Joe had lied to keep Adrian safe. Adrian hadn't been involved with Tatiana's murder. I wanted him free and clear. But what about the other part? Some "ordinary' Moroi who'd paid Joe to lie about when I'd been around, leaving me without an alibi during the murder window?
Before I could fully process the implications, I noticed the car had stopped. Forcing the Joe-info to the back of my mind, I tried to take stock of our new situation. Sydney's laptop glowed in the front seat as she scrolled through something.
"Where are we?' I peered out the window. In the headlights, I saw a sad, closed gas station.
"Altswood,' said Dimitri. By my estimation, there was nothing else but the gas station. "Makes our last town look like New York.'
Sydney shut her laptop. She handed it back, and I set it on the seat beside me, near the backpacks she'd miraculously grabbed when leaving the motel. She shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Not too far away, I could see the highway and expected her to turn toward it. Instead, she drove past the gas station, deeper into darkness. Like the last place, we were surrounded by mountains and forests. We crept along at a snail's pace until Sydney spotted a tiny gravel road disappearing into the woods. It was only big enough for one car to go down, but somehow, I didn't expect we'd run into much traffic out here. A similar road took us in deeper and deeper, and although I couldn't see her face, Sydney's anxiety was palpable in the car.
Minutes felt like hours until our narrow path opened up into a large, dirt-packed clearing. Other vehicles--pretty oldlooking--were parked there. It was a strange place for a parking lot, considering all I could see around us was dark forest. Sydney shut off the car.
"Are we at a campground?' I asked.
She didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Dimitri. "Are you as good as they say you are?'
"What?' he asked, startled.
"Fighting. Everyone keeps talking about how dangerous you are. Is it true? Are you that good?'
Dimitri considered. "Pretty good.'
I scoffed. "Very good.'
"I hope it's enough,' said Sydney, reaching for the door's handle.
I opened my door as well. "Aren't you going to ask about me?'
"I already know you're dangerous,' she said. "I've seen it.'
Her compliment offered little comfort as we walked out across the rural parking lot. "Why'd we stop?'
"Because we have to go on foot now.' She turned on a flashlight and shone it along the lot's perimeter. At last, it flickered across a footpath snaking through the trees. The path was small and easy to miss because weeds and other plants were encroaching on it. "There.' She began to move toward it.
"Wait,' said Dimitri. He moved in front of her, leading the way, and I immediately took up the back position in our group. It was a standard guardian formation. We were flanking her the way we would a Moroi. All earlier thoughts of Lissa flitted from my mind. My attention was totally on the situation at hand, all my senses alert to the potential danger. I could see Dimitri was in the same mode, both of us holding our stakes.
"Where are we going?' I asked as we carefully avoided roots and holes along the path. Branches scraped along my arms.
"To people I guarantee won't turn you in,' she said, voice grim.
More questions were on my lips when brilliant light suddenly blinded me. My eyes had grown attuned to the darkness, and the unexpected brightness was too abrupt a change. There was a rustling in the trees, a sense of many bodies around us, and as my vision returned, I saw vampire faces everywhere.
Chapter Nine
FORTUNATELY, THEY WERE MOROI FACES.
That didn't stop me from raising my stake and moving closer to Sydney. No one was attacking us, so I held my position--not that it probably mattered. As I took in more and more of the setting, I saw that we were completely surrounded by about ten people. We'd told Sydney we were good, and it was true: Dimitri and I could probably take out a group like this, though the poor fighting quarters would make it difficult. I also realized the group wasn't entirely Moroi. The ones closest to us were, but around them were dhampirs. And the light I'd thought had come from torches or flashlights was actually coming from a ball of flame held in one of the Moroi's hands.