Tree Of Souls (Transfusion Saga #6) - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,105

it was we needed a four-wheel drive, as we started heading up the mountain.

The drive up the mountain had been beautiful and offered amazing views, if not a little bumpy. Hence the heavy duty ride, one I discovered had been what Lucius’ ‘Make it happen’ order had been all about yesterday. I also discovered that Lucius most certainly knew his way around this part of the world. He drove to places that seemed like the road would go nowhere and it was only when we pulled into a clearing that I finally asked,

“Are we here yet?” He laughed once and inquired,

“Be honest, just how long have you wanted to say that?”

“Erm…about five minutes into the drive.” He smirked and told me,

“We have a few hours until night falls.”

“Wait…so we are camping?” He put the car into park, took off his glasses and said with a wink,

“Boy scout, remember?” Then he got out of the car taking a moment to scan the area. I watched as he made his way around to my side before he opened my door and helped me down.

“Well, this is cute,” I said following him to the back of the car and scanning the clearing that was framed by trees which sloped down over the ridge the clearing was situated on top of.

“I used to travel through here with my father as a boy,” he told me, shocking me enough that my steps faltered.

“You did?” I asked after first needing to clear my throat. Gods, but I could barely even think of Lucius as being human, let alone just a boy!

“Of course, over two thousand years have passed, so it’s of little surprise that the place looks different now, far more trees and such,” he told me after opening up the back doors revealing what looked more like a rugged camper. Then he continued to get things out of the back that looked like…fold out chairs?

“Holy shit, we are camping!” I shouted making him laugh.

“Don’t get too excited, sweetheart, we are just spending some time here before night falls.” Then he pulled out a basket and I shouted,

“And you brought a picnic!” making him mutter under his breath,

“Easily pleased once again.”

I ignored this and skipped up to him, placed my hands at his back and reach up on my tip toes by his ear so I could whisper,

“You know, if there is cheese in there, then chances are you are gonna get lucky in the wilderness, Mr Septimus.” At this he turned his face to look at me over his shoulder and with an arrogant grin he asked,

“Is that so, Miss Draven?” I gave him a wink and kissed his cheek, before grabbing the chair and taking it over to where we were setting up, ‘picnic camp’.

After this Lucius made short work of using what was inside the camper style 4x4, that I learned was a Mercedes-Benz G professional that meant it had been stripped of its back seats, so it could be converted by Grey Wolf camping interiors, with a custom pop top roof that had a bed in it. It also had two 20L jerry cans filled to the brim, a Forcetec ladder to the roof and rails to match. Oh, and just in case we happened to get stuck in a downpour, it had Mud Tec reinforced ramps attached to the sides. They were ready to be taken off and used to get us out of any sticky, muddy situations, by putting them under the wheels. But in my opinion, it just added to making the gun grey vehicle look meaner.

Now, I knew my cars and also my bikes, as growing up with so many diesel heads in the household, well something was bound to stick, seeing as I was a walking, talking, living breathing, information sponge. But even with this being said, I wouldn’t have known anything about this car, if Lucius hadn’t decided to share with me after I had asked him about it.

This also signified the first of many conversations once we sat down together. As soon we were sat looking out into an incredible view of the mountains, we both had a beer in hand and consumed half of the food Lucius had arranged for us. It was hours later, and the sun was just beginning to set, bathing the view in warm colours of pinks, oranges, and hints of red as the shadows of the mountain ridges turned to shade of blues and purples. It was beautiful, but