Betrayals

CHAPTER 26

The car was long, lean, and dark blue, older than me but in excellent shape. Dad would’ve liked it, and I suppressed a desire to pop the hood, because a dark slight wulfen had just slammed it shut and turned on his heel, taking in all of us with a swift glance. His mouth turned down when he saw Christophe, but he covered it well.

“This is Corey. He’s our mechanic.” Amelia looked proud. “Anything he touches runs like a dream.”

The boy wulfen rolled his eyes. “Mom. Jeez.”

“It’s true,” she insisted, and she looked seven different flavors of proud. She hooked an arm over his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. He wriggled away after a few seconds and blushed. You could see he was secretly pleased.

My heart hurt. I took a deep breath and shoved the feeling away.

He wiped his calloused fingers with an oil-stained rag and indicated the car with a short, graceful gesture. “’74 Dodge Dart. She’s a good car. Old American heavy metal, run until the doors fall off. Just had a tune-up and an oil change, checked the lights and everything this morning. Fresh tabs, too. So everything’s good.”

“Very good. I can barely believe it’s the same vehicle.” Christophe nodded, examining the paint job like he wanted to find rust flakes in it. “We should get going. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous for you.”

Amelia shrugged. “The woods are set with traps and we have warning. Other than the Broken—” her mouth firmed up and her eyes turned cold, “nothing’s moved all night, and we’re well prepared should they find your trail.”

The Broken? “Ash? He’s here?” My heart leapt up into my throat and I pushed down the urge to find a safe place to hide. “Where?”

“He’s been following us.” Shanks folded his arms. “Cagey little bastard. Slips right through every net.”

“He saved my life.” I hitched my bag higher up on my shoulder. “Twice, even.”

“Nobody’s disputing that,” Christophe chimed in, darkly. “But it’s best not to keep him wandering around here. Let’s go, children. Keys?”

Corey tossed them over. “She accelerates well, and the brakes grab. Go easy on them.”

Christophe nodded, plucking the keys out of the air and glancing at me. “Good work. Dru, you’re in the front seat. You two—”

“Wait a second!” A blond streak crashed out of the rain outside the open garage door and almost plowed into Shanks, who stepped nimbly aside. It was Dibs, his backpack bouncing, shaking the water off in spatters. “Wait for me! I’m coming too!”

“No room.” Christophe stalked around the front of the car.

“I’m coming.” Dibs glared at him, then darted a quick little glance at me. “Tell him, Dru. I’m going with you. You need us.”

“Jesus, Dibs—” Shanks didn’t sound like he thought much of the notion.

Graves just looked at me. I raised an eyebrow; he shrugged and dug a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. His coat was freshly washed, and it looked like someone had ironed it, too. Wonders never ceased.

“We’re leaving.” Christophe opened the driver’s door. “Everyone in.”

“Please, Dru.” Dibs hopped from foot to foot. He looked as much like a bird as it was possible for a wulf to look. “Please.”

Why the hell was he asking me? But since he was, I was going to make the call. I didn’t have too many friends, and he’d sat beside me in the lunchroom. “Get in,” I told him. “You guys too.”

“Three wulfen in the backseat,” Christophe muttered. “What are you thinking?”

“He’s got medical training.” I hitched my bag up again. And he carried me halfway across the state. At least, I think he did. “He’s my friend.”

Graves gave me an indecipherable look, and Shanks laughed. I was getting kind of tired of boys treating me like I’d lost my mind. Dibs piled into the car and scooted into the middle of the backseat, where he sat and clutched his backpack protectively.

“Let’s go.” Irritation edged each word. Christophe dropped into the driver’s seat and a moment later the engine roused, purring loudly.

“Thank you very much.” I sounded really prim. “For everything.” I hope the vampires don’t find you.

Amelia’s grin broke out over her face like sunlight, her velvety brown eyes lighting up. Corey stepped back, his gaze running over the car like he wanted a few more hours to tinker with it.

“It is our honor,” Amelia said, and it was the weirdest thing, it sounded like she really meant it.

People don’t often say exactly what they really mean. “Go quickly, and be safe.”

I dropped into the front passenger seat. The car was a boat, and Christophe nosed it gently forward into the silver curtain of rain. I waved at Amelia, who hooked her arm over Corey’s shoulders and hugged him despite his “Awwww, Mom!” wriggling away. Something hot and nameless boiled up in my throat. I swallowed hard twice, tasted pancakes when I burped, and dug in my bag for a piece of gum. I didn’t have any, and when I looked up again we had slid smoothly between two of the buildings and were on the paved drive. The place looked deserted, all the windows dark. I wondered if it was intentional.

Christophe muttered something, the car eased through the rain, and the windshield wipers started.

“I hope they’ll be okay.” I had to fumble with the seat belt. Old seat belts are cranky sometimes.

The defroster was on, and the whole car smelled like engine oil and the healthy dry smell of wulfen.

And a thin thread of apple pies, blowing in my face when Christophe leaned forward to twist the radio knob.

“I’ve done what I can to confuse our trail. And to make certain none of his trackers survived to report in.” His face settled against itself as we threaded down a long single-lane strip of paving starred with unevenly fixed potholes.

“Do you think the vampires will find them?” I twisted to look into the backseat. Dibs sat bolt-upright, blinking owlishly. Shanks had settled back and closed his eyes. Graves stared out his window, his jaw clenched.

“It’s not the vampires I’m worried about,” Christophe said darkly. The radio crackled. “Find me some music, Dru. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”