“We need to keep you close, so when things take a turn, you’re near enough for us to protect you. This is going to get worse before it gets better. I’m not even sure how it will work out at all, but that’s what Griffin and I agree on.” He stared at me a long moment, his monster evident in his gaze. They were rare moments, but still I could sometimes absolutely see the duality of these men… they were both man and monster. How did it work in their heads? Did they battle? One step aside, one run things, or was it a combination at all times?
I’d never ask, and as I wasn’t going to become a vampire, I’d never know. I also wasn’t an idiot. He was telling me to get in the car, so I would. I looked around. “We need the books, and I never got to gather any stuff.”
“All of that stuff should be thrown away. We’ll buy you more stuff. One thing vampires never worry about is money. You don’t have to anymore, either.”
I shook my head. It was hard to believe, and I couldn’t let myself get used to it. Yes, for the moment I would stay with the vampires, but if things got out of hand, I would run away during the day while they slept. If they decided to chase me, I’d face that problem when it hit. Nothing to do at the moment but live in the present and hope that I could handle what happened when it did. I really had no choice.I certainly couldn’t continue as I had been. Apparently, I’d been really close to death.
I grabbed some of the books off the table and headed toward the car. Outside was cooler, and a gust of wind blew my hair temporarily in my face. I brushed it away awkwardly with part of my hand while I carried the books. It wasn’t really a car waiting; it was a mobile home. I decided not to think too hard about how he obtained it, since I knew he didn’t buy it during daylight hours.
Was this what he was arranging—or stealing—when Griffin showed up to save me?I was still standing there open mouthed when he came out, holding Griffin over his shoulder. He nodded toward the vehicle. “I told you to get into it.”
Should I argue with him because he’d said car, and it was absolutely not a car? No, I would leave that one alone. Without comment or argument—which made me feel way mature—I got in behind him.
The inside was big enough that it fit two couches and two coffins. It really looked like they’d torn it up to make it work for their purposes. Right then, Caesar set Griffin down on the coach. He turned to look at me. “Sit back here with him while I drive?”
I pointed at the coffins. “I think we need to discuss these.”
The last time I’d seen similar ones had been when they crawled inside them to die. I shuddered. Turned out I had an issue with coffins. I could do without ever seeing one again.
He turned away and walked to the front. “We’ll need somewhere to stay during the day. It’s about a thirty-five-hour drive. It will take longer because we’ll need to stop for gas because we have you with us. I could run this easily in a night. I packed the small fridge with food for you. We’ll need to feed, if you don’t wish to be the source of that for us. We also need to hide from the sun and sleep. It’s not a matter of staying awake and being tired. We can’t physically remain up yet. Also, I don’t know that we can absolutely find a house with true blackout curtains. I don’t want to use vampire friendly hotels. You’d be too evident. This is the best solution, so we’ll get in the coffins. They’ll protect us.”
I swallowed.Well… okay. Of course they should be protected. I’d just deal with my feelings. I was good at it. I’d been silently handling the shit that bothered me my whole life.
“There are vampire hotels?”
Caesar didn’t answer but instead continued to the driver’s seat at the front. “If you aren’t able to handle driving it, we’ll pull in places for the day. You can let me know. Don’t drive it if you can’t. I don’t want you to have a car accident. The police discovering two dead bodies in the coffins with you will be a difficult, awkward situation that will lead to too much publicity."
“Ah… okay. Then maybe I better sit up there with you to see how you do it.”
He turned on the ignition. “After Griffin wakes up. I think he’ll want to see you right there when he wakes. He was very nervous about what happened to you. We have many, many hours for you to learn to drive it.”
It was hard for me to picture Griffin nervous and even weirder to think Caesar would be concerned about that. None of my time with the vampires revealed them being tender with each other, not even in friendship, at all. Emotions weren’t their thing.
What is going on here?It wasn’t just my blood making things different, it couldn’t be. No other vampires reacted strangely, that much was for sure. A wave of withdrawal hit me, and I sighed. Why did it hit when it hit?
The world rushed by outside even at the staggeringly slow speed Caesar drove the motor home. I swallowed and sat forward to stare closer against the window. It was the furthest I’d ever been from home. I’d dreamed of the moment, saved for it. Back in high school, my whole plan was to get on the road and drive with no direction to somewhere else. Anywhere else. The whole idea ofsomewhere elsehad been so important.Here I am, somewhere else. Still moving and it was happening; I was leaving Kentwood.
I touched the window with my fingers as if I could feel the passing scenery, and ingested the experience through the tips of my fingers into my soul.This was what I wanted.Well… it was slightly askew. I didn’t plan on a motorhome with two vampires, the details were irrelevant.It is happening.I couldn’t see a thing, really. It was dark, but it was happening.
“What do you see that’s so interesting? If I recall, there’s not much to see for a very long time.”
I turned at the sound of Griffin’s voice. He stared at me from where he’d lain down, not having moved but awake, watching me.
“It’s new. I’ve never left home, not ever. Once I was addicted, I thought I’d live and die my whole life in that place.”And it had felt like an incredible amount of pathetic.“I’m having a moment.”
He tilted his head. “I forgot that about you. It’s interesting what stays and what doesn’t stay through the transition. Yes, this is your first time leaving. It can’t be very exciting, but I’m glad you are getting out.”
A feeling moved through me. It wasn’t just my withdrawal, it had to do with him specifically.He is hungry. I rubbed my arms.How do I know that?Well… I wasn’t sure I actually did, since it was just a feeling, but when I’d been ten years old, I’d been convinced I could feel ghosts jumping around the room. Turned out I’d just watched something scary on television, because feelings were just that, feelings. They weren’t facts.
If I wanted to know, I had to ask. “Hungry?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Yes, but not so much that it has to matter right now. I’ve been hungrier than this. It’s small.”
I rose to my feet, gripping the wall to sit down next to him. As I did, he sat up so we were both upright on the couch together. “You can feed.”
He ran a finger down my neck. “This was torn up yesterday. I think you can do without being bit today.”
That was remarkably kind of him, for a vampire. I’d never known one before Griffin and Caesar who cared what the human felt about being bitten or what condition they were in afterward. “Well, that’s very nice of you to say, but I’m having withdrawal, so the timing might be bad, but I sort of need you to bite me. It’s like your hunger and my need match right now.”