The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series) (22 page)

             
Incredibly relieved, I concentrated and thought,
"Okay, time, restart or whatever."
  Then I looked around, wondering if my command had been successful.  There weren't people, or cars, or even animals within my field of vision to use as a gauge.  Deep inside, though, I felt less shaky and my migraine was subsiding. 
Could stopping and starting the world really be this straightforward?  Nah, it seemed too easy.  There had to be a catch, right?

             
"I can see a highway up ahead," Lucien cautioned, pointing to an overpass in the distance.  "Should I take it or stay on gravel roads?"

             
"Let's go on the highway, we can drive faster.  Beyond that, there'll be other cars to blend in with."

             
"And state troopers," he added.  "I doubt they'd risk attacking us around human authorities..." With his words trailing off, he merged us onto I-70 in the direction of Lawrence, a midsized town where I'd frequently gone bar hopping during college.  And, yeah, the traffic on the interstate was moving briskly, a confirmation that time had in fact resumed.

             
"Do you think they'll catch us?" I asked, warily envisioning another stint in vampire hell.

             
Lucien's lips tightened into harsh a line.  "I don't know, I wish this old clunker would go faster.  The pedal's on the floor and we're hardly traveling sixty miles an hour."

             
"Well, at least they aren't aware of which way we went." 

             
"True," he mumbled noncommittally.  "So, what's our plan?  We spent most of the time scheming our departure.  We never really discussed what we'd do now."

             
I had no freaking idea.
  All I knew for certain was exhaustion, in both mind and body.  "I think we oughta find a place to rest first.  After that, we can come up with something.  Of course, we can't go to my house or any of my friends' houses; I'm sure Tsedaka's been keeping tabs on me for awhile."  The comprehension that I'd need a clean break from my old life, brought sadness to my soul.  "Nothing from my past is safe."

             
"I'm sorry this is happening to you," he soothed, reaching across Amelia to pat me gently on my knee.  "Since we're short on cash, perhaps we can locate an abandoned building or an empty house."

             
"Might be a good..."

             
"Boom!  Thwack, thud, thud.  Whoosh, shhishhhhsh."  And, almost instantaneously, thick black smoke was billowing from beneath the hood and we were rapidly losing speed.

             
"This rickety piece of crap," Lucien growled, slamming his fist hard against the steering wheel.  Exuding hostility, he guided us onto the shoulder with our remaining momentum.  Then he promptly jumped out to give the engine a look-see, inadvertently welcoming a surge of icy air into the cab.

             
Amelia, having been jostled awake by the excitement, gazed up at me with blurry eyes.  "What's wrong?"

             
"The truck died," I muttered, a sense of foreboding creeping into my emotions. 
Just my luck.  Just my fucking luck.

             
We waited anxiously as Lucien banged around under the hood, grunting and hollering obscenities like, "fucking clunker" and "damn white trash hillbillies".  This went on for a bit, eventually culminating in him slamming it shut.  After which, he met my eyes, the dejected expression on his face telling me everything. 
We were screwed
.  

             
"There's no way to fix this junker!" he yelled, kicking a tire.  Another flood of cussing and he was at the passenger door, motioning for us to join him.  "The last sign said we were fifteen miles outside of town.  We'd better start hoofin' it if we intend on being in a safe place for daybreak."  He nodded toward the knee-high grasses surrounding us.  "We have to walk out there; our black clothing will help us blend in."

             
"What about hitch'n a ride?  Somebody's bound to give us a lift," I offered as Amelia and I climbed from the cab, preparing to follow him into deer tick heaven.
  For real, could vampires catch Lyme disease? 

             
Outwardly laughing, he pulled me from the road by my arm.  "Quit being such a wimp; we've had several hard freezes, so most of the creepy crawlies are dead.  Regardless, with three of us, it'd take hours for us to thumb a ride.  And staying here in the open is far too dangerous."

             
"Fine," I retorted flatly, wrenching away from him in a huff.

             
Fuming, I stomped off into the lead, considerably more irritated with myself than anyone else.
I should've thought through my convoluted escape plans a lot more. 
However, in spite of my psychological turmoil, it wasn't long before my attention transferred to my burning legs and my painfully dry mouth. 

             
Compounding an already bad situation, the underbrush slowed us to a snail's pace and, a short distance later, it became apparent that Amelia couldn't keep up.  "Lucien, can you carry her?" I finally asked, eager to move faster.

             
"I'm sorry, girlie," he apologized, his facial features heavy with fatigue.  "I haven't fed and carrying her earlier took nearly everything out of me."

             
"I'd pitch in, but I'm hanging on by a thread myself," I added, hastily grasping the severity of our predicament.
  The horizon was lightening into shades of purple.  If we didn't find shelter soon, Lucien and I would probably die. 

             
"I'll make it, just walk slow," Amelia faintly murmured, her teeth chattering again from the cold.

             
Having no choice, we continued on with our seemingly never-ending journey.  And, unsurprisingly, Amelia collapsed within a couple miles.
  Seriously, why was life so goddamn difficult?
  Groaning in frustration, I flopped onto the ground at her side and tenderly cradled her in my lap. 
My fault.  All mine.  I'd fed on her, made her weak.  Might be the cause of all our deaths.

             
"No worries, there's a drainage ditch," Lucien observed.  Turning to the north, he motioned to a metal culvert that ran under the highway, one large enough for us to crawl into on our hands and knees.  "It'll shelter us for the day."

