how they’d fared. With Igor behind the wheel, I’d be very surprised if they had been caught.
“Natalie!” a relieved Gregor said when he answered after just one ring. “Are you and Lucentio alright?”
“ We’re fine. We ran into a police barricade but managed to get away on foot and meet up again.”
“Where are you now?” he asked. I told him the name of the small town we’d just fled from and heard the rustle of paper as he consulted a map. Igor knew Russia well but it was a big place and he couldn’t possibly know every town. “We’re a couple of hours west of you.” After a few moments of thought, Gregor formulated a plan. “A city several hours from here should be suitable for us to use as a base. It will also hopefully be too large for the imps to attack. Head west and try to remain incognito.”
Luc overheard Gregor’s instructions and indicated his willingness to go along with the plan with a short nod. “Ok,” I said. “We’ll find you guys when we reach the town.”
“Tell ma chérie that I miss her,” Geordie said in the background. Gregor hung up without repeating the message, knowing I would have heard the kid. I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide a smirk. The teen was frequently annoying but at least he made me laugh. Luc showed no sign of jealousy and he had no need for it. We both knew I’d rather jump his bones than Geordie’s any day.
Following Gregor’s advice, Luc stuck to the back streets to avoid running into any more troops. Despite its beat up appearance, the jeep turned out to be an excellent choice of transportation. It bounced over potholes and badly eroded dirt roads with ease.
W e drove until dawn was knocking on the door of our subconscious, alerting us that the sun would soon be here to burn us to death. Well, burn Luc to death anyway. In the back of my mind, I wondered how long it would be before we ran into another imp trap or army barricade. The odds were definitely against us now that the soldiers were aware of our existence. Now we had two enemies to worry about instead of one.
Despite my presentiment of doom, we reached our destination without encountering any obstacles. I sensed three vampires to the east of town and we were soon pulling into an underground parking lot of a shabby hotel.
I dialled Gregor’s phone as Luc pulled to a stop. “We’re here,” I said before he could give me a greeting. We didn’t have time for pleasantries, the sun would be up very soon now.
“Just in tim e,” was Gregor’s crisp response. “We’ve booked you a room on the fourth floor. Igor is waiting for you inside.”
We hung up and I handed Luc back his phone as we stepped into a creaky elevator. Luc pushed the button for the fourth floor and I hid behind him. I hoped we wouldn’t encounter anyone during the short trip. The soldiers knew roughly what I looked like and the outfit I had on could be best described as ‘memorable’. The last thing we needed was for anyone to become suspicious and turn me in to the authorities. Then again, we’d probably be able to mesmerize anyone who saw me into thinking they’d never seen me at all.
“Wow, we get to stay in the nicest places,” I said in distaste as we stepped out of the elevator. The hallway that spread out before us had threadbare, mustard coloured carpet and stained brown wallpaper. One of the fluorescent lights flickered on and off, on the point of blowing out altogether. It would have been spooky if I hadn’t been an undead creature of the night.
A door opened towards the far end of the hall and Igor’s shaggy head popped out. Dawn was very close when he handed the key card to Luc. “We’ll meet in your room tomorrow night,” he advised us. “It’s my turn to keep watch so you should both get some rest.”
Rest? I wish. Luc would turn into a corpse as soon as the sun came up, reverting back to death rather than simply falling asleep. Meanwhile, I would probably toss and turn, unable to
“Natalie!” a relieved Gregor said when he answered after just one ring. “Are you and Lucentio alright?”
“ We’re fine. We ran into a police barricade but managed to get away on foot and meet up again.”
“Where are you now?” he asked. I told him the name of the small town we’d just fled from and heard the rustle of paper as he consulted a map. Igor knew Russia well but it was a big place and he couldn’t possibly know every town. “We’re a couple of hours west of you.” After a few moments of thought, Gregor formulated a plan. “A city several hours from here should be suitable for us to use as a base. It will also hopefully be too large for the imps to attack. Head west and try to remain incognito.”
Luc overheard Gregor’s instructions and indicated his willingness to go along with the plan with a short nod. “Ok,” I said. “We’ll find you guys when we reach the town.”
“Tell ma chérie that I miss her,” Geordie said in the background. Gregor hung up without repeating the message, knowing I would have heard the kid. I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide a smirk. The teen was frequently annoying but at least he made me laugh. Luc showed no sign of jealousy and he had no need for it. We both knew I’d rather jump his bones than Geordie’s any day.
Following Gregor’s advice, Luc stuck to the back streets to avoid running into any more troops. Despite its beat up appearance, the jeep turned out to be an excellent choice of transportation. It bounced over potholes and badly eroded dirt roads with ease.
W e drove until dawn was knocking on the door of our subconscious, alerting us that the sun would soon be here to burn us to death. Well, burn Luc to death anyway. In the back of my mind, I wondered how long it would be before we ran into another imp trap or army barricade. The odds were definitely against us now that the soldiers were aware of our existence. Now we had two enemies to worry about instead of one.
Despite my presentiment of doom, we reached our destination without encountering any obstacles. I sensed three vampires to the east of town and we were soon pulling into an underground parking lot of a shabby hotel.
I dialled Gregor’s phone as Luc pulled to a stop. “We’re here,” I said before he could give me a greeting. We didn’t have time for pleasantries, the sun would be up very soon now.
“Just in tim e,” was Gregor’s crisp response. “We’ve booked you a room on the fourth floor. Igor is waiting for you inside.”
We hung up and I handed Luc back his phone as we stepped into a creaky elevator. Luc pushed the button for the fourth floor and I hid behind him. I hoped we wouldn’t encounter anyone during the short trip. The soldiers knew roughly what I looked like and the outfit I had on could be best described as ‘memorable’. The last thing we needed was for anyone to become suspicious and turn me in to the authorities. Then again, we’d probably be able to mesmerize anyone who saw me into thinking they’d never seen me at all.
“Wow, we get to stay in the nicest places,” I said in distaste as we stepped out of the elevator. The hallway that spread out before us had threadbare, mustard coloured carpet and stained brown wallpaper. One of the fluorescent lights flickered on and off, on the point of blowing out altogether. It would have been spooky if I hadn’t been an undead creature of the night.
A door opened towards the far end of the hall and Igor’s shaggy head popped out. Dawn was very close when he handed the key card to Luc. “We’ll meet in your room tomorrow night,” he advised us. “It’s my turn to keep watch so you should both get some rest.”
Rest? I wish. Luc would turn into a corpse as soon as the sun came up, reverting back to death rather than simply falling asleep. Meanwhile, I would probably toss and turn, unable to
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