you,” I said. “Why are you giving it back?” He didn’t seem like the charity type.
“I have a feeling you might need it,” he said cryptically. “These are blades of prophecy, which you might find useful.”
“Blades of prophecy? That sounds not at all ominous,” I muttered. I pulled the dagger from its sheath. It was changed from when I’d had it. The blade was silver on one side now, black on the other. Marks ran down the blade, runes and symbols in a myriad of languages, the least ancient of which was Greek. Alpha and Omega. Each symbol pretty much meant the same thing. Beginning and end.
“The blade is joined together again. It will not leave you like before. Be careful with it. It is a knife of ending. It can kill almost anything.” Noah’s gaze was so intense it made me uncomfortable.
“Almost anything?” I peered at it. Looked like a knife to me. It had acted pretty strangely when I’d had it, though. I had no problem believing it was magical. “What would happen if I were to stab Samir with it?”
“I have no idea,” Noah said. “I do not like guessing, but I imagine it would destroy his flesh, at the least.”
“Leaving his heart?” I guessed. Guessing was like my middle name lately. “So, again, why you giving this to me?”
“Prophecies,” Noah said with a smile. “We’ll call it a hunch.”
“I thought you didn’t like guesses?”
“Instinct is not the same as supposition,” he said with one of his deliberate, creepy shrugs.
“Fine,” I said, re-sheathing the blade. “But can you hand it to me again, and this time say, ‘It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this’?”
“No,” the vampire said, his smile disappearing. “Follow me.”
“Everyone’s a critic,” I muttered as I shoved the dagger into my backpack and followed him out.
“There are a few rules of van club,” Jaq said. He stood in the doorway between the driver’s section of the RV and the living room section.
“Rule one: you don’t talk about van club?” I guessed.
It got me a giggle from the twins at least. They were seated on a narrow couch to one side, canes leaning between their legs. Apparently they could walk, but Cora had told me they preferred the chair due to their twisted hips. Kira, Salazar, and I were crammed on another bench behind in a narrow table.
“Sure,” Jaq said. “Actual rules. Don’t come up here or bother me while I’m driving, for any reason. You are spurting blood out your neck, there’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom. Any reason. I mean it. Next rule: do not open the windows or pull back the curtains until I tell you it is safe to do so. Do not try to exit the vehicle. If you hear something weird outside, ignore the shit out of it. Clear?”
“Crystal,” I said. “What is going to happen, exactly?”
“I’m going to drive,” Jaq said. “The roads I’m taking aren’t really meant for mortals, so we go fast and hope nothing notices.”
“What if something notices?” I had an image of Cthulhu in my head the way he was talking. Waking old ones or whatever. There was definitely a vast amount about this world I had no knowledge of. It made me feel very small.
“We die,” he said. “But don’t worry; I’ve never had that happen. I’m good at what I do.”
“Let’s go,” Kira said. “We are on a clock, after all.”
All the curtains were closed and Jaq went into the front, shutting a sliding door behind him.
“I’m going to grab a nap, if that’s all right?” Salazar said to Kira.
“We’ll show you to a bunk,” Cora said. The twins heaved themselves up, leaning heavily on their canes. “Then we’re gonna sleep too, I think. It’s easier to make this kind of trip if you aren’t awake.”
That left Kira and I sitting in silence at the table. The engine started and we rolled out of the garage. Kira pulled out a gun and started taking it apart, her message that she wasn’t interested in small talk loud and clear.
I moved to the
“I have a feeling you might need it,” he said cryptically. “These are blades of prophecy, which you might find useful.”
“Blades of prophecy? That sounds not at all ominous,” I muttered. I pulled the dagger from its sheath. It was changed from when I’d had it. The blade was silver on one side now, black on the other. Marks ran down the blade, runes and symbols in a myriad of languages, the least ancient of which was Greek. Alpha and Omega. Each symbol pretty much meant the same thing. Beginning and end.
“The blade is joined together again. It will not leave you like before. Be careful with it. It is a knife of ending. It can kill almost anything.” Noah’s gaze was so intense it made me uncomfortable.
“Almost anything?” I peered at it. Looked like a knife to me. It had acted pretty strangely when I’d had it, though. I had no problem believing it was magical. “What would happen if I were to stab Samir with it?”
“I have no idea,” Noah said. “I do not like guessing, but I imagine it would destroy his flesh, at the least.”
“Leaving his heart?” I guessed. Guessing was like my middle name lately. “So, again, why you giving this to me?”
“Prophecies,” Noah said with a smile. “We’ll call it a hunch.”
“I thought you didn’t like guesses?”
“Instinct is not the same as supposition,” he said with one of his deliberate, creepy shrugs.
“Fine,” I said, re-sheathing the blade. “But can you hand it to me again, and this time say, ‘It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this’?”
“No,” the vampire said, his smile disappearing. “Follow me.”
“Everyone’s a critic,” I muttered as I shoved the dagger into my backpack and followed him out.
“There are a few rules of van club,” Jaq said. He stood in the doorway between the driver’s section of the RV and the living room section.
“Rule one: you don’t talk about van club?” I guessed.
It got me a giggle from the twins at least. They were seated on a narrow couch to one side, canes leaning between their legs. Apparently they could walk, but Cora had told me they preferred the chair due to their twisted hips. Kira, Salazar, and I were crammed on another bench behind in a narrow table.
“Sure,” Jaq said. “Actual rules. Don’t come up here or bother me while I’m driving, for any reason. You are spurting blood out your neck, there’s a first-aid kit in the bathroom. Any reason. I mean it. Next rule: do not open the windows or pull back the curtains until I tell you it is safe to do so. Do not try to exit the vehicle. If you hear something weird outside, ignore the shit out of it. Clear?”
“Crystal,” I said. “What is going to happen, exactly?”
“I’m going to drive,” Jaq said. “The roads I’m taking aren’t really meant for mortals, so we go fast and hope nothing notices.”
“What if something notices?” I had an image of Cthulhu in my head the way he was talking. Waking old ones or whatever. There was definitely a vast amount about this world I had no knowledge of. It made me feel very small.
“We die,” he said. “But don’t worry; I’ve never had that happen. I’m good at what I do.”
“Let’s go,” Kira said. “We are on a clock, after all.”
All the curtains were closed and Jaq went into the front, shutting a sliding door behind him.
“I’m going to grab a nap, if that’s all right?” Salazar said to Kira.
“We’ll show you to a bunk,” Cora said. The twins heaved themselves up, leaning heavily on their canes. “Then we’re gonna sleep too, I think. It’s easier to make this kind of trip if you aren’t awake.”
That left Kira and I sitting in silence at the table. The engine started and we rolled out of the garage. Kira pulled out a gun and started taking it apart, her message that she wasn’t interested in small talk loud and clear.
I moved to the
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