The Vampire's Surprise - Stormy Glenn Page 0,20

as he started walking. If Dmitri said they needed to leave and go somewhere safer, he was all for it.

Dmitri winced. "I can think of only one place between here and home where we could go, but it'll be a bit dicey."

Quinn's eyebrows lifted. "Is it safe?"

"Technically?"

Was that even a question?

"I wouldn't normally even consider this, but no one is answering me on my comm. unit, my men are missing, the SUV is out of the commission, and we're being hunted. Under those circumstances, it's the safest place I can think of until I can get you all home."

"Where is this place?"

"Prince Nikolas Vaile's tribe headquarters."

Quinn's eyes twitched. "I thought you couldn't go into another tribe's territory?"

"Normally, that would be true, but we kind of have an uneasy truce with Prince Nikolas. As long as I don't attack anyone, and I request sanctuary, we should be fine."

"Should be" did not sound fine to Quinn.

He couldn't believe he was going to ask this, but… "Why can't we just go to your tribe?"

"It's too far away. We'd never get there on foot. Nikolas's tribe is closer, and he can provide us with a ride and an escort of armed enforcers."

"What's he going to want in return?" In Quinn's experience, vampires didn't do anything without exacting some sort of price, usually one that was too high to pay.

Dmitri frowned. "You know, I don't think he'll actually want anything in return for helping us. This issue with the rogues has been something he's been wrestling with for quite some time. I'm sure he'll see the merits of helping us."

"Dmitri, we're rogues." Quinn waved his hand to encompass himself and the kids, including the one Dmitri was holding. "What's he going to do to us?"

"Nothing," Dmitri growled. His eyes flashed red. "You belong to me, you and the kids. He won't touch a hair on your heads, or prince or not, I'll take his head."

Quinn believed him. The truth was in every inch of his rigid frame. Dmitri would protect him and the kids to his dying breath. Quinn just really hoped it didn't come to that. He was starting to like the vampire, and wasn't that confusing as hell?

"Okay, let's go then, but if you're wrong…"

"I'm not."

Dmitri sounded very sure, but Quinn didn't think it was that easy. He'd never had a positive interaction with a vampire or a vampire tribe, and not even with his mother. He doubted it was going to happen now, no matter what Dmitri said.

"Hey, what about the—aahhh!" Quinn cried out as the ground shook beneath his feet. He dropped into a crouch, pulling Robby down with him and covering Arthur's head with his hand. A force stronger than the blast he'd just felt wrapped around them. Tears welled up in Quinn's eyes as he looked up at Dmitri. "Was that—?"

"I suspect that was the SUV."

Okay, now he was ready to go to Nikolas Vaile's tribe.

"Come on." Dmitri stood. "We need to go."

Quinn was all for that. He climbed to his feet.

"Do you have a cell phone?"

Quinn shook his head. "I can't afford one."

Dmitri frowned. "You can't afford a cell phone?"

Quinn bristled. "It takes a lot of money to feed three kids and pay for daycare."

If anything, Dmitri's frown deepened. "That won't be a problem anymore."

Before Quinn could ask what the vampire meant by that statement, Dmitri pulled the comm. unit out of his ear and dropped it on the ground. Quinn's mouth dropped open when Dmitri smashed the device under the heel of his boot.

"What are you doing?"

"I can't be sure we're not being tracked." Dmitri pulled his cell phone out. He opened the back of it and pulled out a small square electronic chip, which he slid into his pocket, and then he turned the cell phone off and dropped it to the ground. It met the same fate as the comm. unit.

"Until I know what is going on and who is after us, I won't take any chances with your safety. Electronics are too easy to track."

Riiight.

Still holding tight to Robby's hand, Quinn followed after Dmitri as they hurried down the alleyway to the street. Considering a car had just exploded, it was eerily silent. It wasn't until they had gone a couple of blocks that he even heard sirens.

"We're not going to get into trouble for not sticking around, are we?"

Dmitri shook his head. "No one really knows who we are so we have plausible deniability."

"The nurse knew me," Quinn explained. "It wouldn't be too