desert landscape. I couldn’t help but wonder where Nikolas was now and what he was doing and thinking. I had no doubt Chris was with him, and they had probably scoured every square mile of Salt Lake City after he’d sensed me there. How long would it take him to figure out where we’d gone? I was sure he would eventually. If there was one thing I had learned, it was to never underestimate Nikolas.
I thought about the vampire I’d just killed and smiled sadly at the darkness. Maybe, when all of this was over, Nikolas would feel the same way about me.
Chapter 4
We spent the night in another cheap motel, and for the second night in a row, I quickly succumbed to exhaustion. I had planned to contact David when we got there, but the long day of driving, followed by battling a vampire and getting stabbed, did me in. Surprisingly, I felt no ill effects from using so much power on the vampire. Every time I thought about it, the whole thing seemed unreal. I had killed a mature vampire. Me. My power wasn’t strong enough yet to do the job on its own, but I could feel it growing every time I used it.
I awoke the next morning, sweating under a pile of blankets. I sat up and pushed them off me. “What the hell? Are you guys trying to smother me?”
Jordan was sitting on the other bed watching TV. “You did that glowing thing again, and we couldn’t get you to wake up. All we could think to do was cover you up so no one would notice it.”
“Oh.” I went to the window and pushed aside the heavy drapes to see it was around midmorning. I must have been more tired than I’d realized. “Where are the boys?”
“They went to get breakfast. We weren’t sure when you would wake up, and it freaked them out a bit. Me too, actually.”
“Sorry.”
She waved a hand. “At least you’ll be handy to have around if we ever have a blackout.”
Shaking my head, I picked up my backpack and went to take a shower. I received my second surprise of the day when I pulled off the T-shirt I’d slept in and saw my shoulder was completely healed. Not healed as in the scars looked a few weeks old, but as in there wasn’t a trace of a scar at all. It usually took my body two or three days to do that.
The boys were back by the time I stepped out of the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed in my only clean outfit. Travelling light meant not packing a lot of clothes, and killing vampires was dirty work. We were going to have to spend some of our money on extra clothes. Plus, the coat I’d bought at the thrift shop yesterday morning was torn and covered in blood. Between hotels, food, and gas, it wasn’t going to take us long to burn through our cash. I sighed heavily. It was time to sell some of the diamonds.
We sat on the beds and discussed our plans as we devoured our fast food breakfast. It wasn’t the best breakfast we’d ever had, but it was cheap so the boys were able to buy plenty to satisfy our appetites. I was ravenous, and I caught them staring at me as I reached for my fourth hash brown patty.
I scowled at them. “What? Using all that power made me hungry.”
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “And cranky too, apparently.”
I muttered an apology because she was right. I’d been in a funk since I woke up and I had no reason to be. Last night, I’d killed a powerful vampire and learned where Madeline was headed next. I should be feeling pretty good, but instead I was snapping at my friends.
After breakfast, I made a few calls. The first was to David to tell him what we had learned about Madeline. He said they couldn’t find any signs she was still in Albuquerque, but that he and his friends would pick up her trail in Los Angeles.
My second call was to an old contact named Malloy, who was pretty shocked to hear from me. “Ain’t you supposed to be dead?” he asked, referring to my rumored drowning.
“I just needed a change of scenery. You know how it is.”
“It’s a cutthroat business, kid.” His loud exhale said it all. “So what can I do for you?”
“I’m headed to LA, and I need to sell a few rocks for my boss.” Malloy had always assumed I worked for someone powerful, and I was happy to let him keep believing that. “Who do you trust out there?”
He barked a laugh. “I don’t trust anyone. But you’re in luck. My brother, Jeff, does business out that way. I’ll give him a call.”
We talked for a few minutes about the stones I was selling, and he said it would probably take a few days for his brother to set something up. I agreed to call him again when I got to Los Angeles. I didn’t like the idea of dealing with strangers in unfamiliar territory, but we needed money. I’d worked with Malloy a number of times, and I trusted him as much as you could trust anyone in his business. He’d get a cut of the business he sent his brother’s way, so he would make sure it was a solid deal.
According to Google, it was about a twelve-hour drive from Albuquerque to Los Angeles. None of us were thrilled about the prospect of another long day cooped up in a car. Roland, Peter, and Jordan drew for driving shifts, and I felt bad because I couldn’t share the work, especially since they were out here for me. Roland said I’d done enough work last night and I deserved a rest, but I still felt like they were letting me off easy. I got him to stop at a convenience store where I stocked up on a ton of snacks and bottled drinks for the trip. I planned to treat us all to a nice steak dinner when we got to Los Angeles. If I got a fair price for the diamonds, we wouldn’t have to worry about money anymore.
