Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)

Tad rolled his eyes. “You think he’d buy that?”

“If you tell him I used my siren abilities on Dahlia, I think he might.” I slowly warmed to the idea. “Be careful, please. Ernie”—I turned to the cherub—“will you go with Tad? Give him backup?”

Ernie’s face was grim, hardly looking like the cherub of love and sex. “Theseus will take him on, I’m almost sure of it.” Which made me think my general idea of what was happening with Theseus was spot on.

I didn’t think I liked being right in this case. I didn’t want my friends turning against me, even on a good day. I had few enough of them as it was to end up losing more.

Within minutes of the decisions being made, the four of us were off and running in our respective directions.

Buckled into the passenger seat of Dahlia’s little punch buggy car, I glanced across at her when she started the engine up. She had a little glimmer of tears at the edge of her eyes.

“You really love him, don’t you?”

“Damn it, yes,” she muttered. “I don’t want him to die. He came so close with Achilles. You really think he’ll be safe going to Theseus?”

I clung to Ernie’s words about the hero we were dealing with. “Theseus has a different game plan than Achilles. I don’t think he’ll hurt anyone until he’s dealt with me.” I covered my face with both hands. At least I was hoping. “What if I’m wrong?” I whispered.

“We’re a team, Alena.” Her voice firmed even as mine softened. “And Tad can help you by doing this. Let him. He’ll be careful; we’ve all learned from what happened with Achilles. You were right to send him to help, and Ernie will watch out for him too.” She pulled onto the road that took us north. I did my best to push away thoughts of Tad, Beth, and Sandy being hurt, though it wasn’t easy.

Hours later, we crossed through the Wall and continued to head north, leaving the border behind, along with any real civilization.

I looked out around us at the desolate road, the lack of people not lost on me. We were out of the main city and working our way steadily north. “Where does Santos, I don’t know, is ‘live’ the right term? Hole up? Hide out?”

“He’s got a place on Grouse Mountain. The hike up is a total bitch; they used to call it the Grind. There’s a checkpoint at the bottom, and if we get through that, we’ll have a trek ahead of us.”

“He walks up and down every time he makes an attack on Remo?” I lifted both eyebrows.

“Ah, no, he has a gondola that takes him up and down, but it’s heavily guarded.”

“You know a lot about his place.” I glanced at her and she nodded again.

“He snatched me right from Merlin’s, and Remo fought to get me back. I mean, it took me about five minutes in Santos’s group to realize I wanted nothing to do with it.”

“Wait, Remo rescued you?”

“Yes, sort of.”

“Why? I mean, I’m glad he did, but . .”

She sighed. “He’d come to Santos’s place to try and negotiate some sort of deal right after I was turned. Santos agreed to the meeting and the contract between them. They shook hands and everything. But as soon as Remo turned his back, Santos attacked him. There was a fight, and I already knew that Santos was a nutjob, so I knew which side to be on. He’d told me I would be part of his harem, but I never saw any other women, vamps or otherwise. I was scared that he was going to kill me. So I fought at Remo’s side, against Santos. Remo took a blow that would have killed me, but he protected me at his own expense. I carried him out. He’s like the brother I never had.”

Suddenly her utter devotion to him made perfect sense. He’d saved her from Santos, who by my own experience was not someone I would want in my life, never mind as my boss.

I looked in the rearview mirror and caught a flash of something, and the faintest of vibrations that was not Dahlia’s engine. I spun in my seat and stared back down the road. Another flash of metal catching the starlight. “I think we’re being followed.”

She glanced back, squinting. “I don’t see anything.”

Out of the darkness roared two big trucks, the rumble of their engines giving them away, even if they didn’t turn their lights on.

High beams flicked on as I thought about it. Dahlia yelped. “I can’t see! It’s too bright for my eyes!”

I reached over and grabbed the wheel. “Hit the gas; I’ll steer.”

The car shot forward and I screeched, struggling to keep us on the road. Steering from the passenger side was not as easy as I’d thought it would be. The tiny car wobbled back and forth as though we were on some sort of carnival ride, accompanied by the screeching of two women as they careened out of control at speed.

“More gas?”

“I don’t know!” I yelled back at her.

“Well, make a decision!” she yelped, and I dared a glance at the two trucks bearing down on us in the rearview mirror. Or at least I tried to. Their lights were so bright I couldn’t see them or the drivers.

“Keep the speed steady. I think.” I tightened my hold on the wheel and slid across the divider line so I could steer better. Not that it helped. The two trucks pulled up on either side of us, pinning the little car between them. They pressed us like a waffle maker squishes batter. The screech of metal was almost as loud as the high-pitched screaming that erupted from both of us.

“This is not going as planned!” I yelled. “Kitty puke on cookie sheets!”

The road beneath us changed, going from smooth pavement to huge bumping potholes. Each dip and valley sent our heads bouncing into the ceiling of the car. “Slow down!”

“Brake?”

“No, just less speed.”

Too late. Dahlia hit the brake, and the tiny car squealed as it slowed and the two trucks that had flanked us ripped past. The screech and tear of metal as they slid away from us made me shiver, my skin crawling with the vibration of bending metal as much as with the shrieking sounds. My eyes rolled, and I fought to stay in the moment.

“Out, get out quick!” I pushed her toward the door.

“It’s stuck!”

“You’re a vampire! Kick it open!” I yelled back.

“Right.” She booted the door and sent it flying off its hinges. She tumbled out, and I was right after her. “Come on, this way.” Dahlia bolted off down the rocky pothole-strewn road. I hurried after her, running hard.

The two trucks were ahead of us, backup lights on. We ran past them. I caught a glimpse of a long red beard in the driver’s seat of one truck. Damn it, what had Santos done, gathered up every Viking vampire he could find? This was not going to play well in my favor.

“How far?” I yelled.

“The checkpoint is at the start of the Grind,” she said as I caught up. Like we were out for an evening jog and not running from two oversized trucks driven by vampires who probably would kill us as soon as look at us.

“That doesn’t actually tell me how far,” I pointed out.