“Yeah, yeah. I’m gearing up to get chewed out, okay? Don’t psych me out more than I already am.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Avet resituates in his seat. “I guess we are fresh out of answers. Plus, I need to restock a few things I lost when I got rid of my car. Sargis has the best gear.”
I shoot Avet a discerning look. “What happened to your car?”
Avet waves his hand to push away my question. “It’s gone. Doesn’t matter.”
I guess we can get to the bottom of his missing car later. “Sargis predicted we would need the viper venom, didn’t he? We had no idea why we were buying it, but he told us we might need it on the road. Boom, the very next job, we had to do away with that creepy al, and only could because we had the viper venom on hand.”
“You know I love Sargis,” Avet explains, “but the more detours we take, the colder the trail gets. I need to find Cher, Keran. Your family reunion might need to wait until later.”
I flick the dangling keys behind the wheel. “My car, my rules. We gather before we gut. We need information. We need ammo. I don’t want to go up against this Andranik character empty-handed. Family reunion just so happens to be at the location where we would restock for a job. Two birds with one stone.”
“We’re fine. We’ve got enough gear to get by.”
I take in a long breath before I answer. “You’re assuming what we’re up against is a run-of-the-mill vampire, which would be no walk in the park. But this guy? We have to be prepared for all likely and unlikely scenarios.”
Avet lets out a grunt of frustration. “I just want to find my sister. I mean, seriously. These delays are killing me, and they might be killing Cher.”
“But if we go in half-cocked, it’ll be us getting killed. Then no one will go looking for Cher.” I reach over because I can tell Avet is spinning out in his head. I grip his hand to ground him, which works every time. I see his shoulders lower in my periphery. “You brought me in because you wanted my input. Constantly running after Andranik isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need to be ready for him, which means we should regroup and get our feet underneath us. Then we can go after him stronger and with more weapons that can actually do what they need to, instead of always trying to keep up and come up with a defense on the fly.”
Avet nods, but I can tell he is still mildly agitated. “I know. You’re right, but it sucks.” Finally, he squirms in his seat, and I can tell we’re getting closer to the truth. “Sargis gave me a few weapons of his that I lost.”
“Lost?”
“They were in the trunk of my car, and that car is long gone. He’s going to be mad.”
My mouth pulls to the side. “I can’t imagine my dad angry. Tell him what happened. He’ll understand.”
Avet draws his t-shirt up over his head to hide. “That’s so much worse!”
I chuckle at his childishness.
Avet tugs his shirt back down and sits straighter. “I want to find Cher. Is she even coherent? Her penmanship was getting sloppier as the journal entries went on.”
“I didn’t notice that part.”
“I did, and it scares me. When we find her, what state will she be in? Will she be able to lift her head?” Avet squinches his eyes shut. “Tatik and Papik will be so angry when they find out it’s not only trapping that got her abducted, but it’s something I never saw coming.”
I guffaw at the steep expectations Avet and Cher’s grandparents put on them to always be the best. “How were you supposed to see it coming? It’s not every day that a monster turns into a man. It’s always been the other way around.”
“They won’t see it that way. They didn’t want me to be a trapper in the first place. They only agreed to it if I promised I would be the best one there is. They let me leave the collegiate path they had for me with a ton of reservations.”
That’s an understatement. There’s no way Tatik and Papik will let this go when they learn there might be a twist we didn’t see coming.
I remember when I came over to their house after school one day, dejected because my pencil broke halfway through my exam. I lost a good four minutes trying to find a spare. I had to borrow one from the teacher. I barely finished the exam and had to rush through parts I should have taken my time completing. Instead of commiserating, Tatik shook her head and her finger at me. “That’s why you should have a spare. Why didn’t you think of that? Always anticipate anything that could go wrong. Then nothing ever will.”
I hold tight to Avet’s hand until his body relaxes against his seat, which takes a solid hour.
“Has my dad changed at all since I saw him last?”
Avet snorts, a smile toying with his features. “He bought two sheep a while back. Do not try the sheep cheese Sargis sells. It is disgusting. He’s very proud of it.”
When we arrive at the kitschy Seashell Souvenir Shop, I take in a deep breath. This place is home to me, even though I haven’t been here in years. Sargis is on the eccentric side of normal, but he sells the best supplies for trapping, bar none. Plus, he’s always up to something strange. Whether or not I am desperately low on supplies, the Seashell Souvenir Shop always makes for a fun trip.
Plus, for a solid five years, this was my home.
Then when I was on the road, it was my home away from home.