It was after midnight when we finally rolled into Los Angeles. We were too tired and irritable to be excited about where we were, and we immediately found a hotel room for the night. It had two queen beds so the girls could have one and the boys the other. Within thirty minutes, everyone but me was sound asleep.
I lay there listening to the sounds of the city and watching neon lights play across the ceiling. My mind refused to turn off, and my emotions were all over the map. Disappointment over missing Madeline in Albuquerque still gnawed at me. I wondered how we were going to find her in a city this big. The vampire attack at Orias’s had made this all very real, and I worried about my friends’ safety. I was also anxious about selling the diamonds and meeting this Adele person.
And then there was the growing emptiness inside me and the sadness emanating from my demon. I knew with all of my heart that I was doing the right thing, but being away from
Nikolas was much harder than I’d thought it would be. I rubbed my chest. Was it normal to feel a physical ache from missing someone? If it hurt this much being separated from your bond mate, I couldn’t imagine the pain of severing a bond.
I rolled out of bed with a groan and padded to the bathroom, grabbing my backpack on the way. Closing the door with a soft click, I took out the laptop and set it on the edge of the vanity. When it powered up, I opened the phone app and stared at it for several minutes. I’ll call Chris, just to let him know we’re okay. I was sure Chris was with Nikolas. Maybe talking to him would make me feel less lonely, knowing that Nikolas was nearby.
The number I dialed was not Chris’s. The phone rang twice. I didn’t have time to brace myself before his husky voice answered.
“Hello?”
My breath caught.
“Hello?” he said again.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
“Sara? Is that you?”
I closed my eyes against the frustration and hope in his voice. This was a mistake.
“Sara, talk to me.”
I disconnected the call and sat on the toilet with my arms wrapped tightly around me, as if that would help. The only arms I wanted around me were his.
“Stop this.” I paced the small bathroom. I was behaving like one of those lovesick girls back home who used to pine after Roland. I missed Nikolas, but getting all weepy over him wasn’t going to solve anything. I was the one who had put this distance between us, and I was just going to have to deal with it.
I stuffed the laptop in the backpack and heard the soft rustle of plastic. My hand came out holding a clear plastic bag containing a folded navy blue T-shirt. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled my T-shirt off and held up the shirt from the bag. The material was soft, and it was miles too big for me. When I slipped it over my head, it fell to mid-thigh. I lifted the material to my nose and breathed in deeply. If I closed my eyes, I could almost believe he was standing in front of me.
The room was quiet when I left the bathroom and crawled back into bed. I curled up on my side, facing the window, and closed my eyes. It was another hour before I relaxed enough to sleep, and I drifted off surrounded by his comforting scent.
* * *
“It’s about time you two got back,” Jordan blurted the second I opened the door to our hotel room. “You were gone forever.”
“It’s only been two hours.” I waited for Roland to lock the door behind us before I pulled two bundles of one hundred dollar bills from inside my coat and tossed them on the bed beside her. “A very profitable two hours.”
“Whoa!” Peter gaped at the money. “You got all that for four diamonds?”
Roland produced two more bundles of cash and tossed them next to mine. “Oh man, I wish you two had been there. That guy Garrett took one look at Sara and offered her five grand, like he was doing her a favor. You should have seen his face when Sara told him twenty or no deal. Then she told him the diamonds were at least twice what she was asking, and she knew he already had a buyer lined up. Next thing I knew, the two of them were chatting it up like old friends.”
Jordan picked up one of the bundles, turning it over in her hands as if she couldn’t believe it was real. “How did you know he had another buyer lined up?”
I shrugged off my coat and sat on the foot of the bed she and I had shared the last two nights. “Malloy told me. He also told me Garrett tries to lowball everyone at first.”
Peter stared at the bundles of cash. “Wow, I’ve never seen that much money. Is it really twenty grand?”
I flopped back on the bed, happy not to have to worry about money anymore. “Yep.”
“What are we going to do with it?” he asked. “You can’t carry around that much cash.”
“We’re going to split it up between the four of us so no one has to carry it all,” I informed him. “And we’re going to eat something besides burgers and pizza.”
“And get a better hotel?” Jordan added hopefully. “I’m not talking about the Ritz, but something that doesn’t have a neon sign would be a step in the right direction. And I’d really like not to have to share a bathroom with two boys.”
I looked around the cramped room and remembered listening to music from the bar down the street at 2:00 a.m. “Sounds like a plan. We also need to buy some clothes.”
Jordan’s eyes lit up. “Clothes?”
I laughed and sat up. “We’re not going to Rodeo Drive. But you and I could use a few extra tops and jeans.”