             
Hesitantly, I refocused on Amelia, taking in her exhausted eyes as she blinked them and struggled to regain consciousness.  The poor girl couldn't drag herself an inch farther.  And, honestly, who was I kidding?  Lucien and I couldn't go that much farther either.  Surveying the area, I quickly understood his logic; the ditch was our best option, even though, the idea of sleeping in such a place totally sceeved me out.

             
"Here, I'll help," Lucien grunted, lifting her from my arms and wobbling toward the culvert.  Bringing up the rear, I chided myself for having to lower ourselves to the rungs of homeless people. 
What if it rained and the ditch flooded?  Or we froze to death?  Jeesh.

             
My apprehensions aside, Amelia crawled in first, followed by Lucien, and then me.  I moved cautiously, praying that we wouldn't encounter any hostile raccoons or other small animals.  And, once we got to the middle, my butt only needed a minute of contact with the ice-cold metal to go completely numb.
  Exactly what I'd been dreaming of on my first day of freedom...

             
"Amelia, scoot between us to share our body heat," Lucien ordered matter-of-factly.  "We can handle more of the cold than you can."

             
"Sounds good to me," she squeaked through cracked lips, hurriedly crawling over Lucien to situate herself in the middle.  And, within seconds, we'd all smooshed together, creating an Amelia sandwich.  The thought brought with it a mental image that almost made me start giggling.  Although, instead, it spurred my stomach into rumbling angrily. 
Food.

             
"I'm hungry too," Lucien replied, either hearing the growling or perceiving my nonsensical inner babble.

             
Fortunately, I was beginning to adjust to his constant perception of my, well, everything, I guess.  And I deflected the comment, striving to push our conversation onto more productive matters.  "Listen, we need to figure out what we're gonna do tomorrow, once the sun goes down."

             
"Before we came to high court," Amelia sniffled, wavering briefly as if she was choosing her next words wisely.  "Lord Adrian gave us a phone number to call in case we ever required his assistance.  I guarantee he'd be willing to hide us."

             
"Thanks for trying to help and all, but notifying the main person who wants me dead of my whereabouts isn't smart." 
The exhaustion must've clouded her reasoning.
 

             
"Actually, it's a viable plan," Lucien interceded.  "The evidence against Lord Adrian is merely circumstantial; he didn't send the assassin."

             
"Yeah, well, there's more to the story and I, uh, I apologize for not telling you earlier," I faltered, wishing my guilty emotions would subside.  "I wasn't certain that I could trust you guys.  At any rate, Adrian and I have been communicating telepathically for awhile now.  And, uh, he was in my room that night."

             
Immediately, Lucien's face contorted in bewilderment.  "You told us you were alone when the intruder came."

             
"Yes, I
was
by myself at that point.  You see, Adrian poofed in for a visit before the attack.  And since I couldn't fall asleep, he volunteered to stay with me, um, so I'd feel safe enough to be able to relax."
  Jesus, how retarded!  Sane people don't protect themselves by inviting men they hardly knew into their beds for cuddle sessions.  Dumb, totally dumb. 
"So, uh, basically, he left ahead of the attacker's arrival."

             
"That still doesn't mean he was involved," Amelia objected, an agitated tone edging her voice.

             
"Well, it's definitely not in his favor.  I mean, we're unsure how that human got past the guards.  And Adrian has the power to move unseen; he could've brought the guy into my room.  Pretty suspicious, if you ask me."

             
"Luna, are you well?  I heard of your escape,"
Adrian thought to me, barging into my mind.

             
"Shit!  Why'd you guys go and mention him.  Now he's invaded my head!"

             
"I'm, uh, I'm sorry," Amelia stammered.  "I didn't realize talking about him would enable a connection with you."

             
"Yeah, the creep can insert himself into my mind whenever I think of him."  I balled my hands into fists, contemplating how good it'd feel to punch the frigid metal of the culvert.

             
"Luna, stop ignoring me.  I'm offering help,"
Adrian thought to me again. 
"My safe house is in Salina, a half-hour from high court.  Only my most trusted guards are aware of it.  You'll be protected there until I can make arrangements for you to join me."

             
"Do you think I'm an idiot?  I'd be a sitting duck, ready for the kill.  Sorry to say it, but I trust you about as much as I trust Tsedaka.  And I just escaped his ass!  I'm not gonna let another man lock me in a room and hold me prisoner.  Piss on that!"

             
"You'll have the ability to leave at any time.  And, to be frank, my resources can safeguard you against whoever sent the assassin as well as Tsedaka.  This is important because, if the king finds you, he'll insist on some form of punishment.  In short, he must redress challenges to his authority publicly, otherwise, he'll look weak among the vampire community."

             
"It doesn't make sense.  Why do you wanna help me so badly?" 

             
"Our futures are inextricably intertwined.  Understandably, you're not ready to accept this at the present time.  Nonetheless, you will in the near future.  I merely hope to keep you alive until then."

             
"If that's true, why'd you poof the psycho killer into my room?"

             
"I did nothing of the sort.  In fact, I ensured that you were surrounded by specially educated slaves.  I provided Lucien with additional guard training and college to prepare him for your service.  Furthermore, they both were raised in my private household to give them practice maneuvering in vampire social circles.  I tried my best.  Believe me, if I could've predicted the assassination attempt, I would've remained to protect you.  I assumed you were safe."

             
"Whatever, just get out of my head.  And I don't want your help."