Vincent, he’ll have a way of tracking the call and this will all have been for naught.”
Jason nodded and put his hand on her shoulder wordlessly.
I saw Reiko’s chin fall and her lips move, but I’d been in the driveway, too far to hear whispers.
By the time Jason got in the car with me, the key already in the ignition, the door had closed behind Reiko and Marcus. The house, with all the lights off, looked pathetically empty.
The vampire sighed. “Take us out of the city.”
I complied. It seemed like the best course of action. To put as many miles behind us. “Has our plan changed?”
He was quiet for a moment. “Our outcome has not.”
I glanced at the rear-view mirror, half expecting to see a large, black SUV tailing us, but it was just a small, white Honda packed to the gills with young people who all looked extremely drunk. Best to have them behind than in the front. “This is more dangerous than I thought.”
He snorted and leaned his head against the cold passenger side window. “This was not what I had anticipated.”
“And you think I wanted this to happen?” I kept my voice level. No point in yelling at someone when it hardly seemed like their fault. “I thought Noir would be dead by this time.”
“It’s only been four days,” he said quietly. “Even if I had not shown this…”
He did not finish and I was at a loss of how to reply to him.
The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, with him issuing only terse commands occasionally. We made it to the highway and didn’t get off until a sign read CAMDEN 3.
“Get off here.”
Camden was small, almost minuscule compared to Centennial City, although there were quite a few hotels we passed in the outskirts of town. The closer we got to the heart of town, I realized why this was so.
A large casino and hotel glittered in the swiftly fading darkness, its bright lights not daunted by the fact that it was almost five in the morning.
“Lady Victoria Casino,” said Jason in a whisper. “The only casino within a hundred mile radius. Luckily, it draws a lot of…humans. Humans draw a lot of vampires. If I’m to feed…this is the most logical place. Of course, we’ll not be able to stay here long.”
I nodded and we drove past the glittering palace that promised wealth, but gave only sorrow and destruction.
Fifteen minutes, we were in a quiet, residential street with houses that were small and built low to the ground, bungalow-style. There wasn’t a single house built two story tall and we pulled into the driveway of a small, nondescript house with a dark roof and pale blue siding.
“I come here sometimes,” he said as I shot him a glance when I cut the ignition. “It’s in good condition. A cleaning staff comes here every week to make sure the house is perfect.” His lips quirked up in a mock smile. “Money makes everything easier.”
The key slid easily into the oiled lock and he let us into the small, dark house that smelled pleasantly of vanilla. “Help yourself to anything, whatever you need. The house should be well stocked.”
He tried to slip past me.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
“I thought I told you to never touch me,” he said quietly.
Clearly, there were some things that never changed. “We should talk.”
I saw him nod in the darkness. “Certainly. But not now. I need to…rest.”
Letting go of his arm, I saw him rub at that spot, as though I had bruised him. Funny thought. That I could hurt a monster even vampires feared. “I must call the Fellowship. They must be aware of the situation. If not, my situation will get…messy.”
He paused. “Is it necessary? I hesitate to allow any sort of communication leave this building. I don’t think anyone will find us here, but unfortunately, what I think and what I’m sure of…are two wholly different concepts.”
“They will…” What was the proper word to use in such a situation? “Wonder.”
Not quite, but it would have to do. For now.
His shoulders heaved up and then back down.
"Take the car. Find a pay phone. And then get yourself a cell phone. Might be better if you did the latter rather than the former.” He slipped a credit card into my unresisting hands. “If anyone asks who you are, you’re my fiance, okay?”
With that said, he disappeared into the shadows and a door at the end of the narrow hallway closed with