“Not to mention outfits for tonight.” She waved at my clothes. “You can’t wear that to a place like Blue Nyx.”
“I guess you’re right.” The last thing I cared about was dressing up to go out, but we needed to blend in when we went to the nightclub.
Excitement curled in my stomach. Two days ago when we’d gotten to Los Angeles, we’d learned that Adele, the proprietor of Blue Nyx, was out of town and not due back until tonight. I was hoping she could tell me something about Madeline. We were close; I could feel it in my gut.
“Of course I’m right.” She jumped off the bed with a gleam in her eyes that I had come to dread. “What are you lying around for? We have shopping to do.”
I groaned and let her pull me to my feet. “Okay, but I’m telling you right now I draw the line at wearing a dress. I don’t care how hot you think it looks."
Two hours later, I was threatening to strangle Jordan with the next scrap of cloth she claimed was “club wear.” Those outfits might be what everyone was wearing, but they were definitely not me, and no amount of coaxing or bullying was going to get me into one of them.
I tossed one of the offending dresses over the dressing room door at her. “What the heck, Jordan? I wear more than this to bed.”
She snickered loudly, enjoying herself way too much.
“I’m getting this.” I opened the door and held up a pair of skinny black pants and a loose green sleeveless top. The top was pretty without looking like a second skin, and I’d just found a nice pair of black boots that would go great with the outfit.
Jordan looked it over with a critical eye. “It’s still a bit overdressed, but I guess it’ll have to do.”
“Overdressed?” I gave her a hard look. “Are we done now?” We’d already purchased some jeans and tops for everyday wear along with a few other necessities. I had one more stop planned for today – if we ever finished trying on clothes.
“Almost. You need one more outfit, maybe two, before we go.” She headed for the checkout with me close at her heels.
“More outfits? What for?”
She smiled over her shoulder. “Don’t sound so worried. You’ll like these.”
“I doubt it.”
Outside, she pulled me down the street to another shop. I stopped struggling when I saw the mannequins in the window were wearing jeans and tank tops, and there wasn’t a skimpy dress in sight.
“People like Orias and that guy, Garret, don’t take you seriously because you look like you just walked out of a high school. You need to start dressing like the badass chick you are.” She pushed open the door. “I think you’ll find something in here more to your taste.”
Jordan was right on both counts. I did like the store, and I did need a wardrobe change. I was tired of people not taking me seriously. Hoodies weren’t going to cut it anymore.
By the time we left the shop, I had splurged on several pairs of dark jeans, some tank tops, a pair of black combat boots, and a soft, black bomber-style leather jacket. I had to admit the clothes had looked pretty damn good on me when I’d modeled them for Jordan.
“You’re actually smiling,” Jordan said as we walked to the car. “I told you you’d like that last place.”
“You were right. It was time for a change.”
She gasped dramatically. “What? Did... did you just admit I was right? I feel faint.”
We laughed as we dropped our bags in the trunk. It struck me that this was the most normal outing I�
�d had in months, and the first time I had ever gone shopping with another girl. And I was actually enjoying myself.
Jordan started the car. “Hotel?”
“Actually, we have one more stop.” I pulled a slip of paper from my pocket and read off the address I’d written down last night.
“Where are we going?” Jordan asked.
“It’s a surprise. You’ll like it.”
“Really?” Her face glowed with excitement. “Are we going to kill something nasty?”
I snorted. “Out of all the things we could do in LA, you come up with that one?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “You said I’d like it, and you always seem to find the bad guys. Or they find you.”
“Well it’s not that, but I’m pretty sure you’ll like it even more.”
It was her turn to snort. “More than killing things? Doubt it.”
“Bloodthirsty much?”
We pulled up in front of a two-story pawnshop with bars on the windows and colorful graffiti across the brick front. Jordan leaned forward, peering at the building. “A pawnshop? Is this some kind of payback for the dresses?”
“Nope.” I grinned because I couldn’t wait to show her what waited for us inside. “Come on.”
The shop was empty except for a middle-aged employee sitting behind the counter, playing solitaire with a deck of cards. The balding man gave us a dismissive glance and went back to his game. I walked up to him and tapped the counter to get his attention. The tag on his shirt had the name Rick on it.
“Hi, Mr. Garrett sent me.”
Rick’s bald head jerked up. “Mr. Garrett?”
I took a business card from my back pocket and slid it across the counter. The man’s eyes followed it and as soon as he saw the name, he straightened up and gave me an ingratiating smile.
“Of course. Come with me.” He ducked out from behind the counter, hurried over to lock the door, and put up the closed sign. Then he motioned for us to follow him to a set of stairs leading to the basement. “You don’t look like Mr. Garrett’s usual customers